Life in Salamanca!

Hola a todos!

Qué pasa?

When you study abroad you face a new set of challenges, you must adapt to the current circumstances of that country. With these adaptations you realize certain daily activities that you may or may not have taken for granted in the U.S. When you study abroad your daily routine may change, you might fight to keep it as similar to your routine in the U.S., or you may completely switch up your routine simply because you can.

It is hard to believe that I have been in Spain for over a month now and we only have 2 and a half weeks left. The first 10 days went by really fast simply because I was traveling and taking everything in at once. I feel like the month went by really fast but also really slow. Its weird. I feel as though time has slowed, but is also moving at a fast pace, almost like you are suspended in air watching yourself on fast forward, if that makes any sense. This feeling has amplified yet changed since being we began classes. You have a stable "home"and a routine that you follow now. Routines are good but I understand that getting into a routine makes the days blur together. What makes each day stand out?

In Spain each day does stand out simply because you are in Spain. You may be in a routine but you will never forget what you did, how you grew with the people in your program, how much fun you had at night in the plaza just hanging out. A routine may speed up your time in Spain but at the same time it adds much needed stability to living and learning abroad. As you become familiar with certain aspects of your routine you become more comfortable with your surroundings and more willing to participate in the culture, speak the language, interact with the people. If you see the same person everyday at the same bar or café you have the opportunity to first become familiar with the person, get comfortable with your surroundings and then you can take advantage of that comfort and practice speaking. Don't get too sucked into your routine that you miss out on the various activities and opportunities available to you but use the routine as a guide and a solid foundation to push your experience abroad to the next level.

My routine:

Well naturally my weekday routine is different than my weekend routine but I describe my weekly routine. On the weekends its more relaxed and go with the flow. Generally people are on excursions and visiting different cities. This weekend I am heading to Segovia. In the past I've been to Andalucia (Seville and Granada) and also Toledo.

During the week I have class everyday starting at 10am. I generally get up around 8:30am to get ready for school, pack my things and eat breakfast. Now in Ann Arbor I shower everyday before class but here I don't shower in the mornings because well water is expensive here and I know that later in the day I will be going to the gym and I can just shower after the gym. I've worked showers into my routine, no pasa nada. I have too housemates from Canada who have class at 9am so they are always up before me and are out the door by the time I wake up. My señora is already up to prepare breakfast for everyone and when I get out of the bathroom my breakfast is ready for me to eat! Now in Ann Arbor I don't eat much for breakfast and I generally don't like to eat right when I wake up. Usually for breakfast I have two pieces of toast with strawberry jam, a glass of orange juice, and a glass of milk. Unfortunately my señora does not make coffee in the morning. In Ann Arbor I have 2 cups in the morning before class, and more throughout the day. The lack of coffee has been an adjustment, but don't worry I don't go without my coffee fix.

I like to wake up early for class because I like to get to class at about 9:30am so I can use the internet and check my email and do a few things like that on the computer before class starts. Finding the internet is a chore sometimes because in my host house we don't have internet. Getting up a half hour earlier is worth it. I leave the house around 9am. I enjoy the 25 minute walk to class....On the way to class I stop at the same "takeaway" café everyday. The place is called Pancake and I'm pretty sure it has saved my life and fueled my need for caffeine in the mornings. I either get cafe con leche (which is basically a latte, though slightly different) or cafe americano (which is like an americano, espresso with hot water.)

Café Con Leche!

I get to class and if I have a gift my amigo clandestino I drop it off with Manolo. To quickly describe amigos clandestinos: It is a game we play in our UM class. You have a "secret buddy" and the goal is to just find out a little about that person and leave them random gifts. The purpose: to have something fun to do, think about, and help the other person. Manolo is the awesome man at the front desk! I get to class and check my email and drink my cafe!



My first class starts at 10am and it is historia de España: Art History. We talk about the different periods of art and the signficant Spanish artists. So far we have covered Barroco and Impressionism with the focus on Velázquez and Goya. We took an exam on those two painters last week and we have moved on to Dalí and Surrealism and soon we will cover Cubism and Picasso. I actually find the class interesting, but while I was in Madrid I had the opportunity to see many of these paintings in person in the Prado Muesum. I think seeing the works in person helps with the class. The teacher is great and the class if relatively fun. I think the morning coffee from Pancake helps too.

Las Meninas (Painted by Velázquez)


Art history ends at 11am and then I go to my Spanish Culture class. It is in a completely different building. Our walk to the next building is pretty awesome. The building is right next to the Old Cathedral and its just and amazing view. Its very cool that we are causally taking classes next this famous Cathedral and the second oldest University in the world... The culture class is very helpful. We learn about customs, holidays, typical spanish cuisine, the layout of Spain, the government, and everything you may consider Spanish culture. In this class I feel like we take in a lot of information in a short amount of time but all of the information is helpful.



After Culture class I have level B! Probably the best, most useful Spanish class. Living and Learning abroad, now that is what we should be learning about while we are here. We learn vocabulary that is useful in everyday language and conversation. We talk a lot and present in Spanish allowing us the opportunity to speak in Spanish. This is a great class. This is where the amigo clandestino comes in. We have fun in this class while we learn a lot. We have this class till 1:30pm and then I basically have to run home with Nilo (my neighbor!) and sometimes Jenna will try to keep up. We all live in the same neighborhood. We have to walk pretty fast because lunch at home is at 2pm. Everyday we have lunch at 2pm and I eat with the other two students in the house. My señora makes really good food. Everything is fresh and I eat alot. My favorite dish so far is lentejas. Its basically a lentil soup/stew. The lentils are produced in Salamanca and my señora told me that everyone that studies in Salamanca loves them! They are good and good for you! But my other favorites have to be Croquetas (fried potato/cheese/ham), they look like fat mozzarelas sticks, and I also really like this cold potato salad that has tuna and vegetables! Yum! The food here is awesome. Lunch generally consists of 3 courses. The first one being the lighter, salad or for example lentil soup. Then the second course is the heavier usually some type of fish or sausage or meat. And the third is fruit or yogurt for dessert. Every meal comes with bread too!

Lentils from Salamanca!

After lunch I generally "rest" or take a siesta. It is normal here to take a quick nap of about 30 minutes or so, so I generally follow this rule. After the nap I get up and go to the gym with Nilo. We hit the gym for about an hour/hour and a half everyday. Then I shower at the gym and head home. Now its about 6pm.



After the gym I might go do homework with friends, either at the train station or a cafe. I like the train station because it is somewhat close and there are many places to sit and many wifi signals. My favorite cafe nearby has to be El Sastre because the coffee is good and there is internet too! Many places that have wifi expect you to order something and a lot of them have codes you need to connect to the internet. The train station is a good place to go too though because you can sit outside and still connect to the internet for free! But after homework and internet I head home to eat dinner at 9:30pm. Dinner is a lighter meal here in Spain so we generally have leftovers from the lunch meal as the first course and then as the second course something such as baked chicken or pasta. And of course bread.





After dinner I finish up homework and get ready to head to the Plaza Mayor. Generally you don't have to ask to see if people are meeting up at the plaza you just head down there and wait under the big clock and you should see some people you know. Its a very common meeting place. We generally chill in the plaza for about an hour just chatting and maybe have a drink or get some gelato. After this people may split up and have different groups but generally people go to various bars/cafes to dance and hang out maybe get some tapas! The night can end early or late but people are still out at around 2 or 3 in the morning. On the weekends its even even later probably arond 5 or 6 in the morning.

The Plaza Mayor!



Then I come home and sleep! And do it all over again!