Las Ranitas de Salamanca

   I just have to say that today has been a pretty good day. We went on a guided tour of Salamanca, which was really cool. There are a lot of very old buildings, most of which are from the 15th century. The top photo is me standing in the University of Salamanca, and the bottom photo is of the Plaza Mayor. There was a lot of wind which surprised all of us because we all brought clothes more suited to the blistering heat of Cordoba than the surprisingly cold temperatures of Salamanca. On the tour we saw walked by a monastery, toured the University, and walked around the Cathedral. The Cathedral has two parts to it, la vieja y la nueva. What's funny is the "new" part of the church is from the 1400s. The old part is from the 1100s I believe. Shows how awesome Europe is in comparison to the US. The oldest thing back home is from the 1700s. Lame. But back to the tour. There were two places where lots of marriages take place. One was in the University, which was this small room with spectacular religious pictures and red carpeting everywhere. I would totally get married there. Then there was the large hall in the old part of the Cathedral. And of course, that would be a pretty cool place to get married, but a bit imposing. The ceilings are HUGE.
  A cool little tidbit about Salamanca is it's lucky creature is a frog. Una rana. The directors of PRESHCO gave us key chains with a frog in a graduation cap and gown that says Salamanca. Pretty cute. Anyways after the tour me and three other PRESHCO students walked around, ate lunch, and then eventually paid a few euros to go to the top of the Cathedral. The view was amazing.  I'm sad to be leaving Salamanca. I almost wish I was just staying here. But onto Segovia and then Madrid tomorrow. Seguimos adelante!

We're not in Kansas anymore

Today I arrived in Spain. And I have to say, as we made our descent into Madrid, all I could think was how much it all looked like the suburbs of Las Vegas. This thought was only reinforced during our drive to Salamanca. I was descending into a deep pit of despair when Fate stepped in and I spotted a small, enclosed city, with tall, castle like walls surrounding it. Turns out the city is called Ávila, and we made a pit stop just outside the city. We stood at this monument called Los Cuatro Postes, which had a spectacular view of Ávila. I would have liked to walk around Avila, but we only stopped for maybe a half hour. Then we got back on the road, and the barren wasteland returned, with no real trees in sight. Now we are in Salamanca, and the city is pretty old and cool looking, which makes everything a lot better. Not a lot of Spanish is being spoken amongst the PRESHCO students, but I'm hoping that will change once I get to my host family in Córdoba and start taking classes. At least, I'm going to wait to start panicking until that point. I'm so exhausted though. Besides a 20 minute nap on the bus, I've been awake about 28 hours and counting. I can't wait to go to sleep. Everyone is talking about going out for drinks or visiting clubs. I'm fairly confident that as soon as dinner is over (which begins at 9pm.....????) I'm just going to flop on the bed and pass out.
Hopefully I will have more interesting things to discuss next time I post after we take our guided tour of Salamanca. After Salamanca we travel to Segovia, followed by various other cities. Wish me luck. I just want to start using my Spanish.

The deep breath before the plunge

Tomorrow will be my last day in the United States. It almost doesn't seem real to me. I will be away from my home, and everyone that I love for almost 4 months. No Wellesley, no Portland, nothing familiar. Even though I picked a school 3,000 miles away from my home state, I'm definitely a homebody. The idea of living with a new family, in a new country is just terrifying. I need to remember that this is something I need to do if I want to achieve my goal of being fluent in Spanish. However, knowing that I need to do it does not diminish the fear I feel. It's kind of funny since I bought a guide book for Great Britain a few days ago. I'm more excited about visiting my friends in the UK than I am for being in Spain. I'm hoping this will change once I arrive in Spain and I get to see how amazing it is there. The last time I was in Spain I was six years old. The only things I remember from that trip is the enormous dragon slide in Barcelona, the dragonflies, the huge pig carcasses hanging in the markets, and the paella. It's funny what memories will stick in the memory of a six year old.
The more I write here the more excited I get. I love speaking in Spanish. When I first came to Wellesley, I was so nervous throughout orientation. The only time I finally calmed down was when I went to the Spanish Language placement exam, and sat in the room for the people who placed out of the first two years of language courses, listening as the professors all spoke in Spanish. Immediately after that meeting, I called my mother and told her I wanted to be a Spanish major. She told me not to get too ahead of myself, but it turns out that I was right. Here I am, a Spanish and Medieval/Renaissance studies double major. And about to head off to España. Half of me is ready, half of me isn't. But it will be an awfully big adventure.