Things I love and things I love (to hate)

Uy! Lo siento!

It's been an awfully long time since I've updated this little piece of the interwebz.

I have no good excuse, except to say that I've been relishing the slower-moving Spanish culture that deems it appropriate to lounge around at a café for hours with friends and take a siesta every afternoon.

That said, I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm hoping to write some more detailed blogs soon, but in the meantime, here's the short and sweet of what I'm loving and what I'm not such a huge fan of here in Granada.

Top 10 things I love and things I love (to hate) in Granada

1. Tres chic children. LOVE. Granted, kids are almost always cute, (allowing for tantrums, food-slinging babies, and biting -- I can't deal with biting), but put a 3-year-old in a pink polo shirt and he just gets 10 times cuter. (Speaking of pink, I'm always surprised by how many boys wear pink, both children and youth -- not so many adults though). It seems as though all Spanish children are dressed to the 9s. There are childrens' clothing stores everywhere (my tiny street has two very posh ones). I have no clue how parents can afford to dress their children so well, but hey, during the two months they can wear that shirt, they sure make it look adorable.
2. Walking to class. LOVE/HATE. I really do enjoy being able to walk everywhere, but the hill to my college is positively massive. It's a 20 minute walk, uphill all the way. On the upside (no pun intended), my calves are getting a killer workout. That is to say that by the time I collapse into bed at night, pain is shooting through my legs. I'm hoping that will wear off soon...
3. Motocicleta madness! Impassioned hate. I can't begin to count how many times I've almost been nailed by a motorcycle, often times because they aren't following traffic signals. Motos are hip, cheap and convenient. (Girls wear sandals, dresses and big jewelry). They are also deadly.
4. Being known by the locals. LOVE. I got a haircut once at the salon in my neighborhood, and now every morning when I pass by on my way to class, Carmen and Jesus wave and say hello. Once, Carmen demanded that I come in and tell her how I was doing. She even styled my hair for free the other day.
5. Fruterías. LOVE. Fruterías sell the best fruit you've ever tasted, at ridiculously low prices. Whereas tomatoes in the U.S. are picked before they are ripe, making for a tasteless fruit, tomatoes here are fresh. You have to eat them in a couple of days, before they go bad, but man oh man are they good. I bought a fruit called chirimoya the other day and shared it with friends. You peel off the green outer skin and scoop out the white flesh inside. It looked like monkey brain, but it was a delicious, squishy, rich fruit -- the best comparison I can come up with is a mango/guava hybrid. They're grown in Latin America, so if you have a chance, try one!
6. Dog poop. HATE. Almost all the dogs I've seen have been incredibly small, but they make up for their size by being prolific poopers. And their owners are atrocious pooper scoopers. This combination makes for sidewalks that are not friendly to sightseers. I'm looking down at my feet a lot more than I'd like.
7. Siestas. LOVE. I don't think I've had so many successive napping days since I was a toddler. The days end up feeling longer, because I stay up later with more energy, rather than trying to get as much done as possible on an exhausted brain.
8. Professors' teaching styles. Rather than hate, I'm just going to say that I dislike this particular facet of attending a Spanish university. Professors in Spain are infamous for their lectures -- many will just sit at a desk and talk at students for a solid two hours without any visual aids, notes or student participation. I have fascinating professors who allow for questions, but I don't think my professors will be the most engaging teachers I've ever had. Having to concentrate extra hard just on what someone is saying makes this lecture style particularly exhausting. Thank goodness for siestas.
9. Young people walking arm-in-arm with old people. LOVE. I crossed paths today with a dredded-20-something guy walking an elderly man down the street, their arms linked. This is something I never dreamed of seeing. Young people -- think high school/college age students -- walk arm-in-arm with grandparents, going on errands or just out for a stroll enjoying the sunshine. The kind of community I see going on here all the time makes me smile. People really love to be around each other, especially with family.
10. Live music in the streets. LOVE. Accordions, violins and guitars are all fairly common sights, and people play very well. While wandering through the Albaicín the other day, my friend and I stumbled upon two Irish young men who were playing guitar (they were some of the hippies who find cheap places to live - often in caves - and smoke weed together every night in the plaza looking over the Alhambra). Anyway, only one of them was playing, because they only had one guitar. And he was playing with such tenderness - practically caressing the instrument - as he played a Nick Drake tune. I'll leave you with the original.

As they say in Spain, no hay prisa -- there's no hurry. Take time to enjoy your coffee today. Spend time listening to your family members talk about their day. Stop and listen to any music you stumble upon in your day, be it in the streets or on Pandora.

And then share it with those you love.