The Titanic visits Granada

Good afternoon. I rolled out of bed at 1 in the afternoon this morning, feeling more tired than ever. My host mom closed the blinds last night so when I woke up it was pitch black in the room and I thought it was still early morning. Guess not. My family didn't seem to care, but then again, I still have no idea what they're saying to me.

I got to shower for the first time today!!!! I was so excited to finally get clean, I felt like a filthy animal after not showering for three days. Of course, instead of a nice relaxing shower, I took a shower from hell. My host mom showed me how to use the nozzle and how to place it in the holder, however when I went to actually shower, the holder was loose and the shower head kept rotating and falling. After struggling to get the contraption to stay in place, the whole thing fell off the wall and into the bathtub, spraying water everywhere! I decided to just hold the shower head, but I still got water everywhere. Needless to say, when I got out of the shower, the entire bathroom was flooded! I had to get my host mom to mop it up since the water overflowed into the hallway. It was really bad. Javier said he would get the shower head fixed tomorrow. They said not to worry and laughed, calling it the Titanic, but I felt awful. Ohh well, at least I'm clean now.

Lunch was delicious. We had chicken noodle soup and steak, two of my favorites, yumm! Ana and Beatriz showed me lots of pictures on the computer from different trips they have gone on and things they have done. It was the first time I really got to talk to them which was exciting!

Me, Javier, and Ana in front of the Sierra Nevadas

Beatriz went to her mother's house for the afternoon, so Javier and Ana took us to the mall, which had great views of the Sierra Nevadas. The parking garage here is really cool because there are lights for every parking space, and if the space is free, the light is green, and if there's a car parked, the light is red. This makes it much easier to find a parking spot. Also, apparently in the spring and summer the roof of the building is removed and it becomes an open shopping area. It is super pretty and there are nice shops inside, different than what's in our malls in the US. Also, there is a huge play area for kids to have birthday parties, a huge tent for inline skating birthday parties (where Ana plans to have hers this year) and an outdoor obstacle course and zipline. I can't wait till it gets warmer and I and go back! There is also a really pretty bar called 6S3 that has an outdoor patio.

Nicole and the Sierra Nevadas

View at the mall

Bar 6S3

Obstacle Course at the Mall, with Zipline

The Mall (the roof comes off in the summer)

Antique Car in the Mall, Ana really liked these

The parking garage with lights to indicated parking spaces

Yumm, Crapes!

After adventuring through the mall, Javier bought us crapes at one of the food places. I got a crape with Nutella and Nicole got a crape with strawberry. It was delicious! Ana then played a racing game in the arcade, she almost won too!!

Ana playing a game with Javier at the arcade in the mall

It was dark when we left the mall, so Javier drove up to a scenic view spot so we could see the Alhambra all lit up. It was a beautiful view and I can't wait to hike up to the area again during the day. We talked to Javier a lot in the car; I was proud that I was able to hold a conversation with him for most of the car ride!!

Alhambra and Granada at night

Alhambra at night

Javier's sister, Estella, and her boyfriend Pepe visited the apartment before dinner, they were both very nice and fairly easy to talk to. I must be getting a little better at Spanish!! I spent the night on the couch with Ana and Beatriz listening to music and playing games on my laptop and their tablets. I enjoyed getting to bond with them. I downloaded a game called Pou on my iPad that Ana plays on her tablet all the time, so we played that for the night. We had hambergers for dinner, something American! What a day!