Central College Abroad

Having been here a week, I can´t say I am overly shocked.  It is about what I expected.  The only thing that really takes some getting used to are the meals.  Not eating lunch until 3:00 and dinner until 9:00 takes some real getting used to since I am used to eating non stop all day when I am at home.  Note, I am not huge…I´m just a runner.  Meal portions here are massive, every meal my host mom heaps a ton of food onto my plate and I can barely finish.  I was warned that might happen because here in Spain, being too thin is taken as a sign that you are not healthy.  Perhaps, she thinks I am really sickly?

Also, not having immediate access to the internet is quite a pain in the…well, I suppose I am not allowed to curse on here, but you all know what goes there.  Luckily I am able to “borrow” internet from a neighbor, but it only works part of the time.  If you are looking to get internet you usually have to go to the internet cafe and spend a lot of money.  I am trying to avoid this, hence why my blog is updated so infrequently.

Most people think graffiti is destruction of property, but here in Granada it seems to be everywhere and some of it is truly beautiful.  Some of it is even funny.  On the street I take to classes every day there is a picture of police beating someone with text reading, “the police are here to help you.”  On the streets of Albycin there was a very artistic drawing of cats eating fish that spanned a whole wall.  Of course you will just have to imagine this until I manage to get the pictures up.

On to gypsies.  In some parts of the city they are everywhere.  They grab your hand and try to read it and then demand money.  On another occasion a girl came up and began telling a story using origami and then at the end folded her sheet of paper into a box and asked for money.  Sometimes, one person will perform while another person prowls the crowd.  When this occurs I clench my wallet a little tighter.  Maybe this is the suspicious American in me, but it seems a little sketchy.

Oh yeah, if looking to travel it can be surprisingly affordable.  Next, week I am taking a trip to both Paris, France and Milan, Italy for only 100 dollars in airfare.  Of course there are added expenses, but avoiding the high cost in flying sure helps to make the trip more affordable.  When looking to travel, book far in advance…we had some issues with staying together as a group of 5 when searching for living arrangements.  Speaking of that…if you think staying in hostels is dangerous, you’ve seen too many American horror movies.  If someone had been mugged or assaulted it would have definitely shown up in the review section for the booking site.  As I travel I am being forced to stay in hotels…you don’t EVER meet or even see anyone in a hotel.  In hostels you can at least meet other people your age that are traveling…but alas I don’t get to have that experience.  Oh well, I still get to go to France and Italy.