First week of CLASSSS

I am currently listening exclusively to the Amelie soundtrack on my iTunes, and rightly so, because I just booked my flight to PARIS TO MEET ALEX!!!!! We aren’t going til the end of March but it feels so good to finally have my first aventura booked! WOOOOO I’m also going back to London with her after Paris so that’ll be just as exciting!

So as the title states, I just finished my first week of class! I thought for sure the classes here would be a breeze and I had prevailed over the Grinnell educational system, tricking them into giving me a 5 month European vacation. NOPE! Although the workload isn’t too heavy now, I already know based on syllabi that I am gonna be put to WORK in my classes, and it does make it a bit more difficult that they’re all in Spanish. Also, my classes every day start at 8:45am, which is earlier than all but one of the classes I have taken at Grinnell! Boooo. My Spanish language and grammar class is gonna kick my butt. I got placed into the highest level which I was really excited about, but even based on the first few days of work I am coming to see that my grammar is not where it needs to be despite all the Spanish grammar that has been pounded into my head over the years. There are also presentations and such that I’ll have to give in that class. I’m also taking a class on gypsies in Spain, and so far I REALLY like it but I know it’s going to be a lot of work as well. The first night’s homework consisted of a 51-page Spanish reading! And the final is either to organize some sort of social intervention project or write a 20-30 page paper. I swear when I read about the 20-30 paper I could hear from across the ocean the aura of Grinnell cackling at me for thinking I’d completely escape its workload. Darn.

I’m also looking to take a class at the University of Granada, although that won’t be finalized until next week. I’m hoping to take a psych class although the pickinz are slim. ALSO, I didn’t realize how big the University is—70,000 students enrolled!! But I think it’ll be a great experience to get in a class and meet some Spanish students. I’m also currently signed up for an intercambio, which is basically where I get paired up with a University student who wants to practice his English, and we meet up and practice both English and Spanish. Woo!

So my 4^th class is Flamencoooooo! I am loving it so far, but it’s harder than I would have imagined! We’re only learning basic movements as of now, and I find myself having no problems doing the footwork but adding all the arm movement is tough! HA luckily when I come home from class my Señora asks me what I learned and then we practice together. She actually knows a bit already and is pretty good, but wants to learn some more! Meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out a way to viably transfer these Flamenco moves for Harris parties when I return to Grinnell  :P

Me, Katy, Margaret, Kim, Rob, Chelsea, Sarah, Molly, Liz (Hannah was takin' the pic!)

Friday a group of us decided to go on a hike in Monachil, a little town next to Granada and in the Sierra Nevada. It was so great! The sun was beaming down on us all day so I got some color, we got a good workout in, and round trip transportation cost less than 5€! Definitely a day well-spent. Later that night I finally got to play some soccer with a few people from the IES program! It was GRAAAAND to touch a ball again and I definitely plan on attending those pick-up games every Friday, but I’m still looking for a more organized team to play with as well.

So that was my 3^rd time working out this week. I didn’t reach my goal of running every day this week, but let’s be honest, that was probably the most unfeasible goal I have ever set. This week I ran by el rio Genil with my friend Katy; it’s a pretty good distance so I’m sure I’ll be making more runs that way again! I’m happy things are started to fall into place as far as getting into a routine of working out in between class.

Last night, Saturday, I finally met up with Brittany to go out! I hadn’t really hung out with her since our Strikers soccer days so it was the besssssst to catch up. Hahaha I experienced my first legitimate botellon, where a lot of people meet up in a parking lot to drink. Afterward we went to la discoteca Mae West, which is the biggest in Granada and really is just massive. They have 3 distinct dance areas, some with 2 floors, and all playing different music. I felt like we were amongst the younger people in the discoteca, which isn’t really to my liking, but at least we got a solid 4 hours of dancing in! Brittany and her roommate had made friends with a couple of Spanish guys earlier so we hung out with them for most of the night before heading home at 6:30am! Maaaaaan I’m getting good at this staying up late thing! It’s almost as if I’ve had practice before :D