and the fun begins

so, since arriving to granada, i have had one little mishap after another. all of these mishaps have really drained me and now i´m definitely running on empty. i´m looking forward to getting a good night´s sleep, but before i do, i thought i´d take advantage of this cheap internet place and post some of my follies.

oh where to begin. let´s see. at lunch yesterday, i ordered a sandwich. the ¨numero dos.¨ i received two sandwiches. such a simple order, but yet it is my first miscommunication during my time in spain. i felt really bad and definitely stupid. especially when i realized that the man at the next table was laughing at me and started to retell the story to his friend. when i caught his eye, i just shrugged my shoulders and made a face that i hope said, ¨oops!¨ the whole situation reminded me of being in italy when meaghan nuckols ordered ¨un slice¨ of pizza and got ¨un pizza.¨

the theme for the rest of the day was very much ¨silence.¨ not only did i spend the day alone, but there were so many questions i had along the way that i was too afraid to ask because of my lack of confidence in my spanish skills, so i felt really silenced. it´s amazing how much one´s confidence in daily tasks is wrapped up in their ability to communicate to the world around them. for instance, i asked for ¨la cuenta¨ when i was finished with my lunch. the waitress responded, ¨la cuenta. sí.¨ so i sat and waited. and waited. and waited some more. she kept walking back and forth waiting on other tables, and i found myself caught between wanting to remind her in case she forgot and fearing being that impatient american. eventually she walked by and looked at me. a look of realization crossed her face, and she apologized and immediately went and got the check.

so, in an attempt to improve some of my language skills, i decided i was going to buy a book in spanish. i began browsing through a bookstore trying to figure out what the best book would be. the first book that caught my eye was ¨lidia y yo vamos a la cama.¨ as tempting as it was, i thought i should challenge myself a bit more and choose something not meant to be a bed time story. as i browsed, i walked past books like ¨da vinci code¨ and ¨don quixote¨ figuring both were too difficult (though for different reasons. seriously...don quixote? phew...) inspired by the portuguese reading habits of my dear friend meesh, i decided to browse the harry potter books when i found the book: ¨segundo verano de los vaqueros¨ or better known in english as ¨the second summer of the sisterhood of the travelling pants.¨ i read the first book and thought it was cute and always meant to pick up the second, and i thought this was probably the perfect reading level and length to begin my spanish literature adventure.

well, last night, i settled into my bed and began reading. i won´t tell you how long it took me to read the ¨rules¨ and the prologue, but what i will say is that i was seriously reconsidering ¨lidia y yo...¨

today was another tiring day. i woke up bright and early to make my way to the alhambra. this is a beautiful piece of architecture that was originally an islamic city during days of islamic rule in the iberian peninsula. every aspect of the homes, gardens and ground were so meticulous. and the most breath taking part was the ¨palace of the nasrids,¨ which was the palace to the sultans. the marble and wood carvings that line the walls and roofs of the many rooms and plazas of the palace were so elaborate, intentional and beautiful. like many things around this world, there aren´t really words to describe it. what was interesting is the comparison to the palace built by the emperor charles V, who lived there after islamic rule had ended. this palace was so bland. the only detail was the carvings in the wood on the ceiling, and all of the carvings were the emperor´s motto...very self centered, unlike the islamic architecture and design, which was very communal centered.

i felt pretty good about my time in the alhambra until i found myself standing in the middle of plaza nueva with the audio tour still around my neck. so, i had to take the alhambra bus back up the hill to turn in my audio tour and retrieve my driver´s license just to take the bus back down the hill to plaza nueva. not the best use of 2€ but i really had no choice. after that, i was pretty frustrated with myself, and it took a siesta in the afternoon to help me decompress.

tomorrow i head to córdoba and tuesday to madrid. but for now, i´m off to tackle another chapter in my book. wish me luck!