The Rain in Spain is a Great Big Pain.

I think that perhaps as soon as I typed the words “weather is getting beautiful” in my last post, the weather changed. Last week was day after day of torrential downpour, relentless wind, and horrible lack of sun. I am a self-diagnosed sufferer of seasonal affective disorder, so the weather hit me particularly hard. Just as the sun refused to rise, ever, so did my mood. But I realized that I was being quite the Debbie Downer, and luckily we had some nice weather this past weekend in Granada and have had nice weather so far this week, so I am feeling much better.
Last weekend we went to Granada, and it was absolutely incredible. It has a much more visible Muslim influence than Sevilla does, especially in the architecture and remaining monuments around the city. I loved the architecture in particular, especially at La Alhambra, a colossal palace on the top of a mountain. Granada itself is primarily built into the sides of mountains and the valley in between them. It has snow-capped mountains in the distance and daunting hills that most avoid walking up. Instead, people take minibuses to get around, but as you go up into the mountains, the streets become narrower. It felt like a roller coaster, and for only 1.20! The bus drivers are truly of another breed; I would not be able to handle the stress of jamming as many people onto the bus as humanly possible and then being responsible for careening them all through streets so narrow, there is literally a centimeter between the buildings lining them and the side of the bus.
Last weekend was also the first time that Caroline and I met Yolanda’s son, Claudio, who took the train home from University of Madrid for the weekend. I personally loved having him here; he is Patrick’s age, so it felt more like home having a little brother in the house. It was so interesting to observe the mother-son relationship; Yolanda kept reminding him to wear his jacket and reaching over the dinner table to cut his food for him. She also had a welcome home sign for him in the kitchen; much like my family always does for me whenever I come home! She was visibly excited to see him; on Thursday night, he had some friends over and she called us all into the kitchen and poured us some wine for a toast to Claudio’s return. It was really precious. That dinner was also really interesting to be a part of; Claudio and his friends were talking so fast! I noticed that Yolanda made him dinner but not his friends, so they just sat in the kitchen talking to him while he ate. They didn’t seem to mind; this must be a customary thing. I was looking forward to hearing them talk a lot the next day at lunch, but I think Claudio was a little resaca (hungover) because he was not so talkative!
So we had two beautiful days in Granada, and got back Sunday night. This weekend is a long weekend, for Día de Andalucia. Many people are clearing out on their first excursions independent of the program, but I am staying here because I rarely have my act together and certainly was not able to plan a trip myself for so early in the program. I am actually looking forward to my quiet weekend here like no other. Some friends and I might take a trip to wine country for the day on Friday (weather permitting), and I might try to go see a dance show on Friday, but the weekend is pretty much free and clear otherwise. I am looking forward to being able to explore Sevilla without trying to squeeze in the sights in between classes and homework! Granada was beautiful, but it made me eager to see all the things that I still have not seen here. However, if you want to see those things that I have seen so far, click below!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026463&id=1391040171&l=eea5b09a4e

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026464&id=1391040171&l=326433ca5e