Anyway, Tuesday our intensive language classes began and we have started to get used to the Spanish lifestyle. I've started to like the way these Spaniards live. My entire group lives in different home stays scattered across the country. I live in an apartment near the river (more about that one day) with Danny Schultz of Bucknell, our senora, and her 15-year-old son. (Oh, and the cat. The cat likes warm places and is currently sleeping behind the computer. The other day she hopped on my computer, shutting it down in the process.)

So far my homestay has been great. It's a good way to practice my Spanish and to find out more about the city. Our "brother," the 15 year old, is a great guide to the night life here. (Yes at 15 it is acceptable to go to bars, even though the drinking age is 18. Or, so the son tells us). The lifestyle in Spain is pretty much ideal. Breakfast is small, typically toast with olive oil or butter, along with coffee and orange juice or milk. There is a cafe near our school, where during the break we get a quick morning snack. They serve cafe con leche (coffee and milk) and toastado con tomato (toast with olive oil and tomato, like bruschetta). I'm a big fan.

Lunch, at 2:30 p.m., is the biggest meal of the day and may be multiple courses. This includes soup or salad and a meat dish. After lunch is my favorite part of the day, siesta or a nap. Well, most Spaniards don't necessarily nap but relax; us Americans just like taking things to the extreme. Seriously, I can get used to a country where nap time is encouraged. Most of local businesses are closed from 1-4 or 5. Banks close for the day at about 2:30, too. It's a pain since siesta would be a good time to get errands done, but the people who work in all the stores figure the same and go home, leaving the places closed.

Dinner is at 9 or so in the evening if not later. It is a much smaller meal. Lunch is bigger than dinner, but so far, my senora has cooked similar foods for both. I enjoy the Spanish tortilla, which unlike the Mexican burrito type of tortilla, is an omelet with a lot of potatoes mixed in. Here they eat it for dinner, but it would make a great breakfast back home.

Interestingly, there are not a lot of places to carry out your food (comida para llevar). I would like to walk to class with a coffee but places do not sell it to go. They also do not sell any 140 ounce Cafe-Venti-Mocha-Espresso-with-low-fat-calorie-reduced-soy-milk either. I guess since they have siesta they don't need to operate tired as long as we do.

Culturally, we have been quite busy. We went to the Arabic quarter of Granada, Albaicin, on Friday. We did a quick visit when we first arrived, but this time we had a guide from the University give us a spiel about its history. I, of course, forgot my camera. We learned some cool history about Spanish summer homes called carmens. As well, we heard a tale about a forbidden love that ended with pair of dead lovers; one was hanged and the other was buried in a wall. Yeah, definitely a bed-time story.

Today, Sunday, we went to La Alhambra. La Alhambra is one of the most famous sites in Spain and three million people stop by each year. La Alhambra is an ancient Arabic fort made of red clay. (The name Alhambra means red in ancient Arabic). Again we had a guide from the University teach us its history. The top of La Alhambra has one of the greatest views ever. You can see all of Grenada. Below is a few pictures and a video of the sights (At the very bottom so you read all my writing first). It was a really cool Arabic fort and I know my Arabic forts.

We walked up to La Alhambra and we were breathless (well, because we had scaled a huge hill). Everything inside is incomprehensibly old since it was built in the 1300s. Even the "newer parts" are much older than the United States. Muslim buildings are typically plain on the outside and are very well detailed inside. One of the rooms has a seven-leveled roof. Each level of roof represents a level of heaven and each is closer to God. The seventh level or "seventh heaven" is were God lives; hence the phrase "seventh heaven." It's from Arabic.

Video of the view from La Alhambra

The seventh heaven room

A view of the Alhambra from outside of it

To the dismay of the guide, everyone took pictures of quite possible everything. I probably have 10 pictures of the same view.

We have also been experiencing the Granada nightlife. They probably should call it morning life here. Since dinner is later, and I guess people can relax at siesta, Spaniards go out much later. Clubs don't start filling up till 3 a.m. My few of my fellow Bucknellians decided to try this out this weekend, and if it was not for the winter, we would have seen a Granada sunrise. Our "brother" also took us to some bars far from the Plaza Nueva (where the main bar scene is) and we were able to experience more local bars (ie Spanish Dive Bars), which was quite cool since the bars in the Plaza Nueva are filled with Americans.

Well that's all for now. I apologize for my English. I feel it is getting worse while my Spanish is sort of getting better.

Pictures below: