Breathing Life Into My Barrio

First picture I took of a house in Granada
(and what I pictured all
 Spanish houses to look like)

It doesn't take much time or effort to recognize the beauty of Granada. While most tourists go around snapping pictures of the antique architecture and groomed gardens, I have spent my last two weeks slowly realizing that the city itself would quickly grow lackluster if not for the people living here. Every time I walk through the streets, I see a different interactions between people that transform my conceptions of the place. My neighborhood around Camino de Ronda is the best example, as I have noticed more of its subtleties on my regular walks with my host-sister and grown to love the place. 

My actual residence in Granada

The playground is popular during the day and night!

One of the first noticeable and visited places in my neighborhood is Plaza Garcia, which is lined with multiple tapas restaurants, stores, a discoteca, and a church. I have yet to see this place not populated with a vast variety of people, as there seems to always be kids playing on the playground in the square and adults sipping on glasses of tinto de verano. Even if you happen to walk by around 3 AM, it will be filled with lots of teens sitting on the fountain and hiding bottles of alcohol in the bushes before entering the discoteca.

Tapas restaurant in Plaza Garcia

Connected to the church in the plaza is my host sister's school. The first few days when we would walk through the plaza, I would gaze at the restaurant goers and appreciate all the entertainment, so it caught me by surprise when I found out her school was right there. I had noticed before that there were always young children playing on the church steps after school hours, but I slightly forgot that the obligations of reality existed here, too. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to visit her English class, and now every time I pass through the plaza I tend to think about her inside and if she is talking to that boy she likes and what she may be learning in her science class. It's moments like these, or the wedding that I saw outside the church last weekend, that really get me thinking, moving a place from more than just a building or a plaza to a part of life.

A museum of Federico Garcia Lorca, which is free on
Wednesdays in the park

Perhaps the most interesting place in my barrio is the Parque Federico Garcia Lorca. My sister and I run a few times a week in the park, and every time we do I leave feeling like Granada has a bit more variety than I thought. The park is popular for its beauty and size; with its blankets of flowers and numerous fountains, it's a photographer's dream. But beyond its superficial beauty, the park is a place for all walks of life. On an average day, particularly in the evening, you can find people working out (especially which the outdoor gym equipment), taking walks with their families, playing with friends, studying, and even canoodling with their significant other. The park is also home to lots of animal life; you can find plenty of dogs, cats, birds, and even ducks and turtles in the pond. This place strikes me as endlessly interesting because it is able to serve an incredible amount of functions for very different people. At the end of the day, my runs in the park are priceless, and I am sure the older woman sitting on the bench or the little boy on the slide feels the same about their time there. Witnessing the evolution of my neighborhood from just an interesting looking area to a place teeming with life makes it feel like a real home.