Meeting our Señoras for the 1st time

This morning (Sunday Aug 31) we woke up, eat breakfast, and brought our suitcases down from our rooms and placed them in the hotel lobby. Today we were suppose to meet our host families at 2:00 in the lobby, because they were al coming to pick us up. I can't say I wasn't nervous for this moment, because I was. I kind of liked living with all my friends, who I already knew, especially in a nice hotel. So to be honest I was kind of nervous wondering if she was going to like me or whether or not I was going to be able to understand what she was saying to me. Also, I was trying to picture what she was going to look like. So many thoughts were running through my head but I think I finally decided that she was probably this cute, little, old, spanish women, 5' 1', stylish clothes and nicely done hair.......But of course I was wrong.....

At 2:00 they arrived one by one in the lobby of the hotel and each señora was introduced to one of us. My señora's name was Carmen. She was a bigger lady, dark hair, cute style (I knew that would be the case...we are in Europe...haha) extremely nice and a great personality. After greeting one another and performing the European double kiss, Carmen tried to ask me a question in her broken english. This is literally how it sounded "Jew likey everyting?.. jew know da food?" haha. I was cracking up. I smiled and told her that I love all kinds of food and way willing to try everything. She smiled, nodded and looked relieved. Now more relaxed considering we had just broken the ice Carmen and I went outside the hotel to grab a taxi to her house. I said goodbye to all my friends and we decided to meet up the following day to figure out where everyone was living.

We arrived 5 minutes later at 100 Camino de Ronda apartment 5C. We walked into the lobby, squeezed ourselves and the luggage in the elevator and went up to the fifth floor. I entered into the living room, to which I first caught glimpse of Carmen's son Javier sleeping on the couch with no shirt and his pot belly sticking out...Lovely...just my luck!!! After waking him up and saying "hi" carmen showed me to my room. It was simple, but cute. I had a large window that looked out to the street, a small desk, an armoire, a bookshelf and a nightstand. The decorations in the room were kind of lacking. Above my bed were 3 figures, 2 of cows and the other of a moon. They were the kind of decorations used to decorate a baby's room. It was soo funny. But, hey what more could I ask for...right?

I immediately began to unpack both my suitcases putting everything away and trying to make myself at home. When I finished Carmen called me to dinner. I walked into the living room, and sat down where she told me to sit. Dinner was of course amazing. It could best be described as stew bull little medallions of beef, and a whole bunch of potatoes. It was full of flavor. Right away I knew she was an amazing cook and with the portions she was serving me and the way I like to eat, I knew that I would have to do a lot of walking throughout the city to prevent blowing up and gaining 15 lbs. haha.

Life Across the Atlantic

Well I just recently decided to start this blog because I know a couple years from now , when I'm looking back on my semester abroad I will not be able to remember every exciting and cool moment that I experience here in Granada. So by writing in this blog I hope to create a kind of electric journal that I wont be able to lose and will have to remind me of what is most likely going to be the best time of my life.

Well from the beginning.... Friday August 29th 2009, after a whole summer of packing the suitcases and making sure everything I was bring was at least decently fashionable, Mom and Dad drove me to JFK airport where I boarded a 7 hour flight with 7 other fellow Bucknell friends to Madrid Spain to begin our 4 month long stay in the south of Spain. The plane ride was relatively quick, or at least it felt like the time went by a lot sooner than most flights. Maybe it was because of the on demand movies and music that each seat was given. So while listening to a Rascal Flatts album, I sat back, relaxed and began to think of the one the once in a lifetime oportunity that I was about to undertake.

Well before I knew it, we arrived in Madrid Barajas International Airport, where the supposed-to-be-jet-lagged group appeared excited to begin the adventure. After picking up our luggage... no problems..Thank God!.. at leaving the airport, we went outside to find Professor McKinney. There we greeted each other, spoke our first words of Spanish, and boarded our 5 hour bus ride to our final destination city... Granada.! Although I tried to stay up to catch a glimpse of beautiful Spain, the bumps in the road and the lack of sleep on the plane, soon put me to sleep.

We arrived in Granada around 5 pm and first checked into a hotel to for the first 2 nights there, to get some rest and settle in. The hotel was gorgeous! Hotel Basilios was once a convent and was now turned into a modern hotel, which still kept its original charm and historic character. That night we had a group dinner with Professor McKinney, his wife and kids, and Fatima our Bucknell en Espana director. I was at first taken back when I met Fatima for the first time. She wasn't what I expected her to look like. I pictured a older, heavier, short women, but instead i was proven wrong. Fatima is young, pretty, in her upper thirties and literally one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She is easy to talk with and truly cares about all of us, making sure we feel comfortable, teaching us a whole bunch about Spanish culture and traditions, and helping us each step along the way.

The first two nights we ate a restaurant called Bordeaux. It was amazing. I couldn't wait to eat authentic spanish cuisine. For those of you who all know me... I love to eat!!!

We had calamari over roasted potatoes which were amazing. The calamari was so tender and light, probably the best calamari I have ever eaten. To wash it all down, we had some sangria. Literally my favorite drink. For those who don't know what it is, its red wine and Fanta limon (like sprite) and various pieces of fruit, normally peaches or oranges are tossed in as well. The drink is not strong at all and is just all-around enjoyable to eat.

Following dinner, Fatima and professor McKinney, took us to the center of Granada, to "la fuente de las batallas" to see the night life. I could walk around without a smile on my face. The city was gorgeous at night and at that moment I couldn't believe that I would be studying here for a whole week. After about an hour of exploring we returned to the hotel and went to bed.