Livin' On a Prayer

Inside La Catedral Vieja (from the 1100s!)

So amazing!

El cine (the movie theater)

Cuatro Sentidos de Chocolate

Foul McDonald's cerveza (beer) with Jenn

Hola a todos!

Got the cultural reference in the title? That's right folks, I'm halfway there! Today marks the midway point of my time in beautiful Espana. But let's not talk about that anymore!

The past couple of days have been so awesome. My test wasn't too bad, though of course he chose the image from the one day I was having trouble paying attention...I know because I stared at it for a long time. Then, just as predicted, we hit up some delicious Valor. Jenn (who has become my official sharer because we both always want to try new things) and I split this thing called Cuatro Sentidos de Chocolate (Four Senses of Chocolate) with churros. I think it goes without saying that it was fantastic.

The pelicula (movie) that night was so cool! I told you it was Without Identity, but that's directly translated...apparently the American name is Unknown. It had Liam Neeson in it, so you know it was action-packed. Basically this guy wakes up after a bad accident and is sure of who he is but no one else know him and this other guy has basically taken his identity completely, wife and all, so people just think he's crazy. I won't give away the ending but you'd never expect it and I thought it was extremely well done! Mostly, I was just really impressed that I understood the whole thing en Espanol, especially since it was one of those more confusing movies. Then again, there isn't much dialogue to understand in action movies...just a lot of explosions and stuff... The movie theatre was pretty similar to American ones except the room was only maybe half the size, and they give out programs about the movie you're about to see, like in a play.

Friday I only had one class (they cancel the 5 pm one on Fridays in case anyone is trying to travel that weekend), so after lunch a bunch of us met up to scale the Catedral. It was very cool! They have a few rooms set up throughout the tower like a museum, and one of them talked about un teremoto (an earthquake) that hit Salamanca in the 1500s. They had a little show on the wall (which really bears cracks from the earthquake) where they used lights spreading up the cracks and the sounds of people screaming and rocks falling to simulate the experience. It was pretty eerie! Then, we got to the top of the Catedral and it was a spectacular view! We also got to see the inside of the Catedral Vieja, which is no longer in use.

We did some shopping and I got a dress to go out in that night and my first romper, after encouragement from my roomie here and the lovely Ms. Rachel Ess. I got to talk to the equally lovely Erin Gatti before dinner! Escoli made hamburguesas (hamburgers), which were really good but not at all like American ones, and then we got ready together and went out. I had a really good time! We met a few Spanish girls and they taught us a fun line dance. We were trying to kill time until 4ish when they dance clubs really get hopping, so I went to get these weird "chicken nuggets" with Kirsten. When we got back to the bar, people had left and we couldn't reach them, so we ended up just heading home "early" (3:30 am). All in all, it was a fun night, though!

Hoy (today), we plan to rent paddle boats on the Rio Tormes, and then lie out and tan. After dinner, we're going to do our first few FACYL things- riding in a hot air balloon, and then catching a concert or a circus act!

Que tengan buenos dias! (I hope you all have a great day!)

Besitos,

Caitrin