My Little Corner of the World

Hello everyone!

I have officially been in Spain for over a month! I cannot believe it! It feels like just yesterday I was sitting at the Off-Campus Studies office in Gettysburg trying to decide where I should study. Good news: I made the right decision. After just a month, I already feel so attached to this city. I know I’ll miss it when I leave, and I know I’ll come back to visit someday.

Last Friday, I started my English teaching internship. I help to teach English at a school called Las Siervas de San José. It’s an escuela concertada (concerted school), which basically means that it’s a mix between a public and a private school. In the past, it was a private Catholic school, but now it receives money from the government. In spite of this, it still has a strong Catholic affiliation. For example, the teacher prays every morning before class starts. Anyway, I really love the internship. The kids are wonderful! They range in age from 11 to 16. There are several different age groups depending on language level. I’m planning to make up some lessons about cultural stuff from the US that they’d be interested in, and possibly some anti-bullying lessons that I’ve used in the past for SARA in Gettysburg. Also, we’re going to have a Halloween party for the kids. The teacher asked me to find some scary stories that I can read to them in English. I’m planning to talk about some Gettysburg ghosts! J

In other news, some friends and I found this really amazing spot where you can watch the sunset over the whole city. It’s absolutely beautiful. The other night, when we all reached the end of our ropes with non-American food, we bought some McDonald’s and ate it while watching the sunset. Classy, I know.

On Saturday, my program had an excursion to Picadero Valverde, a horseback riding ranch about 20 minutes outside Salamanca. We rode for about an hour and a half and I have a WONDERFUL time! I got to do my favorite thing in the whole world in SPAIN!

On Sunday, I went to mass at La Pastoral Universitaria, a Catholic church for university students in Salamanca. (There are 2 big universities here: Universidad de Salamanca, the public university, and Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca). Although I don’t usually enjoy Catholic services that much, I’m always up for anything that lets me practice my Spanish, and this service was surprisingly lively for a Catholic church. Afterwards, I got to meet Nacho, a Spanish friend of my friend Andrea, and some of his friends.

Andrea and I recently made a deal that we have to speak Spanish whenever we hang out. We both felt that we’d been speaking way too much English, but we came here to learn Spanish. It’s so easy to be lazy and speak English since most of the people you make friends with here are other Americans in your program, but I don’t want to look back on this and regret not taking advantage of the opportunity to learn Spanish. In just a few days, I feel like my Spanish is already improving. Speaking in Spanish during the day makes it a lot easier to talk with Esperanza when I come home, because my brain is already in Spanish mode.

This weekend, my program is going on a trip to Andalucía in southern Spain! We’re going to see two amazing cities: Sevilla and Granada. Two of my friends from Gettysburg studied in Sevilla last year, so I have a lengthy list of recommendations for restaurants, shopping, etc. Then, the next weekend, Andrea and Sarah and I are planning a day-trip to Madrid to explore the city since it’s only a short bus ride away.

I’ll try to update again after my trip this weekend! Love and miss you all!

"Come along with me to my little corner of the world. Dream a little dream in my little corner of the world. You'll soon forget that there's any other place..."

¡Me encanta la vida salamantina!

I have officially been in Spain for three whole weeks! Time flies by so quickly here! Before I arrived in Salamanca, I kept thinking, “Wow, I have a whole semester in Spain!” Now, I realize how fleeting a span of time four months really is and how quickly the semester is going to go by, and that makes me want to appreciate every single moment of my time here. I am so incredibly fortunate to be here, and I really feel like God has put me in this particular for a specific reason, although I’m not sure what the reason is yet. For those of you who don’t know this story, I almost went to Lebanon Valley College because I was really interested in their study abroad program in Salamanca, but ended up choosing Gettysburg instead for financial reasons. Then, when I got to Gettysburg, I didn’t think I would have time to study abroad, much less graduate with a double major in Spanish and English, but somehow all of my courses managed to fit into my three-year graduation plan. Finally, the semester I found out I could actually go abroad, Gettysburg decided to start a new program in Salamanca. If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is.

My classes started on the Wednesday of my second week here in Spain and are going wonderfully so far! I’m taking one literature course at the Universidad de Salamanca, which I really love so far. My class has surprisingly few Spanish students in it, which means that my professor is very willing to help out non-native students like me and the four other IES Abroad students in the class. For example, we only have to read four novels during the semester, while native Spanish speakers will read five. I’m also taking a course called Literature and Cinema in Contemporary Spain, which is really fun and interesting so far. Basically, we’ll be comparing movies and their book counterparts. I also have a class called Regionalism and Spain and a Spanish Grammar class through IES. Finally, I’m most excited about my teaching internship through IES Abroad. Basically, I have class once a week for an hour and a half, where we study the Spanish education system and teaching techniques, and then I have six hours where I actually teach in a local school. I find out my school assignment tomorrow night!

Last weekend, we had an IES-sponsored excursion to Toro and Zamora, two smaller towns in the Castile and Leon province. In Toro, we went to a beautiful vineyard called Estancia Piedra. We got a tour of the winery, and at the end we had a wine tasting. Then, we visited Zamora, the hometown of one of our orientation leaders. We had some free time to explore the city, and then we had lunch (which, by the way, is the biggest meal of the day and happens around 2:00 in the afternoon) at this awesome underground (literally) restaurant.

After the excursion, I had another four days of classes (no classes on Fridays here!!!), which flew by incredibly fast. Then, this weekend, I took a wonderful trip to Asturias, a region in northern Spain, with a few of my friends, Xina, Laura, Jenn, and Matt. We stayed at a hotel in Noreña, just outside Oviedo, the capitol city of Asturias. We got there at around noon on Friday, went to the hotel to check in, and then explored Oviedo for the night. We spent a few hours in a Sidreria, a cider house/bar, because Asturias is famous for its cider. The next day, we traveled to Gijón, which was definitely my favorite part of the weekend. We got to see the Plaza Mayor of the town, where there was a wedding going on, and the Iglesia San Pablo (a church) near the beach, where there was another beautiful wedding. Then, we walked along the gorgeous beach for a couple of hours, just talking and collecting shells and enjoying the view. We had dinner in Gijón and then went back to Oviedo for the rest of the night. We got back to Salamanca at 8:00 Sunday night, where I came home and had dinner with my señora. I love her so much! She was almost as excited to see me after the weekend as my own mother would have been.

Tomorrow, I’ll start my second full week of classes. I’m really looking forward to getting into the swing of things with classes and getting back into school mode, which has been a little difficult here, since there are so many wonderful things to do in Spain besides homework! To wrap up, I still love it here, and I know I’ll come back and visit this city again one day. It already feels so much like home that I can’t imagine not coming back. The transition to life here was just so much smoother than I ever imagined beforehand, and although I miss my family and friends at home, I’m having such a wonderful time here, and I know they’ll be waiting for me when in December. I know this semester is an experience I’ll cherish forever, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And now, to end on a semi-inspirational note: when my parents left me at Philadelphia International Airport at the security gate, I hugged them goodbye and turned around to face the gate. Immediately, my eyes landed on a sign nearby that was advertising the Peace Corps. It said, in huge block letters, something along the lines of, “Never have to start a sentence with ‘I should have…’” The timing of this was so perfect, as I was feeling sad and a little scared after saying goodbye to my parents and sister. Thanks to this semester in Spain, I will never have to start a sentence with those words.

La primera semana: ¡He sobrevivido!

¡Hola a todos!

I cannot believe that by this time tomorrow I will have been in Spain for a whole week! On the one hand, the week has gone by incredibly fast, as I have been extremely busy with orientation and intensive Spanish classes every day. But on the other hand, I feel like I’ve been here for several weeks already because I’ve had to adjust to so much in such a short time. To put it simply, I LOVE IT HERE. Salamanca is an amazing, beautiful city, a strange mix of a big city with a small town. It’s so lively and colorful and the pace of life is much more relaxed than in the US. Every day here feels like several days, especially because the Spaniards don’t eat dinner until 9 or 10 in the evening. That means that socializing doesn’t even start until around 11 or 12, and can continue well into the early hours of the morning. You can also be late to everything here, and no one cares. This is one thing I especially adore about the Spanish culture, since punctuality is not my forte.

Anyway, I left for Spain on Saturday, August 29, after three days of goodbyes in Gettysburg and Lancaster. I spent a few days at school visiting with all of my friends, and then spent Friday and Saturday with my family and one of my best friends. My family drove me to the airport Saturday afternoon, got me to the security gate, and then they had to leave since they weren’t allowed to go any further. I said goodbye to them there and managed to navigate the rest of the airport alone--I was quite impressed with myself. I loved the feeling of being on my own and getting myself where I needed to go. After a rather long flight with an hour delay and a seat-mate who spoke VERY fast and confusing Spanish, I arrived at the Barajas International Airport in Madrid, where I met up at the Punto de Encuentro with the other IES Abroad program students. There, I met my roommate, Kelley, and a lot of other people who have quickly become my friends.

After a two-hour bus ride to Salamanca, Kelley and I met our host mom, Esperanza Calvo Curto. She is possibly the sweetest woman in the entire world. She treats us like her own children and calls us niñas, or little girls. She takes such good care of us, and I am so blessed to have her as a host mom and Kelley as a roommate. Having a real home here has made the adjustment so much easier, and having Kelley to go through the first week with really helped, too.

This week, we had a lot of orientation sessions, where we talked about culture shock, cultural differences, and other practicalities of living in Spain for a semester. We also had intensive Spanish classes for four hours every day, which is very tiring when you’re already jet-lagged. I’ve also been busy discovering the nightlife that Salamanca is so famous for. Every night, the fabulous Plaza Mayor (basically the city centre) is crowded with people who sit at the tables lining all four sides of the square talking and eating for hours. There are also a lot of great bars and discotecas around. The Plaza is by far my favorite part of the city. At night, it’s all lit up and brilliant. There is often a band playing. For example, last night I had helado chocolate (the most delicious chocolate ice cream I have ever eaten) in the Plaza with my friends Andrea and Elizabeth, while a Flamenco band played in front of the brightly-lit Plaza. There truly is no place in the entire world that is more beautiful than the Plaza Mayor at night.

Today, our program went on an excursion to Segovia, a small city about two hours away from Salamanca. There, we saw el acueducto romano (roman aqueduct) as well as el Alcázar, the castle that inspired Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle. I’ve taken about a million photos of Spain so far, and today was no exception. Expect to see pictures on Facebook soon! Now, I’m getting ready to go out with some friends, because it is the first night of Feria--basically, a whole week of fiestas in celebration of Salamanca’s patron saint. We arrived just in time! There are casetas (temporary bars) set up all over town, especially near the Plaza, and people everywhere, as well as lots of good music and food.

I apologize for the rambling post. So much has happened this week that it’s really difficult to know what to write about. The bottom line is, if you ever have a chance to visit Spain, you absolutely must! It is a beautiful, culturally-rich country, and it’s even better than I ever imagined it could be.

¡Hasta luego amigos!

Algunas fotos de la Plaza Mayor: