A Day in the Life

¡Hola! I don’t want this blog to focus only on the weekend trips I take to other cities and countries, so I decided to write one on my everyday life here in Granada. Hopefully this will help you imagine what my schedule looks like, more or less – although it does vary a lot depending on the day!

If you know me, you know I love a good breakfast. One of my least favorite things about Spain is the custom of eating bread and jam for breakfast, every single day, and not much else. I bought some crema de cacahuete (peanut butter) to add and make little PB&J toasts, which I normally enjoy with a cup of tea (also not traditional here, everyone normally drinks coffee!). Since my first class doesn’t begin until 10:30am, I have some time in the morning to read, journal, and get ready for the day.

Around 10:00am, I leave and walk to the language school. It is an enjoyable 20 minute walk along the river and city streets. I usually listen to music or a podcast.

We aren’t allowed to take any photos during class, so I will just give an overview of the four I am taking this semester:

Monday & Wednesday

• 10:30-12:30 – Islamic Culture in Spain (interesting but a 2-hour lecture in Spanish is very long)
• 12:30-2:30 – Business Spanish (hilarious professor and fun class, learning lots of business-related vocabulary)

Tuesday & Thursday

• 10:30-12:30 – Culture & Civilization of Latin America (cool to learn about all the other countries that speak Spanish)
• 12:30-2:30 – Oral Production & Interaction (practice speaking Spanish with other students in my same level)

After four hours of classes, I walk back home for lunch at 3:00pm. I’m usually pretty hungry by this point and ready for the biggest meal of the day! After we eat, I often do homework in my room, at a coffee shop with friends, or at one of the many bibliotecas (libraries) throughout the city.

My friend Gabi plays lacrosse at her university back in the US, so she has workouts from her trainer each week to complete. I volunteered to be her gym buddy when we first got to Granada, and it has been great! We go to a nearby gym around 5 days a week and do a variety of everything, sometimes also running outside in the nearby park. Exercise is such a great stress reliever and fun to do together! We normally go from 7-9pm, and come back home in time to shower and eat dinner.

Dinner is normally around 9:30pm. My evenings afterwards really vary and could include getting helado (ice cream) with friends, having a movie night, doing more homework, or calling my family.

Sometimes, I go out for tapas with friends, and it’s one of my favorite things about Granada! Various bars and restaurants offer tapas, meaning if you order a drink (a 2-3 euro beer/wine/etc.), they bring out an accompanying appetizer-size food dish for no extra charge. These can vary greatly depending on the place, and it’s fun to do two or three rounds, trying different foods and drinks and talking for hours. The whole dinner ends up being 7-8 euros, which is not bad at all!

Walking home at night is beautiful, and Granada streets are very safe. I’m usually exhausted by the end of the day and easily fall asleep!

Sometimes I look at the date on the calendar and can’t believe how long I have been living here! I enjoy the slower pace of Spanish life, my new friends and city, and learning more of the language every day. However, I do miss home sometimes and love hearing from you all. ¡Tenga un buen día!