Granada

So, I have to say I'm not as enamored with Granada as I thought I'd be. It's just very different. I shouldn't have had great expectations after Barcelona - surely no place is like Barcelona- but it's just so... so... different. There are cathedrals (check!) and lots of old buildings (check! check!) but there is also graffiti everywhere, I've had the darndest time finding a grocery store, it's super spread out and every neighborhood kind of looks the same to me.

I've wandered just as much as I have in every other city and have found far less to be excited about. I'm trying to change my mentality and find one thing every day I love about Granada. So far, I found a square that fills with birds at dusk. Hundreds of them. I don't know if they are swallows or finches (little gray bellies) but they chirp and chirp and chirp. It's really kind of magical. Yesterday I did see a poor fellow get pooped on. I think the trick is to walk on the outside of the square, away from toilet-range.

And here's the thing about Spain: everybody speaks SPANISH! Fast. I feel like a bumbling idiot trying to put a sentence together. I'm looking forward to getting to a better place with that. I understand a lot. It's Spanish only in my class and I do comprehend most of what she's saying. It's when it comes to speaking that I freeze up. If I could pause, compose my thoughts, then present I'd be fine. I feel like when someone says something to you and 5 minutes later you think of the perfect comeback but the moment has passed... all the time. This gypsy woman grabbed me yesterday and even though I said No No No she insisted on giving me a bit of rosemary she ripped of some tree and telling me my fortune. When I gave her back the rosemary and told her I had no money for her she got mad. 5 minutes later I thought of several Spanish phrases to say that I hadn't ASKED for her stupid fortune and that SHE grabbed ME even though I tried to get away. Instead, she just got to tell me off and I just stood there and took it.

Anyways. How about my class? I go from 9 to 1 every day. Yesterday there were about 9 students and today there were 14. People are still shuffling around as they decide if their assigned class is too easy or to hard for them. There are 3 other girls from Seattle in my class, if you can believe that. There is also one girl from England, one guy from Canada, another two from New Mexico... I'm not sure about the rest. The girl from England is really nice. She's trying to help me find a place since I'm still in a hostel. Since I don't have a phone it's hard to call on every place (it cost me 4 euros to make three calls today) but I'm hopeful everything will work out.

Today our assignment in class was to speak to each other and find out what similarities or differences we had. All in Spanish, mind you. I found out the primary difference between me and my classmates is the ten years I have on them. Thankfully they all think I look much younger. (Tosses hair back. That's right. Chubby cheeks mean youthful good looks. Right? Right?) When one guy was trying to explain that he and another classmate both don't like a popular musical artist the teacher gave him a look like she didn't know who the artist was. He tried to explain in Spanish, "Uh... Mujer Gaga?" It funny. I'm still laughing about that one.

There are moments in class that remind me of the David Sedaris story where he describes being in French class and trying to explain what Easter is (in French) to the teacher. Surely some of our conversation sounds like that. "A party for the little boy of God, who call his self Jesus. And then he die one day on two morsels of lumber." "The rabbit of Easter, he bring the chocolate." If you want to hear his whole, hilarious story, here it is:



The best, best, best thing about this week is that I get to go to Seville this weekend to see Sela! For the few of you who don't know who Sela is: My step-brother married a lovely woman from Spain when I was in high school. My whole family loved her to death. She was smart as a whip, funny, sweet and a treasured addition to our dinner table conversations. Shortly after I left for college, they divorced and Sela moved back to Seville. I don't think any of my family had contact with her after she left. When I decided to go to Spain, she was first on my list to try to track down. The Spanish have 7 or so names and I thought there would be no way I'd find her. I Googled her (how much do we love Google?) and found her! Miracle of miracles. And she remembered me and was super excited to see me as well. So, that's where I go this weekend.

Ok. Off to do homework! I bought myself a Spanish/English dictionary and am reading a page a day, trying to learn some new words. You know, useful ones like: "la enfermedad de las vacas locas" (mad cow disease) and "embarazo" (either pregnant, obstruction or embarassment. Depends.). Wish me luck!