Hola el mundo!
FINALLY STARTING A BLOG!
I want to start off by letting everyone know how grateful I am to be here. I thank God every day for this life changing opportunity and process to excel in life only from here. GOD IS GOOD! <3
So where to begin? Well I got to Salamanca, Spain safe and sound. It all began with a 8 hour flight to Germany, followed by an hour layover in Germany, and finally flying for another 2 hours to Madrid. The layover in Germany was a different experience that is for sure. At the gate I witnessed a Muslim woman do her one of five daily prayers which is called Salat. She asked the newspaper stand for a garbage bag to use as a "rug" to ensure that the area she was praying on was clean. She took out a towel and placed it on top of the garbage bag and began her prayers. It was so interesting and I appreciated it. This woman was in the middle of the airport striving to dedicate her life to her Islamic virtues and it was just something I have never witnessed before. I was totally intrigued. I definitely did not stare at her, but used my peripheral vision of course! That was the highlight in Flughafen, Germany. Through all the hours of the flights I pretty much slept and read. The flight from Germany to Madrid I can't even remember because I passed out so bad. When I arrived in Madrid I was clueless as to where to go. All I was aware of was to meet at Terminal 1, level 0. Of course when I get to that meeting point there was no one to be seen. I literally walked around the Madrid airport for a good hour with 4 luggage. Every person I asked if they knew anything about the Travel & Education program was just as clueless as I was. Finally I came across three girls that were parked in range of where we were suppose to meet. I approached them and asked if they were in the same dilemma as me. THANK THE LORD THEY WERE! They had no idea as to what the plans were either. As time passed we finally got it together. We found the program coordinator and made our way to the bus that was to bring us to Salamanca. My expectations of the T&E leader was totally different. I was thinking that this lady was going to be an older woman who was to be very strict and uptight and out of this world crazy. My expectations were definitely wrong. Her name is Marta and is 24 and is probably by far the nicest person I have ever met. Anyways from Madrid to Salamanca I couldn't tell you what happened because again I passed out. I woke up for a good five minutes and every single person on that bus was on cloud nine. No one was awake.
When we finally got to Salamanca our host families came to pick us up. Of course my family came about a half hour late. I was so nervous! I thought they forgot about me. At that point I met my roommate. Her name is Daryl and is from Philly. We exchanged words and talked to break the awkwardness. She was just as nervous as I was. Finally we saw our host family walk up to the bus station. My "madre" is 23 years old and her name is Victoria. She has a boyfriend, Oscar, who is 23 as well. YOUNG, I KNOW! My family speaks no english what so ever! It's awesome.. The car ride to our home was very quiet and short. We stopped in front of this building and waaaallahh we arrived to our home. We live in a apartment on the 2nd floor. It is a very small place but very home-y. Daryl and I share a bedroom that is small as well but we manage. We have two cats named Gordo and Mimi. Of course we have a kitchen, living room, and one washroom. I LOVE IT! Our "grandma" lives across the street from us in an apartment as well. She houses international students too.
NIGHT 1
After we unpacked and got settled in we had to meet for tapas with the T&E group. We met at this awesome restaurant called Mater Asturias. Let me tell you the food in Spain is out of this world. It's delicious. The calamari is so good!! the salad magnificent! the wine excellent!! The paella is my favorite actually. It is a cultural dish in Spain that is made up of rice, eggs, beef cubes, and sometimes vegetable. Every individuals version of paella varies, but my madre's is amazing! Some other foods that are good as well is tortilla de patata. Which is basically what it sounds like. It's a thick circular base that looks similar to a tortilla and is made of eggs and potatoes. I can go on about the food but I will later. So the first night we went out to eat we got to actually sit down and converse with each other. It was nice to get to know all six girls within the program considering I came here knowing absolutely no one at all. Another program coordinator stopped by to introduce himself and say hello. His name is Ramon and is by far a gentleman. At dinner we have several dishes that we shared amongst each other. We had calamari, deep friend pieces of chicken, spanish meatballs, chorizo, ensalada, and this house ice cream "helado" that was apple. Dinner "cena" was beyond wonderful. After Marta took us out to a couple bars for some drinks and to discuss our next upcoming months that are going to be spent here in Salamanca. As far as the night went we had a great time. The nightlife in Spain is out of this world, which I will talk about later, but for the most part truly an experience.
FIRST FULL DAY
The first morning in Salamanca we woke up to raindrops on our patio and a gloomy sky. That morning we had to attend an orientation for school. We met at our main office called “Mester” and were informed about the basics and extensions such as what to expect, your host families, the food, cultural shock, home sickness, history of spain, the people, the night life, and so on and so forth. To be completely honest I read the whole entire orientation packet prior to departure so I already knew what the deal was. Granted I still learned some random facts. So after the orientation, Jorge another coordinator, took us on a tour of the university and some historical buildings and the cathedrals.
CHECK THIS OUT!<<
First off the University of Salamanca was founded in 1218. In the entrance of Universidad de Salamanca there is a façade, begun in 1415, which is a masterpiece of the Plateresque style and is divided in three main bodies, where vices and virtues are represented. To the right, as one looks at the façade, three skulls will be seen on the broadest pilaster, and on the left-hand skull is the FROG, interpreted as a symbol of sin. The frog has been converted into an object for students' and tourists' superstitions, granting good luck to those who find it and married within the year. (A lot of people walk the other when they hear this! Lol) The frog (rana) is a big deal here in Salamanca. It’s a good gift for souvenirs too ;) Also when we arrived to our host family our bedroom had a big frog on the window. Pretty big deal!
The other fascinating thing we learned was on the old renaissance and gothic cathedral here there is plenty of ornate carvings on the façade. One that was pointed out to us was a modern looking astronaut that looked as if it was just randomly placed there. It was added by an artist during restoration work as a symbol of the 20th century. Once it is pointed out you can tell that amongst all the carvings on the wall it doesn’t quite fit in. There is also a devil carved in that is holding an ice cream. He is also a symbol of evil so to say. He’s a demon holding ice cream, enough explanation I think.
Okay so enough of the historical facts before I bore you all….
So after the tour we all went home to eat comer. Here in Spain we have three main meals.. desayuno (breakfast) typically around 8-9 am.. comer (lunch) around 2-3.. y cena (dinner) normally around 10pm. Breakfast and dinner are both fairly light meals, where as lunch is rather large overall. If we get hungry in between we are always welcomed to get tapas, which are basically snacks once again during the day.
For comer we ate tortilla de patata which was delicious. My roommate Daryl is allergic to potatoes- just a random thought. For the rest of the day we just hung around and got lost in the city. My roommate and I went to get churros y chocolate that night. BEST CHURROS EVER!!
The next day we had to wake up early and take the Spanish placement exam. They literally gave us about 30 minutes for 80 questions.. go figure. I got placed into the intermediate level, but I want to switch my level because it's too easy and I feel as if I won't excel in the language itself. Ya feel me??
As for the other courses I am taking a conversation class, arabic language in the spanish world (ya don't ask why), and also international marketing. All my courses are taught in Spanish except for the mkting course. Check your girl out, I will definitely be fluent by the time I get back to the states.. QUE GUAY!
ESCUELAAAA MIS AMIGOS!
School starts.. feels like the first day of kindergarten.. anxious.. happy.. wear your best outfit.. get there on time.. and sit next to the cutie in class :) haha JK.. BUT so it's the first day of classes. I have classes in a building that is pretty much just for all international students. In other words I have classes with NON-SPANIARDS.. kind of stinks because it's harder to meet the Spaniards here, but I on the bright side I have met a lot of different people from around the world..
So like I said 3 of my courses are taught in Spanish, YES i love it. My favorite part is listening to the professors when they try to speak English.. they crack me up. One teacher like to say shut up a lot in his spanish accent and its excellent. It seems to be that a lot of the professors in Spain think some words in Spanish, not all, are much better sounding, when pronounced, than in English. For instance, say the word
frog in English.. not so attractive.. now say rana in Spanish... much better, huh? Or the word pig.. now say cerdo or puerco.. not so dull?!
So my school is literally a 5 minute walk away from my home in Salamanca. It's so nice to be that close to school!
How is life in Spain?!!
This is the question I have been getting for the past week.
I will fill you all in!
In Salamanca you have a completely different lifestyle, food, people, fashion, environment, restaurants, and nightlife than in the Unites States. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! The one thing that I had to get used to was the meal times like I mentioned before. Eating dinner at 10-11 pm is quite the adjustment. The people here are never, never, never under dressed. It's part of their culture to always look presentable and appropriate in public. All the people here are very beautiful and age well. Actually beautiful is an understatement. The people here are GORGEOUS! The food, gosh that can go on forever. Well first off coffee is very popular here. In the states we drink a mediocre quality coffee, but Spain has very strong, good quality coffee that is used a lot as a social commodity. Usually when you order a cup of coffee you would say "cafe con leche" and they almost always ask for milk in the coffee because it's just that strong and GOOD! It's typical for people to meet for a cup of coffee at a cafe or outside in the Plaza Mayor to socialize. There is cafes everywhere in Salamanca. If I have 10 minutes before class to spare I can WALK down the street and enjoy a cup of coffee with a tapa and still make it to class just on time. It's marvelous.
The people. The people here wonderful, intelligent, overly caring, calm, and mature. The one thing that I noticed the most was that the way the children behave here in Spain. I have yet to see a child act up, cry hysterically, fool around, or yell for their mama. The children here are well behaved and know how to maintain their behavior at all times in public. They definitely mature faster here than in the US. Not to bash on the United States but man oh man our children need to take some notes from the children here or mothers and fathers discipline your children. I'm not kidding.
Fashion. OH MY LANTA... the fashion here is beyond amazing. I think i might replace all my clothing I brought here, seriously. Salamanca has an H&M which is right down the street from me. :) There is shoe stores every where you turn. BOOTS are the main attraction here. If I got a penny for every person who wears boots I would be rich. Not to mention they're fairly priced too even if the exchange rate sucks. No one wears bright colors. It's basically just your natural colors and solid ones as well. Thy men can definitely dress here I will tell you that. The babies, toddlers, and children are always dressed amazingly good as well.
Environment. It feels like a dream. The buildings are pretty much all connected, tall, and are all very old. The weather is fairly chilly, but the sun is always our for the most part. At the Plaza Mayor you will always see families, friends, students and the like sitting in or around it come rain or shine. The people almost never smile when walking through the streets. This doesn't mean they're mean, just normal in their culture. The strollers here are ALL definitely the old buggies for babies that you would never see in the US. It's so different. Little dogs are favored here. I have yet to see a large dog walking the streets with it's owner. I think the Spaniards are able to spot out the Americans. LOL When Spaniards talk it is always said that they have the lisp when speaking Spanish. They definitely do. It doesn't bother me actually. I think it gives them character, and actually I started to pick it up. :( sorry Karen...
Restaurants. The restaurants always have their doors open to the public. The service is always extremely outstanding and they don't even receive tips! TALK ABOUT PURE KINDNESS! What else? It is always more than okay to drink wine or another alcoholic beverage with your dinner.
Drinking is another social commodity here in Spain. People drink here not to necessarily get drunk but to enjoy their life, the pleasure, the joy of having it, and socializing. I believe the first thing they ask you is if you would like an alcoholic beverage. Their wine here is amazing!!
FACT
Spaniards clink glasses because back when the Romans lived in Spain they wanted to include all five senses when enjoying it. So they added the sound! :) share this my friends!
Smoking is very big here. About 70 percent of the population smokes! It's pretty much part of their culture. They smoke so much but yet they are still beautiful and age extremely well.. go figure?
Nightlife... ENOUGH SAID! they definitely can party. Thursdays are "celebration" nights.. no classes on fridays.. you can only guess how that works. SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS... CHUPAS CHUPAS CHUPAS.. they go hard till the sun rises.. and the next day they take advantage of the siestas for sure!
Overall I am loving Spain more every day. Yes, it is hard to adjust but I'm doing it. I am recovering now from being sick, which I believe was due to the adjustment, weather, lack of sleep, and my body. OH WELL! I am in Spain.. NO COMPLAINING!
I walk past the Plaza Mayor every day with amazement and think to myself "LIFE." Thank God for life and what it has to offer. There is so much history here. Between the art, the buildings, the people, the city. I have a ton of things to learn that's for sure. Everything here is just beautiful and is unexplainable.
This first post was just an introduction I promise it will be more exciting. I have sooo much more to say in the next posts. This is my first of many posts.. I will keep you updated as much as I can at least every day! that's my promise. So keep your eyes open my beautiful friends. I love you all and hope all is well back in the states.
Stay healthy and live life every day like it's your last with peace and love in your heart <3
Chau! Te quiero amigos!
Los dejo con este:
"La acción es la clave fundamental de todo éxito." -Pablo Picasso
"Action is the foundational key to all success."
<3
HOLA!
I have a lot of updating to do. I haven't been very faithful to my blog lately just because I have been busy or haven't had time. So here it goes...
Let me start off with this past weekend. On Friday myself and some of the girls signed up to go on a cathedral tour of San Esteban. We arrived at the meeting place and of course no one was to be found. We got arranged with a group of 12 yr olds who didn't speak Spanish and was given a piece of candy from their professor every time they answered a correct history question. It was quite bothersome and wasn't the right place we were supposed to be at. We decided to ditch that and go on our own cathedral tour. We ended up checking out the Cathedral de San Esteban, where Christopher Columbus once studied. It's one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. The outside itself is beautiful enough. When I first entered the cathedral I was speechless. There is no words to explain how eye striking this cathedral is. I strolled through it as slow as possible. When I got to one of the rooms that had a HUGE alter, foggy mirrors, statues of all different saints, and jesus on the cross I couldn't stop myself from crying. It sounds overrated, but to be honest the fact that you are standing in a church that is from the 13th century and gives you goosebumps you can't help but feel something in your heart. I couldn't stand in there much longer so I went to the main Church. I walked in and I was introduced to a cold, HUGE, old, and beautiful home of God. I walked through each station of the cross to look at each display. It was just crazy to think about the whole thing. I kept wondering what it was like in the days that Christopher Columbus walked those floors. It's definitely one of things you have to see in order to understand the feeling. catch my drift? It even had those really old king-like chairs for the choir and it was awesome.
LATER ON...
Myself and Daryl decided to take a bus to Madrid with the T&E program and spend the night there. We went into this brilliant idea with no planning just playing by ear. We had no hotel in mind nor aware of a bus that would take us back home because the program was doing a day trip so therefore we were pretty much on our own once we touched down in Madrid. All we knew is that we DID have tickets to the Real Madrid game VS Levante UD and we were going to make it to the game no matter what. Let me rewind a little bit before this though..
So prior to Saturday morning when our bus had to leave at 8am Daryl, myself, and our other girlfriend Marylisa went out to dinner with some Spanish business men who were staying the night in Salamanca and just wanted to enjoy their night in the city. It was great. I had Salmon. The night continued with glasses of wine after glasses of wine. After that we met up some of our Spanish friends here in Salamanca that we met. They had just began their night so we decided to continue ours. Mind you it was already about 3am. I knew I had a bus waiting for me at 8am to go to Madrid, but that didn't stop me from staying out. I ended up getting home at 7:20am. Was i packed for Madrid? No. Was I worried about where we were going to sleep after the game? No. Sooo.. I threw some clothes in a bag and brushed my teeth and ran to the bus. I was a minute late. I got on the bus and just knocked out. I can't tell you how the ride was but it was quite short for me because I slept the whole way. It was great.
After two hours we arrived in Madrid. Big city, noisy, a lot of people walking every which way, and tall buildings. It kind of reminded me of Chicago. The coordinators reminded us about 500 times to watch our bags and hold on to them tight because its dangerous. We did just that. So we had about 6 hours to kill before we had to get to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu for the Real game. Three of the others girls had the same game plan as us and already had a hotel room booked at a Best Western so we hoped that they had more rooms and followed them. We lucked out and got a room. Showered right away and got straight to business, touring. We decided on going to the Prado Museum. We took the Train every where. It was 1 euro and was very similar to the trains in Chicago actually. It wasn't too hard to navigate considering all of us are used to traveling and come from large cities.
The Prado Museum.... It was beautiful. All the paintings from Goya to Velazquez were just awesome. You weren't allowed to take any pictures so I was kind of bummed about that, but being able to see all the artwork was good enough for me. I absolutely loved it. We spent a few hours walking all around the museum to look at all the artwork. My favorite was The Garden of Earthly Delights. Check it out. It's beautiful.
After the museum we headed to the futbol game. At this point of the day I was so exhausted running on about 2 hours of sleep. The day was crappy too. It was rainy all day and of course I forgot my umbrella. BUT i did not complain. I kept my spirits high and embraced every second. We took the train to the stadium and made it just on time. We bought seats that were in the "vomitoria section" Yes I know very high up but it was a great view with a great crowd surrounding us as well. Real Madrid won the game against Levante UD. The experience was wonderful because everyone in the US always talks about how that's the one thing that is a must if you go to Madrid and I can say I did that. I'm thankful.
We headed back to the hotel with a buttload of people cramming their way into the train station. It was ridiculous, worse than Chicago rush hour. Seriously. We finally got to the hotel and passed out. Daryl and I had to share a twin size bed. I like to sleep in the fetal position and the whole night Daryl wasn't too happy about that but on the contrary we DID get a good nights rest which was much needed.
NEXT MORNING...
We woke up bright and early and while I was getting ready Daryl went downstairs and jacked all the fruit and snacks she could for our adventurous day that we had no idea what was ahead. We ended up coming across the idea of heading the one of the largest open flea markets in Europe. We mapped out the trains we needed to take to get there and made moves. When we got there they weren't lying when they said it was one of the largest. This flea market had 3,000 different stands. It was outrageous. It was packed from beginning to start. To top it off the weather was beautiful too! We were happy campers. I bought some souvenirs for some people back home :) but that's about it. We walked around for a while until we came across a plaza and took a nap in the park. LOL. Ya i know bums. We slept on an incline.. I had my bag underneath my head and Daryl had hers wrapped around her leg, so if someone were to try to snatch our stuff they would take us with them. Funny because we were totally content with it. That didn't phase us... which i know it should be one of our first worries but we blended in for the most part.
We decided to go to a local bar for tapas. We got our favorite tapas... calamar y croquetas. AMAZING. I'm going to bring some back with me to the states. Daryl and I talked about how good life is right at this point. We exchanged words about how we were happy, healthy, safe, enjoying the time spent in Madrid, how the trip worked out without plans, and the most important one of all.. LIVING IN SPAIN. We are definitely thankful for every day that passes by here in Spain.
We finally decided to head back to Salamanca so we bought tickets for the next night bus that was heading back to Salamanca. We slept the whole way of course. When we drove into Salamanca at night the whole city was lite up and everyone was in uuuhhss and ahhhs.. Me and Daryl looked at each other and said "we live there." Honestly I missed Salamanca when I was in Madrid midday Sunday. I can say I finally feel like I can call it "home." It was taking me a while to get adjust but I think I have come to that point right about now. It feels great :) How am I ever going to leave this beautiful place? i am not sure yet...
When we got home Victoria asked us how it was and made us dinner. We had lomo and ensalada. She read our minds because we were talking about how much we wanted salad if we were to eat anything tonight. She's goooood!
Back to classes on Monday...
I do not dread class. I love classes. It gives me the opportunity to learn more and more spanish every day. I really don't get homework so that's awesome, but overall school is cool in my book. no complaints. My art teacher is extremely attractive which is really cool soo.. ya. he rides his bike to class every day, it's probably the cutest thing ever. I like to call him Senor Guapo Rancho and no I don't know his real name.
Que mas??
Everything is wonderful with my host family. Me and Daryl are getting along so well and Victoria is loving as always. And yes we still catch Oscar coming out of the bathroom with his computer playing warcraft. The days are getting nicer and nicer as far as weather goes. It has been oh so sunny! I LIKE IT! My mom called me sunshine today to so I was extra happy.
I bought more orange juice again. I love it. oh and water because the jamon water stil isn't doing my stomach and taste buds too good.
Monday night TAPAS with Ramon and Shama.
Like I said before every Monday there is tapas with a bunch of international students. It's arranged for students to mingle and talk in Spanish as well. It's ALWAYS a good time. Remember how I told you about the candle with Shama? Well he got gave me another one. Only this time is was big. When I say big I mean HUGE. So I was literally walking around with a 5lb candle in my purse. It felt like I had a toddler in my purse. Again he said it's for me and he sees it in my eyes. It sounds so much better in Spanish FYI. I don't know how to take it.. creepy? idk.. i take it as a sign of a knowledgeable man knowing what he's talking about. So it's a nice gesture. He said every tapa we go to he's going to get me a candle. I better brace myself for next monday with a pillowcase to hold the next candle... who knows how large it will be this time. The coordinators always take care of me. They treat me like one of their daughters and I love it because at times I feel so lonely and it helps a lot. They know I don't like jamon so they order me a separate tapa for "manda." It's overly nice of them but it shows they care and I appreciate it."MI FAMILIA AQUI EN SALAMANCA."
planes para la proxima semana...
Daryl has a friend in Grenada, Spain. We decided to get bus tickets to head there. It's a 8 hour bus ride, but it's totally worth it. We just booked a hostel for two nights. On Friday and Saturday we plan on touring the city and seeing different parts of the city. The third day we are going with her friend's program to Cadriz, Spain, which is in the South. We are celebrating "Carnival" there with the people of Cadriz. It's a huge celebration all day and we WILL be attending. On Sunday night we have to head back to Grenada so we will be pooped. When we get back to Grenada late at night we plan on parking out backpacks in a park or the bus station until we can catch a bus back to Salamanca. I LOVE TRAVELING WITH ALL THE SURPRISES. It makes it so much more exciting and adventurous. I also cannot wait for this trip as well. The south part of Spain... SUN!! yesss i need some hot weather soon!
Overall LIFE is wonderful here in Salamanca. I love every day as each one goes by SO fast. I have a lot more to talk about but I am getting sleepy and my contact just popped out. Like I always say this isn't luck this is a blessing
Stay healthy and live life every day like it's your last with peace and love in your heart <3
Hogar es el lugar de donde tus pies pueden alejarse, pero no tu corazón.
Home.. where your feet may leave, but not your heart. <3
Adios! I will update as soon as possible. Thanks for reading everyone.
