The other day in church, an elderly gentleman shook my hand, and asked “Can I use you on the foredeck?” I looked at him, very confused, but he was unfazed. Continuing to shake my hand, he exclaimed “You’re beautiful.” We finished our handshake, I smiled and thanked the man, and continued with mass. Upon turning around, I heard the man say “Oh my stars.”

In other news, I will be departing for Spain in a week, studying in Granada for spring semester. There are a lot of people who I would like to keep in touch with while I’m gone, and while this will not be the entirety of my communication stateside, I think it will be a good way to share some experiences and anecdotes. For me, it will be fun to come back and look at what I share; the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

As far as what to expect, it’s pretty wide open. I know that Granada has free tapas. I know Spaniards, young and old, rage all night. I know the family I am staying with consists of an older woman and her two sons, ages 24 and 29. I know there are 9 kids from Occidental in the program. I know I have a list of names of every kid in the program, along with where they go to school and where they are from. That’s about it. I hope to fill in all the blanks, and put faces to the list of names. I hope my host family is cool, and that I can enjoy what is supposed to be a beautiful city. I hope I can triumph where Boabdil surrendered.