This is going to be another long post, because so much has happened so I think that after this I may be doing shorter blogs, twice a week.

We finally started running participants! Woo Hoo! We ran into a few issues with our equipment, and some compatibility issues, which set us a back a bit. This was stressful at first, but after realizing there was nothing we could do about it until the technological issues were figured out, I really enjoyed our time exploring Granada and being in the lab working out the kinks. It’s really quite amazing pulling myself from the situation to look at myself and my experience from a different perspective and just think to myself, “I’m living it up in the cutest city in southern Spain!” That’s what helps me to take the moments that might not be going too well and seeing the bright side of things.

The people that I’m with are making this experience amazing as well. Maggie Rose and I have a great time together and find ourselves laughing so hard that most times my chest actually starts hurting. Every day really is a new adventure with us and I love spending time with her, whether it be problem solving at the lab, eating dinner at our favorite vegan restaurant, or pretending that the hill we have to walk up to get to the lab every day isn’t kicking our butt. I say very often that I can’t imagine being on this adventure with anyone else or by myself.

Someone who Maggie Rose and I really enjoy is the lab manager, Borja. He is one of the kindest people ever and is always willing to go the extra mile to help us. We even have a group chat on WhatsApp that I named “Ayúdanos.” He got a kick out of that. The technical issues that we’ve been having have really brought us closer to Borja and the rest of the lab members, which Maggie Rose and I are both really thankful for. When we had to purchase new microphones, Borja met up with us after work and spent 2.5 hours helping us to find the best bang for our buck, teaching us little phrases, and showing us around the city. He makes us laugh when he tries to say more difficult words in English like, pumpkin, but he makes fun of us just as much when we don’t know how to turn on our computer.

We’ve had plenty of time to travel around Granada and everything about this city is beautiful. From the architecture, to the plants, especially the flowers, and I actually love the graffiti. Not only the pictures that are drawn on the walls, but the sayings as well. Some can be very inspiring and often put a big smile on my face. Maggie Rose has gotten very used to me asking her to stop in the middle of the sidewalk so I can take a picture. Here are some of my favorites:

And even this one that I found in the bathroom as we were hanging up recruitment flyers:

We’ve walked around this city quite a bit and even went on a free walking tour to get a better grasp of the city’s history, which was very enlightening. Along one of our adventurous walks, we found some second hand stores and had some fun shopping… Maggie Rose got a kick out of this one (that I will only ever be wearing separately in public):

My brother came to visit this past weekend and we did even more exploring and ended up at the top of the Mirador de San Nicolas and we saw some of the prettiest views I have ever seen. The picture doesn’t even begin to do it justice:

One last thing though, because I can’t end this blog without talking about food:

1.) Maggie Rose and I have fallen in love with these Empanadillas that are made in this little Panadería on our way to the campus. And in the amount of days we’ve been there, we’ve eaten twice as many empanadillas. The woman that makes and serves us them always chuckles at us because it’s very obvious that we love them:

2.) Every Italian restaurant I go to that has Gnocchi on their menu, I have to order it–no matter what. And here, at this little Sicilian place, I had the best that I have ever had in my life. I will most definitely be back:

And to end, here’s a cute pic of Maggie Rose and I that you can’t really see us in, but hey, we tried: