A Taste of Spain: Put Me In, Coach

Hello everybody!! It's been a lovely weekend here in Granada. After my wonderful trip to Sevilla last weekend, I was so glad to return to my home in Spain! I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday being a student...yes, I said Friday. We normally don't have class on Friday, but we did this Friday since we had been off on Monday. Let me tell you, I am so spoiled! Everyone (including myself) was whining about Friday classes, even though we're used to having them in the States! Thankfully, I don't have another Friday class until some random day in April! Friday night I went out with some friends to our favorite Asian tapas bar...there's nothing quite like eating egg rolls in Spain! (Seriously though, they are delicious...)

Saturday was quite the exciting day! API took us to a real Spanish soccer game...Granada v. Salamanca! I honestly had no idea what to expect but I knew (or thought I knew) how intense the Spanish were about their soccer. It was truly unbelievable! Granada is a division 2 team, but they are trying to move up to division 1 (this appears to be a system somewhat similar to the NCAA). Teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid are Division 1 teams. Since Granada is trying to move up, this was a pretty good time to go to a game! Now, I feel like I can hold my own at most sporting events--baseball, football, basketball...I pretty much know what's going on most of the time. Soccer is the complete opposite. I have literally had the off-sides rule explained to me two dozen times and I can't understand it AT ALL. To make matters worse, they don't have any announcements at soccer games here...so I kept getting confused about what was going on! I don't understand the penalties either...maybe I'll do research before my next game! Watching the game was so fun (those soccer players are amazing athletes), but I had an equally good time watching the fans. They are, as Shakira would say, LOCA LOCA LOCA. So crazy! They show up, totally decked out in red and white, and scream through the entire game. They have cheers and songs, and some fans even bring drums and other instruments! I'm so glad I had the chance to go to a game...I can only imagine how insane it was when Spain won the World Cup last summer! I kind of wish I had been there to experience that!

After the game, my girlfriends came over to the apartment. We ordered Domino's Pizza...which is so much better here than in America. Who would have thought? We stayed up super late chatting and listening to music and having a great time! It was a great weekend! I've got a full week of classes, and then a 7 AM flight to Madrid on Friday to meet up with Mommy and Patrick...I'm so excited! And I get to see Colleen, who will be in Madrid for a part of her Spring Break tour of Spain. It will be so nice to see some familiar, southern faces :)

Have a great Monday! Miss and love you all!

Besos, Shannon :)