Hola, me llamo Amanda. Soy libre de gluten.

How do you begin a blog that is the first of many on an experience that cannot be compared to any other? I am currently in Granada, Spain, and so much has happened since I left the States last week, I don’t even know where to start. I have already seen many famous buildings in Madrid, spent time with a friend from Challis (yes, in Madrid) visited landmarks in Spain that go back to the 14th century (and seen art and books as old as 2000 years old), hung out in Holy Toledo, been given LOTS of bread, and gotten lost. I’m realizing that it will be impossible to tell you in detail all the amazing things I’ve seen so far, but I will try to give you the jist.

The program I’m in has about seventy-seven girls, and eight boys. We are the most enormous group of American tourists, even split in half. While in Madrid we stayed in the Hotel Moderno, which in proper European fashion, only had two elevators
which held about one person plus their luggage. And when it comes to traveling to Europe and having seventy-seven girls together, that means a lot of luggage. I mean, so much luggage my program had to rent a van to haul our extra bags because they didn’t fit on the two buses we had. However, the Hotel was beautiful and in the very center of Madrid, which made it easy to get around and see some of the best sites.

Madrid is beautiful. It has such a different, yet familiar feel to it. It is a bustling metropolitan with ads covering skyscrapers and department stores that are eight floors tall, thousands of people within a few blocks, and noises coming from all directions. Yet it has narrow winding cobblestone streets that take you to small shops, cafés, and locally owned restaurants. This part reminds me of Italy, but there are many things about Spain that are very different (aka, toilets that aren’t holes in the ground.)

While in Madrid, we visited the Royal Palace of the former Kings and Queens of Spain, which of course was ridiculous. At least it felt ridiculous as I walked through an enormous palace with ornate decorations, furniture, paintings, and rooms for dressing, rooms for sitting, and rooms for talking. It is hard for me to imagine kings and queens and their lives. These are things we only hear about in fairytales.

That same day we also visited the Museo del Prado, which holds famous works from Greco and Goya. We had an extremely enthusiastic tour guide who spoke mostly Spanish, and very slowly, so it was nice since it was our first day immersed in the language. I would’ve loved to have spent hours in the museum, but we spent over an hour there, and our stomachs were growling, and our heads drowsy from jet lag.

Which brings me to tell you about food in Spain. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the schedule, but at least I am able to find food I can eat. In Spain, they have a light breakfast, a two-course lunch with fruit, coffee, and wine that usually starts around 2pm, and a light dinner starting at 8pm at the earliest. And I’ve been informed, “Spaniards don’t snack.” Don’t snack? My life is comprised of snacks. I am trying to conform to the culture here, but I usually end up starving before the next meal comes.

The good thing has been being able to share the gluten-free experience with someone. My new roommate, Caroline, is GF too.
In Madrid we went to almost all our meals together, collectively impressing upon our waiter that we indeed, could not eat wheat or anything like it. It’s very different for me to go from “I can’t eat gluten,” to “We can’t eat gluten.” Or, in other words, “No puedo” turns into “No podemos.” And although we continually explain, we somehow still end up with bread on our plate. Bread in place of the real food we asked for. Bread put on top of the food we requested “sin pan.” It got to the point where all we could do was laugh. When we said the word gluten, we were looked at like aliens. When we said we couldn't eat bread, they thought we were even crazier. I really think that the majority of the waiters just assumed it was some mumbo jumbo word from my own language. However, it hasn’t been hard to find food without gluten. Tapas are commonly ate here, and they comprise of platters of various different things, such as cheese, meat, seafood, vegetables, etc. While I was in Madrid, I went to eat tapas with Michael Gilliam from Challis. For those of you that don’t know him, he is a friend I have had since I was four-years-old. He is going to Grad school in Madrid, and he took some friends and myself to a tapas restaurant where we split four tapas and two pitchers of Sangria for a total of 7.50 euro each. I suppose this is the only time Spaniards could be considered to snack, since tapas are finger foods. However, it is pretty filling. (PS, picture isn't mine)

Lucky for us, Caroline and I are set as far as food goes in Granada. We live in an apartment where our landlady, Natividad, feeds us three gluten-free meals a day. The apartment is absolutely adorable. It was once Natividad’s mother’s, however she is now 92-years-old and lives in a nursing home. The apartment still has some of her style, with brown chairs and white doilies, and a china cabinet. It is a very comfortable place, and we even get internet! Natividad doesn’t speak any English, and she is sometimes hard to understand with the Spanish lisp and Granada accent. However, between the two of us, we know what’s going on. She makes the most delicious meals, all from scratch. She thought it was interesting that people would think our diet was complicated or difficult, and I now realize it’s because she doesn’t use anything processed. When you are in complete control of what is put in your food, where would the problem be? We eat a lot of vegetables and potatoes, and sometimes chicken. For lunch today she made us soup and chicken with potatoes, carrots, onions, dates, and a white wine sauce. It was amazing. I am in shock of how good the food is. She must love to cook because she also has another apartment to cook for, as well as an exchange student living in her house. Everyone has their own nit picky things (which she tells us about when all we do is sit in awe of how good her food is) so she makes many different meals in a day.

If my grammar or spelling is off, it is more than likely because of my brain trying to switch into Spanish. Once again I am finding that not only am I struggling to speak only Spanish, but that it makes it almost impossible for me to speak English. I can’t think of words, I say things in the wrong grammar structure, and I say words that probably aren’t even real words. It’s all part of the process of getting back into Spanish, and it is much harder in Granada than it was in Madrid. In Madrid, the speaking is much clearer, but in Granada the accent is very thick. I get so confused by what people are saying, I sometimes just can’t speak at all. However, classes haven’t even begun yet, so I know this will all work itself out in time, and that Spanish will come much easier.

Of course, there are many more things I would love to tell you all. I still didn’t mention Toledo. If you are bored, look up Toledo Spain, I promise you won’t be disappointed. I wanted to get a blog out before it got to the point where talking about things became too much. Well, here’s to new beginnings, and along with my Spanish, I hope to make these blogs better as we go. Here is a picture of Toledo, if it will pique your interest.