Salamanca So Far

Dear faithful blog readers,

I know that January 19th was an exciting day for everybody, and that you’ve probably been dying since then, hungering for new posts, waiting with bated breath for the lowdown on my life in Salamanca. Again, I waited way too long and there’s no way to summarize everything. Here’s another list that captures Salamanca so far. I can already tell that it’s going to go on for miles, so skim and skip at your leisure! The list items are like little chapters of a book. What fun. I miss you all!

1. A dark karaoke bar at 5 pm (reeking of stale smoke). The dance classroom in a sweaty gym (reeking of things other than smoke). An arcade filled with American games (knockoff version of DDR?). Matinee showing of Desperdeuax dubbed into Spanish (um, the kids movie with the mouse with big ears) at the mall. A basketball court with no heat in the middle of January. Oh, the wondrous places IES orientation can take you. I found myself dancing flamenco, singing Juanes on stage, playing some good air hockey, and participating in an indoor soccer tournament. None of which I had planned before coming to Spain. :) We all learned some valuable lessons through orientation, however. Including…

Do not sing “Loveshack” in a karaoke bar in Spain. Ever. You may think it’s lighthearted and in English (que facil), but the music video with the words may include what amounts to soft core porn. We all felt awkward, and I’m not sure if it’s because we’re American or because we have morals…
Sometimes, you just have to be a good sport. Disregard the people on treadmills and stair steppers eying you, and participate fully in the flamenco lesson. Who cares if you’re slow and you can tell the instructor thinks so? Who cares if the pace is painfully slow and you still can’t keep up? It’s good to try and clap your hands and imagine yourself in a pretty Flamenco dress.
Speaking of being a good sport, sometimes, you just have to suck it up and do the scavenger hunt. After giving us a talk mere days before about how to blend in and not look touristy, the IES staff sent us out with maps, cameras, and ridiculous clues. My team and I took pictures with a Spanish boy and girl, we discovered the typical jewelry of Salamanca (a button), and we learned about the holiday “Lunes de Agua.” Apparently, the Monday after Easter marks when the prostitutes were let back into the city after getting the boot for holy week. Party! We failed to find the frog on the famous façade of the university, which sucks because it’s supposed to bring good luck. Anyways, we came in second place and won free university t shirts. And vowed never to speak of it again. :)

To be fair, IES orientation took us to some really cool places, as well. We visited Segovia which has amazing Roman aqueducts and a castle that is rumored to have inspired Walt Disney. We visited a winery in Toro and took a taste test. We ate in a bodega (old wine cellar) that has been converted into a crazy restaurant with crazy staff. Our lunch there included: sausage, bacon, ribs, bread, salad, red wine, flan, café con leche, two different kinds of shots, and cigarettes. Just what I was looking for on a Saturday afternoon! IES also funded an afternoon at Valor, which has amazing chocolate and churros (mmmm), and a pizza party at the Irish Rover (an Irish pub known for attracting American students). We went on a Monday night and had our own personal Tuna performance. Tuna refers to a mariachi type group that wears medieval outfits and plays love songs. The tradition started when medical students from the university couldn’t pay their tuition and therefore started playing music on the side. Anyways, the performance was fun and they made people sing into the microphone (while I hid in the corner). Immediately after the tuna performance, the bar transformed as they set up for the weekly Monday night beer pong tournament. Ha. Another good orientation experience.

2. As some of you know, I was planning on dating one or both of the 23 year old twins that I live with (or at the very least, befriending one or both of them). As of now, my plans have been foiled, mostly due to the fact that they never ever exit their room when they are home… except to get their food and bring it back to their room. You might be thinking, “But Spanish families are supposed to eat together! Even lunch! That’s like their trademark!” I know, I know, but apparently nobody told Pilar (my host mom) and her sons.
To be completely honest, Jorge (twin 1) and I have been building a strong relationship recently when we run into each other in the hallway. I’ve translated a brief example for you below:

E: Hi
J: Hi
E: How are you?
J: Well I cut my head open playing indoor soccer and had to get stitches.
E: That sucks! (internally grateful that she learned the word for stitches just the other day in intensive Spanish class).

Fin. Inspires hope though, si?? I would summarize my relationship with Nacho (twin 2), but I have yet to meet him. Instead, I’ll describe my emotions towards him. It’s been a rollercoaster. First I anticipated meeting him, thinking he must be the cool twin because he’s never home. And maybe he and Jorge took different paths since their very identical photos (displayed in the living room) were taken? (This hope was squashed when my host mom told me they share a gym membership photo ID card to save money!) Sadly, Nacho has recently been spending more time at home but has not yet met me (I hear him talking in the room next to me as I type!!). Naturally, I first turned bitter towards him, but have since resolved to deal with the situation. And he can’t avoid me for a whole semester…
An alternative theory is that this “Jorge” with whom I’ve been having hope-inspiring chats is actually each of them rotating and that Nacho just skipped the step of meeting the foreign girl living in his house. I’ll keep you posted after more investigation…

3. My host mom herself happens to be amazing. I knew I liked her the moment I got off the bus, when she told me that the embassy called with my returned passport, spoke to me rapidly in Spanish, gave me the double kiss, and marched me to the car. It’s evident I have a great host mom at other times too, such as when she makes me get out my map to mark every single place I might be able to find a hair dryer. Very matter of fact. My love for her is confirmed every time I enter the piso (apartment) and smell something delicious cooking. Also, she carefully takes into account what kind of nutrient each food is providing me, and it has been a very very long time since anybody has cared about my nutrients. Every meal starts with her describing to me how she made it, so I’m obviously learning a lot of cooking vocabulary. All of our meals last at least an hour, and since it’s just the two of us (refer to number 2), I get tons of practice listening and speaking. We watch the news or Pasapalabra (game show), or the cooking show with the singing, joke-telling chef (more cooking vocab for me!). Usually, the tv provides us good conversation starters. Talking about American celebrities is the best because there’s always a 30-45 second gap between when she says the name of a movie or celebrity while I translate in my head or interpret her pronunciation and then respond. But discovering that we both love Dirty Dancing, for example, is pretty awesome. She always calls me “hija” and worries about me when I go out and I like her a lot! This weekend, I was late meeting up with my friends to go out because we watched “Just my luck” (that terrible Lindsay Lohan movie?). I had to tear myself away to meet up at midnight :)

4. Speaking of going out, it’s safe to say that the Spaniards win at doing it well and doing it all night. As Americans, we play along every once in awhile, but we have a lot to learn. (And about Americans, I can proudly say that people have guessed my friends and I are Swiss, German, and Finnish before we tell them ESTADOS UNIDOS! Maybe we’re not blending in with the Spaniards, but if we’re euro-ish we must be doing something right!) It’s fun to try new places and get to know the city and its people, which is surprisingly easy to do after dark. Its fun to see the Plaza Mayor filled with life of all ages at midnight in the cold cold January temperatures. (This was the spot of a spontaneous and enjoyable Tuna serenade). As for actual places to go, one of our favorites has been Camelot. It’s a discoteca that plays a mix of Spanish and American music and is great for people watching if nothing else. It is crammed from about midnight to five am on the weekends. But during daytime hours, it may be hard to pick out. It blends in well with the monastery that it is a part of…

5. Okay last thing. I really need to self edit. But today I started my education internship at the Colegio Montesori, ie the most expensive and elite private elementary school in Salamanca. The niños wear uniforms and ties and coats with the school’s emblem on them, and I’ve been warned that it’s the school of the pijos (Spanish slang for spoiled brats). Nonetheless, I’m really excited and they’re cute and it’s a bilingual school so they speak amazing English. The entire fifth grade Science class I attended today was conducted in English, and I might have felt right at home if it wasn’t for one thing. The teacher is neither Spanish, American, nor British, but rather Dutch. Nevertheless, she speaks with a British accent and so do all of the students. I literally felt as though I stepped through the classroom door into England. Before the class started, Miss Lucie and I talked about logistics, and she spoke to me in English. In the process, she asked me if I had a timetable. I looked at her confusedly and glanced at my watch. “Schedule!” she said, apologizing for sometimes using the British word. Madre mia. If I can’t communicate with people in my native tongue…

I promise to write more about life in Salamanca soon. And possibly with more frequency. But one last last thing. Life here is cold. And rainy. And sometimes frustrating. Its hard to get out and enjoy the city when you’re freezing cold, and since my friends and I live scattered in homestays I spend a lot of time walking alone. It’s a little bit different than my crowded, comfy TU apartment complex or the small town Mexico atmosphere of last summer. It takes some adjusting! But when I sit in the Plaza Mayor and watch the old men on their afternoon stroll, or when I sneak into the Cathedral (hundreds of years old) between classes, or when my homestay actually starts feeling like home, I know I’m in the right place. I can’t wait to aprovechar (take advantage) of almost four more months aqui!