Bienvenidos a Salamanca!

Bienvenidos a Salamanca! Ok so basically Salamanca is perfect. My Madre (my host mom) is pretty much exactly what I had envisioned her being like—in her mid 60s, widowed, tiny, feisty, and talks 100 km/hour (km, not miles. I’m trying to do all things European. Including understanding military time. It’s been rough to say the least.). She has worked with the JMU program for the past 11 years, since her husband passed away. When Andrea and I arrived, she wouldn’t let us carry a single bag, didn’t want us to lift a finger. As she showed us around her apartment, we walked into the formal living room where she began to tear up and cry as she explained why she doesn’t use that room anymore. Since her husband passed away, it has become too difficult because there are just too many memories associated with the living room. We about died with compassion as she got all emotional on is, it was adorable. Pretty much, I want to be her.

Our room is great, it feels like living int the dorms freshman year all over again. The room is probably about 15x10 feet, with two twin beds, two closets, and a table. With the exception of probably the most uncomfortable, lumpiest pillow I have ever slept with, everything is great. Our madre is responsible for cooking three meals a day for us, and so far, they have been incredible. It’s clear that she really takes pride in providing for us and taking great care of us. I made my bed this morning, and she came in and told us not to make our beds-- she is our cook, our hotel manager, our maid, and our mother, and that all she does all day is take care of things around the house for us. So that’s great—I’m not allowed to take my dishes to the sink, I’m not allowed to make my bed, and she even told me to stop saying gracias so much. I’m not allowed to thank her. This is ridiculous.

Once we got our bags into our room, she immediately fed us. She was under the impression that we are both strict vegetarians, so she had a salad, vegetable dish, and fruit for us. We clarified to help her understand that we both actually eat chicken and seafood, just not red meat or pork. And so began the continual conversation about what we do and do not eat, considering Andrea is lactose intolerant, I don’t like tomatoes, and Andrea doesn’t like oranges. And I’m sure the list will continue to grow as the semester continues. We emptied our bags and got settled into our room, and then headed out to walk around the city and pick up a few things from the stores.

Spain is so different in the sense that rather than running to Target to pick up everything you need, you have to stop at about 12 different stores when running errands. We needed toothpaste, shampoo, and a hairdryer. Those three items required stopping at three separate stores. There are bread stores, meat stores, fruit stores, perfume stores, shoe stores, jacket stores, scarf stores, domestic electronic stores, general electronic stores, and who even knows what else. I do have to say I appreciate the convenience of one stop shopping, but it just feels like so much more of a cultural experience when you step onto the streets here in Spain.

Dinner in Spain is at 9 PM, and is much lighter than an American dinner. It consisted of a Spanish tortilla, which is actually more like a potato-loaded quiche. And let me tell you, it was amazing. What wasn’t so amazing though were the deviled eggs, cut in half, and covered with warm red pasta sauce. What a gross combination of flavors. But what the heck, I’m determined to try everything.

So of course being in Salamanca for the first night, we met up with about 15 other students from our group to go out for drinks. The central meeting point in Salamanca is la Plaza Mayor (which, when spoken with the proper Spanish accent, sounds more like la platha. I hate the accent here. I just feel like I’m lazily slurring my letters together with a terrible lisp). While standing in the plaza waiting for more people to arrive, we totally got pegged as the obnoxious Americans who came to Spain to get wasted every night. Two separate bar promoters approached us trying to sway us to come out to their bar. We were literally being fought over by Spaniards. Anyway, we ended up in this kind of creepy bar for the rest of the night, and we had a chance to get to know the other people in our group a little better. Considering it was the first night most of us were in the country and we were completely jet lagged, we made it an early night (1:30 AM, according to Spain’s standards, is apparently early). The social schedule is definitely something I’m going to take some time adjusting to.

This morning, we had our first orientation. Our madres were required to walk us to la Plaza Mayor, which is only like 5 minutes from our apartment. It totally felt like the first day of elementary school, when our parents had to walk us to the bus stop, holding our hands as we crossed the streets. I just love the hospitality here. Orientation was held in a university classroom, so we got to see a little bit of the campus, and learn that we have access to free wireless there. We were glad to hear that, considering there isn’t a network for us to use at our apartment. Orientation consisted of a 30 minute lecture about finding the correct balance between having fun (aka staying out late drinking), and studying. Apparently that’s a huge problem with JMU students in Spain (surprise surprise). I don’t think I’ll really have to worry about that, considering Andrea and I are both babies when it comes to being out late. Our sleep is just too precious. That lecture was followed by a brief overview of our maps of Salamanca, where the important buildings and landmarks are located, and how our cell phones will work.

Lunch today was like a tasty bite of heaven in my mouth. We had this amazing soup which tasted exactly like the Senate Bean Soup my parents have made at home, salad, chicken, and fruit. Perfect.