So Long Salamanca

Today is my last day in Salamanca, Spain.

It is incredible how fast my time here went by. Looking back at three weeks in a city that gave me new knowledge, friends, language, and insight to european culture I feel blessed and thankful. This experience has been a true stepping stone in my climb to discovering who I am.

Last night my friend Steven took a small group of us to a local Irish bar that he had stumbled across one night when he was out with a Swiss girl Christina who had been here for 6 months. I was intrigued by the decor as soon as we walked in. It was a Celtic looking tavern illuminated with a candle lit atmosphere with largely out of place brightly colored Spain flags hanging behind the bar. It occurred to me that Irish bars exist in every culture but you can never forget exactly where it is you actually are...and in this case we were reminded we were still in a Spanish speaking country. It only took us a few seconds to follow the beats underneath our feat to an Irish Folk Band playing in the back. As everyone took a seat I grabbed my close friend Julie to stand in front of the band. We couldn't pry ourselves away from the music. The fiddle sped up and the drumbeat grew stronger and before we knew it we were dancing what may or may not have looked like some sort of jig. The music moved our feet and with one quick look to our left we were joined by 2 or 3 other people and by the time we looked to the right several more. It wasn't long before our friends joined us as the band played louder, longer, and faster. It was joyful music, not one person dancing could stop smiling. All of us, hoping on our feet, holding hands in the air, twirling around and trying our best to recreate what we imagined in our hearts to be something like traditional Irish dancing. The band adored us. It was my favorite night here and my desire to go to Ireland has now become even stronger.

For my last week abroad I will embark on non-stop excursions in different towns all throughout Spain. I do not expect to have much access to my computer because I will be staying in hotels each night. I am excited to experience more of Spain but I will mourn Salamanca. This city has left an impression on my heart that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

<3kelly

Nueva Entrada!

Hola!

The first picture is of my class here at the University. Their are people ranging in all ages and from all over the world!

The second picture is the shrine Bascillica in Fatima!

The third picture is a candid of two men playing and singing on the streets of Salamanca. It is very common to see this type of entertainment any time of the day and night.


It has been difficult finding time to write in this blog! I have been so busy and recently busy in an undesirable way. Last Thursday night I came down with a stomach bug my friend living next to me had. The next morning I went on a very uncomfortable 8 hour bus ride to Portugal. When I arrived I slept in a wonderful 4 star hotel bed until dinner. After taking medicine and eating very little I felt much better and decided to go out with my friends just for a an hour or two. We roamed the beach side popping in and out of local places and finally stumbled across a Portuguese birthday party taking place on top of a fish market that welcomed us in with warm smiles and gestures to take empty seats. As soon as we sat down a man who was clearly the host handed us a packet of Karaoke songs and asked us with rapid head nodding to choose one and sing. My friends Julie, Julz, and I decided to go for it. We picked an American song called Wonderwall by Oasis. When our turn arrived we confidently took the stage and began singing the song plastered on the huge screen behind us. After a few minutes we realized absolutely no one in the crowed recognized the song except a very excited young man sitting at a table to the side of us. With all the opportunities I have come across in my life to try Karokee ,waiting to be in front of 30 Portuguese strangers who do not speak English was probably not the appropriate time! It was quite the feeling, singing in sea of blank stares with one very excited fan. After the song the host thanked us graciously even though we failed to get the crowed going and we laughed about it the entire night. The people there were very friendly there and happy to have us regardless of our lack of talent.

Saturday I spent the first half of the day sleeping on the beach and the second half of the day poolside. I felt very sick doing anything other than laying down. Id have to say however, if your going to be sick and unable to do anything but lay down what a time to do so on a beach in Portugal! I cannot complain too much! I relaxed, chatted with friends, listened to music, and read. I would like to return to Lisbon someday to explore the city and experience the culture.

Sunday we left around 12 noon and traveled on our bus to Fatima, a Catholic City in Portugal. Fatima's claim to fame is the shrine called the Bascilica built to commemorate the events of 1917 when three peasant children claimed to have seen the "Virgin of the Rosary", When the children asked for her name, she said "I am The Lady of The Rosary". The city is incredible, vibrating with faith. I was able to spend two hours there walking around the streets and looking at various religious gifts in the stores. Fatima is unlike any place I will ever go again. My professor told our class it is common for people to walk on their knees in Fatima in symbolism of a pilgrimage but I did not see anyone doing so.

Tomorrow is my final exam for my class in the University. My last day of class will be Thursday and then we leave Salamanca on Saturday morning. We will then travel to several cities in Spain during our last week and spend our nights in hotels. I am excited to travel to new places and experience more! I have fallen deeply in love with Salamanca however and if it were up to me (and not the coordinator of the group), I would prefer to spend another week in Salamanca.

As for my stomach bug, I am still getting over it today and several other people in the group have now gotten it. I am taking medication, resting, and drinking water. I have done a pretty good job at not letting it completely ruin any day I have here. I consider my days abroad very precious!

I hope to write again soon!


<3Kelly

The Good life!

Hola!

It has been way too long since I have gotten the chance to write another entry! The days go by so easily here I am on the go constantly! I am the only one on my floor with a computer and sometimes what happens is when I do have the oppourtunity to write my computer will be occupied by friends who want to send notes to their friends and family.

Quite splash of bad news: My camera is broken! Unfourtunitly I will no longer be able to post any pitures of my trip! I brought it to a camera store and had a skilled man take a look at it but after several minutes he told me it was a lost cause. I bought a disposable one but of course I wont be able to get those pictures back until I am in the states.

So whats new:

The weekend was incredible! Friday a large group of us took a 20 minute hike through the city to a pool. It was beautiful! Rich green grass to lay on and a large bright blue pool to swim in. We had a great time as a group catching up on homework, chatting about the past days, listening to music, and absorbing the first real moment of down time. It was a beautiful day and we all got a lot of sun.

Saturday was a shedualed free day and a rainy one at that. I mostly spent the day catching up on homework, watching spanish movies, playing games, and eventually we all went out on the town for the night. It is surprising how many clubs cater to Americans. Their is this one place in particular called the Irish Rover which actually has signs in their place written in English. I don't like going there because they play some pretty strange music (80's and 90's club music) and their also happens to be a younger and very American crowed there. I along with others find this boring and unapealing because it feels like a place that jumped right out of New Haven. By the end of the night we found a better more authentic spanish place to dance in.

Sunday was "El Rastro", a trip to Salamanca's popular sunday flea market. The place reminded me of any typical flea market you would catch in new england only their were tenders shouting prices and gestures at people in spanish. I was able to buy quite a few things for people back home. =)

So now it is week number 3 and everyone is back in classes. Last night my two best friends on the trip Julz, Julie, and along with a young girl from Holland who we have class with (who speaks 4 languages!) went out for pizza after needing a serious break from cafeteria Spain food. We found an italian pizzeria and treated ourselves to yummy mushroom pizza! We struck up a conversation with one of the men who works there who was from pakistan and came to help his brother run his restauraunt. The man spoke very little spanish, english, and german! He was very interesting and told his stories about his travels. In the end he treated us to a free pizza so we would come back!

Their is a roar of excitment in the group because this Friday we leave for our 3-day trip to Portugal! Tonight our college is presenting a fiesta in the Plaza De Mayor (center of town) for their students. Their will be free Salsa lessons, Spanish music, and free Sangria. All of our professors and classmates will be attending and everyone is excited!

<3 Kelly

I am on Top of the World!

Sorry it has been a few days and what a few days it has been!

So Friday my friends from the trip and I celebrated The United State's Independence Day by going out dancing and strolling the streets of Salamanca. Well it wasn't until the end of the night where I looked down at my wrist and realized that one of the two things hanging from it was missing...my mini purse with 40 Euros and my credit and debit card in it. The weight of my camera still hanging must have kept me from looking earlier and as you can imagine I panicked. I ran through the streets frantically searching for it and turned my room upside down as well as the rooms of my friends. I went back to the place where we danced but no one admitted to seeing it. The next day I was told I couldn't attend the sight seeing excursion that had been planned because I had to clean up mess I had created for myself. What a bad day. Luckily I was able to stop my cards before any of my funds were drained and thanks to my wonderful dad and to Mom Rothman for saving my day I was able to have money wired to me through western union. I was also lucky enough not to have been carrying my license or passport so all in all I guess I got pretty lucky for being so foolish.

Enough bad news!

On Sunday I was able to attend the second excursion to Alberca Spain, a small town about an hour away. On the way there our bus stopped at cierra de francia mountains (definitely have the name wrong) and went on the most beautiful hike I have ever experienced. At the last scenic stop as high as we were going to be able to go on a short hike in a short amount of time, over looking mountains that continued for days, it was the kind of place with enough beauty and serenity to answer even the most impossible questions. It was the first time as a young adult that I found peace and I left those mountains feeling reborn with the hope of a child who only knows how to look forward to her very next moment.

After the mountains we arrived at the town. It was like walking into a story, the buildings, the designs, the history inscribed on the walls, the colors, and the traditional clothes of the locals reminded me of great writers that have illustrated this way of life for me before. A tour guide took our group on a small walk through the village and told us facts and stories of Alberca, one of oldest towns in Salamanca. During the tour we were lucky enough to witness a march for Saint Christopher, where a priest was traveling through the streets blessing the town in honor of the saint who travels (Christopher) with a procession behind him including two men carrying a simple but profound beat on the drums and townsmen and women with their heads bowed down in respect holding pictures of the saint. The town was beautiful, houses with balconies bursting with bright colored flours, and clean preserved streets and buildings. What I found most interesting was the history of the Jewish people who had once lived in the town. When Christianity came to small town of Alberca, the Jews were forced to convert or leave. The Jewish people loved their town so much that they would pretend to convert. After awhile the Christians suspected that they were faking it and would stand in the streets eating ham in front of them in order to provoke them from admitting they weren’t Christian. In order to stop the harassment Jewish families carved inscriptions above their front doors with names of saints and crosses to prove they had "converted" The inscriptions are still visible! It is incredible!

On the way back we made another scenic stop where we took more photos. A bunch of friends and I found a cherry tree and spent a half hour climbing it and picking fresh fruit to bring home for breakfast. The sweetest cherries I have ever tasted are the ones I fought to pluck as I climbed to the top of the tree that day to get just the very ripest ones.

Well it is getting late here and I promised a girl a few rooms down that I would go for a long run with her at 6am before class. She is training for a 5K. Goodnight!

<3>

estoy enferma

Hola!

The first picture is of the street walking to class and the second one is where the classrooms are. Their is a large basketball/futbol/meeting place in the center with classrooms surrounding it.

Today I woke up with a pretty bad sore throat. I went to the farmacia/pharmacy and a lady there helped me get some medicine. Tonight I am staying in and getting at least 8 hours of sleep in hopes that I will feel back to normal tomorrow. I knew that it was only a matter of time before I got sick! Annnddd I've been drinking water constantly as well as taking my usual vitamins and airborne. Owell...I guess not even herbal supplements can combat 5 long days and late nights.





Well...Spain just does not allow sick days so even though I was feeling under the weather I couldn't help but have a great day anyhow. After class and lunch we (all the students from CT) had our first excursion which was a tour of the colegio de espana, which was a tour of the historcial part of the school we are studying in. I will have to do my best to post pictures of the tour tomorrow because the places we went to were incredible. I learned that the college has been around since the 15th century! The details in the arcitechture are fascinating, pictures carved by hand into the marbel walls, stair cases, and Arabic and Hewbrew inscriptions everywhere. All of the ceilings are hand crafted and beautiful. We were told about an old tradition in the school where students would be lectured to by their professor for 5 years after which they are given only one oral exam at the end in order to become a doctor of the school. Well only 7% of the students passed and those who didn't were punished by public ridicule and thrown into the river. Those who did pass were given special parties, bull fights in their honor, and were allowed to write their name in red paint on the walls of the school along with their own unique symbol of victory. Their were names with symbols and dates from 1600-1996!





Salamanca is rich with history and symbolism it is nothing like the United States where buildings are put up and torn down without thought. Where city lights illuminate billboards, restuaruants, and stores. Their is hardly any advertising on the streets of Salamanca. Signs do not light up, and names of shops or cafes are written elegantly in paint on the walls. Lights do not blink, dance, or buzz here, they twinkle like stars. The buidlings in Salamanca are empathetic to the people. They reflect their emotions, their ambitions, their passions, as well as their past, future, and preasent. Everything down to the soothing cream and salmon color of the streets and buidlings. When dusk approaches the entire city bathes in candel light. It is very soothing to sit on the balocony or take a walk and breath in the colors of the city. I am content here.

Buenos Noches!

<3 Kelly

Segunda Dia

Itake a 5-hour language practum/grammer class with young adults from all over the world. Their are a few from my program, one student from Vietnam, one from Japan, A few from Texas, one from Norway and a 24 year old priest from Germany. They all speak their native languages, a few can speak a few English phrases and words, and the only way we communicate with each other and in the class is through Spanish which we are all just learning. It is fascinating! The profesora speaks Spanish only and does not understand English and prohibits those of us who know it from speaking it at all. It is challenging and mentally stimulating to engage in 5 hours of speaking in Spanish and getting to know fellow students. The time flew by and I am anxious to go back tomorrow and continue the class!


Last night a bunch of friends from the program and I met a French boy named Piere and a French girl named Erana who can only speak French and Spanish and came to study abroad separately and alone. Chris speaks Spanish fluently and asked both of them to join in with our group for the night. We all became instant friends with the both of them. It is amazing how well you can communicate with someone just by reading his or her body language and facial expressions. Though we could hardly talk to each other we understood each other very well and by the end of the night it was easy to forgot that my new friends spoke a different language than I. They will be hanging out with us for most of the trip.


Speaking Spanish is becoming easier each day!


The pictures I posted are of the Plaza De Mayor during the world cup and also a picture of my new french friend Erana and I. Unfortunately I cannot post as many pictures as I'd like because it takes a long time to load them on the blog.

Oh, and my Internet is working now in my residencia.

Adios!

<3kelly