Travel Wisdom From Getting Lost in Granada

I made it to Granada, after successfully napping at the Barcelona airport, on the plane, and on the bus into town. I was booked at a hostal called La Oasis for the night because the program didn't start until Sunday. It took me about a half hour to find the place because it's located in the Arabic quarter of Granada known as El Albaycin. The streets in this steep neighborhood (literally steep- it's on the side of a mountain) are so narrow and windy that the area is grayed out on both maps I have. Most of the small streets are made even more narrow by vendors selling pricey tourist junk from China. I shared a laugh with a friend in the program who also took a year off and traveled through Asia. We couldn't help but notice that the miscellaneous low-quality merchandise- bags, clothes, wallets, pillow covers, tapestries, postcards- is the same all over the world. Pushy hawkers outside the Taj Mahal touted the exact purple change purses that someone offered me today. Overly-friendly entrepreneurs in the Dominican Republic displayed the same painted wood animals that some of the others in the group will buy in the coming weeks. You've seen it all before, if not in other countries, then at one of those hippie shops in the mall. Traveling to touristy places doesn't have to mean we can no longer experience authenticity. However, let this be a fair warning to all: Look deeper into a culture and a region than what the attractions show. Conveniently-located gift shops and vendors speaking English often signify familiarity with visitors. I have come to view these types not as annoying or greedy, but simply as one part of the whole experience. I urge all travelers or travelers-to-be to do the same. Your time abroad will be much more pleasant if you keep in mind that the true understanding of a people and a place comes from looking beyond what is easy.