Finally in Granada, y me encanta (I love it)

This one is going to be super long-- so sorry!! I just have a lot to say now that I've finally got Internet :)

¡Hola a todos! I have finally arrived in Granada where I will be living for four months. My roommate Carol and I met our host mom María José, who is wonderful, two nights ago and she walked with us to our apartment from the bus stop. The apartment is very nice! Carol and I have a big room- we each have a twin bed, huge armoire, bookshelf and nightstand, and we share a table with two chairs for studying.

No Inglés-
María José doesn't understand any English, so we have to figure out how to say every single thing we want to say in Spanish. I can understand her most of the time, and when I don't understand she will add hand motions to help! Yesterday she was telling me that she doesn't buy red meat, only chicken and lamb. But I wasn't sure what the word for lamb was, so I was trying to figure out if it indeed was lamb she was talking about. So I baaaaa'd and then we agreed that we understood each other! hahaha

Very Organized-
One of the first things María José said when she showed us our room was that she really likes things organized, and she wasn't kidding! She told us which shelf is for our shoes, which container is for our bathroom supplies, which place we should hang our purses vs. where we should hang our towels, etc. And then I don't think she liked how I organized my books because when we came back from our Granada tour with API she had reorganized them and also made my bed neater than when I left it! She also hung up my collage photo of family and friends by my bed for me, which was great :)

Brrrr-
I need to get used to being cold when inside until the weather warms up! They (most Spanish people) don't have central heating, just a space heater in the main rooms. However, it's turned off every night at 11 (and most of them are off during the day too) so it gets realllllly cold while you sleep! Carol and I were saying we felt like burritos the first night when we got in bed because we were wrapped in so many blankets! But the outside weather should be better soon; it's uncharacteristically cold here, I know this because María José keeps saying how freezing it is!

Deliciosa-
The food is good so far! Here they eat eggs for lunch or dinner, not breakfast, so the first night we had soup, bread and a ham and cheese omelett for dinner. Both breakfasts so far have been café con leche (SUPER STRONG coffee with half milk) and two pieces of toast with butter and jam. I am trying to get used to eating a small breakfast and then not again until 2 or 3- then dinner is not until 9 or 10. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, too. Every single meal has bread, which I love :)
Also, every bar in Granada gives you free tapas (snacks) with every single drink! For example, Carol and I went to a bar yesterday afternoon while we were shopping (I bought super cheap boots!), and we each got a drink. We both picked for our tapas a tenderloin sandwich with garlic aioli. The sandwiches were on baguette pieces and pretty big! The total bill for a beer, a tinto (wine spritzer thingy) and two sandwiches was only 5 Euros!!! So less than $7 American! When we went out last night I forgot about this (we were at a bar at like midnight, it seems like they would stop by then) and Carol and I each got a beer, which added up to 4.40 Euro. We got literally dinner-sized turkey and cheese paninis with french fries, another dinner with our drinks. We walk everywhere here, but the tapas are what's going to make me fat!! :)

Siesta-
After lunch we have siesta, yes they still do it here! I didn't take a nap yesterday since we got a whole night of sleep the night before, but María José and Carol both slept for a few hours. Clubs here don't even open until midnight though so I am going to need a siesta today! Even the restaurants and stores (except for big chains) close for siesta. We went out last night and left while there were still a LOT of people at the discoteca, and we got home at 4:45! So I definitely understand the need for a nap!

Always late-
Speaking of relaxing, I'm really working to get used to Spanish time! For example, the program directors were supposed to meet us at the airport at 1 p.m. on Monday. They didn't get there until around 1:20 and it drove me crazy! When we would meet up to go on excursions in Madrid, we would never leave "on time"- always at least 10 or 15 minutes late. It makes me crazy but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Una bebe!-
Yesterday morning, María José's daughter came to drop off her baby daughter for a few hours. Her name is Paula and she is sooo adorable! María José gave her a chunk of baguette (what else?!?) and she ate some of it and played with it while she watched Carol and I eat our own bread at breakfast. It was very different but really cool to see María José talking to her granddaughter in Spanish- an 11-month-old can understand more Spanish than I can!!

Vale (Okay), I think I'm going to turn on the TV so I can practice my listening skills (I have to take a placement test on Monday and I want to do well!). My weekend is free for fun, then Monday we have our placement test. Then classes don't start until a week from Monday!

¡Hasta luego! -Haley