Somos turistas en Granada, pero está bien.

Today, after having orientation for our academic part of the study abroad experience, we received our cell phone so that we can contact each other during our stay. We walked around el centro some more, and it is amazing how their daily life is different than in the United States. Here, it is common for the people to walk around the streets at all times of the day, especially at night. El centro is always crowded with people, except for el almuerzo, which is the lunch time followed by la siesta. While the word itself means "nap", it is just a time to relax after eating quite a large lunch. We eat between 2 and 3 pm, and after eating you have the choice of taking a nap for approximately twenty minutes or watch the news. I have done both, but unfortunately due to jet-lag, mis siestas last almost two hours.

At around 7pm yesterday, our group got together to go see El Albayzín, which is an UNESCO World Heritage site. To get there, we jammed about thirty people in a bus that probably wasn't made for a group of that size. I was with a few girls standing in the back, and it was a scary, but harmless ride up the hillside to Albayzín.

Also, I have never been to San Francisco, but after this trip, I can understand how steep the roads are. Here are some pictures climbing up the hill to San Nicolas

The Alhambra

When we got off the bus, we were told that we were in the Plaza de San Nicolas, which has to be one of my favorite places in Granada. This plaza overlooks the Alhambra and all of Granada, and I managed to take some awesome pictures of the area. La iglesia (the church) de San Nicolas was behind us, and the most interesting part about it was that there were words on the church in Latin. I was able to recognize this from studying Latin roots in my Spanish linguistics class last semester at Illinois State University. For this, I am not too sure on how old the church here was, but I will try to find out in the next few weeks.

UPDATE: I read on the Internet that this church was built in the 16th century, or between 1500-1600 A.D.! Also, this church was built after the Moors were driven out of Granada (1492), and a mosque used to be in its current place. I find it so interesting that I was standing in such a historically significant place!

Another spectacular view of the Alhambra

The name of the church in Latin

After navigating the winding, steep streets down to our destination, we arrived at La Casa Blanca (The White House), which is a small tea cafe to enjoy many kinds of tea and warm beverages. This place was intrinsically decorated to show Arab influence since the Moors had control of this area for several centuries. 

I apologize for the obscurity of this photo, but it is of the small table and pot of sugar that was found all over the cafe. I do not have a picture of it, but there are couches surrounding the perimeter for a more close feel with those who you are out with.

I was in awe with the ceiling decorations

I forget what these were called, but it was a flaky pastry they gave to us with a sticky, sweet sauce and something similar to sesame on top.

 

Yes, Coca-Cola is everywhere! Of course, as anyone who has traveled to another country can tell you, it does taste different than in the United States. However, it is quite difficult to describe how it tastes in contrast. 

I ordered the Tropical Fruit tea, in which I was able to pour three full glasses from this pot. At home, loose tea has the best taste, and this is a great example of this.

To the right is the sign for the tea cafe we went to, along with the sign to the left for a restaurant down the street. I liked seeing that they put Arabic on the sign. For being a city so influenced by the Moors, this has been the only time I have seen Arabic. However, I have yet to explore the many parts of this beautiful city.

My next post I will write about my trip to Málaga, a coastal city on the wonderful Costa del Sol.