I survived Spain

Well the whole blogging a lot in Spain thing really worked out well, didn't it? This was partly due to the fact that I didn't have internet in my house and partly due to the fact that when I had internet, I didn't want to do it. Oh well. So, since some people have told me that they missed my posts, I have decided I am going to do one big post with short excerpts and pictures to sum up all the events that happened that I never posted about. 

Well, Salamanca was fun. There's lots of bars there, so you know what we did on our weekends. Oh, and the weekend includes Thursday night-Sunday, because we didn't have classes on Friday's. Rough life.

Jessie, Milena and I out in Salamanca 

Meredith and I at the Bull Fighting Museum in Salamanca

Then was the time that Meredith and I met up with Jessie and went to Barcelona. We stayed in this really awesome Youth Hostel, which was themed skater, but was filled with young people from all over the world. It was a lot of fun. We made friends with some other Americans and a few canadians, as well as a French girl and an Egyptian guy. Sometime in person you will all have to ask me about my first interaction with him, dear God. After exploring some of the city, and mostly getting lost in it, we went to the big event -- Sensation Interspace: Barcelona. Oh. My. God. Imagine a huge indoor stadium with a bunch of drug and alcohol ingested college age europeans and people from all over, who come solely to see a bunch of DJ's who have weird names, dance their butts off, and wear all white so when they go home all the clothing is officially ruined. Perfect. We then proceeded to wake up too late from the concert, mostly my fault, and missed our flight to Madrid. So, we got on the eight hour train ride back to Salamanca. Oh, so fun.

Our group from the hostel that went to Sensation

Guell Park - Barcelona

The concert

We came back to Salamanca and I got sick for a while so I couldn't go out that much. But, I got to spend a lot of quality time with my awesome boyfran'. So that was good.

Jim and I

Then came the time where Meredith and I took a trip to Florence, Italy to visit my friend Marisa. We had a lot of fun, and had a really great tour guide. We got to see where Marisa lives and got to look all around the city filled with the most upscale shopping I have ever seen in one place. We also went out with her one night to a pretty hopping club that was apparently on the Jersey Shore. Of course, we ate a lot of pizza. All was perfect, except for our hostel which closed from 2am-6am and then kicked you out from 10am-2pm. Word to the wise: not all things here in Europe have to be specified on the internet, especially huge details about how the hostel is hardly ever open for college kid sleeping hours. Oh well. We also made a short trip to Pisa, Italy for the night. There's nothing there but the tower, but Meredith and I got to explore quite a while when we got lost in the most random part of the city. No taxis either. That's good.

Me in front of the most famous bridge in Florence 

The Duomo

Marisa, our tour guide

Panoramic view of Florence

You already know what this is, I hope.

After that it was the long haul of enjoying our next three weeks in Salamanca until our families came. And enjoying we did! We went out a lot. And when I wasn't going out, you probably could have found me watching movies and spending time over at Jim's house. Classes weren't extremely hard at that point either, so we had a lot of time to do things. During this time I met many new people and enjoyed getting to know people that I had met earlier on in the trip.

Meredith, Alvaro, Pablo and I

Then came the time where my family came to visit. Yes, my entire family -- Mom, Dad and Brad. And they had the same sentiments I had about Spanish food, but I think for the most part they enjoyed the experience. They arrived on Friday and hung out until dinner time where we went to a restaurant and they got to know Jim. Then, the next day we went on a guided tour of Salamanca and a lovely dinner with all my professors, program directors, other parents, and other students. It was literally the most fun dinner I have had in a long time. And it involved a lot of alcohol (they gave us shots for dessert, no lie). Oh, I gave a speech at this dinner in Spanish and Steve gave it in English. That was good. Then the next morning we left for our adventure to the south of Spain. This trip included visits to Cordoba, Granada, Ronda, Sevilla and Merida. I think everyones favorite place was Ronda, just because it was so remote and beautiful. 

Brad, Jim and I after dinner

Mom and Dad at the Windmills of Don Quijote (windmills around the corner, ha!)

Our group at the Mezquita in Cordoba

Brad listening to our tour guide

Ronda 

Me at the Roman ruins of Merida

After saying goodbye to my family, I had to two week homestretch of time left in Salamanca. We made the most of it! Every weekend we went out and during the week we did our fair share of final shopping trips and sites to see. 

...and now I am home. So, call me! 

I saw a real, live, Bull Fight

So the past week I haven't written on here, and honestly it's all due to my lack of time! We have been very busy lately with school, small excursions and hanging out with people. I have finally made some Spanish friends on top of my American friends, so I have been mingling in between the two groups. Regardless, a lot has happened since I bought those red pants.

First of all, I went to my first bull fight. Man, oh man! That was an experience. And just being honest, it's not really my cup of tea. What happened was our program director came into class and asked everyone if they wanted to go to the bullfight that was happening on Tuesday afternoon. She gave us a heads up about the violence and the fact that many Americans don't particularly enjoy watching bulls die. So, me being miss adventure, I decided to say yes and see the torreros. It was definitely an experience, to say the least.

The stadium was a really old, very small place with stone bench seating and close proximity to the main part of the city. This is cool, except for the fact that everyone in Spain chain-smokes and will do it right next to you. I usually don't mind people in the U.S. who smoke, but at least people there have some consideration when the do it. Not here. So, bullfight 1, Sarah 0.

We walked in as the fight was starting and took our seats. We had great seats (and they should be for 34 euro). There were three different bullfighters and six different bulls at this event. One of the bullfighters was on horse (and I felt bad for that horse) and the two others were on foot. And while I would like to say I was prepared for it, I wasn't. All six bulls died in front of a stadium of people cheering on its suffering and waiting for it to pass out from losing so much blood. It was sad. And to be honest, I don't think the fight is fair. The bullfighter doesn't even really do it himself! He has all these other people who come in and help wear the bull down so that when it's dripping blood and almost about to die anyway, the torrero comes in and "heroically" forces it to run through sheets of red before he stabs it to death.

I mean, I get it. There's a sense of tradition and culture that I might not completely understand (and there are rules and techniques to it), so that's why I try to keep an open mind. However, I would much rather go to a baseball game than go watch some innocent animal die from some guys that run around in pants that are too tight for them. You know, it's just not my thing.

At least they do eat the meat after the fight. And while my vegetarians all roll their eyes, if it's going to die, it might as well be used, right?

Next week we go to the north of Spain, which should be a very good time!

RED PANTS

For those of you who have been to Spain, you know that these people dress to the 9's at all hours of the day. For those of you who have not been here, be warned: if you are not wearing a put-together outfit, you will immediately be marked as a tourist. Men here rock their button downs, jeans, and whatever else at all hours. Women tend to stick with dresses or skirts, or jeans and a nice top. The children here wear fancy clothing at all hours. Think your Sunday best, and then wear it all week long.

Well, for the past week my friend Meredith Wholley and I have been obsessing about the obvious fall trend; red pants. They're everywhere here. And the best part was that I saw them at Urban Outfitters and was about to buy them and didn't. Man, did I regret that decision! But the good thing is that we found a pair each today while perusing the shops. Plus, they were a lot cheaper than the ones that were at Urban. So hey, I got a Spanish version.

People here love their fashion. You can't walk down the street without someone carrying a Zara or H&M bag. While it's refreshing, it's also a lot of work. Unlike in the United States, one can't roll out of bed and roll to class. Clothes need to match (and be presentable) and hair needs to be fixed. Also, flip-flops are almost out of the question (although I admit to wearing a pair, but they're dressy).

On another front, I have begun to book a trip to Barcelona for the beginning of October. We even went so far as to book tickets for a huge music event that's happening there, which is supposedly comparable to Pretty Lights, but much much cooler. It's called Sensation Barcelona, or something like that. And it. looks. awesome.

That's all I've got here! Hasta luego!

Viva las fiestas!

The fiestas are here amigos! All of the casetas are up and rockin' in the downtown area. There are so many set up all around the town. And for those of you that don't speak spanish, a caseta is just a little stand that bars, restaurants, and groups of people put up and sell tapas, foods, and drinks. Usually the special at the stands is that you get a drink and one tapa for something like 1.8 Euro or around that price range. The drinks usually include beer, wine, water, or a soda. And the funny part is, the cheapest thing to get is usually wine. Oh Spain!

The plaza is constantly packed. There are concerts, dance shows, street performers, and other activities going on all around the city at any given moment. Today after lunch we are going to go out and explore for a little while. The bars are constantly packed and there are more people walking the streets than I know what to do with. And this is all before the students even have come back to Salamanca! Once they come at the end of September, I wonder what I am going to do with myself.

All of us are beginning to plan our trips to places all around. I am deciding where I would like to go see. While everyone else is dead-set on going out of the country, I am trying to stay within it and see most of Spain before I worry about the rest. I'm sure I will have some great posts to put up here once I get everything figured out.

My home life here is still going strong. My madre is very chill and pretty much lets me do my thing. She is also working in a Andalucia themed caseta, so she's pretty busy and leaves the house in these huge flamenco costumes all the time. It's pretty cool, actually. I am more connected to the world now that I have internet and am enjoying every moment that I am able to blog. The only thing I don't like (besides the food) is that in the house you have to wear shoes all the time. This custom was also in Mexico, but I could at least get away with wearing socks there. Here, they want shoes. It supposedly goes back to the times where they didn't have heat in the homes and had cold floors but I probably still wouldn't want to wear shoes even back then!

...Ohhhhh Spain!

always say no.

So I have learned something new that I found intriguing and decided to share.

Here in Spain, if someone offers you something (food, gum, drink, etc.), it is expected that you say "no", even if you really do want the item. If you accept the item initially it's considered to be rude. Thus, you must say no to the initial ask and then wait for them to ask you again (which they will do). This time if you really want to accept the item, you can.

...you know. In case any of you are traveling to Spain anytime soon.