A Day in the Life

First off, I'd like to dedicate my 4th post to my biggest blogging fans; my grandparents! Miss you Mamaw and Papaw, don't have too much fun without me and hopefully I can Skype into Thanksgiving dinner?! XOXO

Anyways, I know a lot of you are probably sitting at home, thinking about me and wondering "Hm, what exactly does Molly do all day? Probably just sit around and drink Sangria," and to that I have two responses: 1. Flattering that you're thinking of me and 2. You are (kind of) right. But I do (some) other stuff too.

But you don't have to wonder any longer! Because today's blog post is going to give you a typical run through of my days here in Granada!

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MOLLY IN SPAIN
7:45- Alarm goes off, push snooze.
7:54- Alarm goes off again, push snooze.
8:04- Alarm goes off again, contemplate getting up.
8:10- Realize I have 10 minutes to get ready for class throw on clothes (but nice ones because HEAVEN FORBID anyone in Spain look like they may not be wearing the nicest outfit they own) and get ready.
8:20- Tiptoe through the house because Pilar does not wake up until 11 everyday, grab some bread and head out the door.
8:24- Realize I have 6 minutes to get to class and 10 minutes still to walk, panic, and speed walk through town- still holding my bread.
8:25- Remember that my professor doesn't feel the need to get to class until 8:40 anyway and relax a little.
8:26- Wait 10 minutes at a cross walk with me and 50 of my closest Granadino friends. Act like I am also Spanish and try to hide the fact that I am stuffing bread in my mouth.
8:35- Arrive to class slightly sweaty and breathing hard, sit down, and try to stay awake for the next 6 hours.
8:36- Nod off slightly, wake up suddenly and hope no one noticed (repeat every 15 min for the next 6 hours).
8:36-2:30- Suffer through 6 straight hours of class in which I go through a range of emotions; including, but not limited to: exhaustion, appreciation, surprise, apathy, sympathy, intrigue and confusion. Although mostly a lot of hate once I get to Paco's geography class where I spend most of the time contemplating ways to get out of class (best idea I've got so far is pulling the fire alarm so clearly more contemplating needs to be done) .
2:30 - Start the walk home from my school into the center of town (aka the touristy expensive part where I can't buy anything cheap) and soak in the Spanish air (usually about 65 degrees, sunny, and a faint smell of cheese). On my walk home I also pretend I am a native and pretend not to feel bad for all the tourists with their maps out just trying to find the Alhambra.
2:40- Arrive back at Pilar's where she and her brother, Antonio (a hairdresser/makeup artist in Granada) are preparing 'comida' (lunch). Depending on the smell, I either get excited about comida or contemplate my method of suffering through another tasteless lentil soup (I usually go with shove as quickly as possible into mouth and try not to taste/get full).
3:00- Begin eating comida. By 3, Pilar is all got up on her entertainment gossip so we now switch the channel to news. We then proceed to eat and watch news as Pilar commentates with lots of 'Por Dios!' or, 'Pobrecitos!' or 'Que Pena!'. Depending on the mood I also throw in a couple gasps and 'pobrecitos' in too to add to the conversation.
3:30- I am now extremely full, am all caught up (from what I pieced together) on my Spanish/world news, and ready for a siesta. This is when Violeta gets most of her petting time with me in and lays on my lap until I decide I've had enough.
4:00- Depending on how tired I am, I may or may not stay in the living room and watch the Spanish version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'. I actually do learn a lot about Spain from this show and if there's ever any American fact-questions I get to impress Pilar with my abundance of knowledge.
4:20- At this point, I usually can't keep my eyes open any longer and get ready to siesta. There's nothing to do anyway at this time since everything's closed so I never feel guilty about taking at least an hour nap. At home I can only nap if I'm extremely exhausted or really relaxed but I somehow have zero issues with napping all the time in Spain. In fact I'd say I'm some what of a nap pro now.
6:00- By 6, I've usually woken up and decided it's time to do something with the rest of my day. Typically, I'll talk some friends into meeting me at a café where we spend 20-30 minutes doing our extremely rigorous homework (shout out to muh girl Mary McClain who actually has written papers and stuff- you're working hard!), drink coffee (café con leche), and talk about how awesome it is to be in Spain.
8:00- By 8 it's dark and I am sick of doing random stuff on the internet and am satisfied with all the more trips we've decided to plan. *Exception- if it is Thursday, my friends and I usually reward ourselves for finishing another hard week with some delicious gelato.
9:15- Dinner time! My favorite meal of the day because I get things like hamburgers, pizza, and weird Spanish grilled cheeses! I also ALWAYS get a bowl of salty broth-soup, and an Activia yogurt. My favorite flavor of Activia is strawberry but Pilar's favorite to give me is Raisin. I'm actually starting to like it a little bit.
10:00- This is my shower time. Since it's been a little bit chillier recently (45-55 at night) Pilar has been putting my towel and the bath mat next to the space heater so that they're warm for me, and for that I don't care if she serves me lentil soup every day.
10:30 - Depending on the day, I either 1. Go over to the student apartments where a lot of my friends live, to hang out and cook and talk to some hilarious Spanish people who live with them  2. Go to a tapas bar to drink some wine/sangria and hang out, or 3. Get ready to go out to a discoteca.
1AM-6AM- Depending on if it's a weeknight or not I either go to bed at either 1. 1:00 AM, 2. 3 AM  or 3. 6AM if we went to a discoteca. It doesn't matter the day or the time, there are always people out in my alley yelling or coughing or breathing- everything echoes so I can literally hear EVERYTHING. I usually get pretty angry about this, check outside, glare down at people if they're close, and get back into bed where I end up passing out, very satisfied with another day in Granada.
7:45AM or 12PM(Thur-Sun)- Do it all again!

*Exceptions: Weekends we try to do something fun like A. Hike, B. Travel (Cordoba was amazing!) or C. Bake (last weekend we made delicious nutella cookies from scratch that I am quite proud of) and Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to 3 hours of teaching English instead of class but more on that later!

That has been my life for the past 5 weeks and I can't say I'm displeased with it. Unfortunately it is now 1:37 AM and my 6 hours of classes starts sooner than I would like. Thanks all for reading!

Here's some pics of Cordoba to close this out and add some color to this post:

Life as a Spaniard

Ok so before I go into my normal blogging rant about my ridiculous life here in Spain, I'd like to start off on a more serious note and say that after being here for a month now I know without a doubt that studying abroad is definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made. 

Now the  juicy details on my Spanish life here in Granada. 

First off:

CLASSES! Believe it or not, Iactually have a semi-real life here, where I attend 20 hours of class a week.Yes 20. And once I start my internship teaching English, it will be 26 hours. That's like a full time job! Except it's really easy and requires very little work. For my Produción Oral y Escrita (or POE po-a) class, my semester project is to go to 4 different tapas bars, then present a power point to the class talking about each bar and recommending different dishes, granted in Spanish, but seriously? I do have other real work and will have a couple papers but overall it's kind of ridiculously easy. Something tells me my exams will be a different story but we'll get to that when it comes.. The weirdest part about classes here, besides the fact that they all are almost all in Spanish, is that they're two hours long. At home I absolutely dreaded my 1 hr 20 min classes, but somehow I'm adjusting to this whole two hour thing. 50 minute classes are going to seem like nothing when I get back to Wooster next semester. My one English speaking class is called Sustainability in the Mediterranean, it's pretty interesting but I would probably be able to understand the poor teachers better if they just spoke in Spanish.. My very very least favorite class (aka I really hate it) is called Geografía de España, and it is absolutely horrific. The professor (Paco) talks forever about absolutely nothing, is completely disorganized, and cannot write on a white board to save his life. He seems pretty intelligent and knowledgable, but teaching is just really not his speciality. Which is unfortunate for us. 

Exhibit A of whiteboard skills by Paco:

Besides Paco and his Geography class, my academic part of Spanish life is going pretty well. The most difficult part is getting myself to focus on what my professors are actually saying because trust me it is super easy to tune out another language. Spanishdict.com and GoogleTranslate are becoming some of my best friends these days. 

Besides class I have also been doing some Traveling! Two weekends ago, my friends and I decided to sign up for a daytrip to Sevilla! Sevilla is actually the capital of the region that I live in (Andalusia) and is the third largest city after Madrid and Barcelona. It was definitely a lot bigger and more touristy than Granada, but the Cathedral was quite beautiful and later we sat along side the Guadalqivir River and enjoyed our day in one of the more 'traditional' Spanish cities. The best way I can describe the city is if Los Angeles and Paris got together, Sevilla would be their very cultural little child; lots of palm trees and european architecture. Here are some pictures:

The very next day, we decided to take a spontaneous trip to the beach. We didn't do a whole lot of research but had heard some good things about Nerja, and decided to book the 18 Euro roundtrip bus the night before! Nerja was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It had a very mediterranean/Greece-ish vibe; lots of white houses with blue doors, cliffs, rocks, and views to die for. We basically just laid on the beach all day which was quite nice. We had had a very stressful first week of classes and the break was well deserved... (ha). I also ate the most delicious ice cream I have ever had there, and now will forever associate Nerja with deliciousness and beauty. For anyone looking to go to Spain, I highly recommend any of the little beach towns along the Costa del Sol! Watch out though, all the old women love being topless. 

Tomorrow (Friday October 19th) we will take our first group 'field-trip' as a program to Madrid and Toledo for the weekend. I'm excited to see both cities because I really know nothing about either of them besides that Madrid is huge. Pilar, my host mom, says she absolutely loves Madrid, but she also says she loves a lot of things. Including these fish things: 

So, her word is a bit compromised. Speaking of Pilar, she is still fantastic and makes me laugh all the time. She's just always making jokes and playing with Violeta (who is desperate need of a bath) and gasping/yelling at the TV. We have had some good times together. Sometimes she calls me 'hija' which means daughter, which is very cute. (Don't worry Mom, she could never replace you- although she does do my laundry for me once a week..) Last night when I was walking home, some skateboarding kids hit me in the ankle with their skateboard - which was extremely painful - and when I told her I seriously thought she was going to go down there and try to find them and hit them with their own skateboards. Overall I couldn't have asked for a better host mom. Whenever I get dressed up to go out she says "Que guapisima!!" or "Ayy que bonita!" which basically just means how pretty/beautiful! Which is a great confidence boost so thanks Pilar. Here is the dynamic duo in person:

I have also officially booked my first two international trips, one to Copenhagen November 1-4 (yay Molly Recka! I'm coming for ya!!) and one to London the last weekend of November. I'm SUPER excited for both trips, and feel like it will actually be pretty interesting to compare Mediterranean European life with Scandinavian European life and Western European life. 

There are ton of other things I want to say so I think I'm just going to combine them into a little section I'd like to call -

Molly's Important Observations about Spain:

1. Babies. Everyone has a baby. If you are between the ages of 20-50, and are not single, you have a baby or are pregnant. There are so many babies everywhere. Walking around Granada is a constant struggle to dodge the strollers. Luckily, all of these little Spanish babies are adorable. I have never seen such cute attractive babies wearing such beautiful clothing. I am extremely jealous. I am also jealous of their strollers. My life quality would improve drastically if I got to be pushed around Granada while simultaneously sitting and eating. 

2. Shoe stores. They are EVERYWHERE. I'd say on any given block in Spain there is a least 2 shoe stores. I don't really get it but I hate it because it's so tempting to just walk in there all the time.. Have to fight the urge.

3. Dreadlocks. I was warned of the hippiness of Granada but didn't fully grasp how true it was until living here for awhile. I have never EVER seen so many dreadlocks. Yesterday I saw a guy who was completely bald but the little hair that he did have was dreaded. WHAT. I don't know exactly what it is about Granada that attracts all the hippies, besides it maybe being a very student-populous city, but they are everywhere and because of that there are a ton of vegetarian cafes and bars which is pretty cool. I live in a pretty cool city.

4. Smoking. Everyone smokes. They do not care about their lungs. Smoking is just what you do. I've gotten used to smoke being blown in my face all the time. I don't even get mad anymore.

5. Dogs. Everyone has a dog. This is not a blanket statement. There are dogs everywhere. Currently there is a little dog wandering around the cafe I'm in just hanging out. I don't think it is even with someone it's just hanging out. This also means that there is dog poop everywhere. You have to watch your every step. It only took one unfortunate misstep to make me EXTREMELY cautious of where I walk. I don't know what these dogs are eating but they need some digestive help. Also baths. They could all use baths. ESPECIALLY VIOLETA. She is very cute but she smells like she just hangs out in a sewer all day. Which is unfortunate for me mostly because she sits next to me while I eat so I sort of have to only breath through my mouth which is really difficult when you're trying to put food in your mouth. Rough times. 

Okay that's all I got for now, more extremely important/accurate observations to be added next blog post.

So far what I've learned most about blogging is that I'm very bad at blogging. I have all these ideas to write about but I never know where to start! Word vomit is usually the result (aka currently). 

Thanks for reading! Adios! 

Me hiking around Granada. Although I look calm and happy I really wanted to lay down and die because to get to that point you literally have to hike up at a 70 degree angle. Needless to say I was sore for days after that. 

Please Stop Kissing Me

HOLA QUE TAL?! I am writing from a cafe because the wifi (WeeFee) at my homestay is broken :/ But orientation is done now and I have WAY too much free time.. I mostly spend it at the cafe I'm in right now and I think the guy who works here thinks I am a crazy American girl who does nothing but go on facebook all day, which in his defense is mildly accurate. Anyways, I really love everyone that I've met so far in a our little program (shout out to you guys if you're reading this!), which is good because we pretty much do everything together, including some scheduled trips to Madrid, Toledo, and Sevilla (YAY!!).

I literally have 50 things to say but something tells me the 5 people that will probably read this blog don't want to hear about all of them so I'll have to pick and choose. Mostly, Spain is awesome. It's been so wonderful living in a place that isn't characterized by cornfields, identical houses, and a Wal-Mart always 5 minutes away. It's pretty ridiculous how beautiful a country Spain is and Granada is certainly no exception. I was in a bad mood the other day because we had been walking around all day, my feet hurt, and I wanted to be siestaing or connected to the rest of the world but was being forced to wander around the city for 3 hours as part of a scavenger hunt activity. But then at one point we walked up a steep hill in the Albayzin, turned the corner, and saw this view:

And then I wasn't in such a bad mood anymore.

By the way, the Albayzin is the old arabic part of town- it's totally beautiful but quite a tolling task to walk around because it was built on a freaking mountainside and instead of normal brick streets or concrete all the side walks and streets are made with these little round stones that REALLY hurt to walk on. But it's an awesome area of town and it's filled with a weird mixture of arabic/moorish architecture and catholic churches and monuments- a true testament to Spain's crazy religious history. 

As far as culture shock goes, I'm doing pretty alright. Believe it or not, a lot of the weird little culture facts they tell you in Spanish class are actually pretty true. For instance, the whole kiss on the cheek thing as a greeting? Totally true. I have never been kissed so much in my life by complete strangers. I'm pretty weird about it too I always forget they're going to do it and then all of a sudden I'm being grabbed and someone's lips are on my face. I guess what better way to meet someone than to put your faces as close together as possible. 

Another Spanish culture tidbit that's turned out to be true: the siesta. From 1:30-5 there is absolutely nothing to do except go to a cafe or go home. No businesses are open, no stores, no banks, no class. Everything here is just SO laid back and my impatient self has struggled a little bit. For example, classes start Tuesday, and I find out what classes I'm in and when they are Monday afternoon... Meanwhile I just got an e-mail from Wooster saying I need to register for classes for NEXT SEMESTER in a couple weeks.. 

The other big difference in Spanish culture is their meal schedule. It is currently 1:20 in the afternoon and I will not eat 'lunch' until 3-3:15. And I say 'lunch' because its basically a 3 course meal complete with bread, a giant main dish then a salad/soup and fruit for dessert. The servings are HUGE. Instead of eating a decent sized breakfast some snacks, then a normal lunch, then a decent sized dinner, they eat an insane amount of food at 3 in the afternoon then have what would be a lunch for me at 9-10 at night. It's a weird adjustment especially since I prefer eating 5 small meals spread out through the day. I never finish the lunch Pilar (my host mom!) gives me but we recently joked about my 'estomago pequeno'. 

Luckily, the food is all pretty delicious which makes it a little easier. I had my first paella on Tuesday although it had chicken and not seafood, but it was still delicious. Pilar made me a hamburger for dinner the second night I was here which was pretty cute because she called it a little taste of home. Pilar is wonderful and I really couldn't have asked for a better host mom. She's probably 65-70 years old and is so adorable. Her favorite hobbies include watching Spanish news over and over again even if she has already seen the same news clip 5 times that day (this bothers me a lot more than it bothers her) and knitting. She is currently knitting a table runner that she has been working on for a year now. I really don't know what she's going to do with it because I don't see a table 8 feet long anywhere in her house but she seems to enjoy it a lot. She has been really sweet and accommodating and refuses to let me help her with anything. She also manages to somehow comprehend/interpret the broken Spanish I speak to her and talks slowly to me so that I can attempt to understand her. The best part is that she has a little dog (perrita) named Violeta. Violeta is absolutely adorable/a little loco but it's just comforting having a dog that cuddles with me on the couch and runs to greet me when I come in the front door (shout out to Eldee, Violeta will never be as crazy or fun as you but she's a good replacement for now). She has a snaggle tooth that cracks me up because she will look up at you with these big puppy eyes thinkin she's all cute but she has a giant tooth stickin out of her mouth. (See pic) 

Anyways, my first week here has been great! The city is still a little confusing to walk around but I think I'm getting used to it and its so nice being able to walk anywhere and everywhere. I'm pretty excited to start class because I feel like a brain dead bum and I would love a normal schedule (I'm sure everyone who's already in class would like to collectively slap me for saying that). 

But more updates to come later! Hopefully this internet thing will get fixed because I'm having a pretty bad withdrawal.. 

As the Granadino's would say Adio and Hata Luego! (They don't say the 's' in almost everything they say which is SUPER annoying because there are a lot of 's's in words and I can't understand them when they take them out- makes me miss my Spanish teachers talking slowly with an american accent..)

*MUCHOS BESOS* 

Oh ya they also really can't say my name because the double L in MoLLy is pronounced like a Y in Spanish so basically my name is like Moyee. Pilar is constantly saying "MoYEE! COMIDA!" 

I walk by the cathedral everyday to get to the Arcadia center! My house is in the center of town which is awesome but also there's an accordion man who sits outside my window and plays for hours every night. Sounds really cool and European but it really sucks. 

Can I Freak Out Now?

Cheers to my first ever blog post! Never thought I'd be here in the blogging world but everyone else was doing it so here I am! Hopefully my times abroad help with my abilities to resist peer pressure? We'll see.

The plan is to document my time in Spain so I can someday look back on this blog (hopefully blogs are still a thing in the future?) and remember what a naive and uncultured American citizen I was and how this trip transformed me into the all-knowing globalized me of the future.

In 5 days I will be only 3 flights away from living in Spain for 3 months of my life. I've probably been asked if I'm excited for the trip approximately 400 times now and even though I always say yes, truthfully, I don't really feel anything yet. Mostly I'm concerned if my ridiculous sweater collection will fit in my suitcase, if I will I be able to carry my suitcase through the airport without it falling and crushing me, and if wearing a fedora in Spain is really cool or extremely douchey (thoughts anyone?).

I'm sure I'll have my Dorothy "not in Kansas anymore" moment at some point but until then, I decided to make a list of my "Pre-Departure Expectations" of my time in Spain, because truthfully I have no idea how this how thing will go down. So here goes:

Expectation Uno: I will come back back with the ability to communicate to my mexican waiter at El Camps. How cool would I be? No but really. If I come back and I can't speak better Spanish, I want my money back.

Expectation Two: I will see myself in a different light than before. Either more confident, more independent, or maybe even just a little tanner? Probably not that last one but the other two would be great.

Expectation Three: To actually learn about Spain and European culture so I don't have to be that stupid American gringa who pretends to be from Canada. That's not cool.

Expectation Four: I will stop and smell the roses a bit more. From what I've heard the Spanish really know how to live life. Hopefully they can teach me a thing or two.

Expectation Five: That this trip will inspire me to love traveling and to see more of the world! So far my travels consist of 20-25ish US States, Canada, and Mexico. That's more than most people in the world have seen and I feel blessed to have even done that much traveling, but I'd love to do even more. South America I'm comin' for you next.

Right now going to places where I can't speak the language terrifies me, but as some quote I saw on pinterest told me, if you're scared of something you should probably do it. (Which applies in this case but really not in that many cases, let's be honest. I am terrified of jumping off a 200 story building and logic tells me I should absolutely not do that.)

So there's my list. Hopefully I can check off all five when I get back! If not I'll have to rule the trip an absolute failure and that'd be pretty upsetting. :/

Viva Espana, Adios, and cheers to my last five days living in my comfort zone!! Gonna go eat some hot dogs and watch jersey shore. <3