Granada: The Big Pomegranate

Granada is world famous for the amazing and spectacular Alhambra Palace, but few people know the meaning of the city. Granada is the Spanish word for “pomegranate”. According to legend, the pomegranate is a sacred fruit for the Jewish people because it has (allegedly) 613 inside each pomegranate and there are 613 commandments in the Torah. A quick Google search will tell you that that isn’t exactly true. Still, you can see pomegranates everywhere, from the street signs to the pebble-work on the ground.

Like many places I’ve visited and will visit in Spain this year, I always think, “How have I been in Spain for three years and not been here?” Not going to Granada isn’t exactly my fault — their train station hasn’t been linked to major cities in three years while they try to ready the station for the AVE. So to get there, I took the high speed train from Madrid to a small town in the Málaga region, then boarded a bus to take me to Granada. Of course, you can get to Granada by bus, but I hate buses. (I get carsick.) Pero por fin, I had arrived in Granada.

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Tarraco Tapes: Tapas Fiesta

I haven’t gone on any amazing trips yet, but I did do something pretty cool. Everyone knows that Spain is known for its tapas: little bites of food like appetizers. My friend and I went on a tapeo: going from restaurant to restaurant eating tapas. The city I live in, Tarragona, hosts “Tarraco Tapes” every spring and fall, perfect for bingeing on tapas.

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Time is Running Out

So yesterday after I wrote out my post, I got my paper done! I think I could have done a lot better on it (because I think there is always room for improvement), but with the little amount of time we had to do everything and all the excursions we go on, it had to do. 

After we were done with everything, we went out to the pool and laid out there for a little while. I was brave and got into the pool. It was a lot warmer than it had been when we had our awkward middle school dance moment with Pau’s friends two weeks ago, but it was still a bit nippy. 

As a group yesterday, we learned to make some traditional Spanish tapas. A lot of it was them showing us how to make them. Unfortunately, we ate just tapas for dinner and I wasn’t a big fan of them. We also had to eat them in a plaza area that didn’t have any seating, really, and whenever new food was put on the table, all the kids swarmed the food like flies. So my dinner was basically gelato. Jaja.

After the tapas dinner, we went to a flamenco show. After wandering around the city not really knowing where we were going (yes, including the professors), we arrived at this little Andalusian restaurant. Andalusia is the southern part of Spain, which includes Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada. It looked like it was going to be a dinky little show, but it was really cool to see them dance. For the Andalusians being a very free people, they dance very seriously with straight faces. I really liked their dresses. I want one!

We didn’t go out anywhere last night because this morning we had to give a presentation for a grade for our Advanced Medical Spanish class. We were supposed to arrive at 9:30, but our teacher never told us where exactly to go so we were just sitting outside the university building for like twenty minutes before our teacher yelled out of the building which classroom we were at. Then, she decided that we were going to go in order of where we were sitting in the classroom, so I had to go last. A lot of the people in my class took fifteen minutes to do their presentation, so by the time I had to go, I had to take quickly and cut out some parts. Ugh. People told me that mine was really good, but I think I could have done better, as always. I hate talking in front of people.

After have a good-bye luncheon (again, tapas) from the university and a toast of champagne, I spent the rest of the day at home and at the playa. I talked a little with Pau and I asked him if a lot of people in Catalonia don’t like Americans because his friend Pol told me he hates the US. He said the people here just see Americans as thinking they are the center of the universe and everyone depends on them for everything, etc. He asked me if Americans thought like that. I mean, I guess they do, but what he said next really just surprised me. He said that one of his friends went to the US and when she said she was from Spain, the first thing they asked was “Do you have cars there?” … what? People are so stupid. I like to think I have a more global outlook on the world. I hope so!

A few of us girls in the trip went to the beach today for the last time (most likely, because it’s supposed to rain tomorrow). It was really hot earlier today, but by the time we got down there, it was a little chillier and it started to get cloudy, so I’m not going to be much tanner.

So right now, I’m just sitting up in the living room with my host parents watcher Ferrer play Tsonga in the French Open semifinals. They are leaving to go to Paris tomorrow morning and they actually get to see the finals! Nadal is already in there, so hopefully it will be an all Spanish final! Later tonight, we’re going to go out with them for a dinner. I’m probably going to cry tonight, and then tomorrow when I have to say goodbye to the kids! Awww … it’s ok. I’m determined to come back next summer!

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