January 5, Segovia to Salamanca

Today we walked around Segovia. We went and saw an important Jewish Synagogue.  Then we walked down the street and saw a huge Catholic church. The church was one of the last churches to be built in gothic style. After that we walked to the Alcazar.

            The Alcazar is a big castle that was built on the edge of town.  It was built on top of a mountain so that intruders were unable to reach it. To get to the castle you have to cross a little bridge. Below it is what used to be a moat.  The castle is very old. It overlooks a huge valley.

            Then we got on the bus and went to Salamanca. We met our host families there.  There were more people there than expected. The oldest woman is Isabel.  We also met her husband. With her was her daughter Sonia and she has two young sons, Sergio and Alvaro. Today was Sergio’s 8^th birthday and I think Alvaro is three.

            They took us to their apartment. It is on the fourth floor of a building. Their apartment is like a flat. It has many rooms and two bathrooms. The rooms are pretty small. My roommate Shannon and I share a room that is smaller than a dorm room. It is ok though because all of our stuff fits in the room.

            After we unpacking a little bit they took us to the streets to see the Cabalgata de los Reyes. It is a parade that the city puts on. The floats are all lit up and there are many people dressed up. In the parade are the three magi or kings. They throw candy to the children. Tonight the three kings bring presents to the children. Sonia was telling me that on Christmas Santa brings them a few presents, but on the day that the kings come they bring a lot more presents. 

            The living situation is interesting. Isabel actually lives in the countryside outside of Salamanca. Isabel and her husband lived in Salamanca for a long time in this apartment. They decided to move to the countryside but then Sonia and her husband separated. Sonia and her sons live here in the apartment. I don’t know if we will see Isabel too much. It is more like Sonia is our host mom.

Tomorrow we will have to find our way around town. Salamanca is bigger than I thought it was.

-Steph

January 4, Segovia

 

 

Today we woke up, got in the bus and drove to Segovia. Segovia is a little less than 2 hours north of Madrid. On the way there was saw a giant cross on one of the mountains. One of the directors told us that it was the grave of Francisco Franco.

            The hotel we are at in Segovia is really nice. It has free wifi, wood floors, and nice bathrooms. Outside of the hotel is the huge aqueduct.  It is made out of huge bricks of rock and arches. At the roof of our hotel there is a terrace that looks out at Segovia and at the arch. It is a beautiful view. After lunch we had time to go and walk around Segovia. It was very different than Madrid. Cars weren’t allowed to drive behind the aqueduct so everyone walked to get to the shops that were down the road. This town is a lot more like how you would picture Europe. There are small tight streets that are made of cobblestone.

            Later we went to eat at a restaurant down the street. We had noodles, chicken, and for dessert an apple. Afterwards the owner showed us one of Spain’s delicacies. It was a little pig that they fed only milk to. They cut out its insides and cook it whole, and then they put the whole pig on the plate, eyes, feet, and all.

            Today we had a lot of free time to roam the streets of Segovia.

-Steph

January 3, Madrid

Today was a busy day. We were woken up at 8am and had breakfast. Then we went back to the streets of Madrid.  We walked to the Museo del Prado. At the Prado museum we split into two groups. Each of our directors wore a microphone and we wore headsets so when they talked about the paintings we were able to hear. The Museo Del Prado was huge and so were the paintings. The paintings covered whole walls. We specifically focused on the paintings of Goya and Velazquez.

            I really enjoyed the paintings by Goya because as he aged his paintings changed. His beginning paintings were all really cute and bright. They featured the daily life of citizens. He had pictures of people playing games and other paintings that showed the seasons. When he was a little older he did portraits of wealthy and noble people. The most interesting paintings were the ones from when Goya was old. He had gone a bit insane, so these paintings were very different from his beginning works. These paintings are called “Las Pinturas Negras” or “The Black Paintings.” All of these paintings were very dark and creepy. The faces of the people he painted were malformed. He painted things like demons and people worshipping demons. He also painted his wife in funeral clothes at his own funeral.

            Then we moved on and saw the paintings of Velazquez. He also painted many wealthy people. The best thing about Velazquez is that each face he paints is unique. My favorite series of paintings by Velazquez were “Dwarves and Buffoons”.  I’m not sure why he was so interested in paintings midgets. He also had a series of paintings that included religion and another that included mythology. The last painting we saw by him was interesting because it was a scene that had two whole armies of people in it. There were four people painted in the armies that were looking directly at you. The reason they were looking out was because they weren’t meant to be in the time period of the painting. The painting was of a battle that happened in the past and Velazquez painted the faces of himself and a few people from his family and friends in the picture.

            When we finished walking around the museum we headed to a restaurant nearby. We were served a three course meal. The most interesting thing they served was paella. Paella is a dish that has chicken, rice, and shrimp. The funny thing about the shrimp is that you are given the whole shrimp, eyes, legs, and all.

            After lunch we walked a very long way to the Plaza Mayor of Madrid. This was a big plaza full of shops. There were also people walking around in mascot costumes. We saw Mickey Mouse and Puss in Boots. I think they were there to get money from parents when they entertained kids.

            We kept walking for an even longer time until we arrived at the Royal Palace. Spain has a monarchy along with a republic. This palace is where the current King and Queen live.  One part of the castle was open for tours. Each room had huge chandeliers and big painted murals on the ceilings. They also had figures in the molding. Each room was unique. One room was called the yellow room because the wallpapering and rug was yellow. Another room was based on China. There were pictures of Chinese people, houses, and animals from China painted on the wall. Each room had artifacts like vases, pottery, and clocks. One room that I really liked had a huge table in it that went from one end of the room to the other. Around the table were at least 50 chairs. We also got to see the throne room. After the tour of the palace we went to the armory. It was filled with armor and swords from the past wars. They even had armor for horses and armor for children.

Tomorrow we head to Segovia.

-Steph

January 2, Madrid

After a long flight I finally made it to Spain! Getting there was an interesting experience. Our bus driver dropped us off at a random spot in the Chicago airport. No one really knew what we were doing. We asked a bunch of airport workers where our airline was located and we ended up having to take a train to the other side of the airport where American Airlines was located. Checking our bags went smoothly. Everything was set for our flight from Chicago to Dallas, except for the time. We were roughly 3 hours early for our flight. It was alright though, because our group was able to get to know each other.

            The flight to Dallas went by quickly and easily. After we landed we found our terminal for our flight to Madrid, Spain and only had to wait a short amount of time. This plane was a lot bigger but it came with some extra perks. We got a blanket and pillow, dinner, breakfast, and we were able to watch a couple of movies and tv shows. I saw the movie Rango for the very first time. The flight was long, it lasted somewhere between 8 and 9 hours. Plus it was hard to sleep on the plane.

            When the plane landed in Madrid all of us were sweaty, exhausted, and overtired people. But we didn’t have time to rest. Everyone found their bags easily and we exchanged cash for euros. Then we were off. We met the “Spanish Learning Program” directors and they brought us onto a bus. Driving through Spain for the first time was exciting. The roads were thin and hilly.

            We made it to hotel Convencion and were assigned rooms with our roommate. We only had two hours to rest before lunchtime so most of us showered and napped for as long as we could. At lunch we met up with the students that are only staying in Spain for a month. There were a lot of them. Lunch was buffet style. They had really good potatoes; they seemed like a cross between a sweet potato and a normal potato. None of the food was crazy weird. Most of it was normal stuff just cooked and seasoned in a different way than us.

            After lunch we had another 2 hours to rest. Then we met in the lobby for a quick orientation. Javier warned us about basic things like how not to get pick pocketed and how we can stay safe. After that we headed to the streets of Madrid. The molding and detail on all the buildings was intricate and beautiful. We walked for miles. One of the important sites we saw was Congress and Cibeles. An interesting fact about this is that this is the first time a woman has ever been in charge of the Congress and Cibeles. This was a huge castle building. As it got darker all the lights came on. The lights on the Congress and Cibeles building turned from red to purple to blue. All over the town there were lights. They are kind of like Christmas lights but they are year round. We also saw the Puerta Del Sol. In this plaza there was a huge Christmas tree made out of lights that was as tall as the surrounding buildings. The tree actually is not a representation of Christmas; it is a symbol of Madrid.

            The weather is nice here. It is comparable to early spring or late fall in Wisconsin. The rest of the night will be filled with resting and dinner. It is hard to find internet around here and when you find it there is either a time limit on how long you can be on or how much you have to pay to use it.

That’s all for today,

Steph

(I will post more pics later, they take too long to load)

The Adventure Begins!

"The World is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." -St. Augustine

Hi all! It's almost time for me to start my Spain adventure; the only thing left to do is finish packing my suitcase. It's really tough to fit four months of clothes into one bag!

For those of you curious as to where I'm heading, I will be traveling to Salamanca, Spain. It is located in the West of Spain. I will be studying at the University of Salamanca. "The University of Salamanca, which was founded in 1218, is the oldest university in Spain and the third oldest western university." 

I depart on my trip early in the morning on January 1st. I will be in Spain from January 2nd until April 26th.

Here is a quick itinerary of how the first few days will go down:

January 01: Depart on a bus from Oshkosh to Chicago. Fly from Chicago to Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas. Then I get on a plane at Dallas Fort Worth and Fly to Madrid, Spain.

January 02: Arrive in Madrid. Visit Plaza Mayor, Puerta Del Sol, Congress and Cibeles.

January 03: Visit to the Prado Museum.

January 04: Walk through the district Madrid of the Austrias, Visit to the Royal Palace. Leave for Segovia, Spain. Visit to the Aqueduct.

January 05: Visit Cathedral, Alacazar, and Jewish District.  Leave for Salamanca, Spain. Placement of students with Host Families. Attendance to the Cabalgata de Reyes.

These days are going to be big site seeing days. After all this site seeing we have a few days before we begin our classes.

I'm full of excitement and nervousness, but I think I am ready to begin this adventure! I will try to update this blog once a week (maybe every sunday?) so I can share my experiences with everyone at home.



 Te quiero con todo mi corazón
(I love you with all my heart)
Steph