Last night after the siesta time I met up with Rachel, Mark, and Megan. We sat in the plaza mayor for two hours just talking and sipping on a drink. I had cerveza con limon. It was delicious and perfect for the hot weather. After we hung out the whole group met up with the teachers and we went to a pizza place. We have such a huge group we filled the entire store with all of us.
Dinner went on for a long time. I really enjoy meal times here because everyone takes their time eating and relaxing. Back in the states I feel so rushed at a resturant. Here I can just sit back and take hours to complete my dinner before I leave. After dinner we went back to the Plaza Mayor, which is the place to be. I can definitely understand why too. It is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen and yesterday I heard that people live there! Those apartments most cost the equivalent of an apartment overlooking central park!
I spent the rest of my evening sipping on some delicious sangria and talking with my new friends. I went back around one, which is considered early in Spain but I didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with my senora so I didn’t want to stay out too late the first couple nights. I am sure that will change as the weeks go on.
This morning I had class. We all met at the cathedral and got a tour of the place. It was gorgeous. I really loved being able to see all of Salamanca from the rooftop. The floor level of the church looked beautiful but you had to pay if you wanted to walk around there so that wasn’t happening for any of us poor college students. After the church we went back to our classroom and discussed various differences between Spanish and American students and their lifestyles.
In Spain, college is more lax compared to the United States and many students do not continue on to graduate school, which is completely different than U of M. Also the majority of students live at home while going to college, also very different from the United States.
After class we were “treated” to tapas with our professors. I say treated like that because they are paying for it with the money we paid for the program so it seems all nice until you realized you earned it already haha. Anyway the tapas was decilcious and I had a tinto de verano with my tapas. Tinto is red wine and the drink tinto de verano is red wine with sprite and some fruit. It is similar to sangria but it is a little more refreshing. The interactions us students have with our professors is very different than when we are back in the United States. Here the teachers all went out with us for tapas and drinks, back in the states many of my professors (outside of the Spanish department) can be stand offish. Here the professors, which are all Spanish professors back at U of M, are very relatable and fun. They are also excellent teachers. I already have been learning so much from them.
At tapas I met a girl that was in APO. It is so funny how small of a world we live in. We all were taking about this today. At U of M there are so many students but it is very easy to find a connection with someone you just met. All the people here so far are really nice and everyone is getting along really well….no drama. Thank goodness. There are about 46 girls and 8 guys though so I am not sure how long that will last, however everyone here isn’t always with each other so I am thinking it won’t be much of an issue.
After tapas I made it back in time for lunch with my señora. I am going to gain so much weight here, which does not need to happen since I am already out of shape. She feeds me so much! I am stuffed. I need to skip breakfast or something because I can never eat all she puts in front of me and I feel really bad. I think it will be easier to say no when the girl from Colorado leaves because she eats all her food so I feel as if I need to do the same. I just want to be respectful.
I was talking with my friend Julia this morning about how I feel like I have already been here and lived here for weeks even when it has only been two full days! It is crazy but I can see how time flies here. When you are in the middle of the day it seems long but you can get caught up in the routine and time just flies. Salamanca is just such a great city. I feel so at home here even though I don’t even know what half of the people are saying here. I don’t know what it is but it is a very easy place to get comfortable in and I feel like I know the city already even though I have so much more to see! It is so exciting :) Later this afternoon I think I may head to the pool, so many people go to the pool in the afternoon because it is unbearably hot anywhere you go. Hasta luego J
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