Quick Post

It felt good to have finished up our finals; I had a presentation and a final in my women's study class on Wednesday, Literature final on Thursday, and the last one was Grammar on Friday. We started our celebration by skipping our last two classes after our grammar final and we had one of our favorite things: chocolate con churros. We then walked around the shops before lunch since we had time, then retired to our apartments for lunch and a much needed siesta. We met up again later to walk through some more shops that we hadn't been to yet, then the whole group met in the Plaza for dinner. It was neat to be in the Plaza then for a little bit, because Spain was playing in the World Cup at the time, and all of the restaurants put up outdoor TVs for the outdoor seating. Spain scored while we were still in the middle of the Plaza, and we didn't need to actually see a TV to know it. The place erupted in cheers and it was electric and fun.

Dr. Torrico took us to a restaurant near the university, and we had a nice dinner there. My first course was an asparagus dish that was mixed with eggs. They put eggs with almost anything here it seems, only not with breakfast. It had an interesting taste, but actually quite good. Then I had a steak that was very tender and flavorful, and they come very thin, at least this kind of steak. Dessert was a tasty white chocolate mousse, an interesting texture and very rich.

Portugal- Days 2 & 3

Portugal- Day 2

Saturday morning we got up and had our first big breakfast of the trip, courtesy of the hotel. We felt spoiled to be able to have something besides toast. Okay, so the scrambled eggs were runny and there wasn't a ton of selecton, but to us it seemed like name brand goods when you are used to the off brand. We rode the bus about an hour to go to the Barrio de Belem where we saw the Monasterio de Los Jeronimos. Next we saw the Torre de Belem which is right on the ocean. We also saw the Monumento de los Navegantes which is also on the water. One of the coolest things we saw was called the Boca del Infierno or The Mouth of Hell. This is a cliff right on the coast where it's basically a bowl made of rock. It gets its name from the sounds the waves make during storms when they crash into the rocks. Apparently it sounds like screaming coming from the soals in Hell. It was actually quite gorgeous despite the name. Our last scheduled stop of the day was: the beach! We went to the beach of Cascais and enjoyed some rays and waded in the water which was still a tad chilly. It was nice for a while until the wind really started to pick up and the sand was blowing everywhere and getting in our faces. Needless to stay, I am still finding sand in places it shouldn't be.

We went back to the hotel and showered before going out to find a place to eat dinner. All the other girls wanted to ride the metro to a new part of town that we hadn't been to yet to eat, so we all went. After walking a little after we got off the metro, some of us didn't feel like it was a safe part of town, so half of us got back on the metro to hopefully find a place near our hotel to eat. It wasn't worth being in a strange part of town at night. So we got back by our hotel but couldn't find any place to eat. We walked and walked looking for something, but found nothing open except for a McDonald's. I never eat at McDonald's at home, but being since it was the only option, it had to do. It didn't even taste half bad. The McDonalds' here are always packed with people, and they look very trendy and modern inside. Nothing like back home.

Portugal- Day 3

Sunday, we just stopped in a couple of small towns that were on our way back to Salamanca. First off was Obidos, a cute little town that had a medieval section and typical little streets. It was fun to walk around for a little while. The next stop was in Batalha to visit the Monastery there. This was sort of interesting because now the cloister part of it is used for military purposes. I saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and I watched the ceremony of the changing of the guards. It was especially interesting since I remember seeing the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the U.S. Arlington Cemetary.

Portugal- Day 1

Salsa dancing was a lot of fun on Thursday. The class was short on boys (of course) so us girls just danced together and we had a great time.

Lisbon, Portugal: Day 1

Friday morning, the bus for Portugal left at 7 AM. It took probably around six hours to get there because the bus driver has to stop every couple of hours to abide by the laws here. It was probably around four or 4.5 hours of actual driving time. The scenery, of course, was beautiful on the way there. Green rolling hills with trees, livestock, wind farms, and cute little towns were passed by the whole way. When actually arriving in Lisboa (Spanish for Lisbon), it wasn't exactly what I had pictured in my mind. It looked almost industrial and rather dirty. We checked into a hotel (it was nice to be out of the home-stay for a couple nights) and decided to explore the street around our hotel before we had to meet up with our tour guide. Again, we were all a little disappointed with our surroundings because there just wasn't much to do: no restaurants and harldy any shops. We went back to maybe get into the hot tub for a little bit and relax, but we quickly decided not to because a) it was luke warm water at best and b) it cost 7 euro per person. No thank you. So, we settled on watching some television that was actually in English! That was surprisingly refreshing.

We met with the tour guide and took our bus down to more of the "Plaza" area. Right away, we could tell we were going to like this place better than we thought. There were shops and restaurants and the area just looked a lot nicer. One part was right by the river and was very pretty. Our tour guide took us to the Plaza del Comercio and was telling us some facts about how there had been earthquakes and tsunamis in the past that had swept away part of the city when some of us were distracted by these five or six guys. They were taking pictures of the scenery, but they also seemed to be sneaking pictures of our group too. Sometimes acting like they were taking pictures of eachother with us in the "background". Altogether, we thought it was quite odd, but really didn't think much of it. After the guide was done talking, she told us we should walk down by the river and take pictures and just look at the view. Several of us had just walked across the crosswalk when we crossed paths with that same group of guys from before. Now it became quite evident that they had been taking pictures of us, but even more obvious that they were just looking at me when one of him came up and said "Foto?" and put his arm around me. He got on his tip toes and flashed a smile while the girls around me were cracking up. I got a picture on my camera too for good measure. Another one stood on top of a block to take a picture with me. I guess they had never seen anyone taller than them before--we think they were Italians. Anyway, it made for a good laugh.

Next, we walked all of the way up to the top of a hill to visit the Castle of Saint George. The view from up here was amazing with a mix of all of the apartment and business buildings but also the river and bridge that looked similar to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. We explored through the castle that was in fairly good condition but also had pretty gardens in the middle. An added bonus was that a group was practicing for their concert later that evening, but we got to hear all of the music anyways. They were very fun to listen to, the lead singer had a beautiful voice and it was neat to hear it in Portugese.

After that, we were on our own to find dinner and our way back to the hotel. We did a little shopping on the way back down the hill before all the stores closed (they closed much earlier here than in Spain) and found a place to eat outside in the middle of the main strip. Our waiter was very nice and he spoke some English, so that helped quite a bit. He asked if we wanted anything to drink. I asked if the water cost money and he said yes, so I said no thank you. We all had some water left in our water bottles anyways. A little bit later, he came out with a pitcher of ice water for us! He was so great because he didn't charge us a penny. We were very thankful because this was the first time we have had ice water on our trip so it was a real treat. I tried some of my friend's cod that she got for dinner and it was quite good. Cod is something that they are known for here.

One more of a side note, when we were around shopping, another unusual thing happened. We were walking outside to find a place to eat when a man walked by muttered to us in a hushed voice and showed us something in his hand, "Hash, cocaine, coke?" Don't worry, we declined, and despite this incident, it was a very safe part of town.

We headed to find the metro station that would take us back to our hotel. It was a little scary at first because we had been in this very big city for only a couple of hours and we were supposed to find our way back using the metro and knowing absolutely no Portugese (except for thank you: obrigada). The tour guide had kept saying it was really easy, but she was speaking directions in very fast Spanish, and her accent is more difficult to understand than most that I have heard. Luckily though, it was very easy to find, and another local that spoke some English saw us trying to figure out the ticket machines offered a helping hand and we were on our way!

Peña de Francia y La Alberca

Today has probably been my favorite days thus far. After classes and lunch, the group took an excursion to Pe

ñ

a de Francia and La Alberca. Pe

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a de Francia is one of the mountains about an hour outside of Salamanca. After a uncomfortable busride for me winding up skinny roads to the top of the mountain (I had a bag just in case), I was rewarded with a simply breathtaking view. The countryside was lush and green, but we could still see snow at the top of a mountain across from where we were. On the top of the mountain there was also a monastery where monks live, so we toured this as well. It was just so enjoyable to be out of the busy city and it was so quiet and peaceful up there. We also saw a large group of mountain goats. They were so cute, and they blocked our bus for a little bit because they were all in the middle of the road.

As a side note, it is very weird to see all of the cows in the pastures with horns still on. You don't see that much in Kansas.

After the mountain, we went to a quaint little town called La Alberca. This town is more what I think of when I think of Europe. It was just lovely with stone roads, unique buildings with flowers outside of the windows. I wish I could have explored more. From our short visit, the first thing that jumped out at me was its unique character. I had never seen anything like it. There was a little outdoor sanctuary with two human skulls that represents those in pergatory. The tradition is for the eldest single woman in the town to carry a bell around the city at sundown each night chanting a prayer, praying for their souls. That is just one example of what makes it so unique. Alberca was also very refreshing because it was so much quieter and less busy and just beautiful in general.

When we got back to Salamanca, it was nearly ten. We had told our host moms that we wouldn't be back for dinner because Dr. Torrico and Marisa were going to take us out to tapa's bars. We didn't really know how it all worked, so it was a fun experience. What people do is they buy a tapa, which is like an appetizer, and then either beer or wine comes with it. It is very cheap, around 2 euro. The first place we had fried shrimp, mushrooms, calamari, pig ears and bread. I almost tried the pig ear, but after seeing other peoples' faces after eating them, I decided to spare myself. The next place was absolutely delicious. It was basically a kebab--great meat in a tasty sauce on a piece of bread with garlic and olive oil. That has been my favorite meal so far this trip. The last place was also very good, it was a sirloin sandwich. We all had a great time together, and it was even better because all of these bars are on my street, so I didn't have to walk twenty minutes to get back to my apartment!

Tonight we are going salsa dancing and packing to go to Portugal tomorrow! I cannot wait!

Conversations

Monday was just a really nice day filled with a lot of Spanish. At lunch, I started asking Feli about how long she has had students like me living with her, and that got her talking for a very long time about past students that were just a nightmare. I am surprised she still let's people stay with her from some of the stories she told, but she said she has had some marvelous people too, so I guess it balances out.

One of the girls was extremely overweight and hardly left the apartment. She ate an extreme amount, forcing Feli to charge her double on the food bill as if there were two people staying there. She also had broken the bed because of her extreme weight.

She also had another twenty year old that wet the bed every night. I'm trying not to think about the fact that it could still be the same matress...

Others would come home every night drunk and bring over friends and just act like they own the place. One girl came in so drunk and started the shower and left it on so long that it overflowed into the hallway.

On and on she told these stories. Poor Feli, she is so sweet.

Later we got to tour the original university classrooms. They were beautiful and it was very historic. Very interesting.

We had another group meeting with six of us and Dr. Torrico and Marisa. We went to a tiny little hidden place in an alley to get cheesecake. It was enjoyable just to talk and relax. I like NY cheesecake much better though.

Afterwards, a couple of us decided to walk around some more of the shops. I stopped at one of the street vendors to buy a bracelet for a friend and the vendor started talking to us, wondering what part of the states we were from. We eventually had to cut off our conversation with Marcos about thirty minutes later in order to get back to dinner on time. He was very easy to understand for some reason, and genuinely nice. We enjoyed talking to him very much.

While walking home, we ran into a man and his pig walking the streets. It was pretty cute, the pig was on a leash and all, just like all of the dogs. We all got our pictures taking with the 9 month old pig. I didn't expect to see a pig on the busy streets of Salamanca. I guess you never know what you're going to come across!

Sunday Day Trip

We took a day trip to two cities called Caceres and Trujillo. I honestly did not like Caceres much at all, nor did the whole group of us. We walked through part of the city to see the cathedral briefly before mass started, then we walked to another sight, but it was closed. Nearly everything over here is closed on Sundays, so we cannot figure out why they chose to take us. Their main plaza was all under construction and there just wasn't much to do at all. We walked the streets for a while, but there were no shops to browse or anything. Also, there were tiny black bugs all over the place. Everyone was swiping them off eachother the whole day. Thankfully, the weather was a bright spot on our trip since we have seen so much rain and cold weather in the last week, so we at least got some ice cream and sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine.

Next we went to Trujillo. This was better than Caceres, but still not great since everything was still closed. We weren't here as long as the first city, so we mainly enjoyed the beautiful sights from the top of the city. One of the museums we were supposed to see opened up a little bit later, so we got to walk through a replica of the house of Pizarro.

We have a four day week coming up since we leave for Portugal Friday morning! I am very excited for this weekend trip. We will be going to Lisbon, the capital, and I have heard wonderful things.

People like Soccer here

Futbol=A big deal

After leaving my friend's apartment Saturday, we walked through the large Plaza Mayor on our way home to find it was filled with crazed soccer fans. It usually takes no time at all to pass through the plaza, but that was definitely not the case then. It took nearly five minutes to pass through the mass of people dressed in green and white--I believe their team was from Sevilla. They were all getting ready for their team to play soccer, and they were obviously very enthused. They were all singing and chanting and having a grand ol' time despite the cold weather and pouring rain. We walked through the crowd and they clapped in our faces to spread their cheer. It was obvious they had been drinking, only adding to their spirit. The scary thing is, this wasn't even for the World Cup, this was just a couple of Spanish teams playing eachother. I can only imagine what it will be like with Spain plays (the 16th is their first game). I have seen some pretty rowdy people at football and basketball games at K-State, but they hardly seem to compare.

After eating dinner, we met back up in the Plaza to find a place to watch part of the USA vs. England (Inglaterra) match. We passed through more masses of chanting men to watch our game at a bar. It was a fun atmosphere, though not nearly as rowdy as the streets. A man all decked out in green and white for Sevilla came up and talked to us for a little bit (I was with three other girls). He wanted to know if we were for England or the U.S. etc. Then he told us that if we thought the streets were crazy then, then we should just wait till Sunday. He said there were probably 1,000 out there in the Plaza and on surrounding streets, but Sunday there would be around 6,000. Yikes.

Saturday night, there was also a big fireworks show in celebration of one of the saints. Luckily, the rain held off and the temperature was just right to watch the show. The fireworks were absolutely fabulous and they were shot off across the river. It was probably the best show I have ever seen--the finale was spectacular and there were new fireworks that I had never seen before.

Daily Happenings- Week 2

First Full Week of Classes

Monday- Torrico Tour

Puente Romano, historical sights, Catedrales, group meeting, discovery of chocolate con churros

Monday afternoon, the whole group met to tour the city a little bit. Dr. Torrico showed us El Puente Romano, a beautiful stone pedestrian bridge that was one of the first things built and it was the initial entrance into the city. He also took us to the Cathedral of Salamanca which is also very pretty. It is made of of two parts, the Old Cathedral and the New Cathedral The Old Cathedral was built during the 12th through the 15th centuries, and the New Cathedral was built during the 16th through the 18th. At one point, there was an earthquake that put a big crack in I think the Old Cathedral, so that gave them an excuse to make an even bigger and better cathedral. It is all about being "bigger and better" than other cities' cathedrals. They were able to conserve the old building, but they had to bring in the top architects of the time to build support walls around the cracked wall. The architecture still amazes me since they did it all without the technology or machinery that we have today.

Monday evening, we also had a smaller group meeting. They put us into smaller groups so that when we meet to turn in our journals, we can ask our second guide, Marisa, any questions that we might have. This was very fun becasue we just sat outside at one of the restaurants in the plaza to talk, people watch, and eat a new favorite of mine: chocolate con churros. This food is just some sort of fried bread or something that you dip in hot, melted chocolate. If it doesn't sound good to you, you can take my word for it. Marisa is from Salamanca, so it was nice to have someone with us that is actually fluent. Some of the waiters don't seem as patient with us and our minimal Spanish because they are always busy and hurrying around.

Tuesday- Chocolate con churros--START OF THE RAIN

Tuesday was the start of what has been a very cold and rainy week. None of us were really all that prepared for cold weather, so we have had to buy some jackets to get by since this cold weather is supposed to last at least until the middle of next week. I bought a nice heavy fleece as well as a cardigan, and boy am I glad that I at least brought one pair of jeans! The locals have all been bundled up too. We will be very excited to see the sun again whenever it decides to show up. Since afternoon ice cream cones had been a favorite snack on the warmer days, we went for the warm chocolate con churros for the second day in a row. Marisa had told us that there was another even better place called Valor. We thought we would try it, and she was definitely right. Yummm.

Wednesday- Zamora

Wednesday we took a quick bus trip to a smaller town called Zamora. It was about an hour long bus ride from Salamanca. Here we toured around again and listened to Dr. Torrico talk about the long history of the place. Truthfully, I was more fascinated with the giant storks flying around. They were so big and awkward and funny, I liked to see their equally as giant nests on top of the buildings. Apparently, they are a bird that mates for life, and they also use the same nests for generation after generation. Some of the nests get so heavy and massive that they have to take them to avoid damaging the building structure. They also made this loud noises by rapidly opening and closing their beaks. The history stuff was interesting too though. We saw Zamora's cathedral as well part of a castle that was in ruins, but was still very pretty.

Thursday- Movie, concert in the plaza

Thursday afternoon we were required to watch a Spanish film in the International Student Center. It was a terrible movie about the love affair between two cousins; I still can't figure out why were had to watch it. Another group of students left in the middle of it. Some of the girls with wifi were more interested in looking up information about the crumbling Big XII and passing on the information to us.

That evening, we met up again in the plaza after dinner to watch a concert. It's nice that they have quite a few free events down there, and we enjoyed it even though it was cold outside.

Friday- Shopping, MEXICAN FOOD!!!!

Friday morning while walking to class in the rain, my friend Ali and I were waiting at a crosswalk to cross the street. I had my umbrella up, and this guy came up from behind me and asked if he could share my umbrella while we waited. I said sure, so then his other friend came over too. With the three of us under my umbrella, he asked me where I was walking to, etc. The other guy told me I looked like Sharapova. I wasn't expecting that one, Barbara though they might think I was Taylor Swift, but not the tennis player Maria Sharapova. When they left they said together, "Adios Sharapova!"

I have noticed several stares from guys recently too, I don't think they are used to seeing blond hair. It doesn't hurt my self esteem though as long as I just walk on past.

Friday afternoon consisted of walking around the shops with a couple of friends in the afternoon. I just enjoy walking around and seeing all of the people since Calle Torro (a street with a lot of shops) is always bustling with people walking here or there. The real fun of Friday night though was our dinner. Six of us had found a restaurant with actual MEXICAN food! We had all missed it Mexican food, so we were very excited to find it. It was a fun atmosphere too, we sat in the basement that was actually like a quaint and trendy little cave. We had margaritas (which it turns out I actually do like) and I had an absolutely delicious burrito. This is a place we will have to return to before leaving Salamanca. We had great conversation and it was just a very fun evening.

Miss you all!

Typical Day

I thought I would just give a little peek at what a 'normal' day is like for me in Salamanca.

Class starts at 9 o'clock each day, so I wake up about 7:30 to eat breakfast and shower before walking down to the campus. Feli (Felicidad) serves me the exact same thing every morning: two pieces of white toast, a muffin, orange juice (pulp free AND cold!), and hot milk with sugar. I have butter and a really tasty peach jelly to put on my toast and muffin. Each morning could be like the movie Groundhog Day where the exact same thing happens, but it's nice to have some routine.

After a quick shower (5-7 minutes is about all I'm supposed to take according to the laminated rules posted on the door), I meet my friend Ali on a corner to walk together. It's nice to have someone to walk with since it is about twenty minutes. We like to always talk about what our hosts fed us the night before--we like to compare.

I have three classes Monday through Friday. The grammar class starts at 9 and is a two hour class, the teacher seems to always be about ten minutes late to class, and we also get a 5 minute break which turns into ten or fifteen, so this is when I borrow a friend's computer to send a quick e-mail home. I have met a couple of nice people in that class, one from Arkansas and one from Oklahoma State. I found out I know a couple of mutual people with the girl at OSU, so that was neat.

Next is my History of Women in Spain class--all girls of course. The teacher is very fun and energetic, and she says she speaks just like she would on the streets to her friends--very quickly. I can tell that I have gotten more acclamated to their accent, because I can understand the majority of what she says. The big difference in their accent is that they change their Z's and C's to a TH sound. It sounds very much like a lisp.

Last class is Literature. We read a lot of poetry and discuss what it all means, yada yada yada, you get the picture on that one.

We're done with class at about 1:15, and then it's about time to go back to eat lunch around 2. I'm always kind of nervous as to what she will serve me, it's very unpredictable unlike breakfast. The food can range from fish and hardoiled eggs to spaghetti or a ham and cheese sandwich. I have been fortunate to have liked most of the food, especially recently since she is starting to know the sort of things I like. But I am expanding the things I will eat too, so that helps. You would be proud of some of the things I have eaten Mom.

After lunch is usually free time to do whatever I need to do: homework, write in my journal (which is for my professor that is leading the trip, it is for a grade so I have to keep up with it every day), take a nap, skype, or meet up with friends and walk around or get ice cream. We had several organized events with the whole group this week and those always started at 4 o'clock and lasts for several hours. Dinner is always around 8:45 or 9. Sometimes after dinner, a group of us might meet up in the Plaza because they have free events there all the time. Other times, we are just ready for some sleep. It ends up being a full day, but it is also to have developed a routine here. I can know what to expect for the most part, yet still leave some time to roam around and explore.

Hasta luego

Top 12

Here are some things that I have noticed so far that are different here in Spain compared to the lovely midwest:

My Top Twelve Plus One (Top 12 sounds better than Top 13)

1. The smoking ban: People smoke here, everywhere, and all the time. It will be nice to be some fresh air when I get back.

2. Street signs...on every corner...in the same place: Is it so hard to ask for some uniformity? The signs on all of the little streets take forever to find. They are small and they are not in the same place at each corner. I'm pretty sure some don't even have signs. The lack of signs almost made us miss our 7 am bus to Toledo because we had missed our street and walked too far and we had to run to the bus stop. Thanks for nothing street signs.

3. Parallel and perpendicular streets: I consider myself lucky to have a pretty good sense of my cardinal directions, but when streets dive off in every direction, it definitely makes it more of a challenge to stay oriented.

4. Cold milk: Is it too much to ask for a little refrigeration?

5. Cold water: Come on Spaniards, they're called ice cubes. Enough of this luke warm business.

6. Lunch and dinner at the normal time: Two o'clock for lunch and nine o'clock for dinner just throws me all off. I am starting to get used to it though.

7. Store hours: I'm all for a siesta every now and then, but the majority of the stores are closed for the afternoon. That is the time I would love to walk around shops. I guess they're trying to save you money Dad.

8. Air conditioning: Again, it's great to save some energy, but it makes it hard to fall asleep without any air circulation. I have had to counter the heat with wearing less clothes to bed. Although, this also helps with laundry.

9. Showers-- whenver I want one: This is somewhat of a result from my #7. I know it's good to save water and all, but I don't think its a sin to want to be clean.

10. Convenient internet: I miss surfing the web in the comfort of my own home.

11. Steak: Mom, I hope you stock up on some flat irons for my return. And everything else you want to make for me.

12. Public bathrooms and waterfountains: Where are you?

13. Family: Don't get me wrong, Feli (my host) is very nice, but she had some big shoes to fill, and she doesn't quite cut it.

I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying your summer!

Hasta luego,

Melanie

Day Trip to Toledo

This weekend's excursion was to Toledo, which is in Southern Spain. Going south in Spain means the same thing as in the U.S.: it gets warmer and warmer. It at least got up to 35 C, and one place said 39. so somewhere between 95 and 102. The countryside was beautiful on the 3.5 to 4 hour busride: more rolling hills and beautiful landscapes. Once we got to Toledo, it was easy to tell we were going to love it. This city is more what you think of when you think of Europe. Salamanca and Madrid have been a more big city feel similar to New York, but Toledo was very historic with castle-like buildings and beautiful cathedrals with unique streets, alleys and shops that all add a great deal of character. A place like this would never be seen in the states. We crossed a beautiful bridge on foot after we got off the bus, and the view was quite breathtaking. Toledo is very hilly, many of the pathways very steep. You'll see in pictures that we all dressed very casually and wore tennis shoes because we knew it would be very hot as well as very hilly and the walkways are all made up of uneven stone. After a long walk up a steep hill, we toured Claustro de San Juan de los Reyes, a cathedral. It was mainly gothic style in all of the detail. So very intricate and detailed, it just amazes me that they built a place like this so long, somewhere around the 16th century I think? Don't quote me on that, the guide was speaking Spanish very quickly and not very loudly so it was hard to understand everything. Anyways, it was built a long time ago. I took lots of pictures of this place, other places didn't allow photography. We couldn't stay in the actual cathedral very long because a wedding was about ready to start! It actually reminded me quite a bit of where Justin and Bergen were married, but even more intricate and certainly more historic.

We also went through a synogue that was built in the 12th century. The archways were incredible, but this was mainly to look at art, and I can't say I was all that interested in seeing those. We then saw a painting that was either by Greco, or of Greco. I'm not quite certain. He is famous for painting people with elongated faces, bodies and hands. This was a short exhibit.

Our last museum stop was in the second largest cathedral in Spain (I think), it seemed like the largest in the world to me. This place was absolutely gigantic and every inch of it showed intricate details. There is no way I can explain in words what I saw because I wouldn't even know where to start. This place was also very ancient, and contained a great deal of history.

Next, a group of us found a place to sit down in the shade (finally) and ate our "bocadillos" or sandwiches that our hosts had packed for us. There were lots of little shops to go in, so we got to look around for a while. Mom, there were these beautiful hand-painted plates that I wanted to get you because it would have looked great in the kitchen, but they were very expensive and also would have been hard to travel with. Sorry, it's the thought that counts I guess. Toledo is also very well known for their swords and knives because of their steel production. There were giant swords in stores everywhere. I wanted to buy one to see if I could get through the airport with it, but again, very expensive, so I nixed that plan.

It was a very full day of getting up early and touring in the hot sun, but it was well worth it. It made a great day trip to see this beautiful city.

Just getting here

My entries probably won't always be this long, but we are on our way to Salamanca, and it's a couple hour bus trip. The scenery is very beautiful with rolling hills and even a wind farm! I thought of you Dad. You always appreciate a good wind farm.

I left for Spain Monday afternoon with my friend Blake as my flying buddy. I met Blake at K-State in a couple of Spanish classes, but she is also from Wichita. We left Monday at 1:10 in the afternoon, had a connection flight in Atlanta, then landed in Madrid about 9:30 Tuesday morning their time, about 2:30 a.m. to my body. The overnight flight wasn't bad at all; there were personal screens in each headrest and we could choose which movie we wanted to watch, or tv shows, or play games, and we could also look at where our plane was on the map. Dinner wasn't half bad on the plane either. The only bad thing was that there wasn't much leg room, and it was very difficult to fall asleep even after taking drowsy dramamine. When we got off the plane though, it was easy to trick my body into thinking it was not really 2:30 a.m. because it was so sunny outside.

Blake and I made it through customs. I uttered my first Spanish word to a Spanish person in Spain when I said "Gracias" to the man who stamped my passport. Pretty advanced, I know. Then we waited at the carousel for our luggage, luckily it made it (our instructor and two of the girls weren't so lucky). My suitcase could have been spotted from a mile away with those polka dots. Next, we set off to find Dr. Torrico (our instructor). He had given us instructions on where to meet him, so we tried to follow everything carefully. It said to stay on the lower level, because the upper level was for departures, and we should be in T4 and look for Exit 11. We looked and looked for Exit 11 but it was nowhere to be found. So we resorted to asking the people at the help desk. We started out speaking in Spanish but had to revert back to English to try to figure it out. She ended up telling us Exit 11 didn't exist. Great. We walked back and forth some more thinking maybe he had made a mistake in his directions, but ended up having to use a payphone to call him. We told him where we thought we were, and he told us not to move, he would come find us. We waited, and waited, and waited some more. Then after a while, we realized we weren't in T4 at all. Some other girls that had been there a while happened to walk by and pointed us in the right direction, UP the escalators (where we thought we weren't supposed to go) and to a bus that took us about ten minutes away to another terminal. Needless to say, it was a little stressful, but just a silly mistake.

Once we had met with the rest of the group that had also arrived, we had plenty of time to kill, so Blake and I decided to explore around the airport. It was on this walk that we experienced our first time of probably many more to come of being whislted at and being called "guapa" or "pretty". That didn't take long at all, Daron's warnings seem to be very accurate. It's still funny at this point, we'll see about later in the trip.

Later, the group wanted to get out of the airport and explore Madrid a little and have some lunch. We figured out the metro system all by ourselves, not without looking "tourist-y" though. Fourteen American girls walking around makes it difficult to try to blend in at all. Downtown Madrid reminded me a lot of NYC; not all that pretty and a little dirty looking. We found a lunch spot and struggled through a menu where we only understood a few words. We really didn't know what we were ordering. In general, lunch is the biggest meal of their day, so for the "Menu del dia" you pick two plates of food and then a dessert and you also get wine or sangria and bread. I shared with a girl because we both didn't know what were getting ourselves into, and the first plate was Arroz Cubano, rice with a fried egg in what seemed to be marinara sauce. The rice was alright. The next plate were these breaded things filled with sweet potatoes--also an interesting flavor. Finally, dessert was an ice cream sandwich: very American and very tasty! The sangria was also very refreshing because we were outside where it was very warm, and the sangria was iced and more like a fruit drink than anything.

Also, in that hour or two that we were downtown eating, we saw to fights between two sets of men. One was from road rage and they both got out of the cars and were yelling at eachother very loudly. Another, a man was working on the sign of a building and dropped a piece of plastic on the sidewalk that almost hit a man. Some harsh words were exchanged, I dont know what they were, but I know from the tones of their voices that some very harsh words were used.

Well like I said, we are riding a bus over to Salamanca right now. It has been a pretty long day and a half, and I will be ready to try to catch up on some sleep tonight.

Love you all!

Just the beginning

I just finished some tasty helado (ice cream) in the beautiful Plaza Mayor that our group always meets at. I´ll try to post pictures sometime soon, it´s kind of hard to get internet access though, there is no wifi in my apartment. It´s pretty hard to talk to people still . My Spanish is not nearly as good in speaking as it is with the reading and writing. I can understand my teachers just fine and they talk very fast, but it is different on the streets with the locals. We had a placement exam yesterday morning that was part written and part oral. The written was actually harded than the oral though. I got placed up pretty high, at least from our group. It was probably luck though :)
Felicidad, or Feli, is my hostmom. When I got off the bus and they introuduced us, all of the other moms laughed because I was so tall, and she was soooo short. She is a cute litte lady. The food/food schedule is difficult to get used to. I guess I have only had one meal that I have had to force down the food. It was this bland, cream soup and then a whole plate of these tiny fish things, and hardboiled eggs filled with something, and that whole plate just had this pretty awful taste altogether. Oh well. She made me spaghetti the next day! And today was a spinach lasagna. The thing is, lunchtime is at 2, ant that is their biggest meal of the day, so they feed you a lot. I don´t want to be rude so I try to eat most of it. I love when she gives me bananas or apples or watermelon. The watermelon is delicious. She serves me hot milk in the morning--very different to say the least.
They are kicking us out of that lab. More to come later!

Love you and miss you all!