Living in Granada

Well I have not posted for awhile...

I have pretty much been living in Granada for the last month. I am taking Spanish lessons at a school here in town and I am learning more and more Spanish each day. That said, these (human) languages are BIG! And I have the worst memory for new words. It takes me a few times using a word in a real situation before it sticks.

I am living in a small room in a Spanish lady´s apartment. Carmen and her daughter live together here and rent out two rooms. Last week there was an American here as well. I am not really touring so much as living here... I have been to the doctor and to the dentist. I am running out of contact lenses so I might need to go to see the optomotrist. Paying the bills and going to ´work´. Though no taxes yet :)

My daily routine looks like this...
7:45AM wake up. Hopefully not hungover, or still inebriated, or without having done my homework.
8:00AM Have breakfast (desayuno) with Carmen. Always have coffee and tostadas con tomate. The tostadas con tomate is a Andalucian standard. It is grated tomato, spread on toast then drizzled with olive oil, finished with salt.
8:20 AM Take shower, make bed. If necessary do my homework.
9:00 AM Grammar class with Pepe. Technicalities of the language. Over the last few weeks we have been going through the present, past and future tenses. Regular verbs, irregular verbs. When and how to use Me Gusta vs Paracen. How to use Hacer.
10:30 AM Break. Usually check the internet or go for a coffee with the rest of the class at the local cafe. Carmen makes a very strong coffee because they normally water it down with milk - but because I don´t water down mine I cannot handle more than one per day.
11:00 Conversation class. Sometimes discuss vocabulary, sometimes play games.
12:30-2:30 School is done for the day. Usually check the internet and run some errands.
2:30-345 Comida (lunch) with Carmen. This is the big meal of the day. Vegetable, starch, meat dishes. Carmen makes a very good Comida and I am lucky to be able to have non-restaurant or ´real´ Spanish cooking. Paella, Ham, Tortillas, Eggs and Bacon, Pasta, Mushroom thing are some of the dishes I can remember.
345-530 Siesta.
530-900. Some times homework, sometimes school activities (like watching videos) etc.
900-2AM Usually ´La marcha´ or going for Tapas. Basically it is like a pub crawl with free food. Anytime you order a drink in Granada you get some free food. For example last night when ordering beers we got bagels with ham and cheese. The next round of beer came with small hamburgusas. I forget if I described tapas already, but they are a unique and important part of going out in Granada. Spanish people normally say they are going for Tapas when they mean they are going drinking. I and probably other students say we are going for drinks. And when the rounds start, the next round is triggered by a shortage of food or beer and not just beer as it happens everywhere else. Free tapas and the siesta are classical parts of Spanish culture which are still alive in Granada but less so in Madrid and Barcelona.
12, 2, 4 AM Go to bed.