I apologize for the huge gap in posts, the last few weeks have been busy and I also have a sneaking suspicion that someone out there hit the big cosmic fast-forward button, time has been flying! Tomorrow will mark week 8 of this 15 week program, over halfway! Cripes.
The last three weeks were a little more tranquilo (calm) than the previous few weeks, I spent nearly all of the time here in Salamanca, going to classes, enjoying some cultural events, having intercambios, continuing my quest for a church (which was successful!), etc. I went to go see the play Todos eran mis hijos (All my sons - Alfred Miller) one day with some other IES kids which was an experience, it is such a heavy story, if you haven't already I would definitely recommend seeing it if you ever get the chance. During some downtime I went exploring in Salamanca and also took a tour of la Catedral Nueva which was cool.
some fun graffiti in the street.
they have such cool drain spouts here!
more fun graffiti, the bubble next to its head says 'smile.'
your guess is as good as mine.
the tower of la Catedral Nueva.
the view of the city of Salamanca from the top of the tower.
this picture shows both of the cupolas of the cathedrals, la Nueva in the upper right and la Vieja in the center left.
beaches! little bit sketch..
La Basilica de Santa Teresa - it was never completed, that's why it looks sort of half-done.
La Torre de Homenaje - what is left of the castle.
The view of the surrounding country from the top of the tower.
That right there, is the pointer finger of San Juan de la Cruz (b. 1542)- you may know him as Saint John of the Cross.
This is the beach! haha.
And this lovely specimen is the heart of Santa Teresa de Ávila (b. 1515)
I couldn't get a very good picture but this is the parade we encountered. There were guys dressed up with giant masks on (they call them cabezudos which basically means 'big heads') who threw candy and hit the children (relatively lightly) with sticks during the parade.
In addition to exploring Salamanca a bit more, I also went with Allison two weekends ago (the 15th) to Alba de Tormes, a small town (pueblo) about half an hour from Salamanca by bus, to explore and see la Fiesta de Santa Teresa. While there we saw the castle that at one time was the seat of power for the Duke of Alba, the San Juan de la Cruz museum, the museum and basilica dedicated to Santa Teresa (not to be confused with Mother Teresa), la playa (beach!), and sort of accidentally became part of a parade (desfile) for children.
And this is her arm. Apparently Franco kept the other one next to him while he slept because he thought it would protect him from death.
The shrine of Santa Teresa.
As I mentioned earlier, my quest for a church/christian community has finally been successful! Two weeks ago Allison and I went together to a new church and it was so welcoming!! We met a whole bunch of Spaniards as well as other foreign exchange students from the US, Germany, and South America. One of the girls from the US told us about the group she's here working with which happens to be a Christian fellowship group for students called En Vivo. They have various events throughout the week but so far I've been going to the ones on Tuesdays and Thursdays, one is a youth group type of meeting with music and worship and the other is a time to hang out and speak English haha. Anybody that wants to come and speak English is welcome and we basically chill and drink hot chocolate/coffee and help people become more familiar with the language. So that has been exciting!
The other big news of the last couple weeks is that my hard drive crashed! :( So I was about a week without a computer which was really stressful because it's kind of my lifeline here, my connection to friends and family back home, my planner, my means of doing homework... I took it to a computer shop near my house and everything is all straightened out now, but wow, was that an experience! Maybe a topic for another blog post, we'll see. Anyway, I think that's all I've got for now!
Hope you all have a great Wednesday! ¡Abrazos!
A parting picture, la Plaza Mayor en rojo? Not sure why but it's cool!
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