Special Request- Pictures with People

 ^^Some of the chicas from JMU

 ^^My roommates and I during Carnaval- Maureen, Veronica, and me

 ^^The whole group in Toledo!

 ^^ My roommates and I- Veronica, me, Maureen

^^My friend Katelynn and I laughing at how obsessed we are with each other

Here ya go, proof that I have friends! ;)

Madrid- Febrero

Before we left for Madrid, we had a “cultural activity” on Friday night where we went to a Jose Merce concert, who’s a traditional Spanish/Flamenco singer. It was.. interesting. I’m not really a fan of the music- at all (or, wisely stated by my friend Sarah- “This music makes me angry.”) But it was still a good experience. He sang with just a guitarist for awhile, and then a whole band came out which was pretty cool. It was interesting because after every song he would jump out of his chair and do this weird movement that basically said “I am the best singer in the world.” Haha so anyway, after that we got stipends to go out to eat because it was too late for our madres to make us dinner, so a few of us went to this kebap place that was amazzinnngg! I definitely want to go back.

So for Madrid, we left Salamanca early Saturday morning and went straight to El Prado, which is an art museum with tons of famous artists like Goya, Velasquez, and el Greco. We got to see a lot from Goya’s black period, which was my favorite and involved a lot of social criticism. There was also a copy of the Mona Lisa that was apparently just discovered! They think a pupil of Da Vinci painted it almost at the same time as he painted the original. It’s a little different, and was just restored, and it was awesome to get to see it. OH! And there was this group there with tons of little kids and men teaching them the abstract pictures through music. It was sooo cool, it made me so happy to see it. They had morroccas, a violin, and drums and they played the music according to what the picture looked like, and they were like asking the kids what they thought about the paintings. Man, it was awesome.

After that, we went to the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace) where the kings used to live. There are 3000 rooms and 7 floors, and there are rooms for pretty much anything you could imagine- smoking, changing, billiards, greeting, eating, resting, etc. It was extremellyyy lavish, and all the walls were covered in velvet with real gold/silver thread, and it was covered in gold decorations and humongous crystal chandeliers that I wanted to steal. It was definitely gorgeous, but also kind of disgustingly gaudy.

We went back to our hotels for a while, had dinner there, and then.. drum roll.. we went to see Grease el musical! In Spanish! I was a little apprehensive at first because it’s just soo American, but they changed it a little, added some scenes and changed the lyrics so that they rhymed and made more sense in Spanish. Of course, it being European, there was a lot more sexual innuendo/ a random shower scene haha. But it ended up being really good! The actors were pretty amazing, it was like a Broadway show in Spanish.

Next we went to the Escorial, which is like an old little mini town thing outside of Madrid with a monastery, a church, a pharmacy, a library, and a courtyard. We didn’t get much time here because we were of course on Spain time and were late. But what we did get to see was pretty cool. We saw the tombs of all the kings and queens (only the queens that had sons that became kings) of Spain, there was just an underground room with coffins chillin on big shelves. Kinda creepy. We also saw tombs for the infantes, which were the offspring of kings and queens that didn’t become kings or queens. And we saw a tomb that was basically filled with royal little kids who died before they reached their first communion. Creepy stuff! We had a little free time at the end to check out the armory, which was intense. It had all the suits of armor that you see in the movies, with spikes and even horse armor.

We had lunch in the town that surrounds the Escorial, and a few of us got empanadas to go and they were SO good! We just sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous weather, and still had time to explore a little since we didn’t eat at a restaurant.

We headed back to Salamanca, exhausted. We saw SO much but I’m so glad I went to Madrid twice, it was definitely worth going the first time by myself to get to know the city and not just the famous monuments.

With the warm weather, I’ve been missing JMU more and loving Salamanca more at the same time. I wish I could be in those two places at once for the rest of my life. For the rest of the trip, I’m not spending ONE weekend in Salamanca! This weekend is Barcelona (on my own), then Paris, then Budapest (on my own), then Segovia, then Cantabria, and then Spring break in Italy! Craziness, I know time is going to fly by.

Besitos! <3

 ^^ Grease and the Palacio Real

Tirando en Salamanca

No big trips to update on, but Salamanca has been getting warmer, so that's big news!

Leading up to Fat Tuesday, there are a few days of Carnaval in Spain, where people dress up and there are fiestas everywhere! It wasn't that big in Salamanca, but in a little sketchy pueblo nearby called Ciudad Rodrigo there was a fiesta with a running of the bulls which a lot of people from our group went to. I didn't really want to go because 1- I don't like seeing bulls get killed and 2- it was a reallyyy sketchy little town where they just kinda let the bulls go. But the people who went had fun and they all dressed up! All three boys "ran with the bulls" (ran as fast as they could about a mile in front of the walking bull) and one girl did it too. So instead of going, I slept in which felt really good and then went for a walk with my friend Katelynn who I'm basically in love with. We had a nice little romantic walk to the Plaza Mayor and it was SO nice out, so we took our jackets off and sat on the ground in the middle. SO many people were there doing the same thing, it reminded me of the quad at JMU. Katelynn and I got crepes and coffee and people watched for a while, and then we walked around and went into different shops until it got dark. It was fun and so nice to not have to wear a coat!

My nights are kind of running together, but one night we went out, we met up with Veronica's cousins who are visiting and Maureen and I met two cousins- both named Leonardo- from Sevilla. They were really fun and Maureen proceeded to tell them that we were cousins too, and that our names were Leonarda. Most hilarious thing of my life. Then Maureen randomly found three juggling balls (I guess they were there for carnaval reasons) and made me juggle. Except it was dark, so I kept dropping them but everyone thought it was the most amazing thing ever. Then Maureen and I walked home speaking in Spanish but in British accents the whole way. Funsies!

On Sunday, the boys' hermana said it was like the biggest day of fiesta for carnaval- which was completely false. But we all went out and walked around all the closed/empty bars. Haha so to make up for it, we went out on Monday and I wore a bright pink wig and Veronica wore a light up afro, and people asked to take pictures with us which I thought was hilarious.

Hmm, what else. I've been planning my Spring break a little more! I'm going to Italy- Rome, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast. Maybe. If we can fit it all. As of right now, I'm just going with my roommate Maureen and we've booked our flights to and from Rome and the Amalfi Coast tour group trip. So progress, but not that much. So excited!

Classes have been going well, they're getting a little more intense but no where near as intense as at JMU. Going to classes here isn't bad at all because the professors are really interesting, and I really like learning, but studying is a whole other story. It's so hard to bring myself to do work because I look out the window and there's an ancient city staring back at me and I just want to go exploree/lay in the Plaza!

This weekend we're going to Madrid with the group, which will be fun cause we're seeing all the things we didn't see when I went on my own. I'll post about that afterwards, of course.

OH! I've been stalking my fraternity like crazy because we just got a new pledge class and my best friends Teresa and Duane got littles! aka I got a pseudo little because Teresa's my pseudo twin! This probably doesn't mean anything to most people, but it's a big deal to me and I'm super excited.

I think that's all the news I have for now! Shout out to mah gurl Kerri- good luck on your grad interview!

Besitos <3

Andalucia

Granada

We left Salamanca at 7am on Friday morning to head South to Andalucia! After an eight hour bus trip, we were both sick of each other and sick from the bus driver, who likes to get two inches (not an exaggeration) away from cars before he swerves over to the other lane.  We checked into a really nice hotel and had a little break where I took my first long shower in Spain! Granada was absolutely gorgeous- there were orange trees everywhere and beautiful hand-painted ceramic plates on the outsides of all the houses. We visited two different cathedrals here, one in which Ferdinand and Isobel are buried- we saw their tombs! The area of Spain that Salamanca is in is called Castilla y Leon, and they used to be separate- Isobel of Castilla and Ferdinand of Leon. We learned that Ferdinand originally said no to Christopher Colombus’ request, and that Isobel had him called back and said that she would pay for him to go with money from Castilla. Even though Castilla y Leon were united, only Castillans were allowed to take the trip to the Americas. The cathedrals were of course breathtaking, as always.

We were then told that we would need two smaller buses to get us to dinner because the roads we would have to drive on were too small. I completely underestimated what this drive would be like. It was CRAZY- we pretty much went up a mountain on a little trail you see in movies that circle around and look over enormous cliffs that you are about two inches away from rolling down. We drove on sidewalks, almost over pedestrians and down one way streets, but didn’t scratch the bus one time. Probably the most impressive/scariest driving adventure I’ve ever been on. We finally made it to a ridge on the mountain which we were told was a gypsy village, and their houses were literally built into caves. We went to a restaurant that was in a cave (it was painted and had decorations and light and everything), and the dinner was really good. Right after dinner, the stage lit up and a huge man with a guitar sat down and started playing. Later a vocalist and a flute player came on, and they all started playing together. The singer was singing the typical flamenco songs that sound really Arabic, with the long drawn out notes. As they’re playing, three women walk through the dining room and onto the stage. They each take turns dancing, and it’s amazing. Flamenco is pretty much like really intense Spanish tap dancing. They were wearing the traditional frilly skirts, but their outfits weren’t as elaborate as I had seen in pictures, which was alright because their dancing made up for it. Their dances were very serious, and they would start out by making a beat with their feet and all of a sudden go into this like hardcore spinning/stomping thing. It looked incredibly hard, and you could see the intensity in their facial expressions when they danced- they looked like they were in pain. We talked with the professor in residence, Lucy, who comes to everything with us and decided that they were definitely not choreographed. They would look at each other, and the guitarist and singer would coordinate with whatever pace the dancer chose. It was an amazing experience, and I really liked going to such a culturally rich thing.

Afterward, we saw a view of the HUGE Alhambra from afar- it was so beautiful at night. We learned that there had been 27 mosques in Granada- 22 of those were destroyed by the Christians, and the remaining ones were turned into cathedrals. On the Andalucia trip as a whole, we learned that there was an insane amount of Arabic influence in Spain (the South especially), because Africa is so close. Almost everything we saw on the trip had something to do with the Arabic culture or influence, and we learned that almost everything was destroyed by the Catholics when they conquered them. That night we also saw a recently built mosque, which had a tower that is traditionally very tall. This one wasn’t all that tall though, and the reason is that no temple can stand higher than the church. I didn’t bring my computer on the trip, so I wrote down notes in a little notebook so I wouldn’t forget. I ended up going on a huge rant after that visit- let’s just say all of my beliefs (or lack thereof) have been thoroughly reinforced.

In the Alhambra- we learned that most Spanish buildings (even our host madre’s apartment) are based on the Arabic design. The door never opens to a room to preserve intimacy, but instead opens to a long hallway. It was really cool to picture things how they were when the building was in use, but it’s hard to believe it was ever any more beautiful than it was that day. 

Córdoba

Here we went to another beautiful mosque-turned-cathedral. After the mosque was conquered by the Catholics, they placed the main cathedral in the center and made it HUGE and much more regal to show their power.

We saw Gongora’s tomb here, who was a Gothic poet that I’ve studied in my other Spanish literature classes. Here I also learned that the grapes you always see on everythingg from the Baroque period are linked to the whole wine-blood of Christ thing, which was interesting.

A few of us went out to lunch at a really cute little restaurant which was kind of outside but not really. We were given stipends for our meals that we didn’t eat with the group, which is nice because if you don’t spend it all you just have extra money.

We were assigned roommates for the hotels, which was kind of cool because I roomed with a girl who I didn’t really think I would get along with, but I ended up hanging out with her and other girls I hadn’t really bonded with yet and now I really like them. The hotels were all really far away from the city centers, which I had a feeling they did on purpose so we wouldn’t go out, but it was a little frustrating because we didn’t even get to walk around the city after dinner or anything. But it was fine, we all hung out in each others hotel rooms and talked. It ended up being really fun anyway.

Sevilla

By far my favorite city that I’ve been to in Spain. It’s pretty much what I pictured Spain to be like. There were orange trees, palm trees, and cactus everywhere and the city was really inviting and gorgeous. It’s part of Spanish culture to always be out of the house- they call them people of the streets, but Sevilla took this to a whole new level. When had our lunch break and were walking around, there was a plaza just filled with people talking and drinking wine and beer in the middle of the day. The temperature wasn’t freezing like we were used to, I even got to take my jacket off- shocking. Here we went to the Sevilla Cathedral, which is apparently the third largest building in the world (the first is the Vatican). This was of course also built over a mosque. We saw the tomb of Fernando Colón, Christopher Columbus’ son, and we learned a lot about different styles of art and buildings. There were three huge paintings kind of near each other, and Jesus (program director) had us guess the order of when they were painted and I guessed right! I remembered a lot more from Caff’s art classes in high school than I thought I did. We also got to climb to the top of the cathedral- 35 levels to a breathtaking view of the city. AMAZING!

Mérida

This was a more of a stop on the way home than a visit to a city, and it was a lot smaller than the others we visited. We went to a Roman Teatro y Anfiteatro and saw some ruins of an old colisseum type thing. It was gorgeous, and we learned about the different passages used to get in and saw the little coves where the animals were kept. It still had some of the old statues and everything too. We learned that the ancient civilizations used to have running water, and then it was lost until the early 1900s, which is really weird to think about. Maybe something like that could happen again. We had less of a bus ride home since we went to the most Southern place first and worked our way up, and when we got home our neighbors were here to cook us dinner because Carmen was in the hospital for the birth of her first grandchild! So she’s been in a really good mood lately which is awesome.

 

I lovedd Andalucia and will definitely be taking my family back there during the Spring/Summer in the future. So gorgeous. Also sorry if this is a little overwhelming with the history, but literally all we did on the excursion was learn. 

Besitos a todos!

First Week of Real Classes

My classes are going really well so far! I’m taking Spanish Civilization, Latin American Civilization, Spanish Cinema and Literature, Latin American Drama and Short Stories, and Special Studies in Spain which is an internship where I go to a local school and help teach English. I really like all of my teachers except the Cine profesora, who is super condescending. But including my intensivo class, loving 5/6 classes isn’t bad! And I think Cine will be really interesting despite the professor. My LA Civ professor is amazingly intelligent, and is the assistant dean of the College within the University that we’re attending, but she’s also crazyyyy and speaks extremely fast, stopping every once in a while to make a weird noise or act something out. My Spanish Civ professor seems really nice, and he likes to go off on tangents about the more interesting parts of Spain- the other day in class we were going over the mountain ranges and rivers in Spain and we somehow ended up talking about Spanish wine and beer for 90% of the class. My LA Short Stories class is taught by the professor in residence, Lucy, who I love. I had her last semester for Intro to Spanish Lit and although her class is one of the hardest I’ve ever taken, she’s also one of the best professors I’ve ever had.

Working in the colegio is different than I thought it would be. I go for one hour on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and then for three hours on Friday. I started last Friday and it was fun, and the profesoras I teach with are really nice, but it was a little weird because the English teachers don’t speak English. Like at all. They went over the English sounds, and were pronouncing them wrong, saying the wrong words, etc. They also learn British English, so when they do exercises from the internet, the computer pronounces things with a British accent (fathah for father), and the children repeat it with a British accent. It is really good that they’re learning another language at such a young age, though. The first day I mostly just watched, but I did help them correct their homework and I read a few things aloud for them to hear the pronunciation. I’m really looking forward to working with them more, the kids are so unbelievably cute.

Overall my classes look like they’ll be really interesting and not an insane amount of work. I have a lot of reading and a lot of paper writing to do, but that’s alright.

This weekend we tried to go to Oporto, Portugal, but we decided that it’s pretty much impossible to get to Portugal from here. There’s a bus, but it leaves at the most inconvenient times so it made it either impossible or not worth it to go. Which is unfortunate. But staying here was fun, we all went out on Friday and Saturday night.

On Friday night, a few of us went to a hookah bar, which also serves Middle Eastern food that looks amazinggg, so we’ll have to go back. We saw a drink machine full of this liquid that looked very algae-esque, and when we asked the owner he told us it was lemonade with marijuana (joking), and then brought us a glass on the house. It was actually lemonade with mint, and it was so good- Maria, it reminded me of the fresh orange juice with mint in Nevis and it made me miss you! After that, we went to a place called Sabor, where people were salsa and meringue dancing. We were just watching in amazement when a guy came up and grabbed me- I obviously told him I couldn’t dance but he still made me go out to the dance floor. And he taught me! Not that I could do it by myself, but after awhile, with him leading me, I got the hang of it. This guy was not creepy in any way at all, he just honestly wanted to teach me how to dance. It was the most fun I’d had in so long, I wish I had pictures because I was spinning all over that dance floor haha J

Saturday we went to a convent in Salamanca. A priest told us that it’s the biggest church in Salamanca with one room (Jesus told us that a lot of churches have either one, three or five rooms, one I think is just for Christ, three is for the trinity, and I forget what five is for). He also told us that there were crypts underneath it with a bunch of Salamancan nobles- kinda creepy. It was gorgeous, like all the old buildings in Salamanca, and it had a beautiful courtyard in the middle. I think our Madre told us she got married there.

Sunday was El Dia de las Mujeres, so Saturday night there were a whole bunch of striptease specials a lot of the bars, which was hilarious, but we didn’t go. At around 12:30 I went to the Plaza Mayor with my roommate Veronica and there were people there dancing traditional dances, playing the castanets, and some of the women were wearing really pretty traditional dresses. There were a few people our age or a little older dancing, and Veronica and I were talking about how a lot of times, traditions get completely lost because they aren’t passed down. So it was cool to see the younger people dancing, and they did it really well! 

It's raining/snowing again right now. I'm wearing leggings, jeans, sweatpants, three pairs of socks, two longs sleeve shirts, a sweatshirt and a scarf. In my room. Under the covers. Feel free to do a sundance for me.

Besitos!