There is more graffiti here than anywhere I've ever seen! It is everywhere.
Heading out of the city, all of the walls were covered with graffiti, for miles and miles.
During this time of year, Madrid usually has nice weather with temperatures in the 70's. Since we arrived on Saturday, the weather has been terribly cold. It has been even colder than Utah has been! There has been a light rain most of the weekend and, as we were leaving the airport, we were told that it was actually snowing in Salamanca where we were headed. It is extremely rare to snow in these areas and happens... almost never. We thought we were leaving the cold for warmer weather and just happened to arrive during a cold front and experience 'extremely rare' cases of winter weather in a place that doesn't see snow... ironic. ;)
Snow on the way to Salamanca.
It is roughly a 2 1/2 hour drive from Madrid to Salamanca. I slept most of the way, but Rodd said I didn't miss much. It was just beautiful, green rolling hills all the way. Upon arriving to Salamanca, we got off the bus and were introduced to the family we will be staying with. We are staying with a woman and her husband. She currently has two Parisians staying with her (here studying culture, not language, and do not speak Spanish), and says they will be leaving tomorrow. Her husband, Jesus, works as a barber in a village about 40 minutes away and commutes there every day.
The woman we are staying with, Marisa.
The street we are living on. (Calle de Diego de Almagro.)
It's about a 10 minute walk from our school to our home. Definitely worth the walk not only for the walk each day but the beautiful view and architecture!
We unpacked and settled in our room, then she served us pasta with red sauce and ground veal. I don't have a picture but it was very good. She sat with us and promoted conversation while we ate. We then walked down to the school for our orientation.
During our orientation, we learned about the history and culture of Spain. A big reason why Spain is so different from other Latin countries is because of its European influence. They explained that there are many stereotypes about Spain that are just that: stereotypes. Including:
1. They drink a lot of Sangria in Spain. => In reality, only tourists drink Sangria. :)
2. Soccer is the only sport in Spain... => Soccer is the most popular, but Basketball is a close second. Spain is currently the champion of Basketball in Europe.
3. It's true that Europeans tend to have little to no 'personal space'. This includes Spaniards. :)
We then took a small tour of the city. It seems bigger than it is because of the tall buildings, but the population is only 150,000. There are a lot of shops and lots to see.
Plaza Mayor de Salamanca
Plaza Mayor de Salamanca
This is Carlos. He will be our guide while learning about the culture and touring the city.
Our Study Abroad group.
Our group didn't drink any wine, but Rodd asked for his Coke to come in a wine glass.
Jokingly, but they still did it. He was pretty happy. :)
After seeing the city, our school (Mester) took us to dinner where we were able to try 12 different dishes! It was all so delicious... We were in heaven. :) I don't have the names of the dishes on me, but will update it tomorrow when I do...
Tiramisu with Lemon ice cream and a cookie.
These are cured legs hanging from the ceiling when you walk into the restaurant.
They are literally cutting it straight off the leg onto a plate and serving it to you...
It doesn't get any better than that. :)
After our delightful dinner, we walked back to our house and got ready for bed. Again, it's been really cold here, but they say it should be warming up by Wednesday. Classes start tomorrow and go from 9:30 am - 1:30 pm. They say the classes are quite intensive... Can't wait!
Our school.
I still find this so funny... At the crosswalks, they have the count down that tells you how long you have until the light is going to turn, but they also have this animation of a walking person. When you can't cross the street the man is red. When you can, the man turns to green and starts walking. As time runs out, he starts walking faster until he turns red again! What strikes me as funny about this is that, for some reason, someone thought that the timer wasn't enough and that they needed to invest in an animated, walking figure to demonstrate how much time they have left by showing how fast the figure is walking. Haha.
I'll have to take a video. It's quite entertaining. :)
Buenas noches.
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