It's been a while...

Yes, I know that it's been a while since I've written.  This week was week two of classes and pretty much just consisted of me getting into the swing of things.  I REALLY like the two women teachers that I have.  Jóse, my Flamenco and Literature teacher, is the only one that I have somewhat mixed feelings about.  I do like him and how passionate that he is about the subjects, but he is really intimidating.  He isn't afraid to tell someone off when they don't give the response that he is looking for.  I'm sort of afraid to participate in his classes.  I really need to start participating though because participation in class is factored into our final grade.  Another thing that I'm a little worried about is how this semester will affect my GPA.  Grades in Spain are on a totally different numeric system, where getting what are considered A's and B's in the U.S. are much more rare and hard to get.  Oh well, there's no point in worrying about it now.  


One day this week I decided to run down a street that I haven't been down since the first week that I was here, all the way back in the beginning on January.  There is a building on the street called Molinos that some classes are held in.  Since I haven't had a class there, I never need to walk down it though.  Since I haven't been down that street since the first week when we took a walking tour of the city I forgot about all of the AMAZING graffiti art that is on it.  After running down Molinos that morning and rediscovering how cool it was, I decided to walk down it before my 11:30AM class that day to take pictures.  Seriously, it's not graffiti, it's artwork.  

Before I start this next topic, I want to make something very clear.  I LOVE my senora Eva and couldn't be happier with her.  However, this past week there have just been a few things that are starting to drive me slightly crazy.  The main thing is that she asks me the exact same questions every single day, multiple times a day.  For example, every day during the week I wake up at 8:15AM, put on somewhat the same running clothes, and go for a run.  Every single day she asks me "vas a correr?!" (are you going running?) Yes... just like I do every day at this time, in these clothes. Other questions that she asks me every day, multiple times a day include "are you studying?" No, I don't study every second of every day.  Then on the weekends "are you going out with your friends tonight?" which is annoying because I usually don't know my plans  until an hour or two before I leave, yet she asks me about it all day long.  


Every single time she sets a meal in front of me she asks "está bien o quieres más?!" (Is this good or do you want more?) This question is usually asked again during the meal and then at the end too. "quieres más?" "quieres más?" "quieres más?" ahhh I'm sorry, but not once have a answered "si".  She still doesn't seem to understand that half the time I am physically incapable of eating the very large amount of food that she give me in the first place. And I hate wasting food.  And I feel bad when I can't eat it all.  I just really, really wish she would catch on...  Okay sorry enough complaining because like I said before, I love Eva and the fact that she is always so caring and happy and sweet.  


Normally there are no Friday classes, since they are either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday.  However, there are four Fridays during the semester that we have class.  Two of those times the Monday/Wednesday classes meet and two of those times the Tuesday/Thursday ones meet.  Yesterday was one of the Fridays that we had classes.  I definitely didn't enjoy having classes on Friday when I'm used to having Friday's off.  That night I went out for tapas with my friends Amy, Rachel, and Sarah.  Amy suggested that we try this place called Cocoa's.  We went there and it was so cute! The walls were covered with mosaics and other designs, such as roses.  They also serve breakfast, tea, coffee, crepes, and sandwiches there. 









It was definitely a pretty girly restaurant, with all of the flowers and colorful artwork on the walls and a lot of tea and coffee drinks. I ordered what I always do, tinto de verano.  I do love that drink but I need to learn what other drinks they have here that I like.  I always get tinto partly because I don't know what else there is.  They also had some great options for tapas at Cocoa's.  The only problem when selecting a tapa in Granada is that most of the time it's hard to understand the descriptions of them on the menu.  Usually I just pick something and hope that it's good, without really knowing what to expect.  One tapas said "crema de calabaza con tortellini y mozzarella."  I knew that calabaza means pumpkin so I decided to try it.  It was different, but had a really good taste to it!


My life here in Granada is just sooo different then my life in Illinois.  I love it here so much and I am so happy to be here.  My classes are going well, the city is gorgeous, and everyone is really nice.  I have met some great people here too.  It's just hard because there are a lot of things that I miss about home.  I miss my mom, dad, and Alyssa SO MUCH.  I also miss my friends and having access to certain things that I don't have here (a car, certain restaurants and stores, etc.).  I'm trying really hard to just focus on being here and enjoying every minute of it, and not think about home.  That's about all for now.  I'll try to write back again soon.