The Prince of Persia

My host mother, Isa, and I had lunch this afternoon. It was just her and me in the kitchen, forcing me to try to understand her without having Juan Maria or Jaylyn help me translate her quick dialect. After a few minutes, she told me in her thick, Andalusian accent that I need to "learn Spanish, find a novio (boyfriend), and live in Spain." I nearly spit out my salad at the idea. Ojalá que sí, Isa. A life in Spain really wouldn't be that bad. Between siesta time and free tapas, Granada is a place that I could definitely see myself living in. Granted, being this far away from my family permanently is not something I could do right now... but I could see myself living here under the right circumstances someday.

I think my tiny, quick-tongued host mother made me realize that what I want in life is attainable. Most of the time I may not know what people are saying, but I like to listen. I love to hear their accents, the way they pronounce things, and how intense their hand gestures can be when they're making a point. Spanish culture is addictive. It's like a finely poured glass of wine that once you have a taste, you want more. 

Last night my friends and I visited the Albaicin, which is an Arabic neighborhood filled with tea houses and hookah bars. It took a moment for me to decide which type of tea that I wanted to try, but I went with Persian since I liked The Prince of Persia so much. (Leave it to me to make life decisions based on my movie preferences. Hey, you can't go wrong with Jake Gyllenhaal.) The tea was kind of bitter, nothing like my grandmother's sweet tea. Jackson had Moroccan tea (marroqui) which tasted minty, like a mojito. I'll have to order that flavor next time. The tea comes in these cute little Arabic tea pots that you pour into small shot glasses. It's very herbal and relaxing. 

After the Albaicin, we managed to find a bar called Poë, ran by Matt Poë and his wife. He is English, from London, and was a former teacher turned bartender. He's had the bar for about 11 years and was quite an interesting guy. We talked with him for hours over beer and free tapas. If any of you come to Granada, stop in and talk to Matt about slavery. He can converse on anything from the Atlantic slave trade to the British Parliament. He even served me a glass of Kentucky Bourbon so I could taste my homeland. It is hard for me to get accustomed to the different drinking age and culture here, but it is fun to be able to have a beer with your friends and talk about why our constitution tells us to pursue happiness without telling us where to find it.

Classes begin on October 1st, which will be the end of my "vacation" and the beginning of the real reason why I am here. I will have courses in English, but my Spanish classes are quite lengthy. I'm scheduled to learn at a fast pace here, which will come in handy at the dinner table when Isa tries to talk to me about which Spanish boy I think is cute.

My friends have left for Malaga for the weekend, which gives me a few days of alone time. This is the part where I wish I had local friends to show me the real side of Granada. I need native friends so that when my study abroad group leaves me in December, I'll still have people to spend time with and practice Spanish with. The locals here are kind of hard to approach, which I'm sure they feel the same towards us. I want to be able to walk right up to someone and start talking, but I get so nervous when I try to speak Spanish... my words jumble and my brain freezes. I'll have to work on my confidence at some point.

Today is much cooler in Granada than it has been. I think I'll go buy a newspaper and find a cafe to practice in. I need to brush up on my reading skills and learn a few key phrases. I hate having to think so hard when it comes to speaking. I focus more on not making mistakes than actually trying to make a sentence... Even if I sound like Mr. Miyagi, I need to talk to people. I've noticed that the people I do talk to in Spanish are very happy just to have me try to speak their language. Maybe soon I'll find a study partner, someone that is also learning English and we can help each other.

Until next time. Keep it classy, USA.