Less than a month...
Trip Start
Aug 11, 2007
1
45
51
Trip End
Dec 22, 2007
Granada,
Spain
Monday, November 26, 2007
Sorry all I try to not have multiple entries sent at the same time but I have gotten behind :) So I will be filling your inboxes :)
So the last few weeks in Granada have not had many earth-shattering experiences but a couple worth noticing.
The 20th of November is the aniversary of Franco´s death and they always have mass for him in the cathedrals around spain. Although he was a terrible dictator many remain loyal to him and want to honor his memory. This is the last year that they are allowed to hold these masses I believe because a new law has been past which the fascists are not happy about. But we were told there are always antifascist protests and such around the cathedral when the mass gets out and being the "culture seeking" (or crazy) person I am I wanted to go check it out. Let me set this scene for y´all... It was pouring down rain... or at least raining... and here the streets are not designed for rain so they basically become a river and are very slick because they are like sheer stone so that makes walking an adventure in itself. So yes three of us met up and were heading toward the cathedral when a whole crowd of folks came walking down the middle of the street in protest (we were not sure for which side) and there were cops in swat gear and such... at this point a tiny seed of doubt about my intellegence entered my head but only a tiny seed. So we watched this protest and it was very weird because there were not a bunch of signs or anything one banner in the front and a bunch of people walking. Those in the back started singing some song... I had no idea what it was but that we us it. Sooo we continued hoping there was something a bit more exciting by the cathedral. Turns out there wasn´t so we went to return home... or swim home. We got about to the center of town where we always walk to home and heard gun shots.. very close.. and then there were all these people running towards us.. you know like in the TV news when there is a tsunami coming or something and you see all these people running and then the camera gets dropped it was kinda like that. So being the intellegent person I am, I grabbed my roommates arm and we also ran in the opposite direction and cut up a side street. We then took the VERY long way home... thankfully I know the streets int eh center really well and we got home safe and sound but very wet. We never found out exactly what happened though. I did discover later that the march we saw was to honor and antifacist kille dthe week before in madrid by the police during a protest against fascism. But yes that is my exciting story from the last week.
Thanksgiving was relatively uneventful for me. I went to my praise and fellowship group at the church which was a bit hard to be in a family type setting thinking about all my family eating turkey together but I survived :) Afterwards 5 of us girls from the program went salsa dancing which was tons of fun. At the dance hall they have some songs that are like the electric slid ethat the teacher leads the whole group in and they also play merengue, salsa, and buchate. I had a blast and have decided I should really find a place to take classes and dance back home.
I made zuchini bread with my host mom yesterday which was great fun!It actually worked out alright amazingly. I had to convert the whole recipe to grams and then guesstimate from there. It is a bit salty because I forgot that olive oil is way saltier than veggie oil but it is edible and my host family at least pretends that they like it.
That about sums up the adventures as of late... I am starting to think about coming home and realizing how weird it will be. A part of me is ready to see you all and be home but a part of me doesn´t want to leave because I feel I have just started to have a normal life here...
General Announcement: If you will be in P-town or the surrounding area over break I would love to see you! If you want to send me a message letting me know when you will be around I am already starting to arrange times to see folks! Much Love and have a great week!
