Much Needed Update

So basically, here's what's been happening in the past two weeks in a nutshell.

I took a two-week long Flamenco dance class through the University here which was so much fun! We learned two whole routines which were pretty extensive, but it was really great to learn about the dance culture and it was a great break to hang out with friends. I can't wait to see a real Flamenco show in Barcelona because I think it would be incredible to watch professionals. My dance teacher seemed like she was pretty good; really graceful and you could tell she had so much passion for it.

Last weekend, I went to Lisboa, Portugal. This is probably my favorite place I've been so far in Europe. I just wish I knew Portuguese so I could communicate with everyone, but it didn't matter; most people spoke English. It also wasn't that difficult to get a general gist for the language; it's similar to Spanish in some ways. I enjoyed the challenge of figuring it out. Lisboa is such a gorgeous city. Awesome monuments, pretty much like everywhere else on this continent. But what I enjoyed most was the coast. I think I'm spoiled to have basically grown up on Lake Michigan, but I couldn't get enough of being on the water. I think when I grow up, I need to live in a big city with a coast... Chicago? The first night in Portugal, my friends and I got dinner at a restaurant outside. You could feel the breeze off the water while we were eating and it was just perfect. I loved the atmosphere. There's also a much broader sense of diversity in Portugal. It was more like Madrid in that sense. I like being surrounded by a bunch of interesting people all the time. The second day in Portugal, we went to the beach in Cascais. Also incredible. This was more of a beachy town, but I loved it. The ocean was decorated with boats, and the sand was hot. People were going topless at the beach. I think it's interesting how in Europe that kind of thing isn't over sexualized or anything. Like it's normal for people to just lay out at the beach like that and no one cares. It's definitely more relaxed than the United States.

Classes are going pretty well. I did awesome on my first paper for my U of M class, and I got a pretty good score on my first translation exam.

This weekend, I went to Segovia with a great group from Umich. We saw the aqueducts, more cathedrals (starting to get sick of them haha), and ate at a really good and fancy restaurant with great cochinillo (like a roasted pig). The skin was so crunchy and flavorful. It was seriously DELICIOUS. I also got a really yummy salad. I feel like vegetables are really not that accessible here, so I was really happy to get that salad! Yesterday, I also hung out at the pool with some friends from U of M. This weekend was really relaxing and I've really enjoyed everyone's company. I'm seriously so glad to be here and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything!

In just a few, I will be (finally) eating lunch with Rosa and her family. There are 20 people here. It's a national holiday today, and so we don't have class and all the stores are closed for the most part. Today in the plaza, when I went running, they were putting up a flag on top of the plaza and setting off fireworks. I'm so glad this was a long weekend, it was much needed and it helped me remind myself why I'm here and why I love it so much!

Pasando el Día con la Familia de Rosa

Today, Rosa's family came in and celebrated her son-in-law's birthday. I met a lot of people and spent a while with the whole family. There were both of Rosa's daughters, the older one's husband (it was his birthday) and their son, David (he is so cute!!), Rosa's other daughter's boyfriend, Rosa's sister and her two kids, and another couple (not sure how they were related), and another older woman (also not sure how she was related). We had paella for lunch and cake, too. Everyone was really nice, but they spoke so fast! I couldn't really tell what they were talking about at all! So difficult. I want to get a lot better at listening in the next four weeks. It's totally different listening in class and listening to native speakers have a conversation around a table with ten other people!

One of the couple's had a dog named Chispi and they brought him over a bit later. Chispi was a little Yorkie dog I think and he was so precious. He liked to play with the balloons around the house. We would blow up a balloon and throw it to him and he would jump up and hit it with his nose back to the person. David, the little boy thought this was really funny. That kid is so precious!

Today at dinner, I got to practice more Spanish as well. I'm pretty sure it's Rosa's sister with the two kids but she has been speaking to me a lot so it was nice to practice. I also showed her the postcards I brought from Michigan which she really liked to see.

It was a unique experience getting to spend some time with an entire Spanish family, but it was cool to hang out for a while and learn about them and their culture. It also showed me that trying to listen to native speakers having a conversation is NOT EASY AT ALL and I look forward to improving on this aspect of my Spanish.

Just Ate One of These Bad Boys!

El camarón. It was served to me like this in my paella and you have to peel it all off yourself! Hello little creature!

Lista de Vocabulario

While here, I have been learning some new vocabulary and grammar. It hasn't been that much but it's actually a lot harder to pick up on this kind of stuff than you would think. Also, it's conflicting because we learn Mexican/Latin America Spanish in the United States, so there are a lot of phrases and conjugations we are not familiar with here.

First and foremost, the use of vosotros. In high school, and even kind of in college, we completely ignore all conjugations for vosotros (you plural), but here in Spain, it is super prevalent! I have never learned vosotros commands before, but you kind of just end up going with it and figuring it out. I think I'm better at listening to vosotros conjugations than actually forming them myself, but oh well.

Also, everyone says "vale" here for "ok" instead of "bueno." Obviously I know what it means, but it feels unnatural for me to say it for some reason.

Also, people rarely say "por favor" here. I've learned that people usually shorten it with "porfa" or don't say anything at all. Rude! Hahaha.

Some other words I should make note of:

oso=bear
abeto=pine tree
cabras=goats
cogerse de la mano=to hold hands
guau=bark (sound of dog, but ladrar is the verb "to bark")
cubiertos=silverware
melocotón=peach
la ciruela=plums
bocadillo=sandwich
el guisante=peas
el pepino=cucumber
berenjena=eggplant
aguacate=avocado
lavandería=laundry
lavadora=washing machine
detergente=detergent
aliñar= to dress (as in a salad)
asar=to roast
batir=to beat
dejar reposar=to let cool
cocer al horno=to bake
congelar=to freeze
freír=to fry (they do that A LOT here!)
hervir=to boil
pelar=to peel (they also do that a lot here, my señora always peels her fruit while I just eat it all)
rallar=to shread
tostar=to toast
la brocheta=shish kabob
la chuleta de cerdo=pork chops
el solomillo de cerdo=tenderloin
el chorizo=type of sausage, SO GOOD!
el camarón=shrimp
el pulpo=octupus
el calamar=calamari, squid
el bogavante=lobster
la vieira=scallop
el fregadero=kitchen sink
el lavabo=bathroom sink
el grifo=faucet
la cocina=stove, also kitchen
la placa=stove burner
el horno=oven
la campana=fan over the stove
la nevera=refrigerator
la sartén=frying pan
la cacerola=pot, the large kind with two handles
el cazo=one handle, standard pot
la cafetera=coffee pot, tea pot
la taza=mug
el cuenco=bowl
la bola=scoop (of ice cream), this world has a lot of meanings

There's definitely still so much to learn! Vocabulary is the hardest part. I've never really had a problem communicating with my grammar (they probably think I sound like an idiot sometimes!), but it's definitely difficult when you don't even know the word you need to use. Sometimes you just have to describe it, but that can get confusing too. I can't wait to learn and be able to use more vocabulary. Another difficult thing is that they just use different words than for example in Mexico or Latin America. For example they use zumo for juice instead of jugo. Oops messed that up a few times!

El Rastro

This morning, I went on a run with my friend Katherine. We ran around the central city on a main road, and then ended up running to el Rastro. This is a huge market, where many people come to set up stands and sell their goods. You can find some pretty nice deals on things there. We didn't have any money, so we just looked around. It happens every Sunday, so many I will have to go back.

Some of the things I saw were: cheap sandals (only 6 Euros), underwear, fake or maybe real Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, and Porsche polos for cheap, bathing suits, dresses, baby toys, kids books, leather bags and other goods, sunglasses and more. It was a pretty big event and lots of people were there. It was also kind of overwhelming because everyone yells at you to come buy their stuff. "¡Tengo la moda, muy barrato! ¡Pruebalo!"

All of the other stores are closed in town, so el Rastro is a big attraction. On my way home, I noticed all the main stores in town were closed, even including Carrefour, which is basically the equivalent to Meijer but a lot smaller. It's kind of interesting how they close all the stores here on Sunday. Quite the contrast to the fast-paced American life. Also, my friend noticed that as she was running over to meet me at around 10AM, hardly anyone was even out yet! People are definitely on different schedules here for the most part.

Holy Toledo!

Yesterday, I went on a group excursion to Toledo, Spain with other students participating in Cursos Internacionales. There was a pretty sizable group of U of M students there as well, so I got to spend more time with some of my good friends. Many people from Michigan ended up going to Pamplona for Running of the Bulls, but I'm glad I stayed behind with some of my friends because I would not have gotten any sleep this weekend if I had gone to Pamplona. I'm excited to see pictures of everyone else's experiences.

Toledo was a pretty long bus ride away, about 3.5 hours. I wasn't really expecting that, but the trip was well worth it. When we entered Toledo, we drove through really narrow streets on the sides of cliffs and over beautiful, arched bridges. It was seriously something out of a fairy tale or a movie. There was a huge, gorgeous river below us, and the town on the other side of the river. I think this river is the largest in Spain?! It was designed to keep invaders out long ago.

But really, how cool is that? When we got to Toledo, we walked around a bit and got to see a synagogue with a lot of Jewish artwork. Signs of Jewish life in Spain! I got really excited. We saw a lot of cathedrals. They are all so intricate and incredibly beautiful. We also spent some time walking around the streets. Toledo is a lot more similar to Salamanca than Madrid is to Salamanca, but the streets in Toledo are much more narrow and there are a lot more little, quaint stores. Salamanca is more like Ann Arbor and Toledo is more like Traverse City if I had to compare to cities in Michigan. In Toledo, they had a lot of stores that sold cute little pill boxes. I really wanted to get one, but they were kind of expensive! One store was trying to make some kind of deal with me, but they were just being sneaky about it! 

I spent some time walking and shopping around Toledo. There were a lot of super cute stores. We found this itty bitty boutique with adorable clothes! This older woman was working there; I think she was really trying to sell us some stuff! I tried on this floral print romper, but I didn't really want to buy it.

We also saw some wedding happening in Toledo. That would be such an incredible place to get married. The churches there are so beautiful, but imagine how much something like that could cost! It was interesting to see what some of the wedding guests were wearing. Some dresses were a little over the top. Most of the women had their hair done really nicely.

When we left Toledo, everyone was so exhausted. We had to meet at 7AM to leave, so by the time we left at 6:30, everyone was so out of it. I got home in time for dinner, but I was completely exhausted when I arrived home. Overall, I'm really happy I got to visit Toledo. It was really a great city and so beautiful. I had never seen anything like it before!

Las Clases

The first week of classes are over! I am enjoying my classes so far, and actually just joined in a new one today. I am taking a composition class about the transition to democracy in Spain, a translation class, and a speaking class. I think my favorite is the speaking class. I've learned a lot about grammar already and I feel very comfortable speaking in my classes. I was originally in the highest level of the translation class, but it was extremely intimating because a lot of the people in the class were native speakers! I switched into the intermediate level of the translation class, which is actually a bit easy. However, we are learning about texting shortcuts in Spanish, so it's actually quite interesting. The piece we translated was extremely easy today, but it's kind of nice to not have to stress, especially during the summer, when I can still earn the same amount of credits. I am planning to hopefully take another translation class at U of M later, so I can always learn more then!

Homework is minimal for the most part, which is very nice. This leaves plenty of time to enjoy Spain, the weather, the people and the activities to do here. Tomorrow, I am actually taking a day trip to Toledo, to which I am really looking forward. This will actually be my first weekend kind of in Salamanca, since last weekend I was in Madrid. It's nice to be able to relax after a week of classes.