"Chicas......comida!!"

So, I´m pretty sure that Marí Carmen and Pepí have no clue what our names are. It´s all good though because I just love hearing Pepí sing to us, "Chicas....comida!" when it´s time to eat. More recently we have been eating lunch with them and Pepí is very adament that we both find a Spanish boyfriend with lots of dinero (money) and he is also very encouraging of going to fiestas todas las noches (partying every night).

The lifestyle here is SO different. I´m not even kidding. Seriously, students and even regular adults party ALL NIGHT LONG. But the partying is different than the US. Nobody is getting wasted, (well people are but it´s pretty rare), it´s simply going out, staying out late, drinking a little, meeting people and talking and taking pictures and having a good time, flirting it up! The hours of everything are totally different. For me, breakfast is at 8 am before school, lunch is at 2 pm after we come home from school, and dinner is between 8 pm and 9 pm. Siesta occurs between 2 and 5 pm usually. Everything closes down except for major stores, but most restaurants and shops shut down for a few hours mid day. And that, I suppose is when everyone gets the remainder of their sleep from being out the night before! I´m not a very good napper, so I have kind of just been losing sleep because of the late night habits and my inability to nap. I will get used to it one way or another though.

Hhhmmm...let´s see...I´ve had my first two days of school now, and I love it so much. I feel kind of unchallenged because I placed into high intermediate for this month. However it´s only the first few days and I´m sure things will pick up. Plus, it will be nice to have it somewhat easy at the beginning and the opportunity for a little review. I love my teachers, they are so much more animated than college professors back home. I have 9 people in my class (I kid you not. NINE.) This makes it so much easier and it feels so natural to participate because ít´s having a conversation instead of a lecture or discussion group. School is a half hour walk from home, so that´s an hour of walking around just with going to and from school. We walk EVERYWHERE we go. It is the sole reason I have not gained weight. Literally I haven´t even used public transit since being here. And honestly I love it! I will miss the Green Machine which has now been handed over to Jordan, and I will miss cruising around Bellingham but there is something about wandering aimlessly around Granada and getting lost in the maze of streets that is so adventurous and almost magical. (except for when it´s at 2 or 3 in the morning and you really just want to go home and go to bed and you think that the streets must be set up in square blocks because that´s how most cities are but then you find out you are very very wrong, haha. This has happened to Courtney and I twice already and we´ve only been here a week.)

The weather here is so dang hot. It´s pretty cool in the morning but it´s been in the 90´s I´m sure every day, not completely positive because I can´t read celsius but it´s SO HOT. We have air conditioning in our apartment but it is only turned on when Pepí is home and he turns it on. Patriarchal society, interesting, no? Because of all the walking and the heat, Shannon, Courtney and I have reasonably justified our consumption of helado (ice cream) every single day we´ve been here. However, today we have not had it yet! Amazing! I am pretty sure I´ve maintained and possibly even lost weight. The food here is getting pretty good, it´s almost like Marí Carmen didn´t want us to have too high of expectations so she started out alright and has been cooking way better food lately. We eat ham, paella (a Spanish rice dish), we had beef today, lots of bread still, lots of fruit, etc. Love it!

Last night we participated in "el botellon", an event that takes place late at night in a plaza in Granada where lots of young people congregate and basically drink wine and sangria for cheaper than the bars. It is prohibited everywhere else in the city except for that plaza. Our host parents highly encouraged us to go as it´s a good way to meet Spanish students. This is all so interesting, this "going out" business.

OK, well I better get going. Tonight is Friday night so we´re headed to our favorite place for tapas, a Chinese bar called feng shui. The tapas are delicious-chicken wings, calamari, rice, etc. Then who knows where the night will take us. Tomorrow we´re hoping to take the bus and spend the day at the beach. Excelente!

Besos, MacKenzie