La internet mejora la vida!

Hello everyone!
I am happy to be in a much better mood as I write this to you, from my own computer, in a lovely wifi bar that is actually open during siesta! In many bars you get food with your drink, here you get a free internet connection! So this blog will be much more exciting than the last.
UGR classes don't start until the end of September so until then we are taking classes that are set up by EAP (education abroad program) but are still taught by UGR professors. We have 5 different classes: Language, in which we work on our speaking skills; Reading Comprehension; History; Literature; and Grammar. Language, Grammar, and Reading Comprehension all make me feel like I'm back in first grade, but they're still fun. So far I haven't had any trouble speaking in front of the class and I remember all the grammar we've gone over. Unfortunately my ease in the classroom doesn't always translate to the real world and I find myself embarrassed and stuttering while I try to speak to native Granadinos. In reading comprehension we made an autoretrato, or self portrait, by writing a list (in Spanish, of course) of all the things we like. I've decided this is a truly excellent exercise if you are ever feeling sorry for yourself because sitting down and thinking for about ten minutes of only things that I like put me in truly the best mood. I've never enjoyed homework so much! Our history class is really interesting, it is great to get a strong historical foundation for the culture around me. Literature, on the other hand, is pretty funny. The professor is very passionate about literature, which I greatly respect, but he has a hard time creating a logical progression of ideas to present to the class. Still we have been reading a few things I haven't seen before, and a few that I have, so it's been a nice balance of being reminded of things I've already learned, and learning about some different pieces of literature. All the professors have so far done a great job of speaking slowly and including all the letters in the words they say, something very rare here in Southern Spain. The local accent is very different from the accent I have thus far learned. Sometimes it's almost as though people are speaking through a mouthful of cotton! "Voy para Granada" turns into "Vo pa Grana" and "hasta luego" turns into "ha lueo." Not to mention the fact that while S's remain the same, all C's and Z's turn into TH's. So "he comprado una constitucion" turns into "he comprao una constituthio." The also leave off S's at the end of words so that "los monos" turns into "lo mono" and you have to judge by context that the word is in fact plural. All that said, i do feel like I'm getting better at speaking the accent, and I am most certainly getting better at understanding it.
We have class mom-thurs 9am-2pm, then siesta from 2-5, then we usually do a cultural activity at 5:30. I thought people were perhaps exaggerating the Spanish siesta, but it is totally true that from 2-5 the entire city shuts down! People will still be walking around, but every restaurant, bar, bookstore, drugstore, mercado, etc will be closed. So most days we all stay in our rooms or nap at that time. This is also a good idea because siesta comes at the hottest part of the day, temperatures sometimes reaching 40* Celsius! We have really good air conditioning in our rooms though, so inside is always nice. So far our 5:30 activities have included buying cellphones (my number is 34644487961 if you have free international calls!), buying "fotos de carnet," and walking around the Albaicin. Fotos de carnet are tiny headshots, smaller than passport photos, that are used for almost everything around here. We will have to turn one in to each of our professors at UGR, two in to get our residence cards from the city, and two to get visa extensions from the country. The Abaicin, which i mentioned in my previous post, is truly beautiful. The streets are really hilly and narrow, which makes it dangerous to walk around late at night, but during normal hours these attributes add a really mystical ambiance to the area. Instead of restaurants the streets are full of "teterias," or teahouses, that serve a wide variety of teas, juices, and shakes. There are also small kabab houses that offer Shwarma, which are basically pita wraps. The stores of the Albaicin feel very Middle Eastern, with bright, flowing clothing, beautiful jewelry, and other more touristy chachca. We walked up into the heart of the Albaicin where we were rewarded with a spectacular view of the side of the Alhambra, a giant stone fortress dating back to the 13th century. We get to go walk around the inside of the palace tomorrow and I am so excited!
So far I have had a great time here, and I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to call this wonderful city my home!
More to come later,
Hanna