I am here!

So, I have finally made it here to Spain and I am enjoying (mostly) everything already! I bought an internet USB so that I could facebook chat and write on here to let you all know what's happening.

Lets see...

We arrived at the main airport in Madrid, Spain on Thursday and have been in a whirlwind ever since. After having some help from Steve with one of my large suitcases, we found our way through customs and into where our program directors picked us up. After waiting a half hour, the bus finally arrived and we were off to Salamanca. I don't know if it was the food on the airplane, the day of traveling, or nerves, but I was super sick on the bus ride and thought for sure I was going to vom. I didn't, but I definitely came close. We stopped about half way through the two and a half hour drive to eat at a gas station type thing. I couldn't eat my sandwich because I was so sick.



Finally we arrived in Salamanca, and upon pulling up we saw our madres waiting for us. My madre is a nice woman named Juana who is in her 50's/60's. She was standing with her two grandchildren, Jimena (who is 5 years old) and Jaime (who is 2). We struggled at first to fit everything in the car, but eventually got it to fit and headed off to the house. And I'm telling you, I lucked out. I am the only one who lives right in the city, literally a block from the Plaza Mayor. I can see it from my balcony of my house! There is a garage that is directly under our apartment complex, which uses an elevator to take cars to park. That was weird! But the house is nice. I get my own room, which has a twin sized bed and a desk. Nothing crazy, but it's all good. My room is right next to the balcony in the middle of the house so lucky for me, I get to hear everyone in the apartment buildings conversations. Don't worry, my sleep hasn't been interrupted. I can literally sleep through anything!

A few of us out at night

The first night we decided to go out for a while. And pretty much every night besides Sunday we have done the same. The night life here is pretty crazy. There are a lot of bars, obviously, because it's a very University centered town. But here is different than Guanajuato, Mexico, just because there are also a lot more clubs and places I would consider to be very fresa. I have, however, found one rock bar called Rock Roice that is a Spanish bar and have made friends with all the bartenders. Come on, would you expect anything less?

Snow Cohn and Stevie Rimz

We have had some citas with our tutores who teach us where things are in the city and take us on cultural excursions. While it's nice, it's also frustrating because we tend to do them during prime "nap time". Oh well. We went to a museum of contemporary art, much of which I didn't understand and it's only because I don't "speak art". We have also gone to the mall, walked the city, and seen some of the "important sites of Salamanca".

Our classes right now are just kind of those "introductory, learn something about Spain and work on your Spanish classes" which I guess are kind of helpful but annoying at times. The nice part is, however, that they don't start until 10am. Sleep time!!! The teacher is very nice and enthusiastic, so that makes me not want to totally kill myself! The internet at school is free and much stronger than the USB internet I bought at the phone store, so I will probably be doing most picture uploads and maybe some blogging there instead of here. My USB internet has a limit on how much data one can use -- 2GB. As I am not a tech person, I am trying to conserve the little time (well, I think little time) that I have.

The food here is ok. I don't particularly like it, but whatever. I miss my hot sauce and I miss flavors other than fish, sardines and blandness. Oh, but the salads are pretty alright. I don't mind salads with vinegar and oil instead of dressing. But when you go out to a restaurant, they always eff them up and put tuna on them. It's not that my madre is a bad cook, it's just that I prefer more variety and less seafood. Most of my friends and family know that I am not a huge seafood person. Maybe it'll just be more reason to get really skinny. Ha. Probably not.

We have already made some Spanish friends and are looking forward to going out with Brandon and Rylan when they arrive here in Salamanca.

And other than that, there's not too much that's new.