Is this really my view?

So yesterday I got to the residencia and here is my room.

And then I looked out the window and this is my view!

I am pretty sure that I have one of the best views in the entire residencia. It is absolutely amazing. It is still really surreal that I am here and that this is where I am going to live for the next month but I am already becoming more accustomed to the layout of the city and the fact that I rarely understand what anyone around me is saying because they speak so quickly and quietly. But I know that that will all change soon.

The one problem I have found so far with the residenica is that I am one of the only people who doesn't get internet in their room. Oh, and... my shower floods. No joke. I seriously have to turn it off every time I am not actually using the water to rinse shampoo out because there is only a shower curtain that does not keep the water in. But I guess that is the trade off for having such a spectacular view. 

We had our initial orientation today and I guess we have the opportunity to be a part of an exchange program where we practice our spanish with people who are practicing their english. It sounds pretty cool and I am excited to sign up for it. 

There is a really big group from of students in the program from Santa Cruz and a lot of us are going to Granada. I already know that there are some of them that I will be hanging out with regularly, which is nice. I definitely made the right choice though with UCSC out of all of the UCs because if I had been stuck with the kind of people I have met that are from UCSD or UCSB I would have gone CRAZY.

Anyways, because I don't have internet in my room I either have to be in the courtyard or outside in the plaza at the base of the cathedral, which is where I am now. The bells just rang and some of the other students have commented on how annoying they think they are but I love them. For me it is a little reminder every 15 minutes that I am in an amazingly beautiful and ancient city. If anyone wants to skype you will get to see the plaza firsthand but please email me first with a time that works for you because I will have to go down there. For me, a little before 6:00p.m. is good, so 9:00 a.m. for you guys, because that is right around the time that siesta ends. Later also works because dinner doesn't start until 8. 

Well that is all for now. I love you all!

Rachel