Hello from across the pond! We are another week into the semester here and it is so true that the days are long but the weeks are short--time just slips away and I'm more motivated than ever to make the most of my short stay here. For a few more weeks I'll still be staying local in Andalusia but I've got some other Spain and international travel plans in the works for the second half of the semester that I'm pretty jazzed about.
One of my intentions going into this semester, though, was to get to know my new home well and invest my time and energy in Spain before trying to jet-set all around Europe. To be fair, that might be the experience some people are looking for, but I wanted to grow some roots in this city and roots take some serious investment. As much as traveling can be fun and exciting, entering into the daily rhythms of another city is the real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I have been provided and I don't want to take that for granted. Part of the fun of that experience is living in a single place long enough to notice some of the quirks and I have a few favorites granadino quirks to share. I am no travel writer, but hopefully they give you a little view into my corner of the world.
Dogs are quite possibly my favorite curiosity of Granada. It's a walking city so people are always out and about on the streets, and often with their canine pals. In general I would say small dogs are more common but I have seen a handful of big, beautiful dogs walking around, too. And unlike the States where golden retrievers are the norm, I'm not sure there is any norm here for dog breed. Some dogs are quite posh, too: I have already seen an amazing variety of dog sweaters, jackets, vests, and even scarves. When I see people/pet pairs walking on the streets they often remind me of the first scenes of 101 Dalmatians when dogs and their owners come in look-alike pairs...
Orange trees line many of the streets and fill many of the plazas here. They are beautiful to look at but very bitter to taste.
Stone streets are the norm; obviously roads are paved but sidewalks and plazas are constructed with a wide variety of stone styles/colors. Although they're beautiful they can be a little hard on your feet, too, so thick-soled shoes are very common here. I took these few pictures on my walk to school --- definitely more unique than concrete.
Stores There are many, many stores in Granada that sell everything from hardware tools (ferretería) to fresh fruit (frutería) to clothing (lots of rebajas ~sales~ this time of year). Because it's a walking city and has notoriously small, narrow streets, people don't hop in their car to go to buy these simple necessities --- they just walk down the street! Because of this abundance, though, whenever I've set out looking for a specific store I've gotten lost, it's moved, or it's been closed for siesta. However, Granada is also kind of like a giant Room of Requirement, and whenever I've gone walking without a specific destination in mind the school supply store (papelería) I wanted to find earlier comes up along my route or the bakery (panadería) I wanted to try turns out to be just a street over. Needless to say this phenomenon is both delightful and infuriating.
That's all I've got to say about the city at the moment. I'm eager to see what new curiosities I notice a day, a week, and month from now. In the meantime with classes starting and the transition back to an academic mindset, I've been giving some thought to balance. Like any college student, during the past three years I have had to work to find a balance between academic, social, and personal commitments. I certainly haven't found the magic sauce that lets me do it all and school has often overshadowed the other areas of my life (if you think you've found the sauce please send me the recipe asap). Lately I've been been wondering, though, what balance I want to create during my time here. School is important, true, but I am going to need to reframe my perspective from performance to process. After all, I'm here to learn and not just work towards the grade like I've been conditioned to do. Friends are different, too, because I have had to build some completely new friendships while still trying to hold my good friends close. Then there's personal---of the other intentions I set for myself many of them involve personal growth and I've had to carve out time regularly to read, journal, be active, and even write these posts. I'm probably never going to find an ideal mix of the three here or back home, but I can begin a new week trying my best. That's all we can do, after all.
P.S. While I've been kickin' it over here in Europe my mom has MOVED! If you see her, give her a high five for me and say a lil prayer for our selling process, too
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