Getting into the routine

Sacromonte

Part way through the hike in Cabo de Gata

I have officially been in Spain for a week. In such a short time my life has changed quite a bit. I am now an expert at taking "Navy showers," the long, hot shower is something of my past. I think this will be something I "bring home" from this experience and continue to use to be environmentally friendly. Spain has a lot of desert and therefore drought, something I didn't realize before coming here. Because of this they are conscious of their water use. I'm not positive but I think this is also why they charge for water and use bottled water at restaurants. I find I am more likely to order a drink that is not water here, knowing that I would be paying for something that is free from the kitchen sink.

With the homestay we have breakfast and lunch with our family. For dinner, we fend for ourselves. This week has been the week of Tapas. Even though its probably not the healthiest thing to do, eating tapas every night of the week, we've been taking advantage of the cheap meal they become and the free time we have before classes start next week. I explained in the last post about tapas but I actually had inaccurate information. With any drink that you order, whether it be beer, tea or water, you receive a free sandwich, most seem to be on bagel type rolls, with bacon, or "jamón serrano" (which I think is a cured ham, but I'm not sure. Whatever it is its good), or other variations depending on the bar. Its a great way to hang out with friends, and for 4 Euros (or less) I can have 2 drinks (a favorite is Tinto Verano, half red wine, half lemonade) plus food. It's wonderful!

On Monday we went of Cabo de Gata for a 10 mile hike, literally through a desert along the shore. It was quite strange to see desert and then turning around to see the ocean. The water was quite warm, much warmer than the waters were in Florida during spring break, and according to a friend from Los Angeles, much warmer than the Pacific ever gets. We finished that day off with a meal at a restaurant in San Jose where we had lasagna, pizza, pork.

Yesterday we went to Sacromonte, where there are caves that have been turned into bars and clubs. There is lot of flamenco in this "barrio" and it allowed some wonderful views of Granada. Another thing this walk made us notice is how many stray cats and dogs there are. Its kind of sad how many animals are in the streets. They are all well behaved, they don't bother people who walk by. They are very skinny and obviously have no home. If I had my own place I would want to adopt one...

Today I bought a little cactus for my room to bring some life into my room. At school I usually have a bamboo plant or something living to brighten the room. I have the first part of my placement test this evening, which is a written part. Tomorrow I have the speaking part of the test. I hope that the test reflects accurately what Spanish grammar class I need to be in. I'm not studying for the test because it may place me higher than I should be and this would just make my semester more difficult than necessary.

The classes I will be taking this semester (starting next week) besides the grammar class are:

• Flamenco Theory and Practice
• Islamic Civilization in Spain and North Africa until 1492
• Islamic Art and Architecture
• Lorca and the Andalusian Literary

¡Hasta luego!