cielo de salamanca

class monday went really well. i have my first test tomorrow in my grammer class. i think it will go okay, but i definitely need to study. 

yesterday after class i walked around the city until lunchtime. after lunch i took a really long siesta and then met up with the girls to try and figure out where we are going to travel. we thought we had found the perfect place on the southern coast, but we couldn't find a place to stay. we're still throwing some ideas around.. i still have my mind set that i will be going somewhere.. just not sure where yet.

 

we were supposed to have a cooking class last night, but at the last minute the restaurant called and said they were without electricity so they had to cancel. they are supposed to reschedule that next week. since most of us had told our senoras we wouldn't be home for dinner we found a place to eat in salamanca. the restaurant was cute and we were able to eat outside on the street. i had lasagna, and "drunk" chicken (chicken soaked in beer). it was pretty good.. and very cheap. my meal included bread (which usually you have to pay extra for here), 2 courses, dessert, and a sangria for 9E ($11.97). after dinner i came home and worked on homework

 

today in class we went over what was going to be on the exam tomorrow. after class i did a little shopping while i waited for our cultural activity. today we went to "el cielo de salamanca". it's in one of the buildings at the university and is very pretty. it represents all the different horoscopes. we weren't allowed to take pictures, but this is one that i found online.

 

 

when i got home it was time for lunch. we had white bean soup, roasted chicken (one of my favorites!), salad, and watermelon for dessert. the watermelon here is absolutely delicious! i could eat it at every meal.

 

it's siesta time now, and i can't wait to take a nap. tonight we are going boating on the rio Tormes. it's one of the most popular places to get pictures of salamanca. i think it will be a lot of fun and a bit refreshing. it is pretty warm here today. if i have time later i'm going to post some of my pictures from portugal. tonight i'm going to be studying. wish me luck on my first exam in spain!

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portugal!

the wifi was broken at the hotel, so i couldn't post while i was in portugal. 

friday afternoon we took a charter bus to portugal. it was about a 6 and 1/2 hour bus ride. most of us slept throughout the trip. it was about dinner time when we arrived and everyone got ready really quickly and we went out. near our hotel was an arena that had a small mall and restaurants below it. we split into smaller groups and found somewhere to eat. my group went to a very nice pizzaria. our waiter was superb! probably the nicest person i've encountered on my trip. my meal was delicious. our waiter spent a lot of time talking to us about different things they do in portugal, and differences between portugal and the US. he let us try one of portugal's famous beers for free. it was really good. he also gave one of the girls a salad for free because she was still hungry after her meal. he stayed about 30 minutes after his shift ended to talk with us. he was really nice. i was so excited that our first experience in portugal was wonderful! after dinner a couple of the smaller groups met up and went to see the movie magic mike! it was a lot of fun.

 

saturday we had a day tour with a guide. she took us around the city and showed us some of the best views from portugal. the ocean was absolutely beautiful. after our tour we had free time. we stopped and grabbed lunch and it was a horrible experience. our waiter was rude.. and after we left he chased us down the street and accused us of shorting him 3 euros. we proceeded to count the money again showed him it was correct and he counted it again to be sure.. i couldn't believe it. we told several people about it and they all agreed that wasn't normal and assumed he may have been trying to get more money out of us because he were foreigners. we did a little bit of shopping but for the most part portugal had the same stores that salamanca has.. only more expensive.. portugal was more expensive than salamanca, but i assume that it's because most of the cities are very touristy. we went back and took a nap and then got ready for the evening. we went to a restaurant close to our hotel because one of our program directors went out with us. afterwards, we took a bus downtown to find dinner. we ended up eating at this cute little restaurant. the food was absolutely delicious and i treated myself to cheesecake for dessert! so good! after dinner we were going to go out but it was way too cold. it gets much colder in the evenings than it does in salamanca and the wind was terrible. everyone was freezing.

 

sunday we went to go see an area called hell's mouth. it was so pretty. afterwards we went to the beach. the weather was warm but the water was so cold. if you stood in the water for a minute or two your entire body would go numb. i only went in the water up to my knees but a couple people jumped right in.. they were freezing. we grabbed lunch after the beach and made our way back to salamanca.

 

when i got home tonight they were just finishing dinner. we had spanish tortilla and a couple slices of ham. it was really good. i'm really tired as i didn't get to sleep much on the bus home. i really had a great weekend and loved all my time in portugal. my only complaint is that i wish i would have gotten another stamp on my passport, but it's rare when traveling within europe. i'm going to do my homework and head to bed.

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museum, churros, and more wandering

today after class i went to a bunch of small shops. i didn't buy anything, just looking around for gift ideas. a lot of the shops carry the same things, but the prices can really vary. i also had some time to kill before we went to an art museum. the art museum we went to in salamanca actually used to be a house. it's unique because of it's close proximity to the cathedral. there typically don't allow houses to be built so close. it had an absolutely beautiful stained glass ceiling. i luckily got a couple pictures of it before our guide told us we couldn't take pictures.

after the museum i cam home for lunch. we had soup, salad, veal, and a banana for dessert. after lunch i tried to siesta for a bit but decided to go to the corte ingles (large shopping store) with a few girls. after the corte ingles we went and got churros. i don't like chocolate, so i only had a little piece of one. we walked around a little bit and then went home.

we just finished dinner and had noodles, pizza, and yogurt for dessert. tonight there is a big party in the plaza mayor to celebrate spain winning the euro cup. it's kind of like a championship tour. i don't think i'm going to go up there.

we leave for portugal tomorrow afternoon. i believe it is a 5 hour bus ride. it's supposed to be very pretty and we will be on the beach. there are about 20 people going so it should be a lot of fun. i've yet to pack.. but that shouldn't take long.. how much do i need for one weekend?

i've been very tired the past couple of days. i know it's because i'm staying up way to late and i haven't gotten to take a good siesta in a few days. some people are going out tonight and i'm debating whether or not i'm going to go. a lot of the bars in town are starting to do promotions for the weekend. for many people their weekends begin on thursday night.. i had better get going if i'm going to get all my stuff done and try to go out tonight!

next post will be from portugal! i'm crossing my fingers for free wifi at the hotel!!

ceiling at the art museum! how beautiful!

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a new discovery

i think my 15 minute walk to class has become my thinking time. i don't walk to class with anyone from my group because i'm the only one that has to go to that particular building. this morning as i was walking i wondered if the residents of salamanca take their scenery for granted. as an american i'm in such awe of the architecture and the character of all the buildings. i'm sure that people who live here don't realize how beautiful it is. the building here are so much more interesting to look at than in the US, but i guess the US doesn't have the long history that spain has. well atleast not in the midwest. i mean come on, this city has a new and an old cathedral. the old cathedral was completed during the 14th century and the new cathedral was completed in the 18th century. there's nothing new about that! 

i've also noticed there's a lot of graffiti here, and that really bothers me. people take an absolutely beautiful building and destroy it with their careless acts. (although i must say i am a bit proud of myself when i can read what it says if it's written in spanish). a friend of mine lives of a cute little street and up the entire street the outside of the buildings are covered in graffiti. it just really makes me sad.

 

after class i walked around the city. i like taking new roads and finding buildings i haven't seen yet. salamanca has a lot of really small roads that connect to the main roads. today i found a shortcut to my friend's house that i didn't know about.

 

for lunch i had soup, fish, and salad. fish is really starting to grow on me.. when i walked in the door from my adventure i felt my nose cringe when i realized my senora was making fish for lunch. it really is pretty good, and i ate the whole thing. i had watermelon for dessert.

 

after siesta i met with some of the girls i'm going to travel with.. we were talking about our trip to paris and trying to figure out the details. i noticed that we had read some of the prices incorrectly and it turns out the trip may be way more expensive than i thought. we're kind of in a dilemma as to what we should do. i'd really love to go to paris, but i think i would like to stay more than just the weekend. unfortunately, my schedule just doesn't allow that. i guess i'm creating more reasons to come back! :) we're starting to look into possibly traveling somewhere in spain, but haven't made any decisions. it is so hard to plan a trip to a foreign place while in a foreign place. our directors have been absolutely wonderful with helping answer questions, and helping us look things up. they really don't want to take charge of planning our trip because they want us to experience it. not to mention every time we find prices for things we have to convert them from euros to dollars to see what it would cost in the states. it's really making my brain hurt.

 

our activity for the day was a bit of a let down. our program directors told us that there were spanish students our age that wanted to meet with us so that we could practice spanish and they could practice english. everyone was really excited to meet with them and practice. there were about 20 people from my program that went to meet with the students and there were only 2 spanish students there. they organized a basketball game, but i didn't play because i had flip flops on. i didn't expect to be playing sports.. everyone thought it would be more relaxed and that there would be more spanish students. oh well, i guess you live and learn.

 

for dinner we had something new. i'm not sure what it was, but it was very good. it had bits of ham, potatoes, cheese, and egg. we also had slices of ham, and salami. i had yogurt for dessert. there's so much ham here. i will have had my fair share by the time i leave.

 

i still have homework to do tonight. i should probably do that soon. it's 10pm here and it's still light outside that is a bit deceiving. i'm used to it getting dark much earlier, but i love having long days.

 

 

 

the kitchen at my house

my room. my bed is near the window.

the bathroom.

i've yet to figure out how to use the swinging shower door without getting water all of the floor!

 

 

 

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just your average tuesday in salamanca

this morning i woke up and had breakfast. for breakfast i have juice, toast, and little cookies that taste very much like graham crackers. it's what i have everyday.

class was fun. in my grammar class we do a lot of activities to really make the time fly by. my teacher makes the class enjoyable. after class i stopped and bought a pair of shorts.. only because it was a really good deal! i feel like i could wear pants here every day because it is cool in the mornings and evenings.

for lunch we had soup, a piece of ham that was very salty, and cooked red peppers. it was good. i had watermelon for dessert. i didn't siesta today. i did rest a bit while catching up with things on the internet.

we had an activity today to Huerto de Calisto y Melibea. it is a garden in salamanca within the school buildings. it was very pretty, and had a great view of the cathedral. it was unique because inside the garden is a well. it is a tradition and very romantic for couples to visit the well with a lock. many of them write their initials, place the lock on the well, and throw the key down the well. it is supposed to symbolize that they will be together forever. there were hardly any locks on the well when we went, so our director thought that maybe someone cleaned it up for the summer so people would have room to place their locks.

the well with only a few locks

the well with the locks

this is a picture i found online to show how many locks are typically on the well.

 

 

 

after the tour i walked around the plaza with a few people to talk about the trip we are planning.

for dinner we had spanish tortilla, a couple pieces of ham, and salad. we had yogurt for dessert. after dinner i was hoping i would take a nap, but i didn't. i went out for a little while with some friends because today was one the girl's birthdays. they got tapas, but i was too full to eat anything. i had a tinto de verano. it was very good.

 

it's late so i should probably get to sleep! this city never rests and that makes it very hard to get on a schedule, but i wouldn't trade it for anything!

view from the garden

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my realization

***this should have posted monday, but there was an error***

last night for dinner we had quite the assortment. we had a fried egg, salami, potato salad that had potato, onion, tomato, and green olives, a slice of ham, and bread. for dessert i had yogurt. i stayed in last night to finish homework and relax. i love going out and doing things, but it's nice to relax once in awhile.

this morning i had class. classes here are going so well. they are completely taught in spanish. my grammar teacher is very easy going. we haven't had homework yet. he is a lot of fun and very, very laid back. he doesn't like to hear us talking in english and if he does he will throw a piece of chalk our way to get us to stop, in a joking manner of course. my conversation teacher is very energetic. she allows us to speak in english only when we don't know how to say something in spanish, and then she will translate it. i got my first homework assignment back today. i had a few small mistakes that she corrected, but i think she counts things for participation. i know that i will have 2 tests in each class the last week of classes.

after class i stopped by the program office to get help with planning our trip. i think a group is really leaning towards going to paris. after lunch and siesta we are going to meet up and look into it some more. we need to get the trip booked within the next day or two because we are really running out of time.

i've spent one full week in salamanca and i feel like this city has changed me. as americans we are so used to getting and doing everything right now. it's completely different here. everybody is so relaxed it's absolutely incredible. there's no rush to do or get anywhere. for example, if you go out to dinner and order a drink... it may take a little while for your drink to come because your waiter/waitress stopped to talk with a friend. and the same goes for getting your bill after a meal. the just expect that after you're finished eating everyone will sit back and talk.. you don't just eat and leave here. i've noticed a few times where i've gotten a little peeved that the check took forever to come or that i didn't get my drink immediately and then i realize it's just not how things are here.

i think salamanca is going to teach me patience. and for those of you that know me... know that is something i have little of. walking to class today i was trying to compare how things are done in the US compared to how things are done here. it's quite interesting. i think this city will also teach me patience for people who don't speak english. until i came to spain i've never been on the other end. here, i have thoughts and things that i want to say, but they are often far too complicated for my spanish vocabulary. knowing what you want to say, but not how to say it is extremely frustrating. at work i often have to call insurance companies and more often than not i get someone on the other end who i can barely understand. in my american world of get things done as fast as possible i get so aggravated with them and i really shouldn't. people here have been so patient with us as a group trying to live and communicate in this city. it's truly a wonderful thing. i really feel like my comprehension of the spanish language has greatly improved, but i often find myself at a loss for words, or it may take me too long to think of what i want to say. i translate everything in my head and repeat it a few times in my head before i actually say it. i try so hard to make sure that the sentences i say are correct, and maybe i should focus more on my speaking. i'm going to make mistakes, i know that. but it's better to try and make the mistakes then not speak at all. i believe that the majority of the people that i come into contact with will correct me when i say something wrong. but it's just so new to me to not always be able to communicate.

in our program office there is a quote i really like it says: "you are the one that looks different, eats strange food, needs unusual comforts, and speaks a foreign language." i really like it. everytime i stop by the office it's a nice reminder that this city and the people aren't going to adapt to me. i have to adapt to them.

on a lighter note, all through europe i have noticed how absolutely adorable the children here are. i've yet to see a child that i didn't just want to take home with me. the kids are so well dressed and so put together. little boys running around in striped suspenders with matching shoes, and girls in beautiful dresses with matching hair pieces and shoes. not that kids aren't adorable in the US, but i feel like people here spend so much more time getting their children ready, and buying very, very nice clothes for them. i'll have to try to take pictures so i can show everyone. people here don't dress down. i've yet to see people wearing sweat pants, sweat shirts, or tshirts around the city. everyone goes out in their "sunday best" every day. it's been quite surprising

for lunch today we had noodles with a very, very light red sauce. we also had broiled chicken (one of my favorite things my host mom cooks!!), and salad. i also had yogurt for dessert. i worked on homework and took a small siesta after lunch.

our program took our entire group out for tapas tonight. tapas are not to be confused with appetizers in the US. in the US we get appetizers when we go to dinner and share them amongst the entire table. in spain, tapas are a small single portion snack to tide you over until dinner. because most people have lunch between 2-2:30 and then dinner around 9:30-10 people will stop to get tapas before dinner. there are so many different kinds of tapas. i had one that had bacon, eggs, and potatos in it. it was good, but i thought it was pretty greasy. we also went to another place and i got something that resembled spanish tortilla. it was made of bread, ham, egg, and had a cheese i wasn't familiar with on top. when you go out for tapas you usually stop at more than one bar/restaurant. common drink for tapas are a small glass of beer, a clara (beer mixed with clear soda), and tinto de verano (red wine mixed with clear soda). i chose the tinto de verano at both places and it was very good.

after tapas a group of us went to get ice cream and sat in the plaza for awhile. the plaza mayor is the "hangout" since it is in the center of the city and there are always so many people there. if you want to go anywhere in salamanca you more than likely have to pass through the plaza mayor. it's a great place to people watch.

i'm going to relax and catch up on some stuff before bed!

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la alberca

today the group went to la alberca. la alberca is a very, very small village about 45 minutes to an hour from salamanca. it was too small of a village to have a formal tour, so we were free to just look around. i picked up a few gifts while i was there.

in the beginning of june every year, the village of la alberca releases a very small pig to roam the village. the pig wanders the streets and people will feed it and sometimes let it stay in their houses. the pig does this until january when it is killed and then eaten. we looked for the pig running the streets today, but we didn't have any luck finding it.

after we visited la alberca we went to a natural pool. i had no idea what to expect and boy was i surprised. it was more or less like swimming in the river. it was definitely full of nature. it was really rocky and there were pricky things on parts of the ground so you had to be careful where you walked. we spent a few hours there. a group of us left the natural pool early to get out of the sun and have ice cream.

 

tonight i'm not planning on doing much of anything. i've had a long couple of days and definitely need to rest. i also have a little bit of homework i need to finish for tomorrow.

the plaza mayor in la alberca

meat shop in la alberca. these are very common all over spain.

natural pool

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