Fiestas!

It has been quite the exciting week here in Granada, filled with evening thrills to new and exciting discos! We strapped on our dancing shoes late Tuesday evening for a trip to Plaza Nueva for tapas.  Tapas consists  of your drink of choice, whether it be cola or the local beer, Alhambra, and a small appetizer. No less than one euro and no more than three or four, Granada is the only city in Spain where tapas are free (in logic, you are paying for the price of your bebida).  Tapas can be enjoyed before or after dinner, preferably before and in replace of dinner. The courses continue to evolve as you order another round, and only at the end of your night are you feeling slightly uncomfortable as you loosen your belt.  Promoters stroll the street corners, each designated to their own, in hopes of luring you into their bar.  After surveying the options, we settle on an area that looks most delicious and inviting.  We have discovered few spots where the tapas are the best, but surely we will not be discouraged seeing as though there are hundreds of tapas bars around every corner.  Back to the fiesta... Wednesday night began at a local tapas bar in Plaza Nueva at a quaint little bar with a medieval trend to match.  I reserved the right to not order tapas in concern for my soon to be dancing self!  Our departure led us to the nightclub, Afrodisia, a hip hop club whose mission was to bring african american rap artists to Spain in hopes that we would shake our tailfeathers, and boy did we! Majority of the people were American students, singing along to Rhianna and Nelly... pretty cliche.  It was no surprise to us that Tuesday night was quiet with only twenty to thirty chicos y chicas celebrating their thirst.  We danced for an hour and then decided to head home in order to prepare ourselves for the following school morning.  Our Wednesday evening began rather late, having debated whether or not to go out and mingle.  We settled on a disco by the name of Granada Diez, theatre decor and a slightly younger crowd, our night would surely be interesting.  The main stage sits below an elevated bar where Alex and I stood in awe at the twenty or thirty so people that were simultaneously dancing to, what we assume, is equivalent to the Spanish cha cha slide.  Girls and boys danced amongst the crowd, while the audience mimicked their moves.  We later welcomed fellow CEA programmers and together attempted to dance amongst a squishy crowd of overwhelmingly aggressive chicos.  It felt slightly like a high school mixer, and so off we went, returning to la casa.  Thursday evening began within CEA's scheduled program of churros con chocolate, a delicious dessert that all would enjoy! Imagine hollow donut sticks and a tea cup of warm melted chocolate... We greeted fellow CEA-ers, those that had been in Granada a month earlier for the intensive language program.  You'd think we were full... no, the night was only just beginning with food. Ay ya ya     Katey, myself, and Alex searched for a tapas bar.  We each enjoyed two beers, Alhambra beers, and shared two dishes, an ensalada con huevos (eggs) and some sort of pescado (fish).  We shared stories about home over tapas and further explored our city by entertaining our stomachs once more, with helado (ice cream).  We all live on Camino de Ronda and are lucky enough to be surrounded by gelato, sweets, pizzerias, and more. NOT! I cannot figure out why it is that my appetite has reached sky high while venturing the city of Granada, this never happens at home. Alex and I enjoy large delicious meals at home, but they never seem to suffice. Chocolate is our guilty pleasure, and it is even more demanding when knowing that we have sweet shops around every corner. I wouldn't be surprised if we head that way once I finish blogging... I get rather hungry after working my fingers so hard :) We have enjoyed the company of a busy street and even more so to have welcomed a new friend that lives so close.   Our bellies ached in pain by the end of the evening, and to bed we went, preparing again for another long day.  Fantastic Friday I shall call this day.  We had a wonderful day/afternoon/evening, everything! CEA had a day trip planned to Ronda, I'll post pictures later, followed by an evening coordinated by Katey.  We were scheduled to meet at Los correos (post office) by 8 a.m., it came way to soon. Our day was wonderful, and the weather was even better, again, another experience that is unable to be explained or illustrated in words.  Our trip was so magical that Alex and I have decided to make a second trip to Ronda next weekend, planning on hiking the mountains and seeing what night life it has to offer.  Arrival to Granada, we hurried to las tiendas (shops) in hopes to purchase outfits for the upcoming evening, utter failure, and Luz was angry because our delay in dinner (ten minute delay... sheesh).  We inhaled our soups, quickly gathering together what time we had to dress ourselves in fabulous clothes so as to impress all those that passed by.  Katey has met a young man by the name of Julio, and they have been conversing for the past weeks and decided to set a date for all of us to go out and meet and greet. We met Julio at his friend's apartment, where we discovered many shared opinions and tastes in movies, music, etc.  Their apartment decor was movie posters of Pulp Fiction, Scarface, and A Clockwork Orange.  We shared similar westernized ideas and music, like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc. It was a great opportunity for each to practice their language of study, and I succeeded in sticking to Spanish. We spent several hours chatting and finally agreeing upon a dance club, called Premio, a more local spot, where we would sure stick out as foreigners. Our evening ran into the morning as we entered into la casa at 8:30 a.m.! WOW.  No doubt, our Saturday afternoon was a snooze, sleeping the entire day, only awakening for food. We eventually awoke from our slumber and to the streets I went, in search of a nice top to wear during the evenings.  I successfully discovered a store that had my name written all over it, and of course I purchased the only item not on sale. I do love it.  Our evening ended early, as we were tired from the previous night and wanted to preserve our energy for Sundays visit to the Alhambra. All in all, it was a spectacular weekend that left me even more excited for the following weekends to come. I wish you all were here to enjoy in this splendor...