Why I'm Glad I Don't Live In Granada

All of you who know me probably read that title and went:

  "WHAAAATTTT???? DID I READ THAT RIGHT????"

Me- clearly very happy in Granada

Yes, you read that right.  I speak the truth when I say that I am glad I don't live in Granada.

When I first received my placement for Baza, Granada my reaction was pretty negative.  I was upset that I wasn't in the city of Granada that I knew and loved.  I wanted to re-live my study abroad experience, walk the same streets, see the same places, etc...  I thought that Granada was the best city on Earth and that I would be disappointed anywhere else.

I spent the summer trying to research Baza.  I searched the internet, facebook, everything for as much information as I could find.  There wasn't much.  I read the same wikipedia pages (English and Spanish) multiple times to see if I could learn something new and find new photos.  When I saw the distance from Granada, I thought it would be easy to live in Granada and commute back and forth everyday, not thinking about the logistics of the bus schedules.

When I finally got here and saw that Baza was a legitimate city, I became less worried and more relaxed. It was really easy to do everything we needed to do here.  We got our cell phones, found our house and set up our bank accounts with no problem.  It's an easy process to get your bank account when the same lady deals with all of us.

Me- on my first day in Baza,
discovering what it has to offer...

It was very easy to navigate the city right away because it's not too big, but it's not tiny either.  It was really easy to meet and get to know people.  I am friends with people who aren't American and who don't speak English.  I have a feeling that if I lived in Granada, I would not have met so many non-English speaking people that I actually interact with on a regular basis.  I would not have improved my Spanish nearly as much in Granada as I have here.  Here in Baza, people don't speak to you in English as soon as they realize that you aren't Spanish, either because they are more patient or because they don't know any English, so they can't.

If I was in Granada, I don't think I would see the same people every day like I do here.  In Granada, I would not have as many "small town moments."  I can go out for an afternoon walk and run into at least four people that I know.  I like being able to say "hello" or "see you later" to someone that I know in the street because I frequent their cafe, or because they are my banker.  It gives me a nice feeling of small town community.

I have learned to appreciate my small town and therefore I have an appreciation for other smaller towns in Spain.  I think if I didn't have as much appreciation for Baza, I wouldn't have the desire to visit other small citiess in Spain because I wouldn't think that it was worth it.  I believe that if I lived in Granada, I wouldn't appreciate the little things as much because I would always have everything I needed right in front of me.  When I think about all of the smaller pueblos surrounding Baza, knowing that Baza is the city they come to for all of their shopping and city needs, I feel pretty lucky.  Sure, there are plenty of negatives about the city, but at this point the positives overtake the negatives any day.
I am so glad that I had this revelation.  I had no idea in the beginning that I would like my town and placement so much.  I am hoping that if I am placed next year, that I am in another smaller city, because I have really learned to enjoy this quieter and slower way of life.

Me- In Baza (Baños Árabes) 6 months later,
still enjoying and still discovering...

I think this is a true example of, "Don't judge a book by its cover." I made the mistake of judging Baza before I had even set foot in the town.  And now that I have flipped through its pages over and over again, I have seen its charm and have been proved wrong.