Bienvenidos a Granada!

I arrived in Granada last night! After about twenty-six hours of travelling, it was nice to come to my home stay and meet my host mother, Rosario. She is a very nice lady and I enjoy having extended conversations in Spanish with her.

To summarize my travels, I took a plane out of Chicago and landed in London, where trolleys (yes, trolleys as in Harry Potter) were free and abundant. I spent about 5 or 6 hours waiting for my flight, but I was able to tour the wonderful London Heathrow airport. In a lot of international airports abroad, they have stores full of goods that you can purchase and have it be tax-free. I'm not too sure what happens when you go through customs, since they probably would charge you for the item.

This picture is of the waiting lounge in the London Heathrow airport. The thing that I found most interesting was that in the United States, everyone waits for their plane at the gate. However, everyone waits here until it says that their gate is open. Otherwise, the gate doesn't open to the posted time, so I guess it is a convenient option for travelers to lounge and enjoy the stores.

I then took a flight to Madrid, and upon arrival I found out that they had lost my luggage in London, but they were sending it over 3 hours after I had arrived. Because of that, I called the study abroad program and my parents and told them that I would wait for my suitcase. After I successfully obtained my suitcase, I navigated Madrid by a city bus and the Metro (subway). I finally left Madrid and headed for Granada by a bus, and this is the time that I got to sleep for a bit.

For the times that I was awake, I got to see some beautiful scenery, which is shown below. 

I am not sure what these mountains were called, but they were located in the Castilla-La Mancha autonomous region of Spain. For those who are familiar with Cervantes' "Don Quijote", this is the region that is referred to.

Finally, I arrived in Granada and here are a few pictures from the area:

Plaza de Toros

Genil River, next to my homestay

Granada, from above

Orange trees. Word of advice from my friend: Don't eat. They're sour.

The cathedral in Granada. This picture does not truly represent its grand size. 

Me, in front of a fountain in el centro.

Paella con gambas and pasta con calamares.

My school

The street I live on, with my flatmate Aurelie in the bottom right-hand corner.

Hola a todos

Hello to all!

I will be travelling to Spain on August 28th, where I will be living for the next four months. This will be available to all who would like to keep track of mi vida granadina, my Granadine life.

My goal is to post weekly on Sundays.

I am very excited for this experience, and I hope that you will follow me along this journey!