Hola,
The last couple of days have been quite busy. Thursday we had class in the morning again and then our written exam in the evening. After our exams we all decided to grab some tapas and hit the town with our new found sense of freedom. A good solid day. Friday morning we had class again but only for half the time and it was on the rooftop terrace of the IES Center where we have class. It has the most amazing view of the beautiful white Carmens. The Center is a beautiful building in general. From the outside, it looks a little rundown, old, and not anything special. On the inside, however, it is beautiful and has so much character. You walk into a small, very serene courtyard with a fountain. There are three more floors above it and the walkout terrace on top. There is beautiful old tiling everywhere and amazing french doors. It is ancient but beautiful. Anyways, it was nice to have class up there and it went by fast. After class we had a reception with our new professors, which my roommate and I didn't stay at for long. That afternoon I had my oral exam, which was easy and went fairly well I think. After my exam I did a little shopping, my first since I have been there, and loved every minute of it. I have distinctly observed two things the Spaniards do often: eat out and shop. The streets are always full of shoppers and Spaniards are always eating out. Furthermore, they love their zapatos, or shoes. I'm pretty sure there are more shoe stores in this city than clothes stores, and, believe me, there are many clothes stores here. It's crazy. After some shopping we went out for tapas and went to a rock festival that was near my apartment. It was a very interesting scene. It was basically a big punk rockish concert with crazy moshing and a carnival on the side. Right by the concert there were a bunch of kiddy rides and food/drink stands set up everywhere. A little bit random but fun. We hung out fairly late then went home.
Today we attempted to explore the Alhambra, the Moorish palace and fortress in Granada, but realized you have to pay to get into the main part. My art class I am taking will visit the Alhambra many times this semester, so we decided not to pay. It was still fun and we did a little more perusing and shopping after our exploration. My roommate and I decided to stop at the grocery store on the way home to buy some groceries. The grocery stores in Spain are much different from the grocery stores in the states. For one, they close pretty early-- 9 o'clock. Not only is that a little early for me, given that many grocery stores in the states stay open later than that, plus, you have wal-mart that stays open all the time, it is actually really early in Spain. Although restaurants and stores stay open extremely late, grocery stores in Spain close pretty early. This being said, there was a mad rush at about 830 when we got there. It was absolutely packed with people running around like crazy animals. I have never seen anything like it. Also, there were two floors, one with fresh produce, meat, and fish, and one with everything else. Another difference is the kinds of food they sell. The fruit in Spain is great but, aside from that, the selection at the grocery store was very slim. They have their basic fruits, vegetables, meat, and bread, but after that they have very little else, hardly any snacky foods. I guess I never really understood how spoiled we are in the states with all our variety and options. This lack of snacky, processed food is probably another reason the Spaniards are so slim. Needless to say, it was a really fun experience and Danielle and I were inspired to stay home and eat our newly purchased food. I really love the, I guess, cured ham that is popular here, it looks raw but it's not. I love it and plan on having ham sandwiches like every night.
We are having an early night tonight because we are going to work out at our wonderful new gym we just joined. It is the nicest gym I have every seen. Not only do they have your basic weights and elipticals, but they have two pools, a bunch of workout rooms, trainers, and the offer like every class you can think of (spinning, salsa, flamenco, cardio, yoga, pilates, etc.). We are so excited! Funny that my early nights here end at like 1 or 2 a.m. It's definitely going to need some getting used to.
Hasta luego,
Ashley
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