La vida granadina, and Hello Córdoba!

So, I am finally starting to adapt to the vida española. I've been volunteering at a middle school nearby, tutoring English. And on Wednesday nights, I've been playing fútbol with some other kids in my program. I also have an intercambio, which means that I meet with a Spaniard and we speak Spanish for half of the time and English the other half of the time. My intercambio's name is Paula, and she's really cool. Last weekend, she and a few friends took a couple of us to Granada 10, which is a local discoteca. It was awesome being able to spend time with locals.

Classes at the university started this past week. It was a pretty stressful week. I was really nervous going into class at a Spanish university, and trying to pick out classes that interest me. But they ended up not being that scary and I didn't have a problem understanding the professors. The EU has a program called Erasmus, which is like an exchange program for university students. Granada has the highest number of Erasmus students of any university in Europe, which is really cool, because it gives me the opportunity to meet not only Spanish students, but also students from all over Europe. I've even been able to practice my French a little. Right now, it looks like I'm going to be taking two classes at the Universidad de Granada, in addition to the courses I'm taking through my program. One is called "Sistemas Políticos de América Latina" and the other is called "Antropología de la Etnicidad." I'm pretty excited.
Yesterday I went to Córdoba with my program. We got to go inside La Mezquita, which was a mosque but was converted into a cathedral when the Spaniards kicked the Moors out of the city in the 13th century. The coolest thing about the building is that there is a gothic cathedral built inside the mosque. It's a really interesting mix of Moorish and Gothic architecture, of Islamic and Catholic elements. Check out some of the photos I've posted. You might recognize la Mezquita from your high school history books.

Just thought I would update everyone on the past week. Tonight, I have a soccer game against a team from a program in Madrid. The trophy is a plastic leg of jamón serrano. Then I'm going to see a play for my literature class. Then, I believe, the plan is to meet up with Craig Minoff, who is in the city with his program, around 12:30. So my night is starting around 12:30. Bienvenidos a España.