Madrid Part 1

I know this post is a bit late, but trying to find the words to describe my time in Madrid was a lot harder than I thought it would be. To sum it up, I'd just like to say that Madrid was AMAZING!! I can't get over how beautiful the city is; I've never seen anything like it. I also can't get over how much walking we did! I'm pretty sure we saw enough in one day to satisfy any other tourist for a week; my legs felt like they were going to fall off for two or three days after I got back! Although James may have been disappointed in the number of oohs and ahs I uttered, I was in love with the city as soon as I saw it. I can't even begin to count the number of times my breath was taken away or all I could think to say was "it's so pretty!" I'm actually disappointed in the number of pictures I took, even though there were close to 200. There was so much I wanted to capture, but I knew that pictures could never do it justice and I was honestly too caught up in taking everything in to whip my phone out every two seconds. I really wish I could have stayed longer, but I had my placement exam Monday morning. I also didn't want to overstay my welcome; James and his mom were so sweet and really made me feel at home. :)

The first stop once James picked me up at the bus station was his university, which was beautiful. Coming from CC, I was amazed at how big his campus is! It also has a bit of everything, I was shocked by the number programs it offers. After that mini tour we took the metro to the royal theatre and the palace. I wasn't expecting an hour long tour of the theatre, but it was definitely worth it as soon as I saw the stage. Then, as if that wasn't enough, towards the end of the tour I actually got to see one of the costumes from when they performed the opera Aida! I've never actually seen the opera before, but I love the story and the new musical is what started my love for theatre!

After that tour we made our way across the street to the palace. The gardens, though small, were beautiful. The palace itself was also quite a sight to behold. As strange as some of you may find it, the hallway was actually one of my favorite parts of the palace. As soon as I saw it I felt like I had been taken out of my life and transplanted into Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I seriously felt like I was walking through Pemberley for all of two minutes and I thought I was going to cry from joy! The armory was also pretty cool to look through. They had swords and guns and suits of armor for men, horses, and even dogs! I could have spent forever just in that one section.

The next stop after the palace was la Plaza Mayor. I'm not sure which I like better, the one in Madrid or the one in Salamanca. They're set up the same way, and while there are some differences both are incredibly beautiful! I really don't think I could pick a favorite, even if you made me. After that we saw the point where the four main highways in Spain start, the equivalent of mile marker zero in the states. We stopped in this area to take some pictures and I ended up being photo bombed by Papa Smurf! Imagine my surprise when someone grabbed my arm as I was trying to take a picture and I turned to see a smurf!

We had a brief conversation with the smurf then went on to see the first in a set of three Greek god fountains. The first one we saw was Neptune, god of the sea, and I was quite impressed. I love fountains and I love Greek mythology, so combining the two just took my breath away. I took my time admiring Neptune then continued on to the Prado museum. We’d planned on going inside, but after such extensive tours of the theatre and palace I wasn’t exactly up for one more. We did hang out there for a few minutes, though, so I could take it in from the outside. This is where the unthinkable happened; I got James to take a picture with me! I was quite proud of myself, considering he hates having his picture taken. (James, if you try to downplay this or take away from my sense of accomplishment we’re gonna have some issues. :P)

Once I was satisfied that we had a good picture together we went across the street to see Apollo. This was the least impressive of the three fountains, but I still really liked it. Plus, as James told me, it’s just not the same if you don’t see the whole set. After that is was just a short walk to Cibeles, the last of the Greek god fountains and the one where Real Madrid celebrates their victories. I thought Neptune was impressive, but Cibeles was way better! We definitely saved the best for last, and I’m so glad we did! I’m pretty sure I managed to get a picture from every angle of this plaza, but it was far too pretty not to go picture crazy.

In the midst of our picture frenzy James happened to notice a group of people standing on top of a tower on one of the buildings. He had the bright idea to ask about going up there and discovered it was actually pretty cheap, but the next group wouldn’t be allowed up until 6:30. I have no idea what time it was when we bought our ticket, but I remember it being enough time for us to do some more exploring. We happened upon a book sale, and of course I had to stop and check it out. I found a three volume set of Shakespeare’s plays in Spanish, Alice in Wonderland in Spanish, and a collection of Pablo Neruda’s poems. You have no idea how hard it was to say no to any of those books (well, maybe if you’re an English major you do) but I agonized over them for quite a while. This is where James made his big mistake; he told me I could spend five more minutes looking at books when I told him we could leave. My fellow English majors should understand, you NEVER tell us we have five minutes to look at books. Five turned into 10, and I would have been there even longer if he hadn’t practically drug me away saying we were late to go up the tower. And this is where I made my mistake; while I was busy agonizing over books I never bought, I was missing out on my allotted time to look out across the whole city. I instantly regretted spending those extra few minutes at the book sale as soon as I got my first glimpse from the tower. I can honestly say that my time spent up there was one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole trip. The view was absolutely gorgeous with the city sprawling out beneath us and the sun beginning to sink behind the mountains. I really felt at peace up there, and it’s one of two places where I could have easily spent my entire weekend. I definitely think it’s worth going back.

There's a lot more to talk about, but I feel like this post is getting too long and someone is a bit anxious to get his seven and a half minutes of fame. So I figured I'd go ahead and post what I have and I'll crank out a second post about the rest of my trip by the end of the weekend. 

Exams and Excursions

As someone brought to my attention the other day, I've let this blog go for awhile. Honestly, it's because nothing interesting has really happened. I'm just going to classes, eating lunch, taking long siestas or surfing the web during the afternoons, then spending time with friends in the evenings. This week marks the end of the month long intensive program, meaning finals are tomorrow and Wednesday. That's going to be a huge ball of fun, but I'm not too worried about it. Next week my literature class starts. I'm a little worried, I've never taken a lit course in Spanish before, but I really miss the lit courses at CC so this should be a nice compromise. :)

I did finally do something exciting and worth writing about Saturday. I finally got to go on an excursion! Some advice to any CC students who may be reading this and thinking of coming to Salamanca, memorize the International Office's hours and show up a week early to buy your tickets, otherwise they'll either be closed or sold out. This excursion was to Segovia and La Granja. Segovia is best known for the roman aqueduct that runs through part of the town, as seen here:

There's also a beautiful cathedral:

And a pretty awesome palace:

Segovia was absolutely beautiful! Something I've noticed about the few places I've been to in Spain is that there's a lot of buildings crammed together in a small space, but it's not overwhelming like some places--New York, for instance--because there are also a lot of small parks. The cities are nice, and I really appreciate the different architectural styles, but the parks are my favorite parts. They're all so peaceful, and each one is completely different and unique.

While in Segovia we saw the aqueduct, the cathedral, the palace, La Plaza Mayor, and a few other things. We also had some free time to explore whatever part of the city we wanted to. My friend and I discovered a small stairway close to the palace that seemed to lead to the outside of the wall surrounding this part of the city. We decided to go down and explore, and I was convinced I was going to die.

For those of you who know how terrified of heights I am, and how chronically clumsy I am, you understand why this was so scary for me. For those of you who may not know that about me, just take my word for it. But the view from that side of the wall was beautiful and totally worth it. I couldn't get any good pictures because of all the trees, but it was definitely something I'll never forget! At the end of our free time we met everyone back at the aqueduct and made our way to La Granja. This is a small town about 20-30 minutes away from Segovia. We didn't have much time there; all we got to do was check out the church and the palace, but both were so beautiful!

We had to go on a guided tour of this palace, which wasn't quite as fun as when our personal tour guide from the university showed us stuff, but it was still beautiful and totally worth it. I just wish they had let us take photos so I could show you the elaborate paintings on the ceilings and the most beautiful sculptures I've ever seen! Once the tour was over we had a few minutes to explore the front part of the private gardens.

That's pretty much the extent of my exciting adventure. This week I plan on having my nose in my notes so I can pass these exams, but you can expect another update this weekend. I'm going to visit a friend in Madrid and he's going to give me the grand tour over the course of two days. I can't even begin to articulate how excited I am! I'm not sure what I'm more excited about: the palace, the park, the library, the southern food that his mom is gonna make me cause I'm slightly homesick, or the fact that I'll actually have someone to banter with face to face! It should be interesting, so I'll keep y'all updated!

Life's Little Surprises

This week has been a lot more subdued than last week. I feel like I'm starting to get into a routine and become more comfortable here. I finally made it to that dance class the other day and had so much fun! That night they were teaching salsa; I was doing pretty good until the instructor decided to throw in the turns. As long as I was being spun I was fine, but since there was only one guy I was partnered with other girls for most of the night and we had to take turns leading. I tried to spin my partner once or twice and it just resulted in us running into each other. At least it was good for a laugh. :)

Salsa isn't the only dance you can learn at El Savor. They had a bachata lesson last night that I was dying to go to. Bachata is my favorite of the Spanish dances I've learned, but I had to pass on the lesson to study for a quiz in my grammar class. I was bummed out until I had the bright idea to study and do homework on the balcony. About half way through rewriting my notes Cristina ran out and told me to look at the sky. I had no idea what she could possibly be so excited about until I looked up and saw the most beautiful sunset. And to think I would have missed it because my nose was stuck in my notes! I spent forever taking pictures as the sun sank lower behind the mountains, and I'm very happy with the results I got.

In other news, I will have a roommate by the end of the week. So far I've been in the double room by myself, which is pretty nice, but Cristina has mentioned a few times that she wants to put someone else in there. There is a new girl coming on Monday and apparently Cristina reserved Joanne's room for her. This means Joanne has to move out of the room she's in now and she has two options: take the single room next to mine or move in with me. We talked it over and decided that she would be my new roommate! To be honest, I'm a little nervous about sharing a room. I've never had to do it before and I'm a huge fan of having my own space for my more introverted days, but Joanne is pretty awesome and we've bonded a lot over the past two weeks, so I don't think it will be an issue.

Cristina was so excited to hear the news I think she would have actually jumped for joy if her back didn't hurt so much. She decided that we have to celebrate tomorrow, I didn't catch everything because she was talking so fast, but I'm pretty sure she said something about making sandwiches for us with whatever ingredients we want. She also went out and got us each a present today. I am now the proud owner of a gorgeous new scarf! I was so taken aback when she gave them to us; I'm pretty sure this is one of the prettiest scarves I've ever seen. Joanne and I both just looked at her with wide eyes and our jaws hanging open slightly as Cristina told us that they're for the winter because she doesn't want our necks to get cold. She is so incredibly sweet, I can't wait till the day that my Spanish is good enough to actually understand her the first time she says something and be able to respond with more than "sí sí sí."

Until next time, here are pictures of my new scarf and roommate!

This picture was taken just before the fireworks show last Friday. Hopefully tomorrow we can get a good picture of the two of us wearing our scarves. :)

Fiesta!

Well, that dance class still hasn't happened. We finally decided to go the other night and left with plenty of time to find the place in case we got lost. Finding the street it was on wasn't much of a problem, but finding the bar itself was a different matter entirely. We ended up asking three different people for directions and it seemed like they were each telling us something slightly different. One woman even told us that the place we were looking for was closed, even though we'd heard that they offer salsa classes every night at 20:30. (Military time is used a lot here, I'm going to try to start incorporating it into my blog to help me get used to it.) We finally found a building that had pictures of people dancing, but the name of the bar we were looking for was no where to be found and the building was, in fact, closed. Finally, after much frustration, we decided to try again another night when we were still looking at 20:45. We're hoping to try again Monday; Joanne went out on her own while I was in class yesterday and finally found the right place, so at least this time we'll know where we're going.

Last night was the beginning of an eight day long fiesta throughout Salamanca. I've yet to figure out what exactly they're celebrating, but let me tell you, the Spanish know how to celebrate! There was a parade with music, dancing, and lots of flowers to kick-start the whole thing. Then Joanne and I made our way down to the river to watch the fireworks at 22:00. The fireworks lasted for 30 minutes and were unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Our Fourth of July celebrations in the States paled in comparison to the display I saw last night! My friend from school, Hadar, met us at the river just before the end of the show and we then went back to the Plaza for a free concert. I don't know who the guy was, but apparently his music is played in a lot of clubs. It was pretty good, but I've come to learn that Spaniards can be very pushy and after awhile we got tired of being knocked around and stepped on. We decided to try to find a slightly less crowded place and had a drink, then realized we were hungry. Thus began our hunt for food at 1:00 in the morning. We finally decided on this place that has pizza and pastas, mostly because it was one of the only places still open that didn't cost 17 euro for a meal. I tried the pizza ibérico, which of course had jamón ibérico on it, and it was so good! I can't wait to see what tonight has in store. I know there's another concert in the Plaza, but other than that I have no idea what's going on.

My stomach is now making it very clear that I haven't eaten in almost 12 hours, and Cristina just came over and insisted that I eat something, so I will leave you with a few pictures from last night.

A Rabbit in a Waistcoat

Sadly, the dance class didn't happen tonight. Joanne has been feeling sick all day and we didn't want to go without her. But that's ok because she found out about another class that starts at 8:00pm instead of 11:00! I know that the night life here is a big part of the culture and people stay out until all hours of the night, but I don't think I've been here long enough to adjust to that yet.

The first day of classes was pretty interesting. Cristina walked me to the building to make sure I found it without any trouble, but we thought we were in the wrong place when we got there and all the lights were off. There was a minute of confusion before we found out the lights had been cut off on the entire street, so half the building was in the dark! My first class had to be relocated to the half of the building that sat on the other street so that we could actually see each other. Honestly, I was kind of dreading that first class. It's two hours long, and every class I've had that lasted longer than an hour and a half always seemed to drag by. This one was different though, it seemed like we were just getting started when the professor announced that an hour had gone by and we could take a 10 minute break. The second hour went by even faster, and before I knew it we were moving on to the next class. This one was on the half of the building without lights, and when one of the students asked why we were told "it's a conversation class, you don't need lights to talk!" The first two classes were pretty uneventful. The professors went over what we would be working on throughout the course and had us all introduce ourselves and tell the class a little bit about us so that we could get to know one another. The professor for my culture class couldn't be there today so someone else had to stand in. Because of that, I'm not really sure how that class will go, all I can tell you is I know next to nothing about Spain's culture. That's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I'm really looking forward to learning all about it!

Once I was done with class I had lunch at Cristina's restaurant and then came back to the apartment for a glorious two hour nap. The siesta after lunch is probably one of my favorite parts about being here, I love sleep so much! After that I met up with some girls from my culture class to do some shopping. I didn't see a whole lot of stuff I liked, which was a little disappointing, but I stumbled across something in the last store that completely made my day.

That's right, I went down the rabbit hole and found the white rabbit!! The English major in me nearly squealed in delight and did a happy dance when I saw this shirt. I'm pretty sure I did hug it a couple of times, but only because no one was around to see me do it. :)

I'm pretty excited about my classes. The professors I got to meet today were all really nice and I didn't have a problem understanding them. The students are also very friendly. One girl that's in all three of my classes, Danielle, was telling me about the time her group spent in Madrid and Toledo before coming to Salamanca. Everything she was telling me sounded so wonderful, I can't wait until I get to see it as well! I'm not sure when I'll be able to make it to Madrid, hopefully soon, but the University is sponsoring a trip to Toledo this Saturday. I think that's something I will definitely have to look into.

Down the Rabbit Hole I Go

It's official, I'm in Spain!!! These past three days have been a whirlwind of emotion; it's been terrifying and thrilling and completely mind blowing every step of the way. I can't believe how much I've done and seen in such a short period of time, or that I'm even functioning on what little sleep I've managed to get in between all the running around.

The flight was long and I didn't get any sleep. I was so glad to hear the announcement saying we would be landing in a few minutes! That excitement was short lived, however, when the plane started jostling around. I felt like everything was spinning and actually started to feel a little sick by the end of it. The woman sitting next to me noticed I looked a little out of it and asked if I was ok. When I told her how I was feeling, she immediately went into protective mother mode and decided it would be her job to take care of me until I got out of the airport. I really feel like this experience was the foundation that the rest of this trip will be built on, and from that moment on I've found nothing but helpful people everywhere I turn.

The woman, I later found out her name is Teresa, stayed on the plane with me until it cleared out enough to get my bag from the overhead storage, then walked off the plane with me and located her husband. She told him she wanted to walk with me to the baggage claim to make sure I would be alright and he was eager to accompany me as well. She linked arms with me and that's how we walked, chatting the whole way. I learned that they're from Portugal and were heading back after a vacation in Charleston, South Carolina. I also learned that her husband was an economics professor at USC! How crazy is that? When we got to baggage claim her husband told me to just point out my bags and he would take care of the rest. They wanted to know how I was planning on getting to Salamanca from Madrid and I told them I had a friend waiting for me at the airport that would take care of everything. That seemed to make Teresa feel much better about us parting ways, but she still didn't want to leave me until she was absolutely sure that my friend was there. Before we said goodbye she gave me her cell number and her e-mail address, telling me that if I ever want to visit Portugal and want to visit her or need anything to contact her. I couldn't believe how friendly and helpful she was; the whole experience made me feel much better about this trip.

I really don't think I've encountered a single rude person here so far. As soon as I walked in the door to Cristina's apartment I was given food and shown my room so I could finally get some rest. It was quite intimidating to go from the airport, where both Teresa and James spoke English, to being thrust into this apartment where no one spoke anything but Spanish. I was so tired from the flight and train ride and flustered by the speed with which they were talking to me and offering me various food products that I'm sure I must have looked like a deer in headlights at some point. After my nap I finally met Cristina and two other American girls. One of them, Joanne, is staying in Cristina's apartment with me but is studying in a different school. The other, Samantha, is staying in a different apartment but we're going to the same University. The girls are great and we've walked all over Salamanca together over the past few days. Cristina is one of the sweetest, most patient people I've ever met. She's truly wonderful and I'm so grateful to be staying with a woman like her! She did have trouble with my name though. Apparently Brittany is a hard name for people here to grasp. When I asked James how to make it sound more Hispanic to help them out, he just told me to say "like Britney Spears." Well I tried that and it didn't go as well as I'd hoped. When I said "como Britney Spears," the response I got was "y que significa es Britney Spears?" She had no idea who I was talking about! I thought everyone knew about Britney Spears, but apparently I was mistaken.

Tomorrow the real work begins. My classes start at 9:00am and go till 1:00. I'm a little nervous, but if all of the professors are like the one that proctored my test today then I should have nothing to worry about. Tomorrow is also when the fun begins. Joanne, Samantha, and I are going to start taking dance classes and the first one is tomorrow night! I'm super excited, I haven't danced in so long, but we'll see how dance classes starting at 11:00pm mesh with 9:00am classes. I'll let you guys know how it goes!