Cata de Vino, Salamanca y ávila

I am in shock that it is already March 1^st! The past week was of course another wonderful one! Although, at the beginning I had 2 papers that were due and a grammar test that was pretty hard. But, I am proud to say I did very well, even for the difficult grading they do here in Spain (a letter grade of C is considered good, so the teachers are not too generous with grades much higher). However, everyday I feel like I am learning so much and that is what matters, right? ;)

Ive been enjoying many things in Spain that I never try or do in the United States, like for instance: tuna fish, cauliflower, not putting salt of everything, going for runs, watching a lot of tv, eating lots of different fish and seafood, napping in the middle of the day and not stressing so much about grades (I wonder how much is stay with me!)

After dance on Wednesday, we have been learning the chachacha and merengue, I tried another semi new thing... I went to club volleyball! Lets just say its been a while since Ive done any sort of competitive sport. I was not used to the yelling and intensity and I felt bad for letting my team down a few times… but I am going to go again this week (it’s the only way I can improve!) haha I am just hoping to not pop any more blood vessels in my arms.

On Thursday night we went out to celebrate Luke’s birthday!( a guy in my group) and on Friday we toured the Cathedral of Segovia. It was very beautiful inside, but I almost like the outside more. That night after getting churros, a few of us went to this outside tent called La Tierra de Sabor (Land of Taste). It had lots of people who were selling all different foods, from jamón to cheese to sweets. There were lots of free samples and it was fun to try all of the different things.

Katee, Me, Anna and Dana at the Wine tasting

At the wine tasting with one of our new friends

Bridget’s host mom was putting on a wine tasting event at a nearby restaurant later that night. There were about 10 of us from the group that went to support her company, which is a Flying Doctor’s Program and is nonprofit. It was such a blast, definitely one of my most memorable nights so far! We were taught how to properly test the wine by looking at the color, spinning it, smelling it and all those things haha. There were two different types of Red wine and we learned about how they were made and the differences between them. One was more fruity and younger, while the other had been stored in a wooden barrel. The presenters at the event were very funny, however we didn’t always understand their jokes..and they made fun of us for that. There were also these long toasts everyone would recite, but we had no idea what they meant! After the presentation was over they brought out some “pinchas” (little bits of food, like appetizers more or less) and we were able to socialize. There was olives, bread, jamón, cheese, empanadas and the best chorizo I have had thus far! We spent most of the night conversing in Spanish with different people at the event and Bridget’s parents! I was really excited to go home and talk to Marta and Jorge about my fun experience, but we ended up staying longer than I thought and by the time I got home they were already asleep.

I woke up early the next morning before anyone was awake in order to get on the bus to Salamanca. The bus ride was around 2 hours and I slept a lot of the way. The town was beautiful and full of people because the central attraction is the University of Salamanca, which is the oldest and one of the most prestigious universities in Spain, so there are tons of students. In Salamanca we toured a few cathedrals and convents, Convento de San Esteban and La Catedral Nueva y Vieja. They were all very beautiful and detailed, but they are all starting to look very similar to the rest of the churches and convents we have toured.  It was still fun though! 

Plaza Mayor filled with people

It was a gorgeous day out, so during our free time for lunch we sat in the Plaza Mayor to catch some rays and enjoy everything around us. There were tons of people at outside restaurants and sitting in the Plaza. I absolutely love the outside patios and seeing so many people enjoying the city and weather! J On our excursions we get packed lunches from our padres. I had a bocadillo de tortilla and another de jamón (bocadillo is like a sandwich and they wrap them up in tinfoil…everyone has them) The tortilla one is really good but it always feels like it shouldn’t be inside a sandwich! While eating I did a lot of people watching. I have become very obsessed with the fashion here in general.  I love seeing all the girls walk by with their cute boots, tights, skirts, flowy tops and an awesome accessory to top it off.  It makes me want to go shopping all the time and put together new outfits, but I am really trying to hold back and I think I am doing pretty well.  After my fashion watching, we did some walking around and shopping before meeting again. I got a pair of heels that hopefully I wont be too nervous to wear, since I never wear heels! J

Our hotel in Salamanca was outside of the central area, but very nice. We didn’t want to spend money on dinner so we took the city bus to a market and bought our own ingredients to make something cheap. I ended up getting a salad and some chips and guac to share with my roomies (Anna and Dana). We ate in our rooms and watched the german version of American idol, which was super funny. They sang all American songs, but ones you would never see on our American idol (For example: Billionaire by Bruno Mars, with the naughty words included). We took taxis that night to the Plaza Mayor and went to a few bars and clubs around the central area. It was really fun since there is such a young population that lives there. One of the bars played a mixture of all the songs from the movie Grease and we had fun with that! Then we went to a club that only played techno music with no words, we kept waiting for some fun American stuff to dance to, but we ended the night there a little disappointed. However, when leaving I noticed the name of the club was “Morgana” so, of course I had to take a picture in front of the door!

Wall around Avila

The next morning we had to wake up early to eat breakfast. At breakfast there was French toast, fruits and scrambled eggs! (I got very excited) There was also lunch meat and bread, so most of us sneakily made our lunches for later that day. We took the bus to ávila, which is another town an hour closer to Segovia. I started out the morning in tights and a dress with a cardigan, but when we got to Avila we found out it was one of the coldest towns in Spain, with a brutal wind. I managed to overpack (like normal) so I put on jeans, socks, 2 sweaters, a coat and scarf…but there was no way I could get warm enough that day. It was so windy and I came home with windburn. The city was gorgeous though. There is a wall that stretches around the whole town. We got to explore on top of it and we also went to some more convents and cathedrals. During lunch we stopped for some tea and coffee to warm up, and Brian and Theresa (our director and his wife) bought Luke ..and all of us..cake for his birthday. I was so tired when I got home and so was Marta that we weren't even able to finish our episode of Los Protegidos.

This week I have some more papers and I also need to study for a test. Marta and Jorge are going to the Canary Islands on Wednesday and I am soo jealous…I want them to take me with them (especially since it is super cold and snowing here). Dani is staying with the boys and I for the week though, so that should be fun! She is going to teach me some recipes and I told her I wanted to teach her something (although I am not much of a cook). I tried to explain warm cookies from the oven to her, but she said that would make her too fat with all the butter. I also don’t know if they have all the ingredients like vanilla extract. If anyone has any good ideas you should send them to me via email (megirard@csbsju.edu)!

Mil Besos!

                        Morgan