I have a twin!

I have a twin sister again! And by that I mean it's been really great to spend time with her and do all of these things together, and it feels so much more normal to be near her even though it's not normal at all because we're in Granada, Spain. I know Karen's been especially excited to see me, so when I arrived she already had a long list of things that she thought were worth seeing  and doing here. On the one hand, this made it very easy to plan days and meet people. On the other hand I have yet to really relax or sit down until now, which is why there's been a delay in starting a blog entry.

Before I go any further, I should note how very proud we should all be of Karen, and how much she has learned here during the past year. Her speaking ability is drastically different from my own, and way better than others in her program that have also been here for a semester or a year. She is exactly the kind of person you want to represent your family and your country, and if I can be like her even a little bit this summer I will be happy.

So here's the itinerary starting Saturday, when I arrived in Granada and got back from the airport: (feel free to skip this, it's mostly for Mom and Dad and Grandma)
Saturday:
- Met Incarnacion, Karen's host mom
- Dropped off stuff and quickly showered
- Went for tapas with a group of friends (mostly spanish) that Karen gathered to meet with me.
- Went out to the Discoteca called Mae West which is themed around this actress and all these western movies. It seems like a strange theme for a fancy and very popular dance hall but it works really well here. I thought it was very crowded but they said if you can move at all it's not crowded.

Sunday:
-Took Karen's host mom and her sister out for lunch, which is the most important meal of the day.
- Went to Albayzin which is the old Moorish part of town with tiny cobblestone streets and whitewashed walls and such. We had tea in a cafe over looking the city and the Alhambra.
-Went to a "festival" that was above Albayzin and behind a church on top of the tallest hill. Kinda hard to find, but really it's a bunch of "jipis" (hippies, also called Perro-flautas because they wander around with dogs and instruments like flutes a lot) that decided to have a party with music and dancing and such hidden in the forest on the outskirts of town. Very cool. Also very close to where most of the cave houses that were originally built and inhabited by gypsies.
- Wandered back downhill through Albayzin and into town, where we tried to catch a bus back into the center, but very calm protests meant that the buses couldn't get to our area so instead we met up by the plaza del toros for tapas with some of her friends.
 Monday:
- A very nice lunch provided by Incarnacion.
-Alhambra
- Turron flavored ice cream
- Tapas with friends

Tomorrow:
- going to class with Karen
- Lunch at one of her favorite cafes
- Wandering ( I think?)
- dinner and/or tapas
- el Mae West

Wednesday:
Leaving for Sevilla!



THINGS OF INTEREST:
Culturally the biggest surprise for me are these social groups that Karen is navigating through. The Pijos (sort of like Preps) and the Jipis (sort of like Hippies from the 70s but not really). These two groups don't really mix much but Karen and some of her friends are in the middle of these two areas and so they can experience both subcultures. I think it's a little odd that the two don't mix because they  jipis remind me of more people in my art classes and a friend that's in France right now, and the pijos are a lot more like my future house mate Herschel and my other engineering friends. Then again, maybe it just means that like Karen in Spain, I also don't quite fit in either category. This all sounds trivial but it's so prevalent that you can't help but notice and think about it.


I loved the Alhambra but with so many tourist around it sort of loses the magical charm that so many writers and poets talked about. Visually and Architecturally it was still awesome though.

I found out I do like dancing here, even though I never dance at home. At home it's hard to enjoy it because a lot of students don't seem to know how to have a good time without being drunk or stupid or often both. Here Karen has found friends that are very good at just having fun without all the crazy.

Karen has bats that live on her windowsill and hang out at night making all sorts of chirping sounds. It doesn't seem to bother her much because she sleeps through it, but because of either the heat or the jetlag I kept waking up to our " neighbors." And there seems to be a daily routine in the morning in which Incarnacion comes in and cries and complains about the bats, whilst grabbing a tissue to clean the window.  Needless to say this was a little disorientating to wake up to first thing in the morning.


Sorry this entry is so matter of fact and rushed, but I'd rather get started and fix my style later.

Pictures coming soon!