Tapas, the Alhambra, Big Adventures, Flamenco, Spanish Catholic Mass...I Must Have Been in Spain!

Friday morning, I left Maggie's house around 8:30 AM to make my way to Spain for a weekend adventure in Granada, visiting with my friend Jen from PLU who is studying in Granada for the semester.

The weekend was full of excitement - both good and bad. However, as it is 11:30 PM right now, I will only touch on the highlights at this moment. I will try to provide a more detailed blog entry tomorrow; if it doesn't happen then, it never will, as I'm off to Scotland Wednesday morning!

I flew from London to Malaga, and had to take a bus from the airport to the bus station, and then a bus from Malaga to Granada. People kept speaking to me in Spanish; once I realized they were speaking to ME, I simply said "English?" and they translated. However, I quickly discovered that many people in Spain don't speak very much English. This was surprising to me, as my experience in other European countries is that most people speak English. Spain was like the opposite of America - if they're going to speak a second language, English is likely it. But many people only speak the one language.

I had no problem getting to Granada, but I did run in to a snag upon arrival: I tried to call Jen, but had no luck. She, too, was unable to call me. I blame the Spanish phone system (I say this only because a lady from England staying at my hostel blamed it, haha). I arrived at the bus station having no clue where Jen was, or where to meet. I was preparing to try to find my way to the hostel by myself when I saw her...thank goodness!

Jen walked me to my hostel, and we passed near it three or four times before we eventually found it. It was tucked away on a tiny little cobble-stone street. But we found it, got me checked in, and then we went out for tapas. Tapas are an appetizer that is traditionally served at bars in Spain. In Granada, all tapas are free as a requirement to keep people from getting drunk (or to at least slow the process). We each had one drink, enjoyed our tapas, and then called a night.

Saturday was our grand adventure day. Jen and her friend Ruth introduced me to as much Spanish culture as they could. They took me to the Alhambra, a famous castle in Granada. We went to a museum and walked through a romantic garden. We explored the area all around the Alhambra, and then went back down into the town where we had churritos and chocolate. That's basically deep-fried dough and hot chocolate dipping sauce. Horrible for you, but yummy and a necessary treat while in Spain.

Ruth had to part ways with us at this point, so Jen and I decided to inquire about seeing a flamenco show that evening. We went to the tourist information office, where we learned about a flamenco school that had a show that evening for 7 euros. So we purchased tickets, and then Jen dropped me off at my hostel for two hours while she returned home briefly for supper.

While in the hostel, I met a girl named Rosa who is from Calgary, Canada and is currently studying in Barcelona. She was looking for a flamenco show to go see; some other girls in the hostel were telling her about a show for 13 euros, and so I spoke up that I was going to a show that night for 7 euros. Rosa asked to join us, and I said of course. When Jen came to get me at 8:00 Rosa joined us and we traipsed off to the complete opposite end of the city to see the show.

The flamenco show was great; very dramatic, romantic, passionate, and sexual. I tried taking pictures, but flash was not allowed and so my pictures are all a bit blurry.

After the show, Rosa and I decided to go out for tapas. Jen decided it was best that she head home, so Rosa and I stopped for tapas at a bar near our hostel. We each had a glass of sangria and enjoyed our tapas, and then went back to the hostel where we had one more sangria each from the hostel bar. We sat in the lounge with some other people at the hostel until about 1:00 AM, and then we went to bed.

Sunday morning, Jen and I went to Catholic Mass at the cathedral. This was our sneaky scheme for seeing the cathedral without paying. The service was short (not even an hour long), there wasn't one ounce of music, and I couldn't understand a word that was said. The service was very somber, and I had the distinct feeling that this must be how people in the middle ages had felt at church, listening to services in Latin, which they could not understand. Despite my language barrier, I could easily make out specific parts of the service, such as the sharing of the peace (everyone started kissing each other), the apostle's creed, communion (which was given to us without wine...wafers only), the sermon, the offering (the poor man passing around the basket accidentally dropped it), and the moment for silent reflection (at this point, the pastor sat in his chair and it looked as if he had fallen asleep!).

After church, we went to McDonald's for ice cream, and then I caught the bus back to Malaga and eventually flew back to London.

That's all for tonight's update; you can view my pictures from Spain in album-form here!