venga vamos! muy guay!

We have been in Granada for a few days now, after our long bus ride from Toledo, the last time we blogged. When we arrived in Granada, our host family picked us up and we took a taxi to our house. We have one mother, or senora (pardon the American keyboard), and a 28 year old sister. There is also another older sister, who has two small kids. They are so cute! They come to eat lunch with us everyday! After our first real home-cooked meal in Spain, which was chicken soup, a vegetable medley stew type thing, bread and salchichas (hotdogs), we played spanish cards and tried to stay cool. It is extremely hot here and it's hard to be comfortable outside during the middle of the day, which is why we love to take siestas, or naps!!! We went on a walk with another family and some of our friebnds after that and then we came home and ate dinner with our family, and went to sleep early after an exhausting day.
We woke up early the next day and went to the CLM, which is the Centro de Leguas Modernas, where our classes are, in order to take the Placement Exam. It was a tad difficult, and inluded grammar, written and oral sections. After our test, we went to the LPI office to check out all the computers and to sit in the cool air conditioning. (We don't have any at our house, which is typical in most Spanish homes). We came home and ate lunch after our meeting at the CLM, and ate delcious lentil soup and the typical spanish omlette, or tortilla de patatas. Our entire group went on a long walking tour of the city and saw many beautiful sights. We finished our tour near El Albaicin, an old neighborhood, and saw a Flamenco dance performance!! It was one of the coolest things we've done so far. We both loved it and it was an especially nice cool break from the heat due to its cavernous atmosphere. We walked around and explored that night after the performance and we met up with our friends who are on the LPI Program Summer 1 from Sevilla. They were visiting Granada and it was really really nice to see them!!
The next morning, we woke up and boarded a bus all together to go to Sevilla! After three hours, we arrived in Sevilla and went straight to visit Los Reales Alcazares, which is this huge palace fortress with a garden. We had lunch outside Los Reales Alcazares and had our first tapas! After, we went to the Cathedral, which is the third largest cathedral in the world! It was absolutely stunning and it is also where Christopher Columbus' remains are buried. We were going to be able to climb all the way up La Giralda, which is the bell tower of the Cathedral, and the highest point in the entire city, but the entrance was closed when we got there! We left the Cathedral and went to our hotel. After hanging for a bit, we decided to go on the walking tour of the rest of Sevilla with our group. We walked down the beautiful river and saw many bridges, famous statues and fountains. One of the best things we did was go to the Plaza de Espana. It is this huge building with stunning architechture. Each province in Spain has a special area about the city and our "tarea," or homework, was to find Granada's. We were the first to find it and we took tons of pictures all around it. After, we got a delicious and well-deserved meal after an incredibly long day of walking. Our feet had blisters!!
After a great night sleep in our air-conditioned hotel, we left Sevilla and went to Cordoba. With a beautiful bridge inviting us into the city, we ventured across the river and into the small town. The main attraction of Cordoba is the Mosque, however it is now a Cathedral. We learned a lot about the history of the city and the Mosque and how incredibly lucky we are to be standing in a place that could've been destroyed during the Spanish Inquisition. The Muslim Mosque was saved because just  to the Inquisition, it had been converted into a Cathedral (a large Cathedral was built right in the middle of it). The stunning arches and unique history made it an incredible place to finish out our excursion this weekend.
We just ate dinner with our Senora, Conchi, back in Granada and now we are taking it easy and heading to bed soon, to rest up for our first day of classes tomorrow! We are excited but also a little nervous! We also have a free afternoon, or tarde libre, so hopefully we'll be able to get a little shopping done!
One other thing we should tell you is that we have been assigned a great challenge. It is called El Gran Reto, or The Great Challenge. It is this activity sheet, similar to a scavenger hunt, that each LPI group has the oppotunity to complete. We break into teams and attempt to complete each task. It gives us the chance to explore and broaden our horizons in each city we visit as well as in Granada. Some tasks are visiting landmarks, doing certain things and eating new foods, such as tapas, paella and ice cream from famous places! It's been really fun trying to do all the activities and it gives us a chance to be more than just tourists in a foreign place! We can't wait to share our progress with you!

Hasta luego!

 Here we are with our friends in front of the beautiful Toledo view and a lovely tree that blocked the whole city!

 A street in Granada on our first outing!

 Us with our director, Brian, standing in front of the gorgeous doors of Los Reales Alcazares.

 Taking a break from walking all day in the scorching heat!

 An example of an alter at the cathedral in Sevilla.

 We found Granada!!! (our tarea) with our friend Sarah.

 Here we are at the mosque in Cordoba standing in front of the infinite arches.

On the 2,000 year old Roman bridge with our friend Caroline!