Ok, so it's been a few days, let's see. On Saturday I finally met my host family, Conchi (my Señora), Pepe (the dad), Pablo, Ana, José (the 30 year old kids), Angela (the granddaughter), and Duké (Pablo's ugly dog). Conchi picked me up from the hostel that morning and I nervously kissed her on both cheeks and tried to make conversation with my horrible Spanish. She was very understanding. Then I had lunch with the family (paella) and tried to follow the conversations they were having with each other while not seeming nosy, I was very awkward I can assure you. I spent the rest of the day in their apartment, which overlooks one of the main streets in Granada as well as the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Very picturesque.

On Sunday I was eager to leave the apartment to not only get away from my new family asking me if I understand them after every sentence (which I most definitely do not), but to see La Alhambra, Granada's gem. La Alhambra is, of course, absolutely beautiful. Once a fortress and palace for the Moorish rulers of Granada, it now serves to aesthetically please tourists and residents alike; with its intricately decorated rooms, verandas, and bathrooms, its views of the city below and the mountains above, and its fountain-filled gardens, I could have spent all day there with a book and a camera.

Now that I'm beginning "real" life here, with classes and a schedule, I am starting to see the inners of this city and the people, if only the inners just beneath the surface...we'll see what happens here