This morning I woke up super early to take a day trip through the University to Burgos, Spain.
It was about a 3 and a half hour bus trip but it was fine because I just napped and talked with Katherine the entire time. When we got to Burgos we stopped at two convents that have famous churchs and people buried in them. Katherine and I were both so sore and tired that it was hard to get into the staring at churches mood. We made it fun for ourselves by talking and being silly, not in a disrespectful way inside the churches but just in a fun way when we were walking around. I like Katherine cause she gets my sense of humor so we just play off each other. So I am sure we can get annoying around other people but hey we are laughing and having a good time even if we do look crazy.
Katherine was so enthralled by all the dead people that were in these churches (weird I know...she is odd haha). They were both very beautiful and I was proud of myself because I could understand the tour guide. After the two convents we had a two hour lunch break. Katherine and I just parked ourselves on a bench in the plaza and talked for those two hours. It was great cause I know I can talk to her about anything and she will respect my opinions even if they are not their own. I like this cause then we can civilly discuss political things with out hurting each others feelings.
After lunch we toured the Cathedral. It was beautiful but almost too intricate. It was hard to concentrate on all the details since we didn't have much time. After our tour of the cathedral we headed back to Salamanca. I slept most of the way home but half way through I read some of these essays I am reading by Jorge Luis Borges. The collection is called "Siete Noches". I had to read his one called La cegura for class last semester so I got the rest of his collection to read and strengthen my Spanish. I was really happy because I understood all that I was reading.
It has been really frustrating because I want so badly to know Spanish and to speak it well and quickly but it is so extremely difficult. This past week I was feeling really down about it. I can understand and read Spanish fairly well but my speaking was just not how I wanted it to be. Having been here almost two weeks I was starting to panic thinking I was improving. It made me nervous because I paid a large sum of money to do this and I want to really improve my Spanish while here. Today though I felt so much better about it. Katherine and I talked for part of the way back in Spanish and then the entire walk back we were talking in Spanish. My speaking still is slow and it is obvious I am not from Spain but I have noticed that my grammar and vocabulary has gotten stronger. It isn't that I didn't know the grammar and vocab before it is just that I never had to think about it all the time so it wasn't solidified into my brain. Now i realize that the verb tenses I had a hard time with before I came are easier for me to understand and speak and my vocab is all around improving just from the signs on the street.
So I realized that I still have four weeks here and I have learned a lot since I got here. Also Katherine was saying that my Spanish is already better because if I weren't in Spain right now I wouldn't be using my Spanish so I would be digressing instead of progressing like I am now. This helped me calm down a lot. I just need to step back and let it happen because it will improve and it will get better if I just keep putting effort into it.
I am already proud of myself and I can't wait to see where I will be in 4 weeks from now! It makes me sad though that it is going by so fast. I looked at my calender today and realized I only have 24 more days in Salamanca and 32 more days in Europe. :( Oh well! All I have to do is cherish every moment. Hasta Luego!
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