View from Carmen de la Universidad de Granada

Video from Carmen de la Universidad de Granada

Picturas de mi Primero Dia!

Pictures:

1: Granada at night

2: Granada at night

3: Inside Hotel Basilios

4: Lobby of Hotel Basilios

5: View from my room

Dia Dos en La Hotel Basilio

As always the adventures never cease in my life. Today I woke up to a freezing room, although normally enjoyed, it was a little below my comfort level. Breakfast was great although it's being said that a normal breakfast here consists of just bread with jam or coffee. This is ideal, because if I continue to eat like an American, I am surely to look like the stereotypical one; all I need is a pair of Crocs and a shirt that says I <3>

When my profesor mentioned "mosquitas" I simply assumed he was talking about the bugs, until we walked into one (a mosque); they are absolutely stunning (see pictures for a better description). We took a break and had limonada con yerbuenas (limeaide with basil) which was surprisingly good. It was at this time that I found all of my embarrassing sweat marks.

After walking around el Albaycin, we had some free time to have our own unsupervised adventures. On sundays, literally no stores are open. Not even the supermercados (super markets). The only things open are restaurants and these little Arab stores with cheap jewelry and clothes; a tourist trap most likely (of course being a tourist we stopped in every single one). During our walk I discovered harem pants are huge here, and blondes stick out like a sore thumb ( naturally 3 of us are blonde). One man went up to my friend and looked like he wanted to jokingly fight her. Of course we couldn't understand him so he and his friends continued to laugh as we walked away. I went into one of the stores to ask how much a pair of the harem pants were (is 10 euros too much?) and proceeded to have a conversation with the store owner. He asked where I was from and how long I was staying and it was then that the conversation ended because I could no longer understand him. He then asked my name and said "me encanta" which I'm pretty sure means I love you ( or my name). I said thank you and I'll think about the pants... This was then followed by a swift exit

The city is a bit dull on Sundays during siesta so we all headed back to the hotel. It is now 6:00 pm and time for a nice nap. Enjoy the videos and pictures!

PS I am incredibly tempted to rent a segway...is that too tacky?

Picture Descriptions:

Picture 1: View from Mirador de San Nicolas

Picture 2: View from Mirador se San Nicolas

Picture 3: View of La Alhambra

La Primera Dia en Granada!

Finally! I am in Granada!! The plane ride was certainly sub par thanks to a certain male, mal educado flight attendant. The plane was very narrow so everyone was packing their bags into various overhead compartmens and I could not find room for mine (did I mention my bag could fit a small adult?) so I tried to hide my massive bag under my legs. This wonderful flight attendant of course caught me and told me to put the bag above me which I indicated I could not do, so he made me take everything out of my bag to make it fit; he didn't care where the books, computer, jewelry etc. went as long as the ba itself was above. Joyous- everything ins my bag was spread about the plane for all to see or steal. He also managed to knock me sideways when I would try to cross my legs in the aisle; every time I tried, instead of asking me to keep my legs out of the 1ft wide aisle, he charged at them and hit them as hard as he could to let me know that he didn't approve of me. Why he took his anger out on me, I'll never know...

After the glorious plane ride we had a five hour bus ride. My professor mentioned to me today that I fell asleep for most of the bus ride which he caught on video. How fun...

The group checked into a hotel and got ready to go to dinner. Hotel Basilio is an old monastery and is beautiful. A shower was desperately needed.

We ate dinner with Fatima, Professor McKinney and his family. Tapas are great and there was plenty to be had. After a round of a few tapas we each got our own plate of calamari with potatoes. Although very heavy with a great deal of oil they were delicioso. Sangria was wonderful as usual.

While walking around we found a group of men in front of the correos. A truck drove by and they all started to cheer; we stayed to find out why... Two older interesting women got out of the truck wearing scantily clad outfits fit for a 13 year old stripper (which accentuated their "looseness" and lack of exercise). It turns out they were the entertainment for a bachelor party. The women proceeded to put a collar and leash around the lucky man and proceeded to whip him and dance with him on the back of the truck. Classy...

Everyone was too pooped to go out so we headed to bed. Hasta manana...

more pictures to come!