Arrival

Hola!

Just wanted to write to let everyone know that I made it to Granada to my homestay seamlessly. I met a couple of kids from my program in Newark Airport before we boarded, so we all hung out during the layover and they all seem really cool. We were in Malaga overnight last night and just got into Granada this afternoon. Malaga is a sort of vacation spot in the south of Spain where Picasso was born. We went out last night and walked around the decidedly Spanish Malaga streets and found a place for dinner; they were beautiful. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. The dinner was delicious and I had the first of the many kebabs I will eat during my semester abroad. 

We took a bus to Granada this afternoon after some orientation-type activities. The trip was beautiful as we went from the coast to the mountains. All the coastal cities appeared to have all white little houses built on a hillside. As we neared Granada, we could see the Sierra Nevada mountains covered in snow. They were beautiful. In a lot of ways, Granada reminded me of Bogota, but I just saw it briefly. It had some similar architecture and a constant backdrop of the mountains. 

As soon as we arrived in Granada, I met my host mother and she is the sweetest. Her apartment is really great. I don't have a roommate like many of the students, but there are about six other students living in my building and I think not having a roommate will only be better for my spanish. The senora, Maria Rosa, is an artist along with everyone else in her family. The entire apartment is covered in her paintings, and they're really good. I'm impressed. Fittingly, there was a copy of a Klimt hanging in my room when I arrived, similar to the one I had in my room last fall. I met Maria Rosa's mother, who is very old, but very sweet. I also met my homestay brother, Oscar, and he is great. He seems incredibly nice and fun. Dinner was naturally awkward for about 10 minutes, and then conversation flowed really easily. You can tell they love to talk about everything they can think of. We had about a ten minute talk about the Basque country and their exclusivity, another one about Obama, and a final one about Agatha Christie. I think I'm really going to enjoy their company. 

Tomorrow, we have intensive language classes from 9-2 and our senoras are walking us over to the IES building so we'll get to see more of the city. I'll try to remember to bring my camera so I can start documenting the trip. 

Alright, well I'll update again when I get to see the city more. Hopefully I can find a way to post some of my pictures up on this blog. Oh! and please skype me. My skype name is lsinnenberg. Hopefully I'll talk to you soon!