Finally "Home"

We made it to Granada Thursday night after a day in Toledo and a 5 hour bus ride. Toledo is beautiful, but very touristy. It houses many monasteries, a cathedral and breathtaking landscapes of which I got great pics.

Chris and Leslie-- I had falafel in Toledo and thought of y'all!!! It's very popular around here.

I have discovered my luck here isn't the greatest when it comes to arrivals and pick ups..remember the story about the airport and metro??? Well when we arrived in Granada the bus dropped us off and our host families were supposed to be there waiting to pick us up. As the families arrived, Ellie, our API rep, would call the students names, there would be a kiss for a greeting and away they went, happily to their new lives for the next 3 months.. Ellen y Alyssa...Emily y Jessica...so on and so on. Then it was only my roommate, Amanda, and myself standing with Ellie at the bus stop. Ellie called my señora and discovered that there had been a miscommunication and Rosa Marie (my host mom) thought the pick up was Friday instead of Thursday. She'd arrive in 10 minutes.

"Adios, I cannot wait any longer," Ellie told us.

"But we don't have telepohones!" We replied.

"You will be fine, I cannot wait ten more minutes, I cannot wait I must leave."

So there we were. Two American girls in their early twenties. Standing all alone in the middle of city to which they had never been. At night. Awesome.

Around 20 minutes later our señora came running up to us with many apologies. We arrived to her small apartment which is now our home. It is unique to say the least. I am hoping to make a video tour to show everyone just what my living quarters are like, so I won't say too much as to not give anything away- you'll have to watch the video! Rosa Marie is very nice, but speaks no English and her Spanish is so fast! But alas, I did come to learn Spanish.

On Friday we toured the town- which is nestled in the mountains- and is much smaller than Madrid. Around 300,000 people call Granada home. It is full of historic architecture and cathedrals. There are tapas bars on every corner and you can get to pretty much wherever you need to be in 20 minutes walking time or less. What I love about this city is the culture clash. Granada is full of rich history involving, Muslims, Christians, and Jews and the city shows it off proudly. There are many alleyways where you may find street vendors selling everything from scarves to hookah. I could just get lost here…

Pictures: Top-street view of Granada; Middle- Amanda (my roommate) and I in Toledo; Bottom- More views of Toledo