It is hard to believe it was just yesterday that I wrote. New people, places, and exeriances seem to make time more full.
Woke up this morning and did the long walk up the hill to the school. It took about 20 min. along the side of the Alahambra (old moorish castle, mcuh more on this later). The streets of Granada (at least the part I am living in) remind me a great deal of Venice. If the “streets” are really nothing more than glorified alleys that maybe one car could fit through. All cobel stone, and lots of steps.
We had oreintation at the school for about an hour. There are about 20 students starting this week (and I would guess 20 more at the school). It is a little more than half from Euorpe, a few from Japan, and the rest from North America. So are taking laugage, some dance/guitar, and some both.
Clase: I have been placed in the beginers class, which I think is a misplacement. There are three others students and I know by far the most spanish. Though it may not be a bad thing. At this point I don´t really need the gramer stuff, I just need lots of practice talking(I need the gramer , I just vocabulary more). I can already feel my grip of English slipping as I am compled to use any spanish word I know, even when I am talking in English. I have 1 1/2 hours of Gramer and 1 1/2 hours of conversation a day. It didn´t seem so long today as some of the days in Quito did. I think it is because I am having to try much less hard to understand what is going on. Durring orintation I understood everything that was said (or at least I think I did).
mi casa After class I got my aptm. key and walked over to it. It is about 10 minutes from school. Some how even with the school being on top of the hill, my aptm. is still up hill from there. (Not complaining, all the walking will be good for me). I am in flat that has four bed rooms. a kitchen and a bathroom. Eric is from Norway and has one week left. Junko is from Japan and speaks no English at all, so we have chatted little. I was impressed I knew enought o ask her to write her name down so I really knew what is was. The third flat mate is Mary Beth or Mary Ellen. She is from NC. I met her breifly as I was dashing through the place after class on my way to dinner. She became very uninterested in my as I didn´t have a smoke for her. I guess she was distacted. She also just moved in today. Our washer and dryer is on the roof top patio that over looks the whole city. It is amazing.
Flamenco So my intial thought was the dancing was going to be fun and because of my lack of skill I would end up being comic relief. I was so wrong. Don´t get me wrong, I am sooooo white and look like a clumsy fool in the mirror, but there is no time to be comic relief. I have two dance classes. For one hour I have a techneich class. We work on how to move our hands, arms, and rythms to stomp too. Then I have a 2 our Dance class in which we are learning an actual dance (which the teacher is making up as we go). The two classes are tought by differnt women. Niether speak engish and are moving quickly. There are about 15 of us in each class and I am definately in the lower third of ability and experiance.
Before class I got on my snazy new flemanco boots. Which I must say look very cool. I am having a little problem with the 2 inch heals. Not just because I am clumsy, but beucase of the low ceiling there are only a few places I can stand in the classroom with out hitting my hands on the ceiling.
The dance it self is so cool to watch. The music is amazing. In the second class we have a live guitarist to play for us to dance to. The two women who teach the classes are just amazing. I was mesmorized in the first class just watching Isis (the instructor) hands. Just amazing. (Did I use the word amazing enough times there?)
Right now my feet are killing me. No surprise when you are wearing slightly too small boots, with nails driving into the soul to make sound (and not suport your feet) and stomping for three hours. With that being said, it was so much fun. I am getting things slowly. I can´t move my arms and feet at the same time, but I love it. It is also a very nice mental deversion from fighting with the launguage.
After dancing an Engishman, to women from FL, a Kintergarder techer from Switzerland went for a beverage to laugh at each others lack of dancing ability and to rest our mentally spent minds.
Then I went looking for a towle to buy. to no avail. so I am just going to have to shake my self dry tonigh.
I am beat and off to bed

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