El Gallo en Salamanca

SNOW IN SALAMANCA...and my last 2 days here :(

2009-12-16T12:35:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning after literally getting 3 hours of sleep to go to my very last day of classes and stepped out of my building to see the sidewalk covered with snow. It was more of a light covering, but snow none the less. I should say that the Plaza and streets looked so pretty snow covered but since I don't have my good boots and my feet were soaked by the time I got to class my initial reaction was "ughh snow".

this isn't from today, but it kinda looked like this with a little bit more snow

Well tonight is my last night going out in Salamanca and I'm going to spend all day tomorrow packing. I can't believe I'm leaving in 2 days. I'm so excited to get home but at the same time I'm going to miss everyone here and I don't want to leave. Friday morning we leave for Madrid and spend the day there and then Saturday morning I hop on the plane for home! Craziness. See you all very very soon!!

Adventures in a socialized health care system

2009-12-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

I have insurance in Spain through the university which is nice in times like these when I have throat infections (grr), but I was a little skeptical about how things would go with Spain's healthcare system. I had been to the pharmacy once before for something and was shocked that medicines like allergy medicines that can cost over $20 at home are about 3 euros here. But today I had to go to the doctor and I expected that I would have to wait forever to see the doctor. I went in around 12 and they told me that they had consultations at 6 and they took my name. Perfect. I went back at 6 to a full waiting room and figured I'd be sitting there for hours. In fact, I only sat for an hour which I've most certainly done in doctor's offices in the states. I got called in to the doctor's office, he took one look at me and said yes indeed that's a throat infection and wrote me a perscription. I walked right down to the pharmacy, they filled it in 2 seconds (only 9 euros for a z-pac, and you don't need insurance for medicine at pharmacies). So all in all, I'm a fan. Just thought I'd give all the Americans some insightful information.

Dublin...and my last week abroad!!

2009-12-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

Due to a lovely double Spanish holiday we had this past monday and tuesday off so 2 friends and I went to Dublin for 4 days. I expected it to be super cold and rainy but it was actually about the same temperature as Salamanca and we only had rain for a little bit on one day. We stayed in a hostel right in the heart of the Temple Bar area which was awesome, but obviously noisy at night. The hostel was great though, and really cheap!

Outside the real Temple Bar down the street from our hostel

The first day it was just me and Sabra because Bridget was arriving later that night. After waking up at 4:30 to start our travels we decided to just spend our first day walking around and seeing a few sights. We started by wandering around Temple Bar which is just a really fun area in general. Then we went to Trinity College and tried our hardest to blend in with the students---difficult to do without that sweet Irish accent. We spent some time walking through St. Stephen's green before a security man with a bell made us leave at 4pm (it was after dark haha). Then we headed towards Christ Church Cathedral just to see it from the outside, did some window shopping, found the cheapest restaurants in town due to our very very low budgets, and then had some fish and chips for dinner from Leo Burdock's (yum!). We went to bed early, which is easy to do considering the sun goes down at about 3:30..wow.

Outside Trinity College

St. Stephen's Green

Saturday was our big touristy day. We went inside Christ Church Cathedral which was awesome. They had a really cool museum set up in the basement which included a cat and mouse that had been mummified inside an organ (cool). Then we headed towards St. Patrick's Cathedral but just took pictures from the outside because we heard Christ Church was way cooler anyway. Then we headed through St. Stephen's green one more time because it was just so pretty before we went on our tour of the Guinness Storehouse. The Storehouse was really cool but required us to walk a bit through the ghetto of Dublin. It was complete with 6 floors of explanations about the machinery, the formula, transportation, testing of the brew of the day (beer #1), pouring your own pint (beer #2), and a complementary pint at the top (beer #3) where you get to sit in the giant room with a 360 view of the city. Basically it's just a ploy to get you tipsy enough to buy a lot of stuff in the gift shop, and a good ploy at that. Afterwards we had dinner with some friends who were also in Dublin that weekend and went out for some good 'ole Irish drinking...too bad pints are like 6-8 euros a piece so i had maybe 3 drinks haha.

Mummified cat and mouse in Christ Church

Sabra finishing her complimentary pint at the Guiness Storehouse

Sunday was more relaxed. We we shopping a bit for gifts for friends in many of the millions of tourist shops and then headed to Kilmainham jail for a tour. It's an old jail that old held criminals for a short time. The rest of the time it was used for holding all the rebels during the uprising against Britian. It was pretty terrible to see the cells because they were super tiny and they held men, women, and children. There was no glass on the windows and we were there when there was glass on the windows and it was still freezing. Because of over crowding they usually had more than 7 people in a cell and some people were just held in the hallways. And during the famine people were committing crimes just to get put in jail so that they could have some food. We also saw where they used to do public and private hangings and where they shot the leaders of the last uprising before Ireland became independent.

Courtyard of the jail where executions took place

Monday we had our flight at 5 so we spent the morning looking in shops and wandering around and enjoyed one last round of fish and chips. Then we got on a bus to the airport at 2 to begin our 12 straight hours of travel time between bus to the airport, waiting for our flight, 2 hours on the plane, taking the metro to the bus station, waiting for our bus, and our 3 hour bus back to Salamanca. It was exhausting to say the least and now we are all sick. Yay for sinus infections during finals. BUT besides the sick part Ireland was amazing and I definitely want to go back!

Barcelona!

2009-11-24T12:43:00.001-08:00

This past weekend we had an Emory trip to Barcelona and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite city of all the ones we've visited so far. We took our bus to Madrid and then took the AVE (the high speed train to Barcelona) which was nice because it reduced a trip across the country to only 4.5ish hours.

Our first day there we got there in the afternoon so we just went to see the Sagrada Familia which is the giant church dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It was completely planned out by Gaudi down to the very last detail and he did the initial construction (1882), but it is still being worked on and is not expected to be finished for another 30 or 40 years. Gaudi expected the project to take so long that he included things in his design that the technology of his time could not possibly do with the expectation that someone would figure out how to do it eventually. It was cool to see the little museum, but because it's under construction it was kind of hard to get the whole picture and see the whole thing.

Sagrada Familia

The next day we visited Casa Mila which is an apartment building also designed by Gaudi. It was amazing and if I had a ton of money I would live there haha. Some people still live there, but parts of the building have been set up as they would have looked like in the early 1900s. Basically it looked like a giant fun house, it was awesome. After Casa Mila we walked down Las Ramblas where you can basically find any street performer you want and buy basically anything. They even have pet store stand things, it's very odd. We also visited the big market which was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen that much food in one place in my entire life. Oh P.S. next to the market was a Dunkin Donuts!! Too bad they don't know how to make real iced coffee in Spain...major bummer. After all of that we took a walk down to the beach (Playa Barceloneta) where we met a very enthusiastic 2 year old boy that fell in love with us all ("chica, chica, chica, chica, guapa, guapa, guapa, guapa").

Casa Mila

Market (all that seafood was alive and moving by the way)

Playa Barceloneta

On Saturday we saw the Picasso museum in the morning (who knew that Picasso actually painted like a normal artist for most of his life?!) Then we headed to Parc Guell, the gigantic park designed by Gaudi as well. It was really cool, there were great views of the city and lots of crazy benches, sculptures, and houses. After Parc Guell we headed to Plaza Espana to see the giant light up fountain show which was really pretty. Basically it was a very packed weekend, but I had a great time and I definitely want to go back to explore another time. Only complaint: the metro is not very well designed, but I can deal with that haha.

Parc Guell

Plaza Espana/Fountain

Mike visited, yay!!

2009-11-15T06:02:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Mike got to come and visit which was really exciting. He was here Thursday-Tuesday and we had a really good time. Basically we saw the usual Salamanca sites (that takes all of a day), hung out with my friends here, and Marisol cooked a special lunch one day. And I wish I lived in the apartment-hotel thing that we stayed in because it was so close to everything! Oh well... Here's an unattractive picture of both of us, but I think it sums up the weekend haha.

Nice Melons Chiky-Monkey?- Tenerife, Canary Islands

2009-11-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

We had monday off of school so we decided to take advantage of the weekend and go to the Canary Islands :). We left friday night on the last bus to Madrid (around 9) and got to the station at about 11. Then we took the metro to the airport and slept on the floor there until 4:15am when we were able to check in for our 6am flight. We aren't crazy, it's just that there are no morning buses that would get us there on time so we really had no other choice haha. Anyway our flight was good and we got to Tenerife (one of the 7 Canary Islands) around 8am because they're an hour behind Spain. After checking into our hotel and talking to a really helpful tourism lady we decided to spend Saturday on the beach at Playa de las Americas. It was really touristy and full of flabby topless ladies, but was really fun overall. For a Spanish territory in Africa it was a lot more British than I expected. And everyone spoke english even though Spanish is the official language. Their spanish was also funny because it is a lot more like latin american spanish than Spain spanish (i.e. we took the guagua instead of the autobus).

View from the plane
Hopefully there are no visible naked ladies in this one

The next day we woke up early again to take the only bus up to Teide, the volcano in the middle of the island. It's the highest point in Spain and the 3rd largest volcano in the world at 12, 198 feet. When we got up into the mountains we took a little walk/hike for about an hour and a half (not too difficult since I was doing it in flip flops) to the giant gondala that takes you up only 300m shy of the crater (you need a license to go all the way up). It was really really beautiful, but I learned that I don't do well at high altitudes. At all.

View from the top of Teide

The top of the volcano

After our all day volcano adventure we went home and went to bed early again before our 9am flight Monday morning. It was a really short trip but I'm definitely glad that we went!

Andalucia: Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla

2009-10-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had an excursion to Andalucia (the south of Spain, and the region where all Spanish stereotypes are true) and stayed in Cordoba, Granada, and Sevilla. The bus left at 6:45 Thursday morning (lovely for those of us that have a 30 minute walk to the bus station, aka me) and we drove 7 hours to Cordoba to see the Mezquita de Cordoba (ancient mosque-turned-Catholic cathedral). Andalucia occupied by Mores/Arabics for the longest of any area in Spain, so there is a lot of Arabic influences eveywhere.The Mezquita was gorgeous, but it was really a shame to see such awesome Arabic architecture destroyed by gaudy christian memorabilia. As the story goes, the Catholic Kings saw the Mezquita and asked King Carlos if they could change it into a Cathedral. Since he had never seen it he said sure, but then after visiting immediately regretted his decision. I've seen about a thousand cathedrals since I've been here, but the Mezquita was interesting because it was different. In Cordoba we also walked through the Juderia (Jewish neighborhood) and saw one of the oldest Sinogagues left in Spain.

Arabic part of Mezquita

Christian part (note the difference)

Then we got back on the bus to Granada. We just walked around that night in Albaicin (and arabic neighborhood with a great view) and the next day we went to Al Alhambra. Al Alhambra was created as a Muslim paradise on earth, and thats exactly what it looks like now. Basically it is acres and acres of beautiful gardens and palaces. Of course this was taken over by the Catholic Kings too and they couldn't help but put there mark all over it. Also, apparently Napolean tried to have it blown up, but someone difused the bombs before it happened because it was too beautiful to destroy. We spent most of the morning here and it was probably my favorite thing I've seen in Spain.

Part of the Palaces in Al Alhambra

More Al Alhambra

That afternoon we got back on the bus to head to Sevilla. When we got there we had a few minutes to put our stuff in the hotel and then we went for a walk through Sevilla's gigantic ancient Jewish neighborhood and then to a Flamenco show. The flamenco was awesome (and our program director kept poking me and telling me how "guapo" the male dancer was haha) and I didn't realize that it wasn't just dancing, but singing and guitar as well. Also, I don't know how those dancers move their feet so fast, it was crazy.

Flamenco

The next day in Sevilla we did a tour of the Cathedral (a very long tour) and climbed up the Giralda (the giant Cathedral tower, and yes we climbed up all 35 ramps). We also got to see the Plaza de Espana (where they filmed a scene of Star Wars) which was amazing and then went to eat tapas as a group (we at rabo- bull tail, thats what they do with the bulls when they kill them in bull fights!).

Cathedral

Plaza de Espana

Bull tail, it was actually really good

Before we left on Sunday we took a tour of the Plaza de Toros (bull fight ring) in Sevilla which is the oldest working bull ring in Spain. They had a whole museum which was really neat to see. Then we got on the bus for our lovely 7 hour ride home. It was a great weekend...next we're off to the Canary Islands!

Plaza de Toros

I Don't Speak Portuguese

2009-10-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend 2 friends and I went on a trip offered by Cursos Internacionales in the University to Lisbon, Portugal (Lisboa in Spanish). It was a lot cheaper than if we had gone on our own, and we had a guide so we figured it would be good. Unfortunately it was a group of 50 people, which doesn't make anything easy, but I'm still glad I went.

It took us around 6 hours to get to Lisbon, and once we got there we had some free time and then we went as a group to see El Castillo de San Jorge, the Cathedral, and the Plaza del Comercio. The Cathedral was really pretty, but I've come to the conclusion that once you've seen a Cathedral in Europe you've seen them all. The Castle was at the top of a mountain (that was a fun walk) and there were some gorgeous views from the top. There wasn't much of a castle left, just some ruins, but it was really cool to see. When we visted the Plaza del Comercio and the Cathedral we learned that most of Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755 and therefore most of the architecture is from the 1800s. No wonder it doesn't look quite as old as everything in Spain...

Views from the Castle Ruins

That night we went on a crazy adventure to find a restaurant that our program director had suggested. But after searching for a while and asking a lot of people for directions (p.s. this is hard when you don't speak portuguese), we decided it didn't exist. Luckily a nice guy that worked in some store recommended a different restaurant for us and it was delicious. We had grilled shrimp and a kebab (sp?) of grilled peppers, onions, and pork wrapped in bacon...yeahhh. We also had bacalao (cod) with potatoes because that's what Lisbon is known for.

Yummm pork wrapped in bacon...

The next day we went to the Monasterio de Los Jeronimos, Torre de Belem (used to make sure that boats paid the entrance tax on the river), and the Monumento a los Navegantes (built to honor the explorers who "discovered" India- Vasco de Gama- and other places). After all of this we took a break for lunch and then saw La Boca do Inferno (where the waves crash onto a really rocky cliff) and then on to the beach at Cascais.

Monasterio de los Jeronimos

Monumento a los Navegantes

Torre de Belem

Boca de Inferno

The beach in Cascais

After we got back from all of this we successfully navegated the subway and the boat taxis to get to a restaurant across the river for dinner. We had to walk down a pitch black street with creepy buildings on one side and the river on the other to get to it, but it was really pretty once we got there! Except for the gross cats that wandered around all the tables waiting for good...yuck.

On Sunday on our way back to Salamanca we stopped in Obidos, a cute little medieval town closed in by a fortress wall, and then to the Monasterio de Batalha. The monastery was huge and really really pretty. We also got to see the Monument to Unknown Soldiers and watched the changing of the guards there. Part of the Monastery is the "unfinished chapels" which is where the building of the Monastery was stopped because the King changed and the new King wanted to build something that people would remember as his doing, not the other King's. Oh politics.

Obidos

Monasterio de Batalha

I wasn't super impressed with the city parts of Lisbon, but all of the areas on the outskirts were gorgeous and I really enjoyed all the monuments and things that we got to see. Maybe I would have liked the city more if we hadn't been with a huge group.

Yes, they sell beer in vending machines. Odd.

P.S. there are a lot more pictures on facebook!

Zamora

2009-10-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today our classes were canceled for a national holiday so we decided to take advantage of the day and my friend Sabra and I took a bus 45 minutes north to Zamora. It's a city that has a lot of historical things to see and I think is often overlooked by tourists unfortunately. It's about the same size as Salamanca, maybe a little smaller and was easy to navigate (thankfully because Sabra and I are the most directionally challenged people in existence). We started off in the Plaza Mayor which was not nearly as amazing as Salamanca's. We were then planning to go to the Semana Santa museum in order to figure out what the KKK look ing guys are supposed to be, but little did we know it was closed on Monday's. Next we headed towards the River Duero (one of the most important river's in Spain; it starts in Portugal). It wasn't flowing quite as strongly as I had expected, but the bridge and the view from the bridge were very pretty.

church in the Plaza Mayor

Bridge Over the Duero

Next we headed up to a small church (one of many) and then towards the city walls (murallas), la Catedral, and the Castle, all of which were very impressive. The Castle was surrounded by a really nice little park (which was convenient because had an hour to kill before it was open for visits) and we sat and had lunch there. The Cathedral was also really pretty, but similar to most of the other cathedrals I've seen in spain so far.

Outside of the Castle
Some of the Castle Ruins
Me with one of the awkward modern statues they put inside the castle (is that supposed to be someone drowning in the moat?)

Cathedral

After all of the site seeing we took our time wandering back to the bus station (and of course got ice cream on the way). It was a really nice day, and affordable! We did it all for under 12 euros. Nice. More to come this weekend, we're going to Portugal!

Los Gordos

2009-10-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to the movie theater to see "Gordos". If you can speak/understand spanish I would highly recommend it. On the surface it is about a group of fat people in therapy but really it talks about all of their messed up lives and all the fattening things we have within us (whether it's food or desire or lust or whatever). Anyway, check it out. I liked it a lot. Warning: spanish films show whatever they want, be prepared for fat people nudity!

Oh and we totally ate candy and popcorn while we watched the fat people movie...

Galicia: Tui, Portanova, Santiago de Compestela

2009-10-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had a trip through my program to Galicia, which is in the north-west corner of Spain. It's really beautiful, but because of it's location unfortunately it is prone to rain...a lot of rain...all year round. It pretty much looks like Ireland, and because of the strong celtic influence in the area it might as well just be Ireland. It's also bordered by the Atlantic ocean, which means lots of pretty coastline and beaches. Too bad it's cold and rainy most of the time.

Our first stop in our 6 hour journey was in Tui, a small town on a river with nothing too exciting except for some pretty views. We ate lunch by the river and then got back on the bus to go to Portanova. On the way to Portanova we stopped and saw ancient celtic ruins...basically the stone foundations of houses in the forest on top of a mountain. It was pretty amazing that were still so well maintained...and they were everywhere!

View at Tui

Me among the Celtic ruins

Portanova is a small fishing town right on the beach and our hotel was right on the water, it was really nice. In the morning we had an appointment on the fish equivalent of a booze cruise. Explanation: Us, a group of a lot of old people, and plates and plates of fresh shrimp and muscles just pulled out of the water. Yummmmmmy.

Beach near PortanovaEnjoying the muscles on the boat

After we were full of fish we got back on the bus to go to Santiago de Compestela. This is the capital of Galicia and is the site of the famous Cathedral de Santiago. This Cathedral is apparently where the remains of St. James the Apostle are. Because of this it is the end of a pilgramage route that starts in the south of France and cuts all the way across northern spain stopping in specific churches and hostels along the way. Not everyone does it for religious reasons, some just do it to say the walked the full 780km. And hey, people have been doing it for over 1000 years so thats pretty cool. We took a tour of the church and got to see a bunch of people finishing up their journey. Oh and you know those things the priests swing around in church with the inscense? Well they have a gigantic one hanging from the ceiling that they pull with a rope and it swings all the way across the church (for both religious reasons and to combat the stench of the smelly pilgrams who've been walking for 780km).

Catedral de Santiago

I loved Galicia and thought it was really beautiful, but it rained far too much and I was soaked for a good portion of the weekend. I don't know how anyone lives there.

Los Gallos en Salamanca

2009-09-30T06:01:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, nothing too exciting has been going on. But this past weekend my parents came to visit, yay! They were here from Thursday-Monday and it was really fun. Thursday afternoon we just wandered around Salamanca a bit and ate ice cream of course (because that's what you do in Salamanca). Friday was spent doing all the normal touristy things there are to do in Salamanca. We visited the historic center of the University of Salamanca, the Cathedral, the Cave of Salamanca (thought to be the site of devil worshipping at one point), and the Roman bridge. My senora, Marisol, also invited us all over for lunch and afterwards we went to a bar for tapas and a drink.Me and Marisol

Me and dad at the Bridge
Me and Mom at the University

Saturday we planned to go to Alberca, a small pueblo about an hour outside of Salamanca. Marisol had told us that Alberca was very touristy and that we should check out Candelario as well if we got a chance. She has a country house in Candelario and she told us she would meet us for coffee if we came by. Alberca was cool, but VERY touristy. Every store was a tourist shop, so we decided to visit Candelario. Unfotunately the road between Alberca and Candelario is hairpin turns on a steep mountain for an hour and a half, needless to say we weren't feeling so great by the time we got there. Marisol met us for coffee and she and her boyfriend, Jose Angel, were our guides for the afternoon. We got to see a house from the 1700s that Jose Angel had bought and was working on gutting the inside and remodeling to as a rental house. Later we got to see their country house and even got to have a drink in the Plaza Mayor (note: the town only has 100 inhabitants, they were all at the one bar in the "Plaza Mayor"). It was definitely the most fun and interesting day of the trip.

In the Plaza Mayor in Alberca

Mom with the town pig in Alberca

Food in Alberca (this picture is just for Joe)

Sunday we visited Toledo on the way back to Madrid. Toledo is a historic city and it was cool to see the big cathedral, the castle, and all the old buildings, but again it was very commercialized and touristy. After Toledo we made it back to Madrid (only after fighting Rodrigo, our not recently updated GPS) to our hotel. The hotel was unfortunately in the middle of nowhere, so we weren't able to walk up to the Plaza Mayor or anything like that, but we were exhausted anyway so it was probably for the best. Instead we all passed out in our family bed (just 2 twin beds pushed together...interesting.)

It was a really fun weekend, and this weekend I'm off to Galicia, updates to come.

Always something interesting in Salamanca: Los Novatos

2009-09-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

In Spain there's a tradition called Los Novatos at the beginning of each academic year in the universities. Basically, if you live in a dorm they just tell you what you have to do and you do it. It could be anything, like dressing in pajamas or crazy outfits, or whatever and running around the city singing songs. Last night we were walking around the city and the streets were covered in fake used pads, gross.

Anyway they are pretty entertaining to watch and I think it's hilarious because I'm pretty sure that would be considered hazing in the US. I wish we weren't such babies in the states! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of Los Novatos, but you can use your imagination.

In other news, Princess Letizia was here yesterday and I had no idea. But she'll be back with the Prince on the 29th, so I'll be sure to find her then.

Adios for now!

Ole! The Bull Fights in Salamanca

2009-09-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday began the annual 2 week bull fighting season in Salamanca. Yesterday we all decided to go to the bull fight even though we weren't quite sure we were going to like it (because yes, they kill the bulls). It was definitely an interesting experience.

The bull ring is just like a baseball stadium. There's music and people selling drinks up and down the aisles, BUT unlike in the states you can bring as much food into the stadium as you want. Which is good, because it's tradition that everyone eats a sandwich after the 3rd bull. My senora was kind enough to pack me one so I wouldn't look like a loser.

So here's how the bull fights go: There are 3 bull fighters and they go through the order twice so that each gets to fight 2 bulls. Each torero (bullfighter) has a team, which seems kind of unfair because the other teammates do a lot of stuff to injure and tire-out the bull before the torero goes in for the kill. First the bull runs out and the teammate guys have bright pink capes that they taunt the bull with to make it run around a lot. Then a guy on a horse comes out with a spear and spears the bull in the back (this part is the worst because the bull then charges the horse and sometimes knocks the horse over and hurts it. To make things worse the horse is completely blindfolded). Then the teammate guys come out with this pointy stake things that are colorful and run towards the bull and stab the stakes into it before the bull get's them, then they run away. Then out comes the torero. At this point the bull is already pretty hurt and now the torero just taunts him with a red cape and sometimes grazes him with a sword. After a little while the torero gets a new sword meant to finish the bull off. He points the sword at him and then if he hits him in just the right place the bull dies instantly. If he messes up he has to take the first sword out and try again.

So overall it was pretty gruesome. Oh yeah, and if a bull breaks a foot during the fight they replace it because it isn't fun to watch a bull that can't run fast. So yesterday 8 bulls died instead of 6 because 2 were injured.

My favorite bullfighter was Eduardo Gallo (for obvious reasons! haha) and he is in the video above. I missed him fully killing the bull though because my camera died. Ugh.

Best part of the booklet they give you when you enter the bull ring: they show you a picture of the bulls all happy on a farm before they bring them here to get killed. Lovely.

Entrance into the bull ring
Announcing the bull that's entering the ring

When one of the horses fell down. It was really sad. Note the man's giant spear haha Dragging the dead bull out of the ring

Castles and a Big Wall: Excursion to Segovia and Avila

2009-09-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Today was our first group excursion. We went to Segovia first (about a 2 hour bus ride) and then to Avila (an hour bus ride back towards Salamanca). Castilla-Leon is the area of Spain that Salamanca, Segovia, and Avila are in and it is an area known for it's castles. Segovia some of the best preserved castles (including the castle of Ferdinand and Isabella, which we got to tour today). It also has a huge aqueduct that is over 2,000 years old and still in perfect condition. Avila has a gigantic wall intended to protect the city and it is the most well preserved fortess wall in Europe.Cathedral in Segovia

First stop: Segovia. When we first arrived in Segovia there was some kind of military holiday going on that we were unaware of so we passed both the medieval reenactment band and the correct military band doing their parade routes. AKA there were lots of men in very tight white pants or funny feathery hats.

Next we got to see the aqueduct which was really amazing. It's been there for 2,000 years and is still just as strong as it was when it was built. Oh yeah, and the rocks aren't even held together by anything, they're just so perfectly positioned that it won't fall. Wow, those Romans were cool.

Stairs near aqueduct/Aqueduct One pillar of the aqueduct, look at the rocks!

Next was a tour of Fernando and Isabella's castle. If you can recall from your history classes Fernando was the king of Leon and Isabella was the queen on Castilla and when they got married the area of Spain that I'm living in became Castilla-Leon. Anyway, we got to tour the entire castle and it was really really cool. A lot of furniture from that time period was in the castle (not the castle originals because there was a fire in part of the castle) and it was really interesting to see it all. We also got to climb up to the top of the tower to see the view.

Ferdinand and Isabella's Thrones

Then back on the bus to Avila. There isn't all that much to see in Avila except the gigantic fortress wall that's built around the entire city. It was constructed quickly to protect the city and the only material they had to build it was the headstones from a Roman graveyard. You can still see the writting on some of the blocks in the wall.

The Wall
View from the top of the wall

And after a whirlwind trip we headed back to Salamana. Overall it was a really cool trip, but it was short and we were all exhausted afterward.

Vive en la Calle: Experiencing La Feria

2009-09-09T04:41:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of days we have been doing typical Feria activities. One of these activities is going to the casetas, which are always packed with people regardless of the time of day. Yes, they serve alcohol all day long, you want a beer at 10am you got it. They're fun and cheap and have really good food, but most of the time they're so crowded it's a little overwhelming.

At the casetas...as you can see it's pretty crowded

The fireworks and all the people that were there watching them.
(Sorry these pictures aren't laid out very well...)

There are also a lot of free concerts in La Plaza Mayor and other plazas around the city. The first night Pitingo was playing. Apparently he's really famous, but a lot of people have mixed opinions about his music. He's a flamenco-blues singer, but he basically just sang american covers all night and he's kind of greasy and gross looking. And oh yeah, we couldn't even get into the Plaza because it was packed from wall to wall with people. Picture the biggest concert you've ever been to and multiply it by 2 haha. Needless to say we didn't really enjoy Pitingo.

The stage in La Plaza Mayor

But last night 2 Flamenco bands played and they were awesome. It was really unique, especially because the bands were made up of a lot of really weird instruments. One called La Bandina had some kind of lap guitar thing with a crank on the end and a soprano saxophone. The other band, Xose Manuel Budino, had bagpipes and a bunch of crazy looking drums I've never seen before. It was still really crowded but we were able to actually move through the Plaza and stand up front. We all really enjoyed them so you guys should check them out! There are a lot more groups coming in to Salamanca from all over Spain, Italy and France, so that should be fun.

Oh yeah, and one Feria activity I haven't experienced yet but my friend Sabra was terrified about is something for the kids. Apparently these cartoon character people with clubs chase the little kids around the town, and it's supposed to be fun apparently. One day Sabra was caught walking head on into the pack of screaming children and almost had a heart attack. I'll let you know if I have any problems in the next couple of days!

Arriba, Abajo, Al Centro, Adentro: La Feria begins

2009-09-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

La Feria: basically festival week. Every pueblo has one and this week happens to be Salamanca's festival week. What this means: there are casetas everywhere and people drinking and celebrating all day and night for the next 10 days. A caseta is a small tent/building thats basically a bar brought out into the streets. There's hundreds of them all of the city and they each serve a drink (beer, wine, soda, water, etc.) and a pincho (an appetizer-sized snack that is the house special at that bar) for 1.80 euro (pretty cheap!). Aside from the casetas there are also a lot of bands, performances, and other activities all over the city. Needless to say it's going to be an exciting week. Last night we got a taste of real Salamanca night life (filled with people trying to get you to go to their bar by yelling "5 shots for 3 euros" or "first drink is free!!"). It was a good time, but a little overwhelming!

This morning we were all a little tired, so after sleeping extra late a friend and I went for a walk around the city. We got a chance to go inside La Catedral and it was amazing. It was the biggest cathedral I've ever seen. We also saw 2 weddings going on and people were caseta-hopping in full force even at 1 in the afternoon.
(sorry that these are sideways, I haven't figured out how to rotate them yet...)

Now I'm off to search for a gym to join so I can work off all this food and drink. Pictures of a caseta to come once my friend posts her pictures from last night!

Theme for Spain: I get stuck a lot of places

2009-09-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

Not only did I get stuck in an elevator in Spain but last night I was almost locked out of my apartment building. For some reason the locks in Spain are extremely complicated. You think you just put the key in and turn, but no. My lock requires me to turn the key slightly the right, pull the door towards you, push a pedal at the bottom with your foot, and then push the door open, but apparently there's some other trick to it because it usually takes me at least 10 minutes to get the door to open. Last night I went to a cafe and had a glass of wine with 2 other girls and I get back to my building and cannot open the door for the life of me (no, I wasn't drunk off one glass of wine, this had happened to me early in the day as well). I ended up calling a friend of mine to come help me and even she couldn't do it. Eventually it opened and I have no idea what I did. I wasn't able to ask my house mom about it in the morning because she was gone by the time I woke up BUT while I was struggling this afternoon a lady who lives in the building showed me how it was done. Apparently you can't put the key all the way in the lock (duh! why would I think to put a key completely in a lock?) Anyway, this evening it only took me 3 tries to open it haha.

Adventure of the day: A walk by the river. It was a great view and a nice path to walk on, but my friend and I encountered something slightly disturbing. As we crossed a foot bridge an older woman came up to us asking for money. After we politely refused she walked about 5 paces away and promptly lifted her dress and peed on the sidewalk. We were a little shocked and decided to walk a little quicker to the other side of the river. Shoe stores seemed like a safer and sanitary venue.

We also met with the psych professors today, and since all the girls are taking psych classes those should be really nice. Oh yeah, and we basically never have class. Bonus.

Here is where I would insert beautiful pictures of Salamanca, but because I failed as a blogger and a traveler I'll show you some googled pictures of places I like.

This is the Plaza Mayor. It's even more amazing in person than it is here and it is ALWAYS full of people no matter what time of night.
This is the Cathedral. I love walking by it everyday. And yeah, most of the buildings look like this. It's awesome.

And since I am here for school, this is probably the most famous view of one of the buildings of the University of Salamanca. Apparently you are supposed to look at all the pictures etched into and find a frog. If you don't find it before your exams you won't have very good luck. I better get searching.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm taking a little rest and then I'm out with the rest of the people on my trip plus to German girls who live with a guy in our group. Should be an interesting night. More to come.

Salamanca: Day One

2009-09-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day in Salamanca. I met my host mom and she's really nice and very "hip" and a little out there haha. She's probably in her 40s but dresses like she's in her 20s (gucci bag and 4 inch purple pumps included). But I moved into my room and I actually feel kind of settled which is nice. My apartment is really close to La Plaza Mayor (which is basically the center of everything) and to all of my classes, so it's really convenient. AND the apartment has wireless which is really exciting. I would post pictures of my room but I just realized I left my camera cord at home so pictures will have to wait until I can find a cord unfortunately.

So today's update is this: I've been in Salamanca for all of 8 hours and I love it already. Tons of shopping (uh-oh), people walking around all the time, and good food. I will have to get used to the crazy schedule though. Dinner at 9 or 930 and going out til 3 or 4 in the morning? This could be difficult with classes. P.S. people even walk around with their babies and small kids until midnight or so. It's crazy!

Stuck in an Elevator

2009-08-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

Today started off a little rough. I woke up and had a terrible stomachache and was taking the elevator to tell my program director that I didn't feel well and I didn't think I could go on our museum tour today...and then the elevator stopped in between the first floor and ground level. I was by myself in there and I sat there for a minute or two hoping that the door would magically open and of course it didn't. So I had to hit the emergency bottom and get rescued by some maintenance man and of course when he opened the door my whole group was standing right there. Great. So I went on the trip anyway to avoid more embarrassment...too bad that plan failed. I got to the museum and immediately felt like I was going to pass out and had to go back to the hotel. Oh well. After a quick nap I was ready to go again.

We went on a tour of Madrid (with our program leader who talks wayyyyyy too much) and saw all these crazy street performers like a lady covered in fruit and a human pinata (I forgot my camera today but I'll post someone else's pictures later). Oh yeah and water glass players are the curb side guitar players of Spain haha.

I got my Spain cell phone today so I feel like a real person again. And now I am currently in a cafe trying to get used to the weird meal schedule here. Dinner doesn't start til 9pm! Adios for now. More to come later (and hopefully with pictures!)

Tired and Jet Lagged...but in Madrid!

2009-08-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

So I made it. I borded my flight on time and left Newark around 10pm last night. Unfortunately my plan to sleep the entire 7 and a half hours was quickly destroyed. Between the drink cart going past at least 20 times and very overweight man falling over into my seat, sleep wasn't happening. So I arrived in Madrid at 10:45 (4:45 in the states) and quickly ate our "breakfast" on the plane of 4 grapes, 2 melon squares, and a toasted hot dog bun that was supposed to pass as a croissant and a cup of coffee and off I went. Costums and my cab ride to the hotel went smoothly. And as soon as I got to the hotel 4 other people from my trip were waiting in the lobby and laughing at me struggling with my suitcases. Anyway, everyone seems really chill and we've already walked around Madrid a bit. I'll be in Madrid for another day and then off to Salamanca to meet my home stay! This is it for internet access until then, so more to come later!

Welcome: Last Days in the USA

2009-08-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

As I started packing my bags (yes, I have too many) for my four month stay in Salamanca, Spain, I decided it would be easier to keep everyone up to date with a blog instead of emails. So here it is...El Gallo begins her adventures in Spain.

I leave Saturday night for my 7 and a half hour flight to Madrid to meet up with everyone else on my abroad program. We will be staying there for a day and a half before taking a bus to Salamanca to meet our host families. So look forward to updates and pictures coming soon!