Our first weekend excursion: Toldeo and Segovia

January 25, 2009

On Saturday morning we left Salamanca to visit two cities in two days; Toledo on Saturday and Segovia on Sunday. The two experiences could not have been more vastly different. I would characterize Saturday as a wonderful sunny excursion to the religious capital of Spain. And I would summarize Sunday as a hypothermic expedition into the tundra.

We arrived in Toledo on Saturday morning around 11 am. The city is famous for having a history of three cultures: Muslim, Jewish, and Catholic. It was or is considered to be the religious capital of Spain. (Please keep in mind that all of our tours are given in Spanish, so some things are lost in translation). Our tour included a visit to the Cathedral of Toledo, a church right next door (in case you need to get to mass but miss the big building), a Synagogue that had been converted into a church, and a Mosque that was in the process of being converted into a church. I think you can guess which religion won. We visited the Cathedral first. I learned that in every Spanish city, there is only one building called the “cathedral.” The rest of the places that hold mass are just called “churches.” If you tell a Spaniard that you visited three cathedrals in Toledo, they would know you were really foreign, because everyone knows the one-cathedral rule here.

The cathedral was gigantic, beautiful and gothic. We weren’t allowed to take pictures or video inside, but everyone from the group sneaked pictures throughout the entire tour. I found it interesting how many images of Jesus there were in the building. Everywhere you look, Jesus is there, being crucified. I didn’t like that part very much. But there was some important historic artwork by el Greco that the Cathedral was able to buy, and they do a good job preserving that part of history. The cathedral was able to buy those paintings with their own money, which shows how much they must make in donations. The cathedral had flat screen TVs fixed to the marble columns. I wonder what they are used for.

I hate to admit it, but I zoned out half way through the tour because after a while they were just pointing out golden statues of Joseph and Mary, marble carvings of Cristobal, and portraits of every pope and bishop since the beginning of time (seriously). Talking about Catholicism bores me, and it makes me uncomfortable because I believe that it’s all make believe. So I just enjoyed the architecture and Asian tourists.

After eating lunch at the hotel we met up again to see the Mosque in town, but were disappointed when we found it closed for repairs. And by repairs, I mean converting it into a Catholic church.

The city of Toledo is famous for sword-making. The sword used in the Lord of the Rings movie was apparently made by one of the sword-makers in this city. There were sharp objects in every window. It’s the place to go if you need new knives, scissors, razors, or swords. But I didn’t need any of those things, so I bought some jewelry instead!

We were told that in Spain, when people go to nice hotels, they dress up when they go to dinner. Well, everyone in our group looked smashing, dressed in our best clothes and ready for a beautiful dinner. When we got downstairs to the hotel restaurant, it was a disappointment. Dinner was served buffet-style, the place had florescent lighting, and one waiter. I could have worn pajamas and no one would have noticed. But at least we got to pick what we wanted to eat from the options, which was a nice change. After dinner everyone wanted to go out, but it was a little cold and we didn’t know the complicated neighborhood, so we stayed in and hung out in our rooms, still dressed in our fancy clothes. It was like we were playing dress-up.

Saturday in Toledo was a perfect first step outside of Salamanca. The group stayed together the whole time, and everyone enjoyed each of the historic sites we visited. The weather was great, and the food was pretty good, too.

Sunday in Segovia could not have been any more different. I have never seen a group of 31 young adults whine and complain so much in my life. The morning started off with a three hour hung-over (for some!) bus ride to Segovia, during which the snow started. The weather was horrible all day, but in the morning it was snow-raining, filling the streets with freezing cold slush. Almost everyone was unprepared for the weather, including myself. I was wearing my sneakers because I knew we’d be walking all day. My freezing cold, wet little socks quickly turned what could have been another great day of touring into my personal hell. I’ll admit that I don’t deal with physical discomfort like a champ all the time, but this day just pushed me over the edge and I couldn’t hold back my annoyance. But it wasn’t just me—everyone was freezing cold and miserable.

The first thing we did in the snowy cold was to visit a Versailles-inspired summer home of some former-king. The property is famous for it’s gigantic garden. The king who built it was the nephew of King Louis the 14^th from France, so the mansion looked very French (although it reminded me of Newport, Rhode Island).

Then we got back on the bus and everyone was soaking wet with freezing cold snow slush. We changed our socks, and shoes, and then got back out and walked over to the aqueduct. It’s one of the oldest functioning aqueducts in Europe, and it’s constructed without any cement or “glue,” as they put it.

When we were done looking at the aqueduct, we walked to the main plaza in Segovia and were told we had an hour and a half for dinner. We had 15 euros to use that the program director gave us, so a group of us went into the closest restaurant for warmth and ordered off of the menu of the day. BAD DECISION. Eating in Spain for the next 3 months will be a challenge because the favorite food here is pork products, which I don’t eat. And eating in Segovia is probably the most challenging because their town is famous for cooking little piggies and putting them on plates whole. With a knife. Eww.

The food at this particular restaurant should have been labeled “mystery soup” or “mystery paella.” The food just sucked.

But the dog seemed to like it enough…

We then met back up at the plaza and froze our butts off for a few more minutes before walking up to the main event: A castle that was home to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella when they ruled the country. The truth is, my memory of the next several hours is a little fuzzy due to ice in the brain, but I’ll try to remember as much as I can. The castle is said to have inspired the Disney logo. We waited outside while Jesus, our guide bought tickets to enter. Each room served a different purpose when it was used by the royal family. Some were used for banquets, others were used as a church on Sundays, we saw the bedroom, and some other rooms as well.

At one point during the long tour, Hannah started to lose feeling in her feet and that’s when I knew this day would not turn around. She suffered through another half hour, and then warmed her feet up in the bathroom using the hand dryer. That was my high point of the day!

The day ended with all of us running back to the bus, cursing the whole way. This day was just no good!

The first few days of school

It's been three days since we've started class and so far, so good. Our teacher, Javier, is the right kind of teacher to gently prepare us for a semester of classes. He's going to be our only teacher for the first two weeks, and he's begun by teaching us the most useful words for communicating verbally. He's teaching us curse words, how to talk to the telephone or ask directions on the street, and other stuff too. Slang here is definitely different than the Spanish I have heard in the US and in Honduras. But for the most part it's the same language.

I have decided to go to Portugal for the first free weekend at the end of January. Almost everyone in the group is going through a travel agency. I'm excited and nervous to go to a country where i don't speak the language. Although hopefully my Spanish skills will help me to understand what they're saying over there.

Our home is still working out perfectly. Both Hannah and myself still find it difficult to adapt to the weird eating schedule, along with the diet. It's just full of olive oil. It's like the only thing they know how to cook with.
This is how people park in Spain:


Hannah and I decided to go for a walk yesterday during the siesta instead of lay down with a full belly of food, and we stumbled into the public library. What a beautiful building! It has a courtyard in the middle with a (nonfunctioning) well. I have been to New York City plenty of times, and I never gawk at all the amazing buildings and architecture towering above my head, but I simply can't help it here. I walk to and from the University with my mouth open, almost drooling with awe. And the fact that these ancient buildings are being used to sell plastic souvenirs and $5 ESPANA t-shirts is pretty funny too. People that are born here probably think buildings in the US are so odd. Our madre just visited NYC for the first time last year, and she said "all the buildings are made of glass and crystal." Well, all of the buildings here are made of gigantic stone bricks. And it's hard to distingush what was built originally as a church or for other reasons, becasue everything looks so...cathedral-like.

Yesterday was also the inauguration. Hannah and I watched it at our house with our madre and her sister. It's the first time that I wish I were at home instead of here. I went out with two other girls to celebrate. I thought more people here would notice we were from the US and high 5 us, but no one did. Oh well, I was high-fiving myself all day.

The First Week

I am starting this blog so that my family and friends can see what I’m up to during my time in Europe. I left the US on Monday evening and arrived in Madrid Tuesday afternoon. During my layover in Heathrow, I stumbled across these gems...

…they were on sale at the mini Harrods Department store in the terminal. I literally cracked up when I saw them, and then started taking pictures, which probably scared the people around me at 8 in the morning, but I couldn’t NOT take pictures to document the occasion.

David picked me up at Barajas airport in Madrid and drove me to the apartment. My first impression was that everything was so cute and antiguo, exactly as I pictured it would be. I slept for a few hours at Maimen’s apartment because I didn’t get any sleep on the flight. On Tuesday night, Maimen came home from work and we walked to Anto and Eva’s house and I met Rebecca. Rebecca is an only daughter and an only granddaughter, so she has been showered with gifts during the holiday season. She’s been wearing princess dresses recently, and this night she was Snow White.

She said her first whole sentence in English. “I want…I want milk.” Eva and Antonio’s mouths dropped. It was very sweet. She speaks Spanish all the time, and understands English, but she is shy about speaking English. We stayed with them for about an hour and then walked home. The next day, I slept until noon even though I meant to get up at 9 and seize the day. I seized the afternoon, instead, and met Anto for lunch at a Thai restaurant in a neighborhood that was supposed to be a 25 minute walk. Of course I got lost and it turned into a 45 minute walk, but it didn’t matter that I was lost because Antonio’s metro was stuck underground for half an hour due to some unknown problem. We ate some mediocre Thai food and then he went back to work after pointing me in the direction of the commercial area of Madrid. I walked around the Plaza Mayor (I think that’s where I was) and looked at all the things that are on sale. Actually, it was probably called el Plaza del Sol because the metro stop was called Sol. Anyways, in January and February, stores here have rebajas, or discounts on everything. It’s like black Friday only it lasts for two months. Since the economy is so bad, things are discounted even more than usual. I have noticed that the women dress very well here, and I haven’t seen a single sneaker or tennis shoe.

On Thursday morning, I awoke at noon yet again, made some eggs for breakfast, and then went to pick up Hannah from the airport. I am proud to say that I successfully navigated Madrid’s metro without incident, which is out of character for me. Hannah and I took the metro back to Maimen’s, and after she took a shower we went back to la Plaza del Sol via the metro. I caved in a bought a pair of brown boots so I could fit in, and then I bought a purse. But they were both on sale so I felt good about it all. Hannah and I then stopped for dinner at a little dive bar, where we ordered some tapas and Paella. Well, I’ve been to Spain before, and I’ve gotta say that they were some of the worst tapas I’ve had. My stomach turns when I think about it. And the paella was sub-par too. It definitely wasn’t made from scratch, and the prawn was gross and impossible to open. But, it taught me to not order seafood from a crappy little restaurant. There was an old wrinkled man playing what I thought was an arcade game for the entire time we were there. He smoked cigarette after cigarette, and quickly accumulated a pile of butts and ashes throughout the course of our meal. The entire restaurant staff seemed enraptured in his game, but I couldn’t see the screen. It turns out he was playing slots, and when he finally won, about 30 euros fell out of the machine into his happy little hands. He paid his bar tab with his winnings and then turned right back to the machine and started over.

When we got home, I went to bed right away due to my horrible headache, but don’t worry because it was gone when I woke up the next morning. Maimen arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 11:30 am to take Hannah, myself, and all of our luggage to the airport. Well, I have about twice as much luggage, because Hannah is planning on backpacking around Europe for a month after the program is over, so she carried as few bags as possible. We made it to the airport quickly, and immediately met some JMU students who had arrived earlier that day. It took about 2 hours for everyone to get their bags and make it to the bus. Everyone seems nice and friendly so far. The bus ride from Madrid to Salamanca took 2 and a half hours, and I read my book almost the whole way there, while everyone else slept.

Entering the city of Salamanca was a beautiful moment. The outskirts of the city lie on a river, so we had to cross over a bridge and then entered Salamanca proper. The bus drove towards the center of the city and the streets became more narrow and tangled. As we approached the bus stop, Jesus, the program director, welcomed us over the microphone on the bus and told us our Madres were waiting up ahead. We looked out the bus windows and a group of little Spanish women bundled up in their fur coats were waiting anxiously for us. They were so cute, and waved at us all. Our madre, Raquel, found us by yelling our names over the crowd. She wears blue eyeliner on her tiny eyes, and has hardly any eyelashes. I noticed that right away. She hailed a taxi for us and directed the taxi driver to her home. The taxi driver gave her some attitude about where he should park, and she gave some right back to him. I’d say our mama is about 5 feet tall and between 65 and 70 years old. Her oldest son is 37, and she has another younger one in his thirties as well.

It will be difficult to describe what she is like, but I’ll try. She is extremely energetic and quick. She insisted on rolling our 50-pound luggage into the room. She keeps the house impeccably clean and is very particular about how things should be. She is also very emotional when it comes to her late husband. When she was giving a tour of the apartment, she showed us the fancy living room, or sala, and said that she doesn’t use that room for anything because there are too many memories in there and it makes her sad. She tears up every time she speaks of him. He died 11 years ago and that’s when she started to work with the program. One of her friends recommended she do it because she was so lonely and afraid of her big empty apartment. You can tell she takes great pride in her home and her cooking. She said there are two important things for every Spaniard. First is la casa. She told us that respecting the home is the most important, and showed us how to close doors quietly and take off our tacones, or high heels, when we are in the house. She never got to the second important thing, because she talks so fast and flew off in another direction about how to unpack our luggage in the most beneficial way. “Un consego” or a word of advice, was to unpack only our winter clothes and keep the summer clothes in the suitcase, because there isn’t enough room in the closet for everything. I share a room with Hannah, and we use a different bathroom than our Mama. The apartment is much bigger than I expected, and very comfortable, except for the heat that is pumping day and night. Our mama said she can’t turn it off but she tried to turn it down. We’re walking around in shorts and tank tops.

Anyways, Raquel is an interesting woman. She loves to talk about previous ninas who have stayed in her house through the JMU program. Some have come back and visited her. I am sure we will get along just fine. I have no problem understanding her. She talks pretty fast, but I can follow almost all of it. She loves to speak about her children, who are fully grown and live away from home. She has a brand new grandchild who we will meet eventually.

On the first day, we were whisked away very quickly from the group of students, so a few students spread the word to meet in la Plaza at 11:00 pm to go out for drinks. After eating dinner and unpacking, Hannah and I went shopping for toothpaste, a hairdryer, and some other necessities. We have been told by everyone that la Plaza (pronounced “PLATHA”) is the place to be. It’s the center of town, and the biggest draw for tourists because it is one of the biggest, oldest, and most beautiful plazas in all of Spain. And it’s true. It was breathtaking, walking into the plaza at night.

It’s also hard to take in at once. There is so much to look at and observe, and so many people walking everywhere. It’s like a highway during rush hour. After we bought our things, Hannah and I returned home to eat the 9:00 pm meal, which is typically a smaller, lighter meal. We were served a Spanish tortilla, the typical plate in Spain. The food is all very delicious so far.

At 11, Hannah and I walked back to la Plaza, which is only 5 minutes from where we are staying. We’re lucky, because our Madre lives in the center of everything. About 10 other students made it out, and the rest probably just fell asleep early. We went to a little bar on the edge of la Plaza where other Americans tend to go during the semester. It was pretty fun, but Hannah and I left a little early because we became tired.

The next day, today, was our first day of academic orientation. Jesus met us in la Plaza and walked us to the university. There, we sat in a classroom and he gave us tons of information on our cell phones, the map of the city, medical care, classes, the schedule, and vacation. Tomorrow we will go on a walking tour of the city to get to know where all the important things are. I am really proud of my language skills. I can tell that I am among the more advanced when it comes to understanding spoken Spanish. I doubt I will have any problems with the language this semester. I am very excited to taking classes in Spanish, and I know I will learn much more. For the next week and a half, we will have “intensivo” or Spanish drills. That means 4 hours each day of speaking and writing Spanish. The purpose is to prepare us for our Spanish professors. We will be split into two groups, so hopefully I will test into the more advanced group.

After today’s orientation, Hannah and I stopped at a café in the Plaza and drank some coffee. (Well I drank tea, she drank coffee). It was so pleasant, and I just felt so happy to be here. It’s so unbelievably beautiful. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester.

Ok, to explain the cell phone:

I am receiving my cell phone tomorrow. It costs a lot of money to call out from my cell phone, but it is absolutely free to receive calls. If you want to call me, you can use a calling card (or if you have an international plan, I guess you won’t need one). If I want to call you, I can call your phone and then HANG UP before you answer. When you see a missed call from me, that will let you know that I want to talk to you, and then you can call me back. That way, it costs me nothing. It costs about a Euro a minute for me to call the US, apparently even with the calling card that I have. If I want to use the calling card, I’ll use a pay phone.

Sunday, January 18^th. Midnight

I’ve been reading Three Cups of Tea, and it’s such an inspiring book. I can draw comparisons between SHH and what Greg Mortenson, from the book, have done. It is unbelievable what a single person can do. That’s just something I really hope to remember and take with me as I live my life. I would recommend the book to anyone.

Ok, back to Salamanca…It’s the end of the first weekend, and I’m already very comfortable and sure that I will be happy here. This city is so beautiful. It is an ancient modern city, if that makes any sense. I mean, the door to the University of Salamanca’s library is only 5 feet tall because it’s an original wooden door from many centuries ago, and once you open it and walk inside there’s a computer lab. Just like last time I was in Spain, the city here comes alive at night. I keep joking that it’s a “sea of humanity,” but really, it is. It looks like New York City on the sidewalks.

I am proud of myself, because tonight I made an excel spreadsheet of all of my expenditures so far. I will keep track so that I can know exactly how much I’ve spent every day. I’m really putting my college of business education to work!