Primeras impresiones: La primera semana de clase

After spending a week taking courses with Spaniards and other international students at USAL (university of Salamanca), I have a lot of stories to tell, from successes to failures, from excitement to worry. Here are some anecdotes/thoughts from this first week (divided up by class)!

Literatura hispanoamericana del siglo XIX (Latin American literature from the 19th Century): (Mondays from 1-2, Thursdays from 11-1)
Day 1: The professor for this class speaks REALLY quietly and a lot of students whisper throughout the class, which made it difficult for me to hear her although I was in the third row. Any time somebody coughed or turned the page to their notebook, I thought to myself "whelp, there goes another comment that I missed", because the teacher speaks so softly that even a gentle clearing of the throat will cover her words. I arrived to this class a little early, and at 11:00 a.m. sharp (the time the class should start), there were only foreigners in the classroom (I met a French girl and an Italian girl). At 11:15 a.m., a massive group of Spaniards comes in, all speaking loudly and excitedly. Unknown to the foreigners, classes scheduled for "11", actually start at 11:15.
Day 2: Today, it was easier for me to understand the professor because I sat closer to the front. She lectured the whole time, giving a lot of information and jumping around a bit, therefore, my notes are ridiculously sporadic - but I think I got the gist of what she was saying! BONUS!

Portugués: (Mondays & Wednesdays from 6-7pm)
Day 1: Well, I went to my Portuguese classroom ten minutes before class started, and nobody was in there. I waited a few minutes, and nobody arrived, so I thought maybe something was up because usually there is at least one other student waiting for a class 5 minutes before it starts. So, I went down to the "conserjería", or concierge, and - SURPRISE - there wasn't anyone there either. What help! So, 15 minutes after 6 p.m., when my class started, the concierge arrives and tells me that my class isn't in A-23, as my schedule said, but in A-15. The university is a little disorganized in this sense because many students have had the same issue. So, Katie, miss never-late, always punctual to the point that she gets there 10-15 minutes early and is "late" if she arrives 5 minutes early, walked into the Portuguese class 15 minutes late. The scandal!
Day 2: Arrived on time to class this time! I understood everything the professor said in Portuguese, but cannot for the life of me remember how to speak Portuguese, aside from a few sentences here and there. Also, she has a very Portuguese accent compared to mine (if you can even call mine an accent ;)), which is from Brazil (seeing as my professor in Boulder is Brazilian), and she pronounced words differently, so I'm going to come with the accent of a confused American who can't decide between Brazilian and Portuguese pronunciation (that, or she's just forgotten which is which).

Gramática para la enseñanza de Español (Grammar for teaching Spanish) (Tuesdays 11-1pm): 
Day 1: My grammar class is in the same classroom as my literature class, but luckily this professor speaks more loudly. He's a very awesome professor! The first day, he said that he is very lucky to have found a job that he loves, because not everybody gets to do that. He recognized, however that teaching does have it's one flaw, which it suffers more than any other profession - it is the profession in which one most feels his own aging. Ever year, the students are "the same", and each year, he is one year older. He's a cool cat, very intellectual and very friendly.

Francés (Tuesday and Wednesday from 8-9 p.m.): 
Day 1: The professor speaks really REALLY fast and in a very colloquial manner (and by American standards, is really vulgar....he says "coño" in practically every other sentence), which makes it a little hard for me to catch everything, especially the jokes. The only one that I understood (he made various regarding the nationalities of the students in class) was when he said that the boys from Denmark look like cheese.
Day 2: We finally got down to er, learning French? yesterday in class, but since the teacher went on so many tangents, or as he calls them "parentheses", we basically learned three words and how to pronounce them with a musical French accent. These words are : Bonjour, Bonsoir, and Bonne nuit. Practical.

Some general observations: Classes here are WAY bigger than I'm used to (like 30 or so people in my French class, and probably 40-50 in my Literature class). I've definitely realized how spoiled I've been at Boulder with literature classes with 9 people.

MEETING PEOPLE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES IN SPANISH HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST MAGICAL EXPERIENCE EVER. HANDS DOWN.

And finally, a little "success!!" moment for Katie:
Yesterday, after I got the photocopies for my grammar course, I saw a girl in the stairway who looked a little lost, so when we made eye contact, I asked her "¿Qué buscas?/What are you looking for?" She told me classroom P-1, and I gave her directions because I actually knew where it was! BAM! (granted, I have two classes in there and the room would be a little hard to miss given that fact, but details schmetails). Moment of pride in the life of Katie Odens.

Hasta pronto,
Katie

ITALIA
Well, as is typical. I fail at keeping up with the blog! But, I will give you some random stories/details of my trip to ITALY!!!!

Day 1 (Monday, September 17th): Travel timing really doesn't work out so well for me. I had to take a bus that arrived at the airport at 1:30 p.m. for a flight that didn't leave until 6 because the next one wouldn't arrive until like 5:20, which I suppose doesn't allot enough time to do the whole check-in, go through security, and board the plane ordeal.

Stories/descriptions from day 1:
RYAN AIR: So, after booking my flight, but before I left for Italy, there was that whole scandal about Ryan Air only carrying the bar minimum amount of gasoline (complete with scary images on the news of turbulence and oxygen masks dropping). Needless to say, every time there was turbulence on the plane, I had a minor heart attack and prayed that there would be no oxygen masks dropping. On board, the flight attendants announce products for sale and then come down the aisle carrying said products to see if passengers wanted to purchase them. Long story short - Ryan Air has class.

PIZZA NAPOLETANA: Ok. So, every other place that I have gone has a pizza called "napolitana", which is tomato and cheese. My first night, at Hotel Martini in Verona, I was a little lonely and decided that I didn't want to deal with leaving to sit in a restaurant by myself and try to figure out how to communicate with the employees in Italian. I went downstairs to the front desk, where I was told they could order me a pizza. The ingredients of the menu were all in Italian, and since I didn't know a lot of the words, I got excited when I saw "Napoletana" and asked them to order that for me. When the pizza arrived, I opened the box, expecting a nice little pizza with tomato and cheese, but (much to my despair) the pizza had anchovies and (green olives or potentially green peppers?). Gag.

View from hotel room!

The hotel room! First time I have traveled alone!

WHAT IS THIS BOLOGNA?! I thought I ordered Napolitana! haha

THE LOCK: The lock to my hotel room was old fashioned and I couldn't open it. It was SO STUBBORN! And then, embarrassingly enough, the doorman came up to open it and did it with no problem at all. I guess turned the key three times to the left just didn't cut it - I had to turn it a litttle bit more for that final "click". 

Day 2: Verona

Tuesday, I did the whole touristy bit in Verona. I went to Juliet's house and saw the balcony and all of the professions of love written on the walls leading up to eat. I went to Castel Vecchio, which had some awesome views and to see the arena (definitely felt like I was in the coliseum...but wait, that's in Rome..). 

THE EMPLOYEE AT THE GELATO SHOP WHO THAT I WAS SPANISH: BONUS! I went to a gelateria and was trying to order ice cream but had no idea what to say, so I was kind of pointed and saying "Pequeño?", etc., guessing at what the Italian version of the words would be. After pointing to the flavors I wanted and trying to pronounce them (most likely with a hint of a Spanish accent), the guy working there said "Española?". No, no I am not from Spain, but thank you very much for the compliment! 

THE GUY WHO "THOUGHT I WAS ITALIAN": Walking back to the hotel to get my bags and catch the train, there was a guy walking nearby who turned to me and said something that I didn't understand in Italian. When I gave him the deer in the headlight look, he said "oh, I thought you were Italian" and proceeded to say that it's a beautiful day and asking me what I had done. He probably noticed that I wasn't amused (and also didn't believe him one bit that he thought I was Italian when I had my astronomically sized camera around my neck and was wearing socks with shoes that shouldn't be worn with socks) and said his goodbyes. 

THE GIRL WHO THOUGHT I WAS ITALIAN: Round two of the deer-in-the-headlight look came on the train from Verona to Mezzocorona, where a girl asked me in Italian (something about the train, I presume?). When I sat down, she apologized, saying "I'm sorry, I thought you were Italian". To the first guy's credit, at least he wasn't the only one who that I was Italian.

View from Castel Vecchio

Some girl on Juliet's balcony. I didn't feel like going inside the house because it was reallly crowded.

locks at Juliet's house!

My time in Mezzocorona:

Activities: Touring Trento, picking grapes, visiting Lake Garda tasting grapes, tasting wine, seeing the process of making wine, bike ride, learning how to make "priest stranglers" and canederli (typical dishes from Mezzocorona!), lots of gelato (hazelnut and nutella flavored...yum!!!!). I had a wonderful time visiting the Postal family in Mezzocorona! Also, introduced them to dubstep! I was able to listen to a lot of Italian while I was there, and was able to pick out words, but didn't understand most of the conversation.

A little Italian lesson:

Per Piacere- please (if you just say piacere it means "nice to meet you")

Prego - "How can I help you?", "Go ahead", "You're welcome". Such a versatile word!

Front yard

Lake Garda

Vineyards in Dro. 

Hasta pronto,

Katie oh :)

Las Aventuras de Tadeo Jones/The Adventures of Tadeo Jones

Hoy, a las 6:40 p.m., Megan, Corinne y yo fuimos al cine Van Dyck (3 minutes a pie de mi casa) para ver Las Aventuras de Tadeo Jones, una película que se trata de un obrero que quiere ser arqueólogo. Un día, va a la oficina de un profesor para preguntarle sobre un descubrimiento suyo y el profesor recibe una carta urgente de Peru que dice que su colega ha encontrado la otra clave de una anciana ciudad Inca, que según leyenda tiene mucho tesoro. Para coger el vuelo, tienen que salir inmediatamente, pero el profesor se cae en el aeropuerto y por accidente, Tadeo le da las píldoras equivocadas y el profesor se duerme. Tadeo va en su lugar y intenta ayudar al profesor y su hija a encontrar la ciudad antigua. Tiene muchos obstáculos en su camino (por ejemplo, piratas que quiere robar el tesoro y un arqueólogo famoso que no es todo lo que aparece) y al final....pues, bueno.....no quiero arruinar el final para ti....tendrás que verla. Today, at 6:40 p.m., Megan, Corinne and I went to Van Dyck (movie theater 3 minutes away from my house, walking) to see The adventures of Tadeo Jones, a movie about a construction worker who's always wanted to be an archaeologist. One day, he goes to a professor's office to ask him about his discovery and the professor receives an urgent letter from Peru that says that his colleague has found the other key to an ancient Incan city, which according to legend holds lots of treasure. To catch the flight to Peru, they need to leave immediately, but the professor falls in the airport and Tadeo accidentally gives him the wrong pills and the professor falls asleep and can't make the flight. Tadeo goes in his place and tries to help the professor and his daughter to find the ancient city. He encounters many obstacles (for example, pirates that want to rob the treasure and a famous archaeologist who isn't all that he appears to be) and at the end....well.....I don't want to ruin it for you...you'll have to watch the movie). 

La secuencia artística de la corrida de toros

El Estadio:

Al llegar a la Plaza de Toros, uno puede percibir la importancia de la corrida sólo por mirar a la arquitectura impresionante del estadio. (Upon arriving to the Plaza de Toros, one can perceive the importance of the corrida simply by seeing the impressive architecture of the stadium)

Enfrente del estadio se encuentra una estatua de "El Viti", un toreador muy famoso. (In front of the stadium, there is a statue of "El Viti", a famous torero")

El Paseíllo

El primer acontecimiento de la corrida es "El Paseíllo", en el que la cuadrilla y los toreros se presentan al presidente de la corrida. Tiene un reglamento muy específico: Primero, entran los alguacilillos, o sea, los hombres montados en caballos negros. Segundo vienen los toreros (que son tres), el más veterano a la izquierda, y el más novato en el centro. Después, vienen las cuadrillas (o subalternos) de cada torero, empezando con las del más veterano y terminando con las del más novato. Los picadores de cada torero vienen próximo y los monosabios y personal de la plaza cierran el paseíllo. (The first part of the corrida is "El Paseillo", en which the matadors and their assistents present themselves to the president of the corrida. The order is very specific: First, the men dressed in black enter on horses, followed by the matadors. The most experience matador enters on the left, and the most novice enters in the middle. The  "picadores", or the men on horses, enter next and after come plaza personnel)

Después del Paseíllo, un monosabio carga un cartel que contiene información sobre el toro, por ejemplo, su nombre y peso. Esta foto no es del primer toro, lo cual se puede deducir por el personal de la plaza tapando la sangre del toro anterior con arena. (After the Paseillo, a worker holds a sign that has information about the bull, for example, it's name and weight. You can deduce that this is not the first bull in the stadium because there are men in the background coving the bull's blood with sand)

El Toreo A Capote

En esta parte del corrida, el torero y sus subalternos reciben al toro al salir del chiquero. Los capotes de color rosa son pesados y hay que usar dos manos para poder manipularlo. (In this part of the corrida, the matador and his assistants receive the toro upon it's exit from the pen. The pink capotes are heavy and it's necessary to use both hands to control it)

Los monosabios esperan a los picaderos para darles las varas. (The assistants wait for the picaderos so they can give them their sticks). 

Esta foto nos lleva al próximo paso, o sea, la suerte de la vara, en la que el picadero (el hombre en caballo), utiliza una vara con una puya para comprobar la bravura del toro. (This picture brings us to the next step, that of the stick, in which the picadero (men on horses), pokes the bull with a sharpened stick to test the fierceness of the bull)

Aquí, se ve más claro el pico. Cada vara tiene una cruceta que impide que la puya penetre demasiado al toro.  (Here, the poke can be seen more clearly. Each stick has a crosshead so that the stick won't go too far into the bull). 

Las Banderillas

El propósito de las banderillas es para restaurar el ánimo del toro después de comprobar su bravura en la suerte de los picadores. En esta suerte, el torero clava dos pares de banderillas en el morrillo del toro. (the banderilla's purpose is to restore the bull's energy after testing it's fierceness. In this part of the corrida, the matador sticks two pairs of banderillas in the toro's muscular section of the back). 

El Fandi, el torero más novato (the most novice matador in this corrida)

El veterano, Juan José Padilla, se quedó tuerto cuando un toro lo pilló, y el hecho de que todavía torea llevando un parche destaca su valentía. (The veteran of the corrida, Juan Jose Padilla, lost an eye when a bull hit him, and the fact that he still fights sporting an eyepatch highlights his bravery). 

Paquirri

La Muleta

Antes de el toreo con muleta, el matador tira su montera (gorro) sobre su espalda. Si la montera cae boca arriba, tendrá mala suerte y viceversa. Actualmente, muchos toreros simplemente colocan la montera boca abajo en el suelo antes de esta suerte para evitar el riesgo. (Before the muleta, the matador throws his hat behind him. If the hat falls "mouth up", he will have bad luck in the corrida. Nowadays, many matadors simply place the hat "mouth down" on the ground before starting with the muleta to avoid the risk)

En esta suerte, el torero más demuestra su habilidad y su arte. Es la fase de preparar el toro para su muerte. (The matador demonstrates his art/abillity the most in this round. In this phase, he prepares the bull for it's death)

La Muerte del Toro

Primero, hay que meter el estoque, o la espada, en la columna vertebral del toro. (First, the matador inserts the spade into the bull's spinal column)

Después, la cuadrilla le da la vuelta al toro para que el estoque se tuerza, tocando todos los órganos vitales del toro. (after, the assistants turn the bull in circles to spin the spade inside, making sure that it gets the bull's vital organs)

Si el estoque no basta para la matanza rápida del toro, se usa una navarra para cortar el toro. (if the matador fails to kill the bull quickly with the spade, a knife is used to cut bull's neck, expediting the death)

Después de la muerte del toro, se presenta el toro al presidente. (After the bull's death, it is presented to the president)

y lo lleva del ruedo. (and is taken from the ring)

Si la gente piensa que el torero merece una oreja (que es un honor recibir y se suele ser dado al torero cuando él ha matado al toro eficazmente), saca un pañuelo blanco para pedirla del presidente. (If the crowd things that the matador deserves an ear (which is an honor to receive and is given when a matador has done well in killing the bull), they take out white handkerchiefs to request that the president grants an ear). 

Si él está de acuerdo, saca un pañuelo blanco asimismo, otorgando la oreja al torero. En esta corrida, Fandi fue el que recibió la oreja. (If the president agrees, he also takes out a white handkerchief. In this corrida, Fandi received one ear) 

Después de recibir la oreja, Fandi da una vuelta por el estadio, y la gente le tira cualquier cosa y Fandi la devuelve. (After receiving the ear, Fandi takes a walk around the stadium and people throw things at him, which he returns)

Aquí, Fandi devuelve un sombrero al dueño. (Here, Fandi returns a hat to it's owner)

Hay mucha camaradería entre los toreros después de la corrida. (There is much camaraderie between matadors after the bullfight) 

Al final, cada torero sale, flanqueado por sus tres cuadrillas. Y acá termina la historia de las corrida de toros. (At the end, each matador exits, flanked by his three assistants. Here ends the story of the bullfight)

Intercambios

Today, we had the first "intercambio", which is basically a meeting with people in Spain who want to learn English and people in our group who want to practice Spanish. At the start, it was like an awkward junior high dance - everybody from our group was in an awkward corner and everyone from their group in their own awkward corner. Finally, we mixed up a bit and got to the mingling! We spoke Spanish to start and then suggested that they practice their English (we, being me and 2 other American girls, they being 2 Spaniards). We then met up with another group (2 Spaniards and 1 American), and unfortunately, spoke mostly English... Next time I think I will try to do a smaller group and that way both of us will get more time to practice both languages.

Here are some novelties that have been added to the mix at our meals: garbanzo beans with chorizo (DELICIOUS, lunch yesterday), rice with ham, shrimp, peas, carrots (dinner last night, also delicious!), pork with chopped garlic, and some more veggie puree (a common dish in our household since little Ernesto eats it a lot....that is, when my family can get him to eat).

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS THIS WEEK FROM ISA:
Monday, Brittany: Went to a cafe en La Plaza Mayor for drinks
Tuesday, Camila: Going to get some ice cream in the Plaza!
Wednesday, Gerardo: Going to karaoke
Thursday, Me: Corrida de toros and Casetas

More details to come on karaoke and la Corrida (I'm obviously not a psychic and won't be able to get back to you on how the plans go until they happen! ;) )

<3

Misa, Mercado, Movie (darn you Spanish word for movie not starting with an "m"...I was on a roll).

"Everyone likes bologna because everyone thinks bologna. Mutual bologna appreciation" -Gracie, after hearing my title for this blog and listening to me whine about my lack of coherence in writing.

Anyways, today I did the three "m"s. I'll write a little about them and then, of course, throw in what I ate for lunch.

1) Misa: I met Megan at 9:30 (9:35 in Katie O time) to go to church. When I got to "La rotunda" (the roundabout), a clown came up to us and said "Amigaaa, cuanto tiempo" (friend, howwww long....basically like you're slow, your friend has been waiting for you). We walked away, ignoring him, and Megan explained that he had asked her for a kiss, and she thought that he meant the double kiss that Spaniards do, but he went for her lips and she pulled away). Weeeiiiird stuff. Church was really awkward. It was basically Megan and I and a bunch of older ladies (all adorable, of course) and we didn't know any of the responses. It felt like the priest was staring at us the whole time, and when I went up to get communion, he didn't say "el pan de Dios" (bread of Christ), but he just gave it to me. uhhhhh. Excuse me, Mr. Priest Sir. I may not know the Spanish version of the responses, but I understood your sermon about Jesus making the deaf hear and the mute speak, and next time I demand a "el pan de Dios" from you when I go to get communion.

2) Mercado: Brenda and I walked down to the market today, which was basically an outdoor flea market with a bunch of señoras and señores yelling "chiiicaas, liquidamos todo, dos euroooos, dos euritossss". It was really hot and after walking for a while and seeing the same products over and over and over again, we turned around and went back home.

**INTERMISSION TO MENTION WHAT WE HAD FOR LUNCH** (this part is really just for me to know what I've been eating here...feel free to skip to number 3).
-Tuna with peppers in a red sauce
- fried chicken breasts
- pan (of course, comes with every meal)
-salad
- Some cooked vegetable medley with (kale, we think?)

3) Movie - "El Amigo de mi Hermana", which should translate as "My sister's friend", but somehow became "My sister's sister". It was dubbed in Spanish (which makes for really awkward voices). The movie was decent until the end, where it decided to just stop and not let us know what happened.

Anywho, that's all for now.
<3 Katie

It's been a while since I last wrote. I need to be a little more on top of things, since Wednesday and Thursday have turned into a blur for me. That's alright though - I don't need to put down EVERY SINGLE THING that I have done here (**cough***people on facebook who post about every detail of their life**cough**). I'll just put down what I do remember from the past few days! On Wednesday, Camila and I met in la Plaza Mayor for "Tinto de Verano", which is basically Sangria, but carbonated. Then, we had a very LOOONG, detailed orientation on registering for classes. I found out that I won't have class from September 17th until the 24th, so I'm taking advantage of that to go to ITALY!!!! That night, we had pizza for dinner (it was so delicious and barbecue flavored...one had bacon and the other was barbacoa). On Thursday, I met up with the group at ISA for a tour of the new and old Cathedrals. The old Cathedral used to be a school (the oldest school for which Salamanca is famous for), and was built between the 12th and 15th century. The guide told us that each student had an oral exam at the end of their studies with all of the professors and that if the student passed, the whole city had a free festival for a week. If the student did not pass, however, they would leave through the back door (where the market was located), and that people would throw vegetables at them and then throw them into the river. YIKES! Good thing exams nowadays don't have that much pressure! The old cathedral only has three wings, instead of the four that Cathedrals typically have (to be in the shape of a cross) because the new cathedral was built as the "fourth wing". That day, the food I remember is spaghetti with chorizo! mmmmm! (I need to start writing down all of the meals so I don't forget...or maybe just be better about writing my blog) Thursday night, I tried to make my reservations for my Italy trip. Plane: success. Hotel: success. Bus from Madrid to Salamanca? Card denied. I tried to call the credit card company and it didn't work, so Friday after class, I went into the ISA office, where Maria dialed and it worked (guess I just don't have the magic touch). I have to wait until a week before my train reservation to book the train from Verona to Trento, but other than that I'm all ready to go!

....Anywhooz, grandma Katie FINALLY went out last night. The Salmantino festivals started Thursday, so last night, Brenda, Salvador and I went to see the firework show (which was great since I missed Fourth of July this year due to fire bans), the DJ Carl Jean concert ("Carl Jean's in the house" was repeated about 500 times. We get it, Carl Jean. Estas en la casa....please continue the concert), and then we went dancing!

One thing that is insane about the Spanish culture is that the kids stay out SO LATE! Last night at the concert (which started at 11 p.m.), there was a couple with two of their children there (I'd give the oldest one about 6 years and the youngest 2 or 3) and the parents were holding their kids, who were dancing to the music! Cutest thing ever! 

This morning, I was supposed to meet with my friend Camila and a Brazilian girl to practice speaking my Portuguese and eat some Churros con Chocolate at Valor, but I woke up at 1....didn't even hear my alarm go off at 10. Oh well, así es la vida. 

Hasta pronto,
Katie

Puerta de Zamora, right by my house

Tinto de Verano

Fireworks show

Principios de la vida escolar

The intensive language program has been a blast so far. There is hardly any homework (yesterday, I had to write a paragraph of a minimum of 100 words about my preconceptions about Spain and today I will need to write a minimum of 150 words about my opinion on the economic crisis). That being said, with classes from 9-1 and barely any extra work, there is a lot of time to explore the city! Yesterday, after lunch (chicken fajita meat and a vegetable purée, green plums for "dessert")* I went on a touristy adventure with Corinne and Megan (Megan will be working for the tourism office so she has to go learn about some sites around town) and we some some of the city's monuments, including the old University library, the new Cathedral, and Casa de Las Conchas. Unfortunately, we went at a bad hour, since a lot of things close down from about 2 until 5 or later for the siesta (not to mention that everything is still on summer hours, which are shorter than hours during the school year, when all of the Spaniards get back to the city). We found the frog on the façade, which barely even looks like a frog until you zoom in on it with your camera.. While we waited for the Saint Martin Parish to open, we went into our new favorite place - Valor - to have churros and chocolate (still delicious!). Dinner yesterday was lunch's leftovers, as well as tortilla (basically an omelet...no potatoes this time), a sauteed vegetable dish with cabbage, soy sauce, and some other veggies.). 

One thing that can't be skipped in my blog is a description of the professors (all female). They are incredibly animated, speak at a thousand miles a minute, rarely pause, move all around the classroom, use LOTS of hand gestures, and get distracted from the subject REALLY easily. One of the professors makes fun of the French all the time (she calls them "Gabachos de mierda"). 

Finally, this morning, I put "leche semi-desnatada", which translates to "without cream" and should be similar to skim milk in my coffee. Never again. 

Here are some more pictures!

First day of School! Living the life! (notice the awesome building in the background!)

Room in El Patio de Escuelas Mayores

Catedral Nueva

Catedral Nueva

Well, just had lunch. It was basically a Shake n' Bake pork chop with cheese inside (again, delicious) along with lentil soup and salad (avocado and tomatoes in vinegar). Aranza told me that the milk, which I had thought maybe was lactose free or something and that's why it tasted bad, actually was bad and that they are going to return it (oops). 

*Breakfast is typically the same here: Coffee, toast with jam, "cookies", or a muffin

Day One of School-Related Items

Today, breakfast was some pastries (a muffin like thing and bread with jam) andcoffee with milk and sugar, which I LIKED...to my surprise (I usually just like coffee from Starbucks that's loaded with so much sugar that it's basically not coffee anymore). We met at 8:45 in the typical meeting point, "debajo del reloj/under the clock" in the Plaza Mayor and then took the language test. The test was 80 multiple choice questions and a short oral interview. The interview was very simple and nothing to worry about; the questions asked were basic and had to do with where we were from, how we learned Spanish, how long we'd been in Spain, etc.

Then, we took a walking tour in which we were shown important areas of "el centro/downtown", but it was hard to catch everything since we went to a lot of places and sometimes a really loud car would pass when the guide was talking. We had "tiempo libre/free time" during the afternoon from about 1 until 3 ish, in which Gracie and I bought some of the things we will need in the apartment (shampoo, etc.). Turns out that the bazaar right outside our apartment has EVERYTHING you could possibly think of (including a towel with a marihuana leaf on it....hmmm). After shopping was lunch: albóndigas (meatballs), arroz (rice, but with beets, corn, and lots of other vegetables mixed in...delicious and kind of like orzo...). After lunch, we had some free time, in which I wrote some post cards and rested. We had a meeting at 6:30 p.m. to get the results from the placement exam as well as our books. I got better results than I had expected and should be able to take the classes that I really to take (as long as sneaky scheduling doesn't hinder my plans)! After the meeting, Brenda, Salvador and I went to wander around the city and see some of the stores/spend time in the Plaza Mayor. A lot of the stores have "ranas/frogs" because there is a legend that there is a small frog on the façade of one of the University's buildings and if you find it you will have good luck in your studies (and if you are not a student and you find it, you can make a wish)! In the Plaza, we had granizados (slushies, mine was strawberry flavored) and sat contemplating our ASTONISHING surroundings. 

Dinner: leftover meatballs, rice, and the most delicious grilled ham and cheese sand which ever. Oh, the perks of living with a chef. 

Hasta luego,

Katie

La perra y la gata

I won't complain about taking classes here...

El Reloj de la Plaza Mayor! 

Brenda y Salvador en la Plaza

 Front door to the apartment building

bigger view of the building