A Virtual Tour of Ian's Neighborhood

If anyone reading this blog does not already know that spanish neighborhoods are very different than this of the States, they are about to find out very quickly how different and diverse they really are. I have been lucky enough to live with a rather wealthy family and therefore I do feel that I live in a very nice, safe and tranquil neighborhood. It is about a 25 minute walt for the post office - my best marker of the city center. I hope to give you a better understanding of the way my small chunk of Granada works in "A Virtual Tour of Ian's Neighborhood." 

This is an over head view of where I live courtesy of my iPhone Maps. My house is located on Calle Dr. López right where that pretty blue dot can be found. I have oriented the map the spanish way - not with North on the top but rather so the main roads are oriented horizontally and vertically. 

This is My front door and the front doors around them. As you can tell, my home and all the others in view appear very similar. If i could show you a picture of the 2 square blocks around my house as well you would see that they also appear extremely similar. From what I can tell, most also have a very similar back patio as well. 

 This is one of the walking paths a few meters outside my front door. In the evening, there are couples taking strokes, people walking dogs, games of soccer and tag as well as any other activity you could imagine going on in this narrow walk way. We have mentioned in class how important public space is to social functions in Spain seeing this public path way in action during prime Spanish hours (7:00 PM - 9:30 PM) is strong evidence.

The Genil River is very close to my house and forms sort of a border of my activities in Granada. It is  extremely beautiful to run up and down and look very pretty at night when the side walks are lit up.

Also very close to my house, and by very close I mean that I can see it from my front door, is a hospital. My host mom, Ana, said that it is a very good hospital and I would go there if i broke any bones... yes thats what she said and I'm hoping that I don't have to give the hospital a closer look.

 Between blocks there are these "streets" that are only for people to walk on but have businesses and apartment buildings. Around my house in about a 4 block radius, I have counted 3 pharmacies, 4 auto/moto service shops, 4 spa/health shops, 2 photography studios, a ham store, a daycare, a handful of bars and numerous other random stores in addition to what I have explained earlier and will continue to show you.

This hotel is very tall and I walk by it every day on my way to class. It is 5 stars so is obviously extremely nice and my host parents have even told me how special it is. 

Close to the hotel there is a gym. This gym is very near and dear to my hear because Ana is a member here and she spend numerous hours here every day. It was on of the first things in Granada that she showed me on my first day here and it is also the place in which I will be joining here in a Zumba class tomorrow night... wish me luck. She love this gym and therefore I have also become close to it (I am also welcome to use it anytime with her that I would like). 

Across the street for the gym is a mall called Neptuno (Centro Comercial is the spanish word for mall). I have not been inside for Neptuno because I'm not a huge fan of shopping however...

this is the entrance to Mae West, a very nice club - called discoteca here - that we have been to a few times. It is found on the upper most level of Neptuno so if you count that as going to the mall I may enjoy going to the mall.

And the final important feature of my neighborhood is Plaza Gerardo Cuerva. It really isn't much other that some open space where on weekend nights I see that public displays of affection are much more tolerated her than in America. It also has a small playground for "Los Niños" and a few benches. Not much else is happenin for day to day in this Plaza. 

Well, those were some of the key features and characteristics of my neighborhood! I hope that you can now understand a little bit more about the social life of spanish neighborhoods and exactly what mine is composed of. That being said, the diversity of neighborhoods is very large and I know nothing about apartment life and/or anything very close to the city center. 

Best Wishes and ¡Vamos Azul!

Ian