3 Days of Soccer, Cooking, and Goodbyes

This week began with a game of soccer. On Sunday everyone in our group met at the Parque de Los Jesuitas to play. At the park they had one cement soccer field, but kids were playing there. Instead we found a grassy area and decided to play. There were a few problems with this. Salamanca is a city so there is pavement everywhere. The only place that there is a little bit of grass is the park. This means everyone brings their dogs to this grassy area at the park to use the bathroom. The second problem was that there were a few big trees in this area. The third problem was that it had just recently rained so everything was a bit slippery and cold. The area was pretty small and there were a lot of us but we made it work. The game consisted of people stepping in dog poop, running into trees, and slipping on the wet grass; but all in all we had an amazing time filled with lots of laughs.

Because we had such an awesome time playing soccer the first time, we decided to play again on Wednesday. I invited a few people from my classes that I met to come play and to my surprise they invited tons of their friends. In the end we had a huge group of people from Japan, a guy from the Philippines, a guy from Denmark, and people from all over the U.S. We went down by the river where there was a full sized soccer field to play. The soccer field was a mix of sand and dirt but it worked out well. We split up into two teams of 13 and played. My team kicked butt and won 8-0. I played pretty well and was even complimented by the Japanese kids. As an added bonus the weather was amazing. It was in the high 50’s and was sunny. It was the perfect day of soccer.

We were feeling pretty content with our soccer games. We were having fun and meeting new people so we thought we would play again. On Friday we got together. This day was freezing and it sprinkled all day. Many people didn’t show up to play because the weather was bad. Once we ran around for a while it wasn’t so cold, but after a short while some people left. After that we decided to play World Cup. It wasn’t my lucky day because my partner and I played really well but just couldn’t score. This is not the end of our soccer games. We hope to play once a week.

On Thursday I went with a few people to a cooking class. The class was held at a pretty nice restaurant called Gastrobar. We learned how to make Paella, which is a traditional Spanish dish. Paella is a rice dish that is spiced and has all sorts of different meats in it. The one we made had all sorts of seafood in it. The interesting thing is that the seafood is thrown in whole. The shrimp were cooked with their eyes and legs intact. We also made Tortilla de Patata. This dish is made out of lots of potatoes, onion, and eggs. It ends up turning out as a potato cake looking thing. I think it is similar to a quiche. After that we made Gazpacho, which is a cold tomato soup. Inside of it there are also other veggies like cucumbers and peppers. Even though we blended it, it turned out pretty thick. We drank it out of a glass. Lastly we learned how to make Sangria. It is super easy to make. You combine any kind of cheap red wine with citrus soda, sugar, and cut up pieces of orange and lemon. After we made all this food we got to sit down and enjoy our hard work.

This week was crazy because we started planning our trip to London. It has been somewhat of a fiasco at times. We had a horrible time booking plane tickets because of the crappy website we were using. Then, when we finally booked the tickets we ended up booking them for the wrong day. Originally we were going to leave next Thursday night but instead the tickets got booked for Wednesday night. This means we will be missing two days of class. In order to change our tickets we would have to pay 40euro per person. We talked to our program director and he said we should just leave on Wednesday night. The good thing about this is that we will have an extra day in London. I am very excited for this trip because we have a lot of fun things planned.

The last big thing that happened this week has left a dark raincloud over everyone’s head. Early Saturday morning over half the group left for home. Out of 28 of us, 17 went back because they were only staying for this first month. I have gotten to know so many fun, nice, crazy people that it is extremely sad to say goodbye. After everyone left the roommates were split up. My roommate Shannon had to move to a different host family, leaving me all alone. This is good because I will have to start speaking a lot more Spanish, but it is bad because it is a lot harder to get in contact with people. Things are starting to feel a bit lonely now, and I am feeling a little homesick. This event was a drastic change to the trip. Classes will be different because people are gone and going out will be different. Once we get used to everything I am sure we will have a good time again. 

It’s about time for me to turn my frown upside down because on Wednesday I leave for a long weekend in London!

Rebajas and trip to Toledo January 21

I forget if I brought this up in a blog post yet. If I did, you all will get a bit of a refresher. From the month of January until the end of February there are sales at the stores called “Las Rebajas.” Nearly everything in every store is over 50% off. The reason for this is because the stores are getting rid of their winter stuff so in March they can put out all their spring stuff. I couldn’t help but take advantage of this opportunity. I made a killing! For less than 70 euros I bought a pair of boot-like shoes(10), a pair of flats(8), two dresses(19), a purse(15), and an amazing leather jacket(17)! The cool thing about Spain is that taxes are already figured into the price. That means when something says “10 euro,” that is the amount you pay at the cash register. It’s nice not to have to try to figure out in your head what the tax would be. As amazing as “Las Rebajas” are, I think I am done shopping for awhile. UPDATE: just kidding, I ended up buying a scarf in Toledo ;D. 

I did more than just shop this week. The University plays a free movie every week. Last week when I tried to go to the movie they had technical difficulties so they moved the movie to this week Monday. That meant I got to see two movies this week! The first movie I saw was called “Flores de Otro Mundo.” This movie was about a town in Spain that was filled with all men. The only women that lived there were very old. Because of this, single women were brought to the town on a bus. This movie was pretty slow and it was hard to understand. The second movie I saw was “Te Doy mis Ojos.” This movie was about a woman trying to escape her abusive relationship. During this movie they had subtitles on so it was a bit easier to understand. It’s easier to read Spanish than it is to listen to it. 

streets of Toledo

The trip to Toledo was a long one. We got on our bus at 7am and drove for over 3 hours until we were there. Toledo is a really pretty city. The streets are really small and made of cobblestone. All of the architecture is really old and pretty. The reason why Toledo is such an interesting city is because it contains 3 religions. The city has a mosque, synagogues, and a giant catholic church.

The first place we went by was the “Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz,” which is a mosque. It was a small, boxy place. We were unable to go inside because it was converted to a catholic church when the Muslim people were kicked out of Spain. At least the outside of the building wasn’t touched. We were able to see the architecture of the mosque; that contains a unique type of arc on the windows. 

 

The next place we went to was the “Catedral Primada de España.” This church was absolutely enormous. It used to be the site of a mosque but that was torn down to make this cathedral. From the outside the cathedral looks like a small palace. The inside is extremely cold. As pretty as churches are, I am starting to get sick of going to see them. The interesting part of this church was that in the center there are the choir stalls. This part is cool because the chairs fold down and are made out of walnut. The carving in the wood was really interesting. The reason why this church is so important is because this is where the bishop gives mass. In the back we got to see the bishop’s robes and his hats.

choir stalls

In my opinion, the reason why this church was worth seeing was because of the paintings in the back room. Most of them were painted by the famous artist, El Greco, in the century XVI. I was really excited because on Friday in my art class we started studying El Greco. The painting I was really excited to see is called “El Expolio.” This is a painting of Jesus when he is walking and getting ready to be nailed on the cross.  The interesting thing about this painting is that when the church had El Greco paint it they negotiated a price. When the painting was done the church thought the painting wasn’t very good and only paid El Greco half of the amount negotiated. The reason they didn’t like the painting was because Jesus’s head is supposed to be higher in the painting then all the other people’s heads. This is because of a hierarchy type of thing. In this century the most important person in the painting had his head above the others. The second reason the church didn’t like the painting is because of the soldier. The soldier in the painting is wearing roman armor from the current time period. The church thought this was crazy because of the mix of time periods.

After this we went to the “Sinogoga del Tránsito.” The synagogue was pretty plain compared to the Catholic church. It was nice. Part of it is a museum that had costumes and artifacts.

The last thing we saw was “El Monasterio San Juan de los Reyes.” It was a cool little monastery with a little plaza in the middle. In it there was a little garden and a big orange tree. Hanging on the outside of the building were many sets of ancient handcuffs. This is because when the Christians won the fight against the Muslims, and the Christian prisoners were set free, they came to this church/monastery to thank God and hang up their chains. 

There was a lot to see this week. Next weekend all the people that are staying for only 1 month go home. It will be so weird to have to say goodbye to 17 people, leaving just 11 of us here for the rest of the semester.

Plaza Mayor de Salamanca

Nearly every town in Spain has a Plaza Mayor. This is a big square in the center of town. Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor is considered to be the most beautiful plaza in all of Spain. It was built between 1729 and 1755; and designed by Alberto Churriguera. The Plaza is gold in color and at night there are lights all the way around that illuminate it. The Plaza Mayor is made up of 88 arches and countless balconies. Around the edge of the Plaza are busts of famous figures of Spain. They have Kings, Queens, writers, and poets. I especially like the bust of Miguel Cervantes, the writer of "Don Quixote." There also is a bust of Francisco Franco, but it is made out of plastic because it is a bust that is vandalized; so the plastic is easier to clean. The Plaza Mayor really is the center of town. It is the best place to meet up with people, and it leads to anywhere you would like to go. 

First week of school and off to Ávila January 14

Settling in with my host family has been easy. The mom, Sonia, is super nice and the two boys Sergio and Alvaro are really funny.

On Monday I had to go to the University and take a placement test to see what level of classes I would be put in. I did relatively well and got placed in the classes that I needed to be in. This trimester I am taking 3 classes: a grammar class, a literature class, and an art history class. All the classes are taught in Spanish by native speakers. Also, my literature class deals with famous writers and poets from Spain and my art class is all about famous artists and architects from Spain. The cool thing about my art class is that we learn about the Puente Romano (Roman Bridge), ancient bull sculpture, architechture of the Catedral Nuevo, and the façade of the University and then I can walk 10 minutes down the road and see these famous works of art with my own eyes. It also makes me appreciate these landmarks more because I know the history behind them.

My classes are actually in a special part of the University called “Cursos Internacionales.” In my classes are students from all around the world that are learning Spanish. I have kids in my classes from Japan, Philippines, France, Taiwan, and many other places. The cool thing about this is that the thing I have in common with these students is the Spanish, so in order to get to know these people we have to communicate in Spanish.

When the school week was done we had an excursion to the city of Ávila. Ávila is a pretty small city. Around the outside of the city are the “Murallas” which are ancient walls. They were the city’s defense against intruders in ancient times. The walls are made out of stone and there are little windows where people could shoot arrows at intruders. We got to go walk around on the top of the walls.

Another cool thing about Ávila was that Saint Teresa used to live there. Connected to the Catholic Church there is one of the rooms of her house. We also saw a little museum that had some of her stuff in it. In the museum were some of her original writings and her cane. The weirdest thing they had there was one of her fingers.

After this we went to a supermarket. In it there were a ton of booths selling different things. One booth was full of fresh fruit, another had whole fish. The booth that was most interesting was the booth selling parts of a bull. They do not waste any part of it. They had tongues, testicles, the snouts, and even a big block of their blood. Eating bull is a delicacy. 

So far it has been a nice, eventful week. Next weekend we go to Toledo.

-Steph

January 6, Salamanca

Today we had to find the Plaza Mayor all by ourselves and meet the rest of the group there. At first we were really nervous about it. At least we had a map, so we knew we couldn’t get too lost. Street signs aren’t on a separate post like they are in the U.S. They are actually on the side of the building on the corner. We started walking and we saw the boys from our group that live one street over. We decided to follow them.

            Once we got to the Plaza Mayor, the director took us around the city. We saw “La Casa de Las Conchas,” which was a house built for a king and queen. On the outside of the building there are a ton of clam shells carved on the side. Inside the building there is an open square with a well, and on the top of the building there are gargoyles.

            After that we went to a park behind one of Salamanca’s cathedrals. This park was tucked away in a spot that you would only find if you knew Salamanca very well. In the small park there is a well. Chained to the well are hundred of locks. Lovers come to the well and write their name on a lock on connect it to the well. Then they throw the key to the lock down the well. This symbolizes eternal love.

            Afterwards we went to the University. The university buildings are extremely old. Made out of plaster is this huge façade of the university. It’s the size of a building and is very detailed. The famous legend with this façade is that students need to find the frog or else they will fail in their studies. The frog was pretty small and pretty hard to find but lucky I found it.

            Then we went to a different cathedral in Salamanca. The Catedral Nueva is interesting because it is an extremely old building with a surprise. Part of the cathedral needed to be restored. The artist ended up carving an astronaut into the molding, along with a few other animals doing silly things. This is so funny because you don’t expect to see an astronaut on a building that was built during the 1700’s.

            We went back to our host families after all the site seeing. During lunch we had a special cake for the day of the three kings. It was kind of like a giant donut with cream separating the two layers. Hidden inside the cake are two little gifts. If you find one of the gifts you get to wear the little crown that comes with the cake.

            At 11pm we met up with the rest of the group to go out. All the places we went to were pretty empty because people in Spain usually don’t start going out until midnight or 1am.

-Steph