A day in the life of Salamanca

I am one of the fortunate ones who does not have class until 10:00 every morning, so I get to sleep in a little bit i.e. stay out a little later! My alarm clock in the morning is my host brother, Ganesh, playing the guitar. He is pretty good though so it's rather nice. Right now I am living with Ganesh, a 14-year-old; J-something (he is from France and I can't pronounce his name), a 15 year old; and Joshua, a 16-year-old. Choni, our Señora, works at a tapas bar in the morning at 6:00 so she sets us out breakfast every morning. Usually we have crackers with chocolate, orange juice, and some fruit. There also always is milk out but its warm so rarely have I tried that...

On the way to class in the morning I like to stop by my Fruteria and pick up a peach or banana to have as a snack during class. It is impossible to last until 2:30 with no food, so a snack is always necessary. Sometimes I also splurge and stop by Pan Cake to see my friend that works there and I buy a café solo!

My first class of the day is History of Art. We are learning about Velázquez, Goya, Dalí, Picasso, and Gaudí. From there I walk to my Spanish Culture class - it is fascinating. Everything we learn helps me blend in a little more and more here. My favorite topics are the siestas and fiestas. The United States really needs to adopt some of these customs... My last class of the day is my class with Andy - my favorite, obviously! We begin every class casually talking in Spanish and exchanging presents from our Amigos Clandestinos. It always is fun when you get a surprise snack from your secret friend! For our projects in Andy's class, he always has us explore cultural differences that I would not have noticed otherwise. Our assignment last week was to compare our neighborhood in Salamanca with our neighborhood in Ann Arbor. The differences are endless. Our class is great and we always have a great time. Every now and then we go on field trips. This picture is of all of us at the gardens before heading to tapas!

At 2:30 I have lunch with my family and immediately after I fall into a food coma and indulge in my siesta for an hour or so. After my rest I either go to the gym or go running with Jenna. Running is a great way to get to know the city. Our favorite place to run is down by the river and along all of the bike paths here. After we run, we meet up with our friends and head to Flamenco class at 6:00!

8:30 is dinner time, which is fairly early for Spain but the boys I live with have early curfews so we eat earlier. I love meal times with my family. We all catch up on what we did that day and always enjoy goofing around with each other. They feel like real, annoying brothers to me! This picture is of my favorite meal - veal and vegetables!

After dinner I like to head to the Internet Café by my house to work on my homework and talk to my friends and family. This is the perfect time to talk to people back home with the time change.

"La gente esta muy loca" in Spain. They do not go out until at least midnight, usually later. Us being the wimpy Americans, we need to go out earlier. Typically we meet in the Plaza at around 11:30. From there we do a little bar hopping, do a little dancing, and do a little sangria drinking. Muy divertido, claro. The kids on the program are a blast, and we have met some fun people as well! Viva la vida en España!