Playing Catch-up

So it has been about a month since I have posted and given everyone an update. I figure this lazy, cold (54ºF) sunday afternoon is a perfect opportunity to catch everyone up on my life. 

These last couple of weeks have been fun. I have gone to two different Flamenco concerts that were amazing. Every week the University of Granada hosts different types of concerts and events that are free. The one that I went to was done by a gypsy family from Sacramonte (a little gypsy village of Granada). Unfortunately I only had my phone with me so the photos are kinda blurry. The father and one son did the singing, the other son played the guitar, and the mom and two daughters did the dancing. If you have never gone to a real traditional flamenco show before, it is deffinetlly something to put on your bucket list. When the performers are singing and dancing you can feel the power and the emotions eminating from them or as the Spanish call it Dueñde.

The other concert was completely different. This one was not put on by the university. Instead we went up into the Albaicín into this small building with enough room for about 15 people. Instead of having the flamenco dancers and the costumes, it was a more intimate setting. There was one man who played the guitar and a female singer. Her voice was beautifully haunting as she sang songs of the gypsy past. The flamenco style of music is unlike any other. When they begin to sing you feel as if they are almost wailing in sorrow, yet the audience is clapping and shouting Guapa, and other terms of encouragement and enjoyment. It really is something special to see. I also had the opportunity to see a Spanish Jazz concert. There was a pianist, bass guitarist, accordion player and the female singer. She was quite entertaining, coming out with a big cigaret in her mouth asking for whiskey and flirting with the crowd while she sang. It was a different show; still enjoyable but I think I will stick with flamenco. 

Every monday night is an English trivia night. A group of IES students usually go every week and we have made friends with another team that is composed of Erasmus students from England, Scotland, and Ireland. We have a lot of fun getting to hang out with them. Usually we do pretty well at trivia except these last couple of weeks the questions have been more geared to England and the rest of Europe. Our European friends do really well even with questions about America. I think this really shows how as Americans we tend to be wrapped up in our own little world and do not know or take interest into what is happening around us. I think being here in Spain, where they tend to know everything that is going on, has showed me that It might be important to know what is going on in the world around me. When I got here I knew nothing about Spain and their economy and who their current and past Kings/leaders are. However; my host family knew all about our presidential election and could talk about issues on the ballots. It is amazing how other people take a concern in what happens in other countries. So far this has been a good experience for opening my eyes to the world around me. 

Yesterday morning a group of my friends and I went to, Parque de las Ciencias, or the Science Park here in Granada. It was a really neat exhibit. We started out in an area that touched on all the different body parts and the different systems in the body. In each area were different activities that went along with the bodies. My favorite was this game where you and a partner each put your foreheads against a metal bar and tried to relax. The object was that whoever could move a ball that was in-between us to the other persons goal they were the most relaxed. The metal bar would monitor your brain waves and the less activity you had going on the more you moved the ball. The guide that taught us about the activity showed us that when you talked to one of the participants you could see on a monitor that their brain waves spiked and the ball went in the other direction causing them to lose, it was really neat. 


Next to the exhibit about the body was an exhibit more geared to children, but of course I throughly  enjoyed it. It was all about puppets and how they worked. There were all different types from hand puppets to shadow puppets, even how to create puppets out of clay and other materials. There was also an exhibit all about electricity but we did not have time to look at this one. Out side of the exhibits is a park area in which they had all different types of owls, hawks, falcons, and vultures as well as a butterfly exhibit. There was also an outdoor play ground that taught all about kinetic energy and different types of solar, wind and water energy. In one corner of the park is a big tower that we got to go to that overlooked part of Granada. I was able to see the roof of our apartment building from the tower. There were a couple of other exhibits as well as a theater and a planetarium to see but it was time to head home for siesta. I plan on going back another day to try and see the rest of it. 

This weekend staying in Granada is the group of IES Abroad kids that are studying in Rabat Morocco (where I will be heading to on Thursday!!!). There were four of us that met up with the group of about 20 students and we each took five and split off and took them to our favorite tapas place. We had a really good time. I took them to a place called Poe which has really good rice dishes as well as kebabs. After there I took my group through some of the streets and different plazas and gave them a little history about the place and then we went and found a gelato shop and we all had gelato. Since my group was all girls, they wanted to know where was some good places to go shop. We went on a little tour of the main road where all the big name and expensive stores are so they can come back on monday and shop. I then took my group for a night stroll along the river and up into part of the Albaicín so they could see they Alhambra at night. We ended up running into a group of my friends and some other people from the Rabat group that were heading dancing and of course my girls wanted to go as well. They were telling me that life in Rabat is completely different than the US or here in Spain. The girls are not allowed to go out for safety reasons. They have to be home before dark. Men are more free and able to do as the please but for the women there are a lot more rules and they have to take more precautions. So this was there first night out past 9 since being in the US. After a while of dancing my friend and I walked them back to their hotel. They will have some free time on monday so we are going to meet up with them and take them out for some traditional Spanish food, Paella!

After spending time with the group form Morocco I am really excited to be going. We leave in four days and will be there for five. All I know is that we get to experience staying with a host family there. We will not be able to shower for three days. But we do get to go experience an Arab bathhouse. The girls were saying this is normal for them to go to and be bathed. You do not get to bathe your self. Someone literally scrubs you down and gets rid of all dead skin and you also get a massage and get to relax in a steam room as well. This should be pretty fun and a neat experience. We also get to go ride camels, which I am really excited for. I do not have my orientation till monday night so I do not really know all of the details yet, but when I get back on monday I will hopefully have a post and pictures ready for everyone on tuesday. 

¡Hasta Martes!
Nathan