Mi Barrio

I've been in the gorgeous Granada for about 4 weeks now and as I left my apartment to walk to class the other day I realized that it all felt very routine. When I walk through my neighborhood on the way to class I walk the same path and it is normal to see the same parents walking their kids to class everyday and the same shopkeepers raising the metal gates of their stores to open for the morning. Despite the fact that I have developed an enjoyable routine, my neighborhood here in Granada is very different than my neighborhood at home. 

There are bunches of different stores in my neighborhood and all of them sell very specific things. At CVS, a common pharmacy in the States, you could buy dish soap, makeup, food, and prescription medication all in one trip. At a Farmacia (pharmacy) here however, you can buy medication, maybe some sunscreen. That's it. Also if your wondering how to find the right store to buy what you want, it's easy: generally it's in the name of the store followed by -ia. Fruterias for instance, sell fruit. Pescaderias sell fish, cafeterias sell coffee ( and pastries, juice etc.). Pelicularias sell hair and sometimes beauty products.

There is an awesome gym down the street from my apartment. After I joined and started frequenting it, I realized that the stereotype that Europeans don't use gyms was false. It's always crowded and people seem to enjoy using their local gyms on a regular basis. With Zumba classes this fun, who wouldn't?

The Garcia Lorca park is just down the street from my apartment as well. It's beautiful and always 

full of people feeding ducks in the pond, going for a jog, or enjoying the sunshine on the lawns.

There are also many, many, many bars and restaurants all over my neighborhood. Some are situated on plazas which people use as a social home base. Around 8 pm is a prime hour to people watch as the locals meet for drinks, food, and socializing while the kids romp around the playground, play soccer, and have spontaneous water-fights using the grand fountains in the plaza center. This kind of public social unity is cool to experience and I think it is one of my favorite aspects of the Spanish neighborhood.