Student Bloggers

My second flamenco experience in Granada was on a super fun excursion with Arcadia in Granada. We got to taste quintessential Spanish foods at the Modern Languages Center here too! These excursions are just two of several that I’ve gone on and even more that have been offered here.

Flamenco

As you can see in the pictures and videos, we went to a flamenco cave for this show! This is classic Granada. Flamenco here started as a Gypsy tradition in cave homes, and places like this are some of the most authentic places to see a real flamenco performance. We weren’t in the most popular neighborhood for it, Sacromonte, but it was everything that I expected from what the locals say. The lighting was beautiful and the performance even more so. We walked into the cave house to amazing lighting and a tunnel-like performance setting. Yes, it was touristy, but that didn’t make it any less cool. Especially because I had already been to a very artistic, non-touristy one. Most of the performers taught at the university, so they were clearly very experienced. We could also do that just in the amazing, passionate way in which they performed.

Oil Tasting

Definitely something that I’ve never done before. I would say I have the opposite of a refined palate, actually. What I didn’t expect from this experience, actually, was how little tasting we did. We began the tasting with a long class about the importance of olive oil and bread in the Spanish diet. We learned about the different types of bread used in Spain from the normal sandwich type bread to their type of sourdough made from a starter called “masa madre.” We also learned about how olive oil is made and what types are good for which purpose (fancy for toast vs normal for frying). Also, did you know that olive oil could be spicy? That’s only for the pros like Spaniards, though. None of us Americans seemed to like it much. After what felt like a century, we were finally able to begin the dipping. It was actually pretty delicious, and now I feel so...cultured. I never thought that I would be able to distinguish between different types of olive oils, os fancy schmancy! To finish it all off, we got some AMAZING dark chocolate made in a mountain town not far outside of Granada. Best part of the meal by far. My favorite part of this was that it was something really fun and free provided by the Modern Languages Center. I’m going to a wine tasting next week! You definitely never get bored here.