Student Journals: AIFS in Granada, Spain

Lindsey Morgan Bigelow
Providence College
University of Granada, Spain

September

Over the month of September, we were enrolled in a four week intensive language course at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas. We spent four hours a day practicing and improving our Spanish in small groups with two Spanish women who were delighted to teach us about their culture and help us improve our speaking.

Upon finishing in the end of September, AIFS took us on a 5 days excursion to Madrid. We spent each day visiting sites such as El Prado museum, el Palacio Real, Valle de los Caidos (where Franco is buried), and el Escorial. The tours were fun and exciting and I really enjoyed seeing the city. The excursion wasn’t my first time in Madrid; 3 years before I spent a summer living with Elena, a Spanish girl my age, and her family. Three years had passed since I’d seen them, so on our free day in Madrid they invited me to their home for lunch. The paella Elena’s mother cooked was amazing, and it was so nice to catch up on how we all were doing after three years, and of course how I was liking Granada. Afterwards, Elena and I walked to Madrid’s famous Parque del Retiro where we rented rowboats and rowed out to the middle of the estanque and enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

Besides touring during the day, some of my friends and I were able to experience “la marcha” in Madrid by going to its most famous discoteca named Kapital. In this seven floor nightclub that features different types of music on each floor we danced the night away, definitely making that night my favourite in Madrid.

When our five days were over in Madrid, two other girls and I flew to Paris for another five days. Paris was incredible. We were able to do and see so much, such as hiking the Eiffel Tower, going to Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge, Church of the Sacred Heart, and my favourite area, the Latin Quarter in Saint Michel.

My most favourite experience in Paris was being served free champagne while we sat in the Eiffel Tower writing our postcards. It was like some sort of traveller’s fairytale! We were also able to visit Versailles, the immaculate palace of King Louis XIV.

All in all, our first excursion to another country was a blast, but getting back to Granada where my warm bed was waiting for me was very satisfying. Next on the list is Italy; we leave tomorrow and are looking forward to another great trip!

February

I´ve been back in Granada almost 6 weeks now, and they have flown by! I´ve been working as a mentor for the new spring students and that has been really fun! As a mentor, I´ve helped answer all the questions the new students have been asking, help with orientation activities such as giving a tour of Granada, and I´ve even helped a bit in the AIFS office, which I really enjoyed because the staff is so cool!!

Being a year student and a mentor has given me the opportunity to see how far I´ve come as a student studying in a foreign country. As the new students learn the way things work here, it reminds me of myself only 5 months ago and how much I have integrated into Spanish life up to this point. Living and studying in Granada is the best gift my parents have given me, and I am so happy to be in Granada a full year.

This past month I´ve also done a bit of travelling. My parents visited me here in Granada for a few days and then we went to Italy. I had an awesome time showing my parents around Granada. It was so much fun playing tour guide! And of course, they really loved Granada.

My favourite memory of their visit was when my host family invited them over for dinner one night. Despite the language barrier, everyone had an amazing time and I´m glad they were able to experience what my homestay-life is like.

As mentors we were also able to go on the Madrid Orientation excursion. We saw important sight in Madrid, Segovia, and Toledo. After Madrid, 2 of my friends and I travelled to Ireland and visited the cities of Dublin, Galway, Cork, and Blasney. It felt so weird to be speaking so much English again! Our favourite part of the trip was visiting the Blarney Castle where we all hung backwards-upside down to kiss the famous Blarney Stone at the top of the castle. It was quite the experience!

Now I´m back in Granada, and the spring semester is about to start. My first class is tomorrow! I´m excited but a little sad that winter vacation is over. Well I guess I shouldn´t be too sad since I´m going on vacation to Germany & Austria in a week!. Life in Europe is constantly busy, there is just so much to visit and see and I feel like I just have to do it all!

February

The past four months I have spent in Granada have been phenomenal-they are full of memories I will forever remember. Granada took me on an adventure where I learned so much about Spain, and what it is like to be Spanish and to be living in Granada.

After I returned from France, I began classes in the Centro de Lenguas Modernas. Our tiny Centro is beautiful and full of vivacious young people just as excited as I am to be studying Spanish. Although my classes were very challenging, I enjoyed them. I learned so many new things such as about the Islamic influence in Spain (and in our own little Granada) and colloquial slang of the Spanish language.

During the semester I also participated in many intercambios with Spanish people, which I found to be the most helpful way to learn more vocabulary and give me the opportunity to practice my speaking skills. My friend Bree and I went out with many different Spanish students who took us to new bars, discos, and coffee shops. I always had a good time, and after each intercambio I always felt proud of myself for trying hard to practice my Spanish and learn more, with the guide of my new Spanish friends.

Along with my intercambios, I loved speaking Spanish to my Señora, who definitely has to be one of the best cooks in Spain. She made the best food! I miss it already. My Spanish home consisted of my Señora, her elderly aunt, and her own daughter. And of course I can’t forget my little dog Sari, who has to be the cutest dog I have ever seen here in Spain. She has such a happy personality, and when I left my home to return to the United States it was very tempting not to sneak off with my Señora´s little dog in my suitcase!! One of my favourite memories of being in my home was when my roommate and I were entered in the AIFS Photo Safari Contest that required us to take pictures with our family. We told our Señora and she dressed us up like Spanish cooks! She wrapped white fabric around our heads like hats and gave us white smocks to wear. We took pictures with her in the kitchen as if we were cooking dinner with her! And guess what, we won the photo contest!

During the semester, I was also lucky to have the opportunities to travel to some other countries after France. My roommate and I went to Italy and spent four days travelling through Rome, Florence, and Venice. Rome was a magical city, we went to Trevi Fountain and I threw in my coin to have a quick return to Rome, and it turns out that legend really does come true because I´ll be back in Rome in January with my parents! Michelangelo’s David practically blew me away when we went to see it in Florence. I must have stared at it for a half an hour! The day in Venice was amazing too; the whole city is so unique because it’s built on water. We spent the morning feeding pigeons in Piazza San Marco, and one even landed on my head!

I also travelled to Athens, Greece. The country was so full of beauty and friendly people who would stop us on the street to ask us where we were from and to introduce themselves and their numerous cousins (yes that really happens!). We went to the Acropolis among many other ancient ruins, something I have wanted to do my entire life. We also took a day cruise to three Greek islands.

Our last country was Portugal, the optional trip offered by AIFS. Although the bus ride there was long, I had an amazing adventure with everyone on the program, spending days in Lisbon and its surrounding cities. It was sort of like our last hurrah together as a group. I feel so lucky to have been a part of the fall group at Granada this past semester. The dynamics of our group allowed us to all hang out no matter where one was from or what kind of person one was. Everyone was friendly and I am happy to have made such amazing friends, some of whom now know me even better than some of my friends at college.

Everyone in the AIFS office was also fantastic, and that definitely added to my positive experience. Everyone in the office loved to hear our stories and would always help me or give me advice when I needed it. Paula, our resident director, was like everyone’s second mom; she was always there for us and knows anything and everything about Granada. She hired me to help out in the office in January with the spring students since I am here next semester as well, and I am excited about sharing my knowledge of Granada to the new students. Well, Happy Holidays to all, I will be back in Granada in January ready to share more about my experiences here in Spain when the spring semester beings. Hasta Luego!

March

What a busy month March has been! In between classes and travelling I’ve barely had a moment to sit still!

At the beginning of the month I had just returned from a trip to Munich, Germany, and Salzburg, Austria. Both cities were absolutely incredible. On our flight over to Munich we flew over the Swiss Alps which were covered with snow, and absolutely breathtaking! In Munich we took two tours – a 3rd Reich tour and a tour of Dachall concentration camp. Both tours were undescribable experiences that I’m glad I did because I think learning about what happened during WWII is very important and should never be forgotten. Also in Munich we got to experience the beerhalls, my favourite being the Haufbrauhaus, where the beers are so big it took me a whole evening just to drink one! Not to mention the giant pretzels as big as my head!

We were in Salzburg for only one day, so we decided to take the “Sound of Music” tour. We saw where the movie was filmed and went up into the mountain and lake district as well. Every part of Austria I saw looked like it came out of a fairytale. It is definitely one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been too.

The first weekend in March AIFS took us to Sevilla for the weekend. It was so much fun and the weather was beautiful now that it's Spring. We saw the Alcazar, the Cathedral, and claimed the Giralda where we had a great view of the entire city – I could even see the Plaza de Toros where I went to a bullfight last fall. That night a big group of us ended up at a Mexican restaurant where we had our own personal Mariachi singer for just our table singing “la la la Bomba” while some of my friends got up and danced. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life- I still do when I look at pictures from that night! After Sevilla, I finally had my first weekend home in Granada after 7 weekends of being away on trips! It was so good to be back! One night we went out to a disco called Golden Eye with a bunch of Spaniards and danced the night away. I had so much fun!

Saint Patrick’s day was the night before my friends and I left for Spring Break in Amsterdam and Belgium. We went out to an Irish pub and drank Guinness beer as all the Spaniards in the bar danced their hearts out to Irish jigs. Spring break turned out to be awesome, although I did not spend it in Spain to experience Semana Santa. Instead in Amsterdam I went to the Heineken factory, Van Gogh museum, Anne Frank house, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and spent one day biking thru the water lands north of the city of Amsterdam to a fishing village called Marken. In Belgium we went to Brussels, the capital city of the European Union. We did a few touristy things there such as going to Grana Place and also taking our picture with the Mannekin Pis, yet my favourite memories of Brussels are the amazing Belgian Waffles and all the chocolate shops! The chocolate really is amazing there! Its so intense, I guess you could say I overdosed on it. Yum, what I would do for a chocolate Belgian waffle right now!!!

After a week of travel, it was great to get back to Granada where the weather is absolutely perfect. Its spring time now, and I feel so lucky to wake up to clear sunny blue skies pretty much every morning. With the nice weather, everyone’s favourite Ice Cream place has opened up once again for the Springtime: Los Italianos. The ice cream (well, actually gelato) is a perfect way to end a busy day.

One of my new favourite activities has been sitting outside in the sun on the roof of my house, which is actually what I’m doing right now! Well I guess I’d better get back to that! More later!

April

I can’t believe April is already half over. Time is flying by soooo fast! I guess that’s what they say happens when you are having fun which is definitely what I’ve been doing a lot of lately.

In the beginning of the month, a good friend of mine from last semester was visiting Granada and we went to all our favourite spots in Granada, one of them being El Tren coffeeshop, and believe it or not this place is better than Starbucks! El Tren has become a weekly tradition among my group of friends, as it is a chance to unwind, catch up with best friends, and of course drink amazing coffee drinks.

This month has definitely been full of some unforgettable evenings out in Granada. We spent one night in Mirador de San Nicolas, a plaza up in the Albaicin that overlooks the Alhambra and the city of Granada. There were others up there playing music on their guitars, giving the plaza a wonderful ambience. Another night my friends and I managed to run into the Spanish version of a bachelor party. Me and my friends all ended up in sombreros and my friend Eloni got dressed up as a police officer. We had a lot of good laughs that evening!

Besides all the fun I’ve been having, that past two weeks I’ve also taken midterm exams and given one presentation to my business class on the Granada based business, Cervezas Alhambra, a beer factory. Our presentation went great and we even shared all the different beers they offer with our class! I never thought I’d ever have a beer with one of my teachers!

As so it goes, I’ve saved the best for last – our trip with AIFS to Gibraltar, a British colony on the tip of Andalucia 3 hours from Granada. One well known fact about Gibraltar is that on top of the Rock of Gibraltar lives a colony of monkeys (actually Barbary Apes). Three of my friends and I took a taxi tour up the Rock to see them, and boy, was that a good time! A monkey jumped on my friend Pam’s head as soon as it saw she had food, and then soon enough after that, all my friends had monkeys on their shoulders or in their arms!! I was a little nervous at first about holding a wild monkey but then I thought to myself I would regret it later if I didn’t get to hold one too! So I held a few pieces of uncooked spaghetti out in my hands and soon enough I had a cute little monkey sitting in my arms! They really are so adorable!

Another unforgettable experience I had in Gibraltar was getting to see the coast of Morocco, Africa. I was absolutely amazed how close Spain and Africa really are! I couldn’t help but call both of my parents and say “oh my God, mom and dad, right now I’m staring at Africa!”

So hopefully, with all the excitement that experience gave me I will be able to make it there someday. I would really love to ride a camel!

Well, I guess that’s all to report for now. I only have seven weeks left in Europe and that is still really hard for me to believe! In one week I go to the Canary Islands for a 5 day beach vacation –I will be sure to report back to you all on that when I return! Hasta ahora!

April

Well here I am in the Canary Islands on the island of Tenerife, where I have been the past four days. It is absolutely gorgeous here, palm trees & beautiful flowers surround me every time I leave my hotel. The weather has been fantastic, my friend Leslie and I have spent three 7-hour days soaking up the rays on Playa de las Americas and swimming in the ocean. It is definitely paradise! Some of my favourite memories from this week include the time a man came around on the beach selling fresh fruit from the island. He came over to where we were sitting and cut it up for us and then cracked open a coconut right in front of us and gave it to us for free. It was so good, I´ve never eaten fresh coconut before and the melon he gave us was just heavenly.

We have also been watching the sunsets on the beach every night and they have always been brilliantly coloured in orange, red, pink and purple. I don´t think I´ve ever seen such beautiful sunsets in my life!

All in all this little trip has been perfect and I´m going to be a little sad to fly home tomorrow afternoon after a long weekend here, on the “African islands” what we´ve dubbed them... we are in fact closer to Africa than we are to Spain!

When I come back to Granada I will only be home 1 full day before I leave again to Prague, a city in the Czech Republic. When I return from that trip I only have 3 weeks left in Granada. It is really shocking how fast a year goes by when you expect a year abroad to last forever. Well no matter how fast it's gone, this year has definitely been the best year of my life and I am thankful everyday that I am lucky enough to be here and experience all these amazing things, places I would have never had the chance to do, see, had I decided to stay at my home college this year. Well that’s it for now. More later!