“It should be pretty easy to get to, if we really need to look at the map we can.” “Well, usually the best way to learn where you’re at is to get completely lost anyway.” “Agreed.”
Famous last words spoken by both my housemate and myself as we went out to venture about the city to look for the Plaza Mayor and la Plaza de los Bandos, which was where we were meeting at 8 the next morning and our host mom suggested we go see where it is. It took us about an hour and a half to get somewhere that should have only taken us maybe 15 minutes, and then another hour and a half to get back home. The map was completely useless. They do not use a grid system here; their street signs are a) not on every street, b) almost hidden from sight, so you basically need to know where to look (which, as it was our first few hours here, we obviously did not know where to look), and c) there are 20000 roundabouts, turning one street to the right, another one to the left, and magically creating three or four more out of thin air. Needless to say, we were eating our own words, as we walked back and forth, left and right, around, and around, and around…. And around… But anyway, we eventually made it back, to the delight of our host mom who wasn’t sure if we were dead or not. And well, I can safely back up the statement I made earlier that night, seeing how I did, in fact, get to know the city pretty well in only the first couple days. Bueno.
Famous last words spoken by both my housemate and myself as we went out to venture about the city to look for the Plaza Mayor and la Plaza de los Bandos, which was where we were meeting at 8 the next morning and our host mom suggested we go see where it is. It took us about an hour and a half to get somewhere that should have only taken us maybe 15 minutes, and then another hour and a half to get back home. The map was completely useless. They do not use a grid system here; their street signs are a) not on every street, b) almost hidden from sight, so you basically need to know where to look (which, as it was our first few hours here, we obviously did not know where to look), and c) there are 20000 roundabouts, turning one street to the right, another one to the left, and magically creating three or four more out of thin air. Needless to say, we were eating our own words, as we walked back and forth, left and right, around, and around, and around…. And around… But anyway, we eventually made it back, to the delight of our host mom who wasn’t sure if we were dead or not. And well, I can safely back up the statement I made earlier that night, seeing how I did, in fact, get to know the city pretty well in only the first couple days. Bueno.
The following day (Friday) was a bunch of orientation stuff. It was a BLAST. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Basically reminding us not to be overly obnoxious and display that we’re all American. Damn, there goes my plan to run around scream “ ‘MERICA!” wearing the American flag as a cape. Of course, I found this awfully contradictory when later that exact day we had a scavenger hunt, as so we ran about the streets of the city with cameras taking pictures, yelling at each other in English, and asking people questions about where to find things in the city. Whoops, there goes that lesson. Later that night, we all went out. To say the least, it was a successful first night out in Spain for all of us. The next morning we got up pretty late and later on watched a movie (it’s called “The Way,” it’s about the Camino de Santiago and stars Martin Sheen, it was pretty good if you’re looking for something to watch) and then we went on a city tour. Unfortunately, I don’t do walking tours so well, seeing how my attention span is about equivalent to that of a squirrel. So I caught bits and pieces of what the guide was saying but other than that I was too preoccupied with anything shiny that flew by or caught the sun. And then that night we had pizza at a bar for dinner and there was a local authentic Spanish band from the University that had played a few things for us.
Today we took a trip to Segovia. A lot sites and stuff, as you’ll see by the pictures on facebook. We had our cena at El Rancho de la Aldegüela, and as with everything else here, it was delicious, and we ate, ate, and ate, and right through the pain, we ate some more. This brings me to another side note. My host mom is wonderful; in fact, all of our host families are awesome. And the one main phrase you’ll find in common with all of them… “Quieres más!?” (You want more!?), and of course, 9 times out of ten, you really don’t have a choice, because they will pile that food onto your plate. Luckily though, the Spanish have everything figured out, and you can go take a siesta just as the food coma is striking down with a vengeance, and then go walk it off later (everyone walks here, it’s really common to walk at least 20-30 min to your destination, and this city is big but small at the same time so it’s really nice).
My ability to understand everything is coming underway, and my host mom’s accent is not as much as a challenge to listen through as it was a couple days ago. I keep forgetting that I’ve only been here for a couple of days though, so this is looking pretty good. Tomorrow I have to go figure out how to buy a prepaid cell phone, so this should be interesting to see if I can get through it without any trouble.
In honor of the unintended adventure around the entire city of Salamanca, I’m going to end with a quote from Albert Einstein:
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
Buenas noches!
Glad you are making out so well, i saw some of your pics, and love the pics with your Flat Chrissy doll,lol.
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