La Alhambra, Albaycin, and Placement Exams

Saturday morning we finally did the typical tourist thing to do in Granada - visit La Alhambra. In a nutshell, the Alhambra is an old palace and fortress that's big enough to be a city in and of itself. It was built in the 10th century by the Arabs and used by the Arab royalty. We were all under the impression that we would be taking a bus, but after about ten or fifteen minutes of walking, it became pretty obvious there was no bus. The walk wasn't too bad but the entire route was uphill there so it felt like a mini workout. It was definitely worth it though! Once we got to the top, we waited around for a little while until our tour guides showed up. They split us into two groups - people who wanted an English tour and people who wanted a Spanish tour. I chose the Spanish tour. Our guide spoke into a microphone that was connected to our headsets. Although we looked about as American as we possibly could, the headsets were extremely helpful because we could wander around without being next to our guide and still hear everything he said. Our tour went through both the gardens and the palace so we pretty much saw everything there was to see. The gardens were gorgeous, but my favorite part was just looking at all the carvings. The arches were stunning and so intricate. Some it was rebuilt and some it was restored, but you could just tell that the whole place was shockingly extravagant in its hayday.

This is one of the many arches at the Alhambra.

This is one of the smaller but still pretty gardens. 

After our tour of the Alhambra ended, Sophie and I took a cab back home. We went shopping once siesta was over. It was good to get a better feel for where everything is in the city. My favorite out of the stores we went into was Zara, one of the most famous shops in Spain. It's known for it's relatively low costs and extremely fast turn over of inventory. From what I understand, Zara gets new clothes about every two weeks. Also, the people working the cash register at Zara were freakishly efficient. They definitely had their system down! 

Sunday was the first day I was able to sleep in so Sophie and I woke up late and then hung out at home all afternoon during siesta time. Afterwards, we took a public bus as a CEA event to visit Mirador San Nicolas, the highest point of the Albaycin (the Arab neighborhood that still exists from when the Moors ruled Granada). Mirador San Nicolas is a relatively famous spot in Granada. It has an absolutely fantastic view of the city so it's a very popular for people to just go there to sit and admire the view. According to my host father, Bill Clinton went there when he was in Granada. 

This is me at Mirador San Nicolas. The background is kind of hard to see but all those big buildings clustered together are parts of the Alhambra. 

From Mirador San Nicolas we walked deeper into the Arab neighborhood and got tea at an Albaycin tea house called Teteria Casablanca. We had two choices - hot tea or cold lemonade tea. I chose the lemonade tea and I really liked it. I tried my friend's hot tea too and they were both extremely sweet. Mine kind of tasted like a mojito. After they served us tea, the waiters brought out plates with pastries on them. I have no idea what was inside them but the outside was sticky and sweet, and they were pretty tasty. 

Albaycin neighborhood 

This is La Teteria Casablanca. Our group filled up the entire tea house. I was shoved in the corner with one of my friends and a girl I didn't know before (but do now). My seat was right next to the door so this is pretty much the entire tea house. 

Today was the first day we've had to wake up extremely early because this morning we took our placement exams for our preliminary oral and writing class. The test had three parts: written (30 minutes), grammar (60 minutes), and oral (5 minutes). The written and grammar parts went by pretty quickly but I had to wait a little over an hour before it was my turn to do my oral exam. Afterwards, the woman told me that I speak very well but my grammar section was a little rough. I really should be in Level 5 but she put me in Level 6 and told me that if it's too hard I can always switch into a lower level (I think she felt bad for me). There are only 8 or 9 levels, but in order to take take integrated classes at the university, you have to test into Level 7 by the time the class is over. I was starting to panic a little bit, but most people are in Level 6 and there are a few people in Levels 5 and 7 so that made me feel much better. This will be the only class I take in September so I have to go for four hours every day Monday through Friday from 9am to 1pm. Sophie and I ended up in the same section which will be extra nice since we're in the farther of the two buildings so we can walk over together. I'm excited to start class and get into more of a routine, although I am nervous about being able to keep up with my level. Hopefully it won't be too bad!

Because my exam took all morning, I went straight home from the CLM (Centro de Lenguas Modernas) where we took the exam for siesta time. Towards the end of siesta, the CEA people took us on a tour to show us the various buildings of the University of Granada. We'll only need to go to those buildings for our integrated classes which won't start until October. The whole tour was kind of pointless because none of us ever remember how to get where they take us but we honestly didn't have anything better to do because everything was still closed for siesta. Once the tour was over, Sophie and I wandered around the city center for a while and got gelato of course (we're both kind of obsessed).