My Recommendations for Future Students

I can think of a fairly long list of things that one should do in Salamanca, and a few things one shouldn't. The most important category should always be first, so food. Not considering tapas there are a number of foods that you can get in Salamanca that may be difficult to find in America. Every day for breakfast I have galletas de Maria. They are little round crackers that are a tiny bit sweet. They also have a ridiculous number of calories, so they are perfect for those tiny Spanish breakfasts. If your senora doesn't leave much out, eat a couple of these galletas and you have a whole meal. I also really enjoy the apricots here. I have never seen just an apricot fruit in the United States. there are apricot bars and candy, but not just the fruit itself. It is delicious, but watch out for the pit, and make sure it is not rotten before you bite into it. Finally the Fanta de Limon may be the best soda that I have ever had, except for Dr. Pepper.

All of those small things aside, the thing to do in Spain is to go out to tapas bars. I would recommend going up and down Calle Von Dyck visiting various bars and trying lots of different types of tapas. My personal favorites are tigres, a mussel with breaded cheese essentially, and champinones with mushrooms. If you go for simpler dishes, try the Spanish tortilla.

For foods to avoid at all cost, one of the worst is salchichas. They are very similar to a hot dog, maybe a little bit smaller. But, they have no flavor and a texture like I would imagine melting rubber would feel like. They probably have all the trash in them that American hot dogs do, without any of the positives. Then of course, the bane of my culinary existence here is the milk. I have never been served cold milk, which is bad enough, but it is also about 300% fat. It tastes more like a strong cream than the milk that we are used to. I would give a lot for one glass of real American chocolate milk.

As far as things to do are concerned, I think the most important is to talk to your host family as much as possible. You will learn more from them than from your classes if you give them an opportunity to talk about themselves, Spain, and other things as well. They will almost certainly be hard to understand, but if you give it time, it will get easier. I also recommend exploring in the old parts of the city, especially at night. Of course don't be stupid and walk alone with your iPhone out looking for directions. But there is a nice atmosphere at night, not to mention that it won't be super hot. I personally loved reading at night in La Plaza Mayor with a nice Fanta de Limon. The Plaza is lit up beautifully, so there is plenty of light to read, and you can sit outside and sip your drink, and take hours. There is also an event that happens every now and then called Jazz en la Calle, where Jazz musicians come and play a free concert in a park (pictured below). It is good music and a relaxing time. On the other hand, the market in Salamanca that happens every Sunday is terrible. It is far away, so it can be tricky to get to, and once there basically every stall sells the same womens underwear and handbags. I would give that one a miss.