Mountains, puppies, and herds of goats

I am convinced that i live in the most beautiful place in the world. Well, at least what I´ve seen of the world. I think that you have to be a certain type of person, think a certain way, or have a certain experience to think that Granada is a magical city. I´m sure that to most people it is a dirty, graffiti and hippy-filled city with a few pretty views, but perhaps some of you reading this will know what I mean. Despite all of the dirt, the city is at once breathtaking, enchanting, haunting, raw and yet refined, living and breathing town. Each part of Granada has its own color, its own smell and feel. It is new and ancient, decaying and vibrant.
I live - seriously - as high as you can possibly live in Granada (which, by the way, is not a fun 45 minute walk uphill at 3 in the morning in the winter or 3 in the afternoon in the summer). Right behind my house is a large undeveloped area with woods and vast open spaces. I went there the other day as the sun was setting... on one side I could see the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains; over my right shoulder was the Alhambra, framed by yellowing autumn trees that filtered the fading light; behind me stretched the entire city of Granada under the red clouds. Gorgeous beyond all reasoning.
And did I mention that I was there with my puppy? Oh yes, that´s right, I have a puppy. His name is Ramsis and he is a 9 week old furball of energy. The constant stream of pee that he seems to emit all over my floor is not so fun, but otherwise I love having him around (well, I guess I didn´t love him so much when he ate the power cord to my computer the other day). Dogs are everywhere in Granada, and it´s in general a pretty dog-friendly city. I took him into the supermarket the other day in my purse, and he´s already experienced bar life.
I took Ramsis outside the other day and - low and behold - there was an entire herd of goats (and some sheep) eating right outside the door of my apartment. No joke. And who knew that goats climb trees? I certainly didn´t. They were sitting up in the olive trees eating the branches. It´s not every day that you find goats in the trees in your backyard.
Things with my project continue to go slowly, but there is some progress. I was sick with the flu last week, which put a hold on plans to look for project-related information. I did, however, manage to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner (chicken -no way was I going to be able to find turkey-, mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing (courtesy of my mom, who sent a package from the US), creamed spinach, honey-glazed carrots, corn, bread, and pumpkin pie with a crust made from scratch) for 5 people. Spaniards, at least in my experience, don´t really seem to get the pumpkin thing. Man do I miss pumpkin lattes!
Tonight I think I´m going to get a Christmas tree. I asked Wadih´s sister where I could get one:
Me: Where can I get a Christmas tree?
Rabia: From the store
Me: What store?
Rabia: From the store that is the giant pine forest right behind your house
Me: Uh, oh yeah...
It should be quite the adventure! Not only do I not know if anyone actually owns the woods (I kind of doubt it), but the only tools I have are a small hand trowel and a 2 euro serrated bread knife. We´ll see how that goes...
That´s all for now!
Until the next...