Everything That's New in Granada!

Natilla: a pudding-like desert specked with cinnamon!

A typical meal at Ana's house: fried potatoes, fried eggs and a salad, with bread of course!

A close up of the potatoes: cooked in olive oil of course!

Hola Mis Amigos:

So I don’t have any new travel information like the last few blog entries, which I am glad about because I am travelled out for now! I hung out in Granada over the weekend, ate crepes, went on a few runs and bought myself some clothes and shoes out an outdoor market (really cheap!). It was a nice and relaxing weekend in my hometown.

Today I started my volunteering at El Carmelo, which is a private school for kids in Granada. They have English classes everyday for about an hour. So that is where I come in! I got to go to Bart’s English class of 14 and 15 year old Spaniards. It was loads of fun. For an hour the students asked me questions (in English of course) about the USA, my favorite basketball team and player (I said Brandon Roy of the Trail Blazers of course) and a bunch of other stuff about me and American teenagers. They were super interested about what we did on the weekends and what our favorite music is! They also know who Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Rodriguez are!! For those of you who don’t, they are two players on the Trail Blazers that are from Spain. (I know one of them got traded recently but I don’t remember which one :/). So that was pretty cool that they had actually heard of Portland’s basketball team. They also knew what Rookie of the Year was when I explained how Brandon Roy had won Rookie of the Year because Pau Gasol of the Lakers won when he was a rookie (Gasol is from Spain). It was a really amazing experience to be in the classroom and to be helping these kids with their English and to be sharing my American experience with them. Luckily they like Americans! I think they are fascinated by our way of life. One girl said she didn’t like Americans because they eat fast food!! FUNNY!! Especially because there is a Burger King about two blocks from my house here in Granada. Ah, how the American influence penetrates Spain. Also, one kid asked me if I liked Zapatero (president of Spain) or Obama better. I said Obama of course, but I just thought that was so funny! They know so much about American politics it’s crazy! I knew nothing of Spain politics when I got here. So I get to go every week for an hour and work with the students from now until I leave in December. They are going to be starting work on a play in English that I am going to help them with. Then in December, before I leave, they are going to perform it! How fun!!

Also, I joined an intramural basketball team! It is made up of a bunch of my friends from the program here. We haven’t had a game yet and our attempt to practice over the weekend failed because we couldn’t find a place to play, but I am excited for it! It should be lots of fun and pretty chill. I think we have games once a week for the rest of the time here. Fun!

Ok, so I lied, there is one picture for today’s entry. Ana’s cooking!! I decided to take a picture of this meal because it is my favorite so far. Fried potatoes and green peppers with fried eggs! It is delicious and a very typical Spanish meal. In El Carmelo, the kids asked me my favorite Spanish dish and I told them this one. They all knew what I was talking about and nodded in agreement. It’s a good one and it’s super easy to make. I could even do it! Look out mom, when I come home I am totally making it for you guys! Also she made us a desert called Natilla: it’s similar to pudding and it’s delicious! Yum! There is a picture of that too. Oh and we always have salad which normally consists of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers but today there was also avocado!! I LOVE avocado or in Spanish, aguacate!!! Yum!

Here is the plan for my life the next week or so: This week I have classes and the usual. Next week the same, except on Thursday I leave for Madrid with my program for 5 days. I am excited to go because everything is planned for us! I don’t have to do anything but show up! After Madrid, more school and of course some fun! We found a bowling alley that is really close to El Carmelo, so I think my friends and I are going to go bowling this weekend!!! I had no idea they would have a bowling alley in Granada!! Crazy! But the next few weeks and the week after Madrid will be pretty intense school wise because I have a big presentation coming up along with midterms and the DELE exam on Nov. 13 (yes the DELE exam is on Friday the 13th). The DELE, for those of you who don’t know, is a test that is recognized by the Spanish government, which qualifies you as a Spanish speaker. Hopefully I will pass…fingers crossed!

I miss you guys a lot and the Portland weather of course. It is still warm here in the afternoons and the sky is sunny and blue! Yeah even in the middle of October. The leaves haven’t changed much here yet because it’s still so warm! I haven’t needed to break out my warmer clothes yet! Anyways, I hope all is well back at home. Stay healthy: (they call the Swine flu here Gripe A…some people have had it but I haven’t heard about a major outbreak). I will stay healthy too J

Peace,
Annie