Although I am studying in the city of Granada, my program’s orientation took place in Spain’s capital city: Madrid. In Madrid, we stayed in a wonderful hotel that was located directly in the city’s center. We had organized trips to tour the royal palace (palacio real), the Prado museum (el Prado), and a day trip outside the city to El Escorial, a palace/monastery/school built in the 16th century. We also had ample free time to explore the city without guidance, get local cuisine, or just catch up on sleep. Though we had a few meetings on safety in the city and what our housing accommodations in Granada would be like, this orientation was not entirely meant to be an orientation. The program classified it as one of our “excursions,” so while we were getting some information, our actual orientation on classes, extracurricular activities, ways to meet with local people for intercambios (conversations to practice your Spanish), etc. will be taking place during our second week here. We stayed in Madrid for four days, and arrived in Granada Friday evening. On our way to Granada, we stopped in Toledo, where we walked and toured sites throughout the city. At night when we finally arrived in Granada, we met our host families, had dinner, and finally had the chance to unpack and sleep in. Our classes don’t start until February 1st (which is two weeks after we arrived in Spain), so we have a whole week to get to know our host families and the city, catch up on sleep, and attend orientation meetings at our school. I’ve really enjoyed having a later start to classes because it has allowed me to get to know get comfortable living in another country and even just in another person’s home.
