Hola a todos!! Hello everyone! Don't worry...I'm not going to type everything in Spanish followed by Spanish for the entire post! Anyways, I just wanted to update you all about what I've done...what I've noticed..how everything is...pictures...etc etc.
Arrival...
I arrived in Salamanca last Sunday safe and sound. When we arrived in Salamanca on the bus from Madrid we saw all our host families waiting for us (except the 6 people who are staying the dorms). I was expecting to see my señora there...but unfortunately she was at work so her husband, Isidro, picked me up and cooked me gluten free pasta when I got home and I also had gluten free bread, salad, and fruit for dessert. (A little side note about the gluten thing...on my form for housing I put that I was mildly allergic to wheat....and somehow the housing coordinator thought I was celiac....my family was very worried but was relieved when I clarified the situation because they spent a lot of money on the gluten free stuff.) Anyways! My family is very nice, they have a son who lives in Madrid with his wife and 2 children. Teresa and Isidro speak absolutely no english so my spanish has really improved and even though I'd like to hang out with all the spanish university students a home-stay really is the best way to improve my spanish. Just in the 5 days that I've been here my spanish has improved exponentially. I am really enjoying my time here. I also live across the hall from a girl in the program whose name is Karen. She's super nice and I walk to and from class with her every day.
The Food...
The food is delicious...So far I have had ham with just about every meal and in every form...I need to improve my vocab with food though because half the time I have no idea what I'm eating....for example at lunch today Teresa told me what type of soup I was eating and I looked it up later and apparently it was squash soup. But, I suppose if I had known it was squash to begin with I would've been less likely to try it. I try everything here...even the gazpacho(I hate tomatos as I'm sure most of you are aware). Breakfast here is very small and every morning I have gluten free corn flakes (who knew they had gluten in them to begin with?), café con leche (coffee with milk which should more more like milk with coffee because it's a splash of coffee in a glass of milk essentially), galletas (like coffee cookies? I dont know how to describe them otherwise), muffins (Teresa figured out that I love muffins and bought about a pound of mini muffins from the local market) or toast and then I take an apple or orange to school with me. Lunch is around 2 or 2:30, and apparently that's early to eat "la comida" so I guess my family eats early. Anyways, "la comida" is like our dinner in the United States: it's a big meal and everyone in the family is together and we talk about the news that is always on in the background. First there's soup, then meat, then salad, then fruit for dessert. Finally, "la cena". Dinner is around 9 or 10(we eat at around 9:15...furthermore proving that my family eats early) and consists of soup, salad, and meat but the portions are a bit smaller and aren't usually as spanish oriented. Last night I had an egg sunny-side-up, bacon, french fries, bread, salad and fruit.
The Culture...
It is very interesting because in different regions of Spain the people act differently...I guess it's like the US in that aspect (New York people vs. people in the south). A better way to explain it is to use examples though. The people in Castilla (the region I'm in) tend to be more direct that those in the north (Galicia) or South (Andalusia). In the United States if you are at someone's house and they want you to sit down they will say "Please! sit down." here... it's more like "sit down!" or if you're in a restaurant they practically throw the food at you and never ask you how it is later. This week I am in intensive spanish classes and when we did our field study the other day I asked why there were so many police officers and my teacher said it's because the PRINCE OF SPAIN is here for a conference at the university!!! There are so many things that are different that I can't explain them all because I'm pretty sure there is a limit on how many words I can have in an entry, plus I dont want to type a novel for all of you to read!
Coming up...
The rest of this week is Fiestas y Ferias for the Virgen de la Vega (our patron saint) and there are Casitas (booths) all around the city where you can buy a tapa and a beer on your way to class, and there are fireworks, parades, bull fights etc etc. Also, Sunday I go to Segovia with my program! So hopefully I will have some time on Sunday to make another post about all of that =]
I miss all of you and hope you enjoy the blog posts!
Photos...
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| My Room! It's a little small and that wooden thing behind the window is a like a room darkening shade thing that is on the outside of the building. |
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| Plaza Mayor! I walk through it every day. |
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| Plaza Mayor |
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| Plaza Mayor at like 6 pm. Around 8 or 9 when the sun is setting there are a lot of people here eating tapas, drinking wine, watching life go by... staring at americans... etc. |
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| The New Cathedral (or "New" cathedral as I like to say). Construction started in 1513 and was finished in 1733 |
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| Me in front of the cathedral |
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| Door that leads into the cathedral...surprisingly enough not the main door. |
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| inside |
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| Sorry for the blurry pictures. We couldn't use flash so it's hard to take pictures. But this is also inside. |
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| The dome. I love this picture. There was a mirror that you can look into and see everything that's behind you that leads up to the dome. |
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| THIS is the main entrance into the cathedral. It took me forever to take a picture without anyone in it. |
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| Patio de Escuelas Menores (it's like the courtyard of the old high school but now it is used for little exhibits and the international program offices) |
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| The front of USAL (Universidad de Salamanca) |
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| This is called "la fachada" and there is a frog that was carved into the "fachada". Legend has it that if a student finds the frog they will have good luck on all their tests. |
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| FROG!! It's super tiny and on top of the leftmost skull. Because of this legend there are frog stuffed animals and keychains EVERYWHERE in the city. I love it. |
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| Me and Karen in the Plaza! (with another girl from the program that looks super lost) |
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| This is supposedly the most beautiful view of the city because you can see the dome of the new cathedral (left) and the old cathedral (right) |
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| Courtyard in a palace that is called "La Casa de las Conchas" (Shell house) |
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| Two nights ago we went to a bar called "Camelot" to have pizza and sangria, and listen to the "Tuna Band". The Tuna band is a band that is compromised of students, teachers, and alumni from the university. |
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