My first few days and Mi Familia!

That One Time in Granada... I accidentally agreed to doing Zumba classes. Yes, this actually happened. I have been here for about 3 days now and for the first 1 or 2 the only words in Spanish that I could say to my host family were "si" and "no." It isn't that I don't know more, it was just I froze up because I was nervous. Now that I'm much more comfortable here I can have bits and pieces of conversations! :)

My host family has been super awesome! Ana, mi madre, has shown me around Granada, taken me to her gym and shown me off to many of her friends (including her Zumba instructor). She is a great chef and is a Estética... it is like an herbal medicine and bodily health kind of occupation. She has shown me how she makes the all natural soap that she sells and cooks with all natural ingredients. I call my host father Pepé and he is a very talkative man. Right now, our conversations are more like him talking at me rather than talking with me but I know it will soon be better. I haven't had a chance to ask him what he does but he is very smart and has a private library. I also have a host brother named Hosé. He hasn't been around much because he has been at the beach for the past 2 days but he is 28, lives here with his parents (normal in Spain because of the poor economy) and works during the day however I do not know where.

The first day that I got here, Sunday, was just hanging with my family. I swam in my family's private pool (I know! Lucky right?), got a tour of the city by mi madre and set up in my room. Monday was full of orientation type stuff. My class met in at the post office, a central meeting point in the city which is at most a 30 min walk from anyones house (20 for me). We then were shown our class building and the office of the study abroad company (CEA), each about a 5 min walk from the post office. We did the boring rules and blah blah blah orientation stuff and then went on a "practical city tour." It was amazing to see all the different parts of Granada (many Muslim pockets and Catholic cathedrals).
The following day was the first day with a normal class schedule: 9:00 - 11:00 AM, break 11:00 - 11:30, and class 11:30 - 1:30. Lunch in Spain is the biggest meal of the day and families eat together so everyone goes home to eat with there family. After a short siesta time, we usually have some activity planned through CEA in the afternoon for a few hours and then lots of homework to do at night (sometimes I forget this is an 8 credit class and not vacation).

Ill post some pictures of my tours of Granada soon! Feel free to comment any questions that you have and Ill do my best to answer them ASAP:)

¡Vamos Azul!
Ian