whirlwind

First of all, Wow (capital w necessary). I've been sitting here for about ten minutes trying to decide how to adequately explain in words and a few pictures everything that has happened in the last two and a half days, but I really don't think it is possible, so unfortunately you'll have to make-do with a Plato's cave sort of version of everything, but I will do my best! (I apologize in advance for the length of this post, you all know how much I love to talk, and I'm finding it difficult to stem my logorrhea*.)

So when I last posted I had just arrived and was feeling some serious culture shock; I forgot my laptop charger, the electrical adapter I bought didn't fit the outlets in la casa, and I was feeling every inch of the language barrier; a rough start to what is supposed to be the best four months of my life! However, even after just two days in this beautiful city with some of the most friendly and helpful people I have ever encountered, I actually feel like this place is going to become my home, in the best sense of the word, for the next four months. Already I have "cambiado el chip" (for those of you in Prof. Moore's Spanish classes) and am settling into the language (and also have leads on a charger). Oh it's going to be challenging and I'm probably not over all of the culture shock or homesickness yet, but already I feel comfortable in my own skin here. There are so many things I have to say, so I will try to do it in the most organized way possible!

Primero: The Homestay

I am staying in a small, but very beautiful, apartment on the second floor of this apartment building located about ten minutes walk from the city center and La Plaza Mayor. I have a host sister, oddly enough also named Katie, who is from Connecticut and attends Mt. Holyoke. We get along really well and have a lot in common so that is awesome, and it's only been two days, I can't wait to get to know her more! Our host parents are Natividad (Nati, I misspelled it in the last post) and Faustino (Fausti) and they are, in a word, fenomenal! They really are angels, I've spent most of the time since I got here freaking out (and praying in a frustrated fashion) because my adapter doesn't work and today I said something to Nati and of course she has a whole drawer full of adapters! As I said in my last post, they have been hosting study abroad students (extranjeros) for 30 years. They both talk a lot which has already been very useful for learning new vocabulary, and of course I feel like I fit right in. ;) Nati provides us 3 meals a day: a light breakfast which so far has been a piece of fruit (apple - manzana or honeydew - melón) and tea (té), lunch (comida) which is the largest meal of the day (and when I say large, I mean it!) and consists of an appetizer like pasta, vegetables (verduras), or soup (sopa), a main course, usually some type of meat (carne), and finally dessert, a cake (postre) or flan or fruit (fruta). We had flan for dessert the first night and although I have always wanted to try it, I discovered that I am not the biggest fan of it. But overall, la comida is delicious! Nati wants us to feel as at home as possible so tonight she made us french fries (papas fritas)! My room is cozy and very organized with little clutter, just my style. Here is a picture: 

(Someone must have been a fan of Spyro haha.) 

Segundo: Orientation

Honestly, I don't think I have ever had as much information thrown at me in the same 8 hour period ever before in my life! Overwhelming doesn't even begin to describe it. Starting at 9 this morning and ending around 6 this afternoon (with a siesta thrown in there from 2-4) all of us IES students listened to the IES staff tell us about everything from academics in Spain, to safety and security, to field trips, to homestays and how to navigate the city. All of it, with the exception of safety and security, en Español! Thankfully we got printouts for all of the powerpoints. The final activity of the day was a scavenger hunt through the city (GCMB: I guess I didn't miss the scavenger hunt after all!) which I was very glad for, especially after multiple hours of sitting down. This leads me to the next section...

Tercera: La ciudad de Salamanca

To describe the city in words is difficult, to say the least. Salamanca is really just one big college town, with two universidades, one public (La Universidad de Salamanca - the oldest and most respected in all of Spain) and one private (La Universidad Pontificia de Salamaca - I don't know much about it yet!), more than 30,000 students, and the most popular plaza in Spain, this city has a distinct energy. The heart of the city is La Plaza Mayor and all of the city center and most of the residential areas surrounding the center are a 10 or 20 minute walk in any direction from La Plaza. It is so interesting, walking the streets are tons of young people/college students (jóvenes) but most parts of the city itself look and feel like you've just stepped out of the 15th or 16th centuries. The sidewalks are mostly cobblestone granite (I think) and those in the city center look their age. It is pretty difficult in most places to tell where the sidewalk ends and where the road begins! The buildings in the city center are old and gorgeous, but the most breathtaking are the two cathedrals (las dos catedrales), the Catedral Vieja and the Catedral Nueva. Both are ginormous and so intricately decorated, they are incredible. The architecture here makes me wish I had studied it so I could adequately explain everything! Well, a picture is worth 1,000 words, right? Here are a few.. :) 

Above: I'm not really sure what this building is, but I thought it was pretty wonderful. 

Below: This is La Catedral |Vieja, the story goes that if you can find the frog (la rana) on the cathedral you will pass all of your final exams!

Just a random street in the Salamanca city center.

 The right side of La Catedral Nueva

Only the top third of the central part of La Catedral Nueva. I was standing pretty close so I was bent backwards taking this one!

 The left side of La Catedral Nueva. 

 La Catedral Vieja.

Me with a few of the other IES girls in La Plaza Mayor. Unfortunately it was pretty bright so you can't see much of La Plaza but I will have more pictures soon! Third from the left is Allison, she is another Gettysburgian and on the far right is Katie, my homestay sister.

One more thing about this part of Spain (Madrid and Salamanca mostly), there is graffiti EVERYWHERE. On buildings, walls, guardrails, street signs, even highway signs, there is graffiti! I am sure that I will have more pictures of it later because it fascinates me for some reason, but here are just a few to illustrate my point: 

Additionally there are a lot more smokers here than I am used to being around. From what I gather most Spaniards either aren't aware of the negative health effects of smoking or simply don't care. Pretty recently smoking was banned in the restaurants but lots of people smoke out on the streets. I would guess that 40% of the people I've seen out and about were smoking, young and old alike. 

Finally, just a picture that I took while on the flight from DC to Madrid: 

Riddle me this, why does the woman only have one leg??? sigh. 

Anyway, I apologize if I've rambled, but I hope you've enjoyed reading this post, or at least looking at the pictures. Questions/comments are more than welcome! :) ¡Hasta Luego!

*That's for you Mr. A. ;)