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