The 1 November marks two months of my being in Granada! How crazy is that!? Time has flown by so fast, and I’m loving this city and this country more and more with every day that passes. I swear I keep forgetting that I’m here to study!
What have I done since the last time we spoke? So much! Thursday 12th October was a public holiday, (and I have no classes on a Friday), so I used that opportunity to go visit some cousins who are living in Valencia at the moment! I had an amazing four days and experienced so many new things (like catching the public bus from Granada to Valencia for the first time 🤭). I explored the city centre which has all the old monuments and buildings, and to my lovely surprise, monuments are free entry here in Spain on public holidays – so I made the most of that for sure! I got to eat yummy food like paella and patatas bravas, I tried some horchata, I even treated myself to an icecream or two 🤪. I went to a birthday party on the Friday night and had so much fun, when the clock struck midnight Saturday (14th October), I even got sung Happy Birthday to 🥺. I walked my feet off for four days, and by Sunday I was so glad to be back in Granada.
Friday 20th October – Sunday 22nd October I went on a trip to Portaventura, which is a theme park up in Salou (about an hour and a half south of Barcelona but still on the coast). I went as part of a trip which my Residence had organised, and it was again, so so amazing. For me, theme parks are quite nostalgic because when I was young that was what my family holiday tended to entail. It was also my first weekend where I couldn’t speak any English. Laura didn’t go on the trip with me and my Residence is mostly Spanish students, safe to say I did feel some delayed culture shock, because I couldn’t be my loud-self 100% of the time. And there were a lot of moments where I struggled to follow a group conversation, but there were also plenty of moments where I got to have one on one conversations that I could follow and participate in, and these moments made me feel so proud of myself because being able to hold a full conversation in Spanish and practice my speaking is the whole reason why I’m here.
Classes have been great! I have my moments where I’m still not 100% sure of what’s going on, but for the most part the Granadan accent is growing on me! Although one of my teachers the other week just up and resigned out of the blue! We were without a teacher for about a week and a half before they found someone to replace her! I’m really glad of the accomodation that I’m staying in because of how close it is to campus, though there have been some nights where my neighbours have kept me awake until 2am in the morning (the joys of living in halls of residence).
I’ve been slowly getting around all the niche cafes that Granada has to offer! I’ve also been out for Indian food – Laura and I were so happy to have found that restaurant because it was super yummy, and I even got to introduce some of my friends to Korean food! It made me feel so happy to share with them the food that gives me so much joy at home, and I would even add that the restaurant we went to served very much authentic food.
I’ve found that for me, it’s the little things that are giving me so much joy. I went for an 11km hike around Monachil with some friends last Saturday which was heaps of fun, I had a smoothie at a cafe the other day which also made me really happy because I don’t own a blender so I haven’t had a smoothie in a while! I got back into practicing some of my group fitness routines from home (I’m a Group Fitness Instructor with CityFitness), and that brought me so much joy because of all the memories I have associated with it. And even though I may be having a totally unnecessary crisis about what I’m going to do when I return to NZ (because this is my last semester), I keep reminding myself that it’s only November, to take each day as it comes, to enjoy every new memories created, and what I’m going to do with my life after my exchange is a bridge that I will cross very far in the future.
Also I went to visit the Alhambra yesterday (after living for 2 months I finally got around to doing it😂), and even that trip was such an amazing experience! I really got to see Granada from a whole new point of view, and it was like I was discovering the city again for the first time. I also had an ‘international dinner’ night with my friends, I made corn fritters in case you were wondering, but there were spring rolls, empanadas, meatballs, pizza rolls, Spanish tortilla, gazpacho and other snacks! Laura and I went to watch the Rugby World Cup Finals in a local Irish Pub, and even though it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, it was still such an awesome evening! I’ve never done something like that before – I’m not a huge fan of rugby, but the atmosphere was so cool, the night flew by so quickly!
That’s it for now from me: I just thought I’d check in and give you all and update. Summary: I’m having the time of my life, and this exchange has proved to be more than what I ever expected it would be!
