Granada is quickly feeling like home. Days melt into each other and I already feel like I could stay here forever. Because I studied abroad in Spain before with a host family, this time I decided to find my own apartment in the city. I found a furnished room in a 3 bedroom apartment in the center of town, right by the main cathedral. I live with a Spanish guy and a French girl, so communication is always in a mix of the three languages. My flatmate Mario is one of the nicest people I’ve met while in Spain. He invites me out and we sing and play guitar together and even with a slight language barrier we get along quite well. Jennifer is from the south of France and has already started classes here so although I don’t see her very often, we have bonded over trying to convince Mario to let us get a puppy and the everyday struggle with speaking Spanish.
The apartment is very safe and central, but also can be loud in the evenings since we are near a lot of good places to go out. During the day, my street is a market place where you can find cheap leather goods and souvenirs. It can get quite busy, and I seem to always accidentally photo bomb tourist’s pictures when trying to get into my building. That’s the catch of living on such a cute and popular street.
Mario took my friend and his cousins and I for a drive up through the mountains and it was breathtaking. Granada is so perfectly located, close to the Sierra Nevadas and the beach. We enjoyed a simple lunch and some tinto verano with a view of the mountains, and made friends with the many cats who roam freely through the cobblestone streets.
The friend who came with me, Isabella, is from my program. We became close during orientation in Madrid, and see each other everyday. We had messaged a bit before the program started through facebook, but it was basically just luck that we hit it off. My API program is only about 30 students, 10 of which were early start students. My group, the late start students, mix pretty well and all seem to get along. Through tours and excursions and evening meetups, I already feel like I’ve made some really good friends in my program.I haven’t had any trouble feeling lonely, and we are all in constant contact through a facebook group message. I try not to hang out with too many Americans at once though, because it’s almost impossible to meet Spaniards or practice your Spanish when you’re in a big group of English speakers.
