Catching Up

It has been way too long since I’ve blogged and I have so much to tell you guys about! So much has happened in Granada in the past two weeks. First, I’ll start out with the Rotary events. When we were at the Foundation a few weeks ago, one of the kids mentioned that they wanted to play BINGO, but the Foundation didn’t have the game. Since we are supposed to be helping them with their homework and teaching them English, we decided to make our own BINGO game and bring it to play with the kids. Jess and I made 12 different BINGO sheets with a mixture of letters and numbers up to 50. Last Monday, I played with the kids. It was so much fun! I let them take turns picking the numbers/letters out of the envelope and then we said them in Spanish and in English. After a little while, the kids were starting to get a little restless except for Said (3) and Eladia (11). They wanted to play until someone won. Said won and then after, Eladia went around and played everyone’s cards. She really liked the game. I think we’re going to try to play again next week, but I think we need to bring a prize/candy/incentive to keep their attention longer. Overall, I think it was a success. On Tuesday, March 9, Jess and I went to Laura’s high school to give another presentation about the high school education system in the U.S.A. to promote the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. Our presentations went extremely well and the kids were a lot more respectful of us at this high school then they were at the last. I really hope that from the few presentations we have done, we can influence at least one person to participate in this great program and organization. I think, though, that just by giving these presentations we are being ambassadors and helping to promote the image of Rotary in a country where few know about it.
Aside from the events of Rotary, the city of Granada has had its share, too. Last weekend, as we were walking home, we witnessed a Pro-Life gathering. There were a couple hundred people of all ages gathered in the center with signs, music, balloons, and pins. It was really cool to see something like that. I don’t think I’ve ever really experienced anything like that outside of the university campus. The same day in front of the Palacio de Congresos, a government building, there was a big congregation of Moroccans. Spain is part of the European Union and during this term, they are the country with the power, or the one that gets to hold all of the meetings and stuff. This day the meeting happened to be in Granada. There was a ton of security because a lot of important people were there. The reason for the Moroccans being there was that the meeting was with all of the important people from the European Union and the President of Morocco to discuss their relations. These relations included terrorism, importing/exporting, water boundaries, etc. All of these people were outside voicing their opinions on the situation. It was a very peaceful and interesting gathering to see. It was another thing that I have never really witnessed before. The following day was “Working Women’s Day” in Spain. This day is in honor of women who work in Spain. Years ago there was a fire in a factory that killed many women due to rights not yet established for them and so since then, this day has been created in honor of that. I didn’t really realize how big of a deal it was until we stumbled upon the parade. Part of the city had been closed off so this parade of women with their signs and a few floats could march through the center. It was extremely impressive and what impressed me even more was the substantial amount of men that were also marching in the parade with their wives, sisters, daughters, relatives, and friends. The people of Granada are very active and this past week has really been proof of that.