Finally.. My First Post!!

I can’t believe I have been in Granada for almost two weeks already!! My journey started in Chicago on September 2nd, where I sat on a seven hour flight directly to Madrid. Surprisingly, I wasn’t sad about leaving my family or friends back home and I sat in my seat smiling. I was counting down the hours until we landed and thinking about what I was about to experience. After a four-hour layover in Madrid, I flew to Málaga, where I met up with the rest of my program. We stayed in a hotel overnight and I had a chance to meet my roommate, Allie, who has been my new amiga from the second I met her! I’m VERY sorry that I haven’t had the chance to blog yet because I have been recovering from jet lag, but now I have so many things to share with everyone that I don’t know where to start. It’s a good problem, right? 🙂
My first couple weeks in Granada were filled with various orientation activities, mostly in a classroom setting but we did take some walks in order to explore the city.

A view of the famous Alhambra from a plaza in the Albayzin neighborhood, which is the best place that we walked to during orientation. I hope to take a tour of the Alhambra at some point!
A view of the famous Alhambra from a plaza in the Albayzin neighborhood, which is the best place that we walked to during orientation. I hope to take a tour of the Alhambra at some point!

It was an intensive introduction to the culture in Granada and one topic that we discussed was the differences between here and the U.S. One major difference is that everything in Spain has a purpose. For example, when greeting someone you give them two kisses or “besos” on the cheek, which shows that you are genuinely happy to see that person. Also, meals, specifically lunch, are not rushed like they can be in the States. The average time it takes for my family to eat lunch is an hour. It’s all about conversation and stopping to enjoy life.
A highlight of the past two weeks has definitely been my homestay. Allie and I live with an older couple named Carmen and Fabian (referred to as Fabi from now on). They are very funny, sweet, and a little overprotective! In our casa, I’m known as Conchi because Carmen and Fabi cannot pronounce “Courtney” to save their lives.
To finish off, I have a funny story. One day in my orientation class, the teacher passed out different scenarios to each student and we had to go in front of the class and act it out with words. My scenario was that my boyfriend broke up with me and I wasn’t too bothered by it, so I go in front of the class and say: “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. There are many ‘chicos calientes’ in my gym.” WELL, come to find out afterwards from my teacher that caliente in Spanish does not mean “hot or sexy” but something PG-13 rated.. I will leave this for you to figure out!
Just a heads up! I’m heading to Barcelona this weekend, so expect another post on either Sunday night or Monday 🙂

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