Adventures Galore

I feel as though I've had less time to blog since I began classes. Need an update? Here's the best I can do to recap the last 5 days:

Thursday: Class, salsa lessons, and the first day of Las Noches Del Fonseca (a festival in Salamanca that runs the month of July). I also went with Dave (my friend from Kentucky) to Orange to buy a temporary Spanish cell phone. I know, I know, it's silly, but it makes it easy to keep connected with people who live here and have Spanish numbers, and to use in case of emergency. That purchase was quite interesting because Dave doesn't speak Spanish, so I had to do all the talking and negotiation. You know how crazy it is to buy a cell phone in the States? Well, imagine that shark coming at you in Spanish when you are only at an upper-intermediate level! jajajaj anyway, The first performance of Las Noches Del Fonseca was Carmen Cortes, a famous Flamenco dancer from Andalucia (the region in the south of Spain). She was amazing with her dance and her band of three musicians (guitar, drums, and vocals) was absolutely incredible. After that, I got a sore throat but decided to try to sleep it off.

Friday: I woke up SICK... and I knew the feeling: Strep. Indeed it was as I found out at the doctor. He prescribed me some antibiotics and I got to go buy them at the local farmacia. Buuuut that didn't stop me from hitting up El Savor for a little salsa (I'm addicted... what can I say?). I just danced 2 dances though, in hopes of "resting".

Saturday: We woke up bright and early and jumped on the

charter bus which took us to Segovia, a town north of Madrid, about 2 hours away from Salamanca. There we visited a monastery founded by John of the Cross, roman aquaducts, the castle that Ferdinand and Isabella got married in and reigned from, and the palace nearby with numerous gardens and bronze fountains. It was so incredible! It was really hot there, but was so beautiful. We were gone for about 12 hours that day, about 4-1/2 hours driving and the other walking around. We returned to Salamanca and of course I went out that evening for dancing, drinks, and fun.

Sunday: Time to catch up on sleep! We visited (in Salamanca) the Pontificia, the other university in the city that once rivaled the University of Salamanca but is now friendly with them. It was beautiful architecture, just on the cusp of rococo. Then I slept for HOURS which was very refreshing. Then... wait for it.... what was on Sunday.....???? LA COPA MUNDIAL! And Spain took the whole thing! I have to make a separate post for that, it was so huge... stay tuned.

Monday: Back to school! I took a pretty long nap midday and then stayed up late to talk to Kellie at home. Along with Kellie also came Laurel and Leslie :) I was soooo happy to see my best friends and talk with them for so long. Then I got to spend some time talking to Camilo, which was also very wonderful... just over a month until I land in Colombia! :)

Tuesday: Well, that was yesterday... let's see... Oh yeah, another day

of class, siesta (a looooong one), and cooking class! Our cooking teacher/chef, Davis, was amazing! He taught us how to make Gazpacho (a cold tomato-based soup), Zorongollo (a sweet/tangy pepper side dish), and Pisto Manchego (a mix of garlic, peppers, onions, squash, tomato paste, and eggs). They were all SOOOO go

od I could hardly believe it. I didn't even eat dinner, but did go get ice cream later (menta con chocolate, which matched my eyeshadow) with Dave and then wine with Dave and Zayrho. What a blast :) Then I went to bed early (aka 12am) and slept for 8 hours... soooooo good.

Today: So far, I just had class and am now getting ready for lunch. Then it's siesta, cooking class to learn how to make a few more dishes (and sangria, too, I think), go for a run, go buy Dave some glasses so he can see, and then do some studying. Most likely the night will end with a little dancing and wine, but what's new. Also, I have another private Spanish conversation lined up, so I'll get even more spanish practice today... we're focusing on past tense. Oh, and yes, my strep is nice and gone, but now I have a cold, or allergies, or something like that. It's fight after fight here, I tell ya... life is so hard ;) Alright, that's enough blah blah blah...

...catch me later :)