My Casa.

Granada, Spain is very different from the United States.  Of course they have many similarities and fashion.  However, in terms of living space building structure it is much different.  I realize that many things in the United States have been "Super Sized."  Meaning, our streets are huge, our stores are huge, our cars are huge, and our homes are HUGE!  Join me as I take you on a tour through my home... you will see what I mean.  Also, I apologize for not allowing you to see the full house - My Madre didn't feel comfortable with it.  Nevertheless, I am sure you will be able to gain an great understanding of what I mean. 

 



This is the entrance to my home - it is on the left side with the black and white stripes.  Notice how small the streets are - for some reason, that seems to resonate with me. 

 

 

One thing that I realized about Spanish homes is that they have doors to every room!  They have a door to the hallway, to the hallway of the rooms, for the kitchen, the living room, and - well, of course for the bathrooms.  The following pictures demonstrates what I'm talking about.   Please forgive the directions of the pictures - I could not find how to rotate them upward.  

 

This is where I go to study while I'm at home.... my bedroom.  I like it because it is comfortable and cozy!!!  It is also VERY colorful..... and I LOVE that!  Although the bedroom is much different and smaller than what I am used to - I quickly made it my own.  The bed is very comfortable as well.  However, the one thing that I don't like about Spanish homes, in general, is that they don't have any carpet lol.  I love carpet, so this is somewhat of a challenge for me lol.  I learned that they don't have carpet in their homes because carpet holds heat - it gets extremely hot here, so I can def understand. 



 

 

This is a collaboration of pictures that show all the different things that are in my room.  If you look at the bed on the left side, you can see that there is an extra bed underneath - for guests or other company that comes over.  I believe this was something that was used by her daughter when she was younger - and she used it for sleepovers with family.  I also have a place to study - much smaller than my place back home, but it serves its purpose.  I love the blinds that they have for their windows because it blocks out the sun very well - I of course have plants in the window so I am unable to close my blinds all the way.  However, it keeps out enough light for me to sleep! 

 

The bathrooms are also much smaller than I am used to.  I have a very small bathroom.  The tub is so small that it is hard for me to stretch out in it - I'm 5'1 lol.  However, I realized later on that this was the "guest" bathroom.  My Madre has her own bathroom.  I spoke to her one day while she was cleaning in there and her bathroom is 3 times the size as mine lol.  Nevertheless, this small bathroom is sufficient enough for me! 

  

This is the living room.  This is where we spend most of our time eating.  It's interesting to experience the social and cultural differences here in Spain.  The pictures below demonstrates the interesting differences between Americans and Spaniards.  In the pictures below, you can see that the sofa and the dinner table sit right in front of the television - this is where we eat and talk politics for lunch and dinner.  

 

I appreciate having the ability to experience these cultural differences.  It helps me to realize and think about all the social constructions that exists within each society, and the things that are weird and different to me, is normal for them - and vise versa.  It also helps me to have more patients with others from different cultures, and enables me to think more openly about the world.  I feel that this experience is beginning to open me more as a person - and enabling me to think "big" about the world.  I'm learning that America should not be the standard as to how each society should live their lives because we all have different standards, and different ways of living.