A week of discovery...

During our first month here, my roommates and I were able to celebrate the birthday of Rafael, our host father or Señor. He is an adorable old man with a very kind heart, although sometimes he can be quite ornery and strict, but we still respect him and love him. He always quizes us on Spain geography and on United States history. I hate to admit this, but he knows more details and random facts than I do! He always sings American songs, especially Stars and Stripes.

In this picture: The husband of Maria Jose (black shirt, I forget his name), Maria Jose (one of the five children, the oldest daughter), Elena (the youngest daughter), Rafael, and Mama Ché.



Here are a variety of pictures of the people in Granada...I took these while walking around the town during Corpus Cristi. Take note of the dresses the children are wearing and the fans the women are holding...everyone carries an abanico with them here! The plaza is the place to be during the later hours of the siesta and into the evening. It is a rare occurrence to find a free bench!




This was also quite hilarious...during the festivities in the plaza de Bib-Rambla, close to the cathedral, there were many children activities set up, including the one shown in the picture. How randomly awesome!




This is is the Plaza del Bibataubín, the meeting place for many CLM students. It is centrally located for most of the students I know here and makes for a perfect meeting spot and resting place to read, write, or people watch. There are many beautiful plazas here, many of which I have seen and many more I must still see.



I see this man quite a bit in the city playing the accordian. He is quite good.



My friend Grace, who I met through the church, took a couple of my Winona friends and I out for chocolate y churros at a restaurante in the Plaza de Bib-Rambla. The churros were delicious, complete with a cup of hot chocolate as thick as pudding!

In the picture: Grace, Hannah, Joanna, Ashley, and the delicious churros



After eating we walked by the cathedral, and Grace pointed out how there are statues of angels around the entire structure. An odd feature is that the highest angel, which once used to be the tallest point in Granada, is Lucifer. You can see how in the picture he has black wings symbolizing his fall. This is feature I would not haven noticed if Grace had not described it to us. This city is beautiful and positive in so many ways, but after seeing this, I was convicted even more to pray for Granada and its people.

You can see in this picture the angel statues along the front of the cathedral.


If you look closely at the top of this picture, you can see the angel with black wings



Often times I make up little games as I am walking to and from class (I walk nearly 2 hours every day). People in Granada are known for their "mallafolla" or poor character (people often keep to themselves and are of critical nature..not everyone, but it's evident). One time, I said "Hola" to every single person I passed....I caught many people by surprise -- it's not too often you see an American smiling and saying hello to you!

One night, while eating icecream with a few friends, we were walking down a side street taking some goofy pictures when all of a sudden we see a stampede of students running toward us. They were all younger kids, screaming "foto! foto!" I guess they saw us taking pictures and decided to make a scene....which was absolutely hilarious!

Oh, dear.....




Song of Songs 8:7-6
"Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot was it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned."