Becoming a local

This morning we all got up at different times here at Jardines. The different levels of groups met at different times in the AIFS office, so some of us made it to breakfast while others decided to sleep in for the first time in a long time. Maria Julia’s pan tostada is too good to pass up, so I joined the small group down around 8:15. She always looks at me funny when I turn away café con leche (coffee with milk), but always offers me zumo (juice) instead :)

At the meeting in the AIFS office, we signed some contracts for the University of Granada and were instructed on how to decide what to register for. She suggested that based on our middle level Spanish, we should try and take all of our classes in Spanish. I hadn’t planned on it (I was only going to take 2 in Spanish out of my 4), but decided I might as well try it. She said it is VERY easy to drop and add classes so even after the first few classes it’s still possible to change to the English version…haha. After the meeting, everyone seemed to go shopping. Most of us were cell phone shopping…and BOY was that a process. We were all literally going from store to store getting info about all of the different phones and plans (all "prepago", or prepaid). Will and I decided to do this one plan with a place called "Movistar" (moh-vee-star), which is the network my T-mobile phone picked up immediately when we landed in Malaga. I've had 5 bars EVERYWHERE we have been, with no trouble...so we decided it would be a smart choice. Also, I talked with the 2 resident directors and they both said they had had issues with some of the other companies, like "Orange". Inma (Paula's helper) said she used to have to press her face against her bedroom window in order to get a signal when she had Orange. SO, I feel bad for the people who already had bought their phones and didn't spend time researching before buying. Too eager, too bad, I guess. The plan Will and I got was because we knew we would probably be contacting each other more than anyone else. We got a "Mi Favorito" which is where we chose each other as the one line that we prefered, and would get calls for .01/min and texts for .06/ea. COMPARED to Orange, Blau, Yoigo, and Vodafone which are all about .10/min for calls and .15/ea for texts. Also, to any other phone here, we have .12/min nights and weekends which was the best we found without sacrificing text prices, etc. I was pretty proud of our choice. And the girl was really nice at the store. She programmed it all for us so we wouldn't have trouble with the company. A bunch of kids got "Blau", this newer company which advertises free Blau to Blau calling and everything else is .08/each (calls, texts). HOWEVER there is a connection fee they didn't see in the fine (spanish) print... Anyway, I guess I thought this was all more exciting than it should have been. It’s just fun to go into stores and try and see how much Spanish you can get out before they figure out you have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s about 4 words for me.

This evening we ran into this kid, Alan, who is staying here at Jardines on his own from New York. He planned out his own trip...no study abroad program or anything. And surprisingly his Spanish is around my level, haha, so I commend him on his confidence to travel alone like that. I think our group here will befriend him, since he's taking similar classes at CLM, etc. I really am starting to get a feel for how in shape I will be when I get home. Everything around here is within walking distance, and right now I’m in the “exploration” mode, so I’m walking ALL the time. I think I must have walked at LEAST 15 miles today. With all the walking around we do, it really is like fat camp instead of study abroad. Haha...small portions, no sweets (except gelato), and a TON of walking. Some of that walking was while we were all trying to find phones and do some other shopping, but most of it was this evening when Will and I split off from the LARGE group of students to explore the northern side of Granada. This is one thing I’m having an issue with here. Paula, Inma, and other people who have been here before have told us numerous times that it’s not smart to go around in large groups, speaking English. That is a very American thing to do, and we don’t want to attract attention to ourselves. We tend to be louder, etc. and everyone is WELL aware that we are foreigners. I think my previous traveling experiences have helped me realize how important it is to try and act like a local in order to get a feel for the real culture. For example, while trying to find phone information, the clerks at the cell phone stores seemed a bit overwhelmed and annoyed when even more than 3 kids would go in to look at phones. Most of them are still shy and won’t ask questions (I tried to pitch in whenever I could, but Will was really on a roll today). Anyway, when we were just walking down the small streets we are obviously very much louder than the locals and people kind of stare us down. I hate feeling like that, and have suggested many times that we just split up into smaller groups. I don’t know what it is, but almost everyone seemed to think it was okay. Another example was last night when we were at the pub…Inma and Paula ended up leaving early because they didn’t want to watch the students drink just to get drunk. And that’s exactly what they did. After leaving for a bit, a few of us returned to grab a last piece of pizza, and it was shocking to see some kids from our program acting like they owned the place, yelling, dancing inappropriately, etc. I mean, have fun, but try and be respectful! When another student told them to calm down a bit, one girl replied “they expect us to act like this, we’re Americans.” Well, that’s not how I think it should be. Speaking of which, they just walked in now and I can hear them VERY clearly. It’s 1:20am. Anyway. Like I said, tonight Will and I decided to split off from the large group that was going out to a bar (and meeting even more students there for a total of about 15) to explore. It was the most fun I have had yet. We ended up on the steps of a HUGE cathedral, eating gelato (I got “Avellana”…or Hazelnut. Of course.), and watching a few locals bring out their guitars and drums and draw a small crowd. We wandered around for about 3 hours just trying to see what is around. While I didn’t want to seem rude for leaving the other group, it was VERY nice to be able to not feel like we were being stared at and judged because we’re part of a group of loud, obnoxious Americans. We were able to observe the locals by being mixed right in with them. At the gelato shop we actually were spoken to in Spanish with no notion that we didn’t understand. That was a first! So all in all, it was a wonderful evening, and I hope that other students will be able to experience Granada in this same way.

Well, classes start early tomorrow morning, so I’m going to head to bed. I took some pictures of my room (and new phone haha) for y'all to see, so they'll be up shortly! Gnight!
M