Ashley sent this entry in from her first couple of weeks in Granada:
I have been in Granada, Spain for over a week now and I am starting to adjust to a different lifestyle. Granada is beautiful with the weather in the 80s in a city surrounded by mountains. I was surprised to find Granada more like a city instead of a town. Most of Granada feels a lot like Chicago with people walking everywhere, tall buildings, and many bus stops. There are a ton of shops and little restaurants to entertain us while we are here. But other parts of Granada feel like a small town as well.
Laura and I started school last week and were placed in the Spanish beginners B class with other Americans. There are about ten of us from all around the states. We are taking a Spanish class here for 4 weeks, and go to school 5 days a week, for 4 hours a day. We have two different classes, one which focuses on Spanish grammar, vocab, etc..., and the other is an oral class. I have enjoyed school so far. It is weird to think I only have like 13 days left! The good thing about this class is that Laura and I get 5 credits at William Jewell for taking this course!
We walk to school every morning around 9:20 am to make it to school by 10am. It is a 30 minute walk from our apartment in the city to school. We both really enjoy the family we are staying with. Our host mom provides us all 3 meals and does weekly laundry. Dario, who is the youngest boy of 3 children, is 3 years old and he always greets Laura and I with hugs and kisses on the cheek. Then he takes our hands and takes us to sit down, because he takes off our shoes almost every time we come back to the apartment. It is absolutely adorable! When we wake up in the morning breakfast is always on the table. It usually consists of toast and jam with chocolate milk. In Spain, lunch time is later. We eat lunch around 2:30pm. It is also the biggest meal of the day. Around 3pm the whole city just kind of shuts down for a siesta (a nap). Shops close, restaurants close until around 5-6:30pm, then everything opens back up again! Laura and I have taken a couple of siestas and enjoy it when we do! Then dinner isn´t served until later in the night. Our dinner is served at 8:30 pm, but some people don´t eat until as late as 10:30 pm! Laura and I usually try and go to bed around 11-12 to get rest for the next day.
We have been able to see several things while being here for a week. Last week we went on a city tour and learned interesting things about Spain like going to a public college is free and healthcare is free (healthcare includes breast implants and sex changes...I know!). These things are all paid for through taxes. Corpus Christi was last week, which is one of the main Holidays they celebrate here. So we didn´t have school on Thursday or Friday, which allowed us to go do some fun stuff! We took a trip to the La Alhambra, which is what Granada is famous for. Some say this could be one of the new 7 wonders of the world. You can actually vote for it online! It had centuries of history and has over 8,000 visitors a day. I would say more, but this is already lengthy. We also went to a bull fight! We saw 6 bulls get killed by many matadors. I was very interested in this part of the culture but found it very sad as well. I learned that they cut the ear off the bull and throw it into the crowd. When the matador does well, the crowd shouts, "Ole!" It was a very cool experience.
On Friday we left for the beach! We went to a beach called Nerja which is just about 2 hours south of Granada on the Costa del Sol. Laura and I went with people from our Abroadco program. Two of them are from Chicago, and the other is from the D.C. area. We went on a bus and stayed there for 2 nights. Nerja was gorgeous, with lots of little white buildings and flowers, it was my favorite place so far! There were also a lot of fun places to shop and eat at. We enjoyed 3 days in the warm sun next to the blue Mediterranean Sea. We also saw many topless women! Our favorite place to stop and eat at was this little pastry store. They had the best blueberry pastry and ham and cheese sandwiches! We got back to Granada on Sunday evening. I had a wonderful time while being in Nerja.
We also just got another girl who will be living with our host family for the rest of our stay here. She is 22 and is from Sweden. She seems very nice and can speak English and Spanish very well! So we will see how things work out from here.
Although I have had a great time so far, I have found myself homesick at times. I find myself thinking how nice it will be to use a hair dryer again (Laura and I decided not to use one because of the different voltage here, and we won´t be here too much longer), to take a shower with the water running the whole time at one temperature (we take what my mom calls "navy showers" here to save water), to eat American meals at American meal times, and finally to not have to pay for each time I use the internet. Don´t get me wrong, I do feel VERY blessed that God has provided Laura and I with a safe place to stay with food, air conditioning, and showers. I am also very thankful that I have access to the internet around the city and can use calling cards to talk to my family and my fiancé at home! These are definitely blessings from ABOVE and I praise God for those things, but those are just a few of the things I am looking forward to when I get home.