Hola de Salamanca!

Buenos tardes! (Good evening...though it isn't really evening to you guys)

I wrote a post yesterday, but the blog site went down and took down a lot of posts "temporarily." Vamos a ver (we'll see) if the post ever makes it back. Anyways, I'll write about everything up to now just in case.

Where to begin? Pues (well), my flight went really well. It actually seemed much shorter than 8 hours... largely due to how awesome the plane was! It was an Irish plane, and so there were weird foods on the menu. Did you know that Irish people eat tomatoes for breakfast? Anyways, dinner was more normal- really yummy, actually. We had pasta, salad, bread, and a brownie. Just a few hours later we had "breakfast" since we were nearly there by that point and the sun was rising! That was an odd feeling, to think it was around midnight but to see that it was dawn. The plane sat 8 people across a row, with 2 aisles in between, the way planes are set up in the movie Airplane! (If you haven't seen it, watch it before I get home or we may not be able to be friends anymore!) Each seat had its own tv with a touchscreen where you could watch tv shows (I watched Family Guy, The Big Bang Theory, and Sex and the City!), movies, music videos (there were some weird Irish ones..), or a map with an icon of our plane moving across it that also told you our speed, how many miles we'd gone, etc. Que chevere (very cool)! I couldn't really sleep, not that I expected to.

Once we landed, we went through customs (not nearly as complicated as going through US customs!) and then grabbed our luggage. Thank God we had a few boys with us because our bags were muy pesadas (very heavy). We found a little cafe and set up camp for the next 5 hours. I converted some money into euros, got a Coke to keep me awake (soda is sweeter here, I think they use different sugar), and then got to know the group. People kept arriving and joining us throughout the morning. At 1 (for us, it felt like 7 am) our directors arrived and we boarded the bus for the 2.5 hour drive to Salamanca. I think I slept a little but it was maybe half an hour or so; the seat was too small to really lie down. Also we kept passing all kinds of gorgeous Spanish scenery that I didn't want to miss!

Our madres were there to meet us once we arrived in Salamanca. My madre, Escoli, is a great cook and seamstress, probably around 50 or 55 years old. She also appears to be very popular- while Cami (my roommate) and I got home a bit before 1 am, she was out until after 2:30! She is very talkative and sweet. The apartment is small and simple but comfortable. Cami and I have our own rooms, and all 3 of us share a cute little bathroom...complete with bidet! When we first got home and had settled in, Escoli made us a "snack": bread, cheese, strawberries, and Spanish tortilla (this is like an omelette with fried potatoes in it- sooo yummy!). After this, Cami went exploring and shopping with a few of the other girls, but I was literally about to pass out (at this point, I had gotten maybe an 1-1.5 hours tops of sleep in the past 24 hours- and I don't do well with no sleep!). Cami was more accustomed to the time already because she flew into Madrid a night early. Anyways, I took a nap, and then around 10 we had the leftovers of our snack for dinner. We headed out to explore, and ended up running into 2 other girls from our trip.

The city is absolutely gorgeous at night! We found the Catedrales Nuevo y Viejo (Old and New Cathedrals), a few beautiful university buildings, and of course the famed Plaza Mayor! I took a bunch of pictures, I'll post them soon. We also got invited out to clubs by a bunch of guys, but neither of us was really feeling it/ dressed for it right then! Tonight we're going to go out for the first time, because apparently some bar is having ladies night where it's free open bar for girls! Most of the people on this trip seem very interested in going out every night, and I think that's the general culture here for young people...that isn't really me but I'm going to stay open to it and see how I like it. Maybe it's more chill than las fiestas universitarias (college parties) back in the states, and people who went in the past told me it's the best way to meet Spanish young people since they're not in our classes or going on our excursions with us.

This morning, we met up with the group at 10 am to do the first part of our orientation. Jesus and Ramon, the directors, showed us important buildings and explained how our classes, cell phones, and more work. I'm starting to get to know a few of the other students better and I really like some of them! We also saw the JMU office where we can go study, use the computers, and just hang out...it's a cute, nice place, and I think it can be a little home away from home! I'm feeling very far away... Sometimes in a good way, but it's also kind of scary sometimes. After orientation, Cami and I went shopping for a while and I bought some sandals. Europeans think flip-flops are weird, and those were previously the only sandals I owned! Found out that I can't use my credit card sin mi pasaporte (without my passport), and I don't plan on carrying that around all the time, so I am going to just rely on cash that I withdraw.

We had lunch around 2, and since then we've just kind of been waiting around because Jesus was suppposed to call us. Both of us signed up for this job helping Spanish high school kids to learn English, as did 4 other people on our trip...Trouble is, they only need 3 volunteers! So, we're supposed to have interviews to determine who will do it, but he never called. I wished I had known he wasn't going to call because I would've gone out to walk around! Oh well, there will be plenty of time for that. I've just been chilling, reading and of course writing in here! Cami passed out for like 4 hours after almuerzo (lunch), haha. Siesta!

The whole group is having dinner together tonight at 9, and then we're going out to the bar. Tomorrow is more orientation stuff I think, and we'll get our first taste of Spanish weekends. I think that's all for now!

Les extrano a todos (I miss you all)!
Besitos,
Caitrin