A Taste of Spain: Sweet Home....Granada!

Hello from my beautiful apartment in Granada! Yesterday (it seems like such a long time ago...) we left Madrid quite early to venture to our new homes. On the way, we stopped in Toledo, which is a beautiful city between Madrid and Granada. We had a great walking tour around the city and got to spend a lot of time in the cathedral, which was absolutely stunning. But also very cold because there was no heat! Yesterday was a pretty gross day actually, it was like 3 degrees and rainy! We still enjoyed Toledo though. We ate at an adorable cafe where I ate my first paella! Paella is a very Spanish dish that includes rice, vegetables, seafood....actually paella can have just about anything in it! Anyways, it was SO GOOD and I can't wait to have some more! We left Toledo and arrived to Granada at about 9:00, where everybody met their host families and such. Alejandra, Allison, and I met Natividad, our landlady. She is quite possibly the most precious woman I have ever seen! She showed us the apartment and cooked us our first meal, which was delicious. She and her daughter come by twice a day, at 3 and 9, to bring us lunch and dinner. She stocks the kitchen with food to eat for breakfast, which we fix on our own so that we don't have to wake up at a certain time. We ate dinner and unpacked everything....I'm already starting to feel a little less homesick since I have a real home now!

Today we woke up and met the rest of our group to do a tour of Granada and see where we will be going to class and such. I have honestly never seen a more beautiful, perfect city in my life. I'm totally obsessed. The shops look amazing and everything is so cute. Being settled in one place is helping me finally get into a routine. However, we don't start class until February 7th....woah. We're free for the weekend until Monday morning when we have to take our placement tests, which sound absolutely terrifying from the descriptions. But hey, as my mom always says, just try your best!

I feel like there are so many cultural things about Spain that I need to share with all of you...so here's a random one. Spanish, and Europeans in general, have absolutely no concept of personal space. They start rubbing all over you the instant they meet you and will stand very very close to you, even on the street! Its crazy! They are just so loving all the time, but sometimes it freaks me out because I'm so paranoid about being pick-pocketed! Anyways, it is neither good nor bad, it is just different...and I'm going to try to start sharing more things like this!

Love and miss you all! Besos!!