Hola Todos!
Well, I’ve finished my first week of
classes, and with them, my first of six weeks in Salamanca.
Since the first class on Monday, we’ve
really started to dive into the course material. In my Spanish art class, we
have already covered prehistoric art and roman art, which both play a huge role
in influencing later Spanish art. Next weekend we will travel to Cantabria, an
area in the north of Spain, and I am hoping we will have a chance to see some
of the cave paintings there! In lit we have started to learn different poetry
vocabulary in Spanish, and have started reviewing the different historic
periods in Spanish literature. Unfortunately, I don’t think we are going to
read an entire novel in Spanish for this course, as it seems to be focused more
on poetry and short stories. I guess reading a full length Spanish novel is
something you work up to, so hopefully this class will help me gain the skills
I need to (eventually) tackle Don Quixote
or One Hundred Years of Solitude in its
original translation. My third class, Spanish grammar, did not meet for the
first time until Tuesday afternoon. As it turns out, this is the only time we
meet for this class! Once a week on Tuesdays from four to five, one other girl
and I (we are the only two people in the class) meet with our professor to
review grammar concepts and ask questions. Other than that, though, we just
have a lot of homework to compete from week to week to practice the material on
our own. I am actually very happy, albeit surprised, by this arrangement. All
the concepts we are going to cover in this class are things I have learned in
past Spanish classes, so I see no need to meet with the professor every day.
With this arrangement, we get to test our knowledge of the grammar concepts and
then ask for clarification on specific areas where we are still struggling.
Since there are only two of us in the class, I have no doubt that, despite the
fact we are only scheduled to meet in class six or seven times, I will come out
with a better grasp on the usage of Spanish grammar.
(Side note: as I write this, we have just
crossed the border from Spain to Portugal)
Classes have allowed my mornings to fall
into a nice routine, though I wish I didn’t need to be awake quite so early… I
have classes from nine to ten and from eleven to twelve, and don’t need to be
home for lunch until two, so I spend the time in between studying, socializing,
and sightseeing.
On Tuesday mornings many of the museums and
cathedrals in Salamanca are open to the public for free. I have made a goal to
visit one each week between my nine and eleven o’clock classes, at least until I
run out of new things to see. This first Tuesday, I went to the top of one of
the two old cathedrals in Salamanca. I believe it was the newer of the two. I
went with a friend, and we climbed up numerous flights of stairs until we
reached the top. On the way up we heard an ominous and spooky voice, like the
narrator of a scary movie, echoing through the stairwells. My friend and I both
stopped mid-way up the stairs curious and startled by the frightening voice. As
we began to climb again we heard the voice again, but this time a man popped
his head out from behind a bend in the stairs, and we both let out a small shriek in surprise (I really want
to emphasize the word small because I know if I don’t, I am going to get teased
for this). It turned out that the voice we were hearing was just a recording of
a man narrating the history of the cathedral, and the man that popped out to
scare us was a German tourist who had stopped to listen to the cathedrals
history, and decided to try and scare us when he heard us coming up the stairs.
Nevertheless, the people who run the cathedral should really consider having
that audio rerecorded, this time by someone who doesn’t sound like the devil
cursing the place…
From the top of the Cathedral, we saw a
breathtaking view of Salamanca. I saw the other cathedral, the university,
miles of houses and apartments, and beyond all that I even saw the wide, empty
fields that let you know you are beyond the reaches of the city itself. I’ve
included some photos of the view from the top of the cathedral at the end of
the post.
As previously mentioned, I am currently on
a bus from Salamanca to Lisbon, Portugal for the first of my two free weekends.
As of now we have been driving for about an hour and a half, so I still have a
good four to five hours at least until I will get any sight of the Atlantic. It’s
a long drive on a cramped bus, but the views of the Portugal from out the
window are stunning, and unlike on the drive from Madrid to Salamanca, I am
awake to enjoy it. We are passing lots of tree-covered mountains and small
towns full of white houses with brownish-orange roofs.
I’m excited to add another city (and
country!) to my list of places traveled. From what I hear, Lisbon has a vibrant
and unique personality all of its own. Can’t wait to tell you all about it!
Have a lovely weekend!!
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| Classes are held in San Isidoro Monday through Friday |
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| The other (I think older) Cathedral seen from the top of the Cathedral I visited on Tuesday morning |
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| You can see where the city of Salamanca ends from the top of the Cathedral |
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| One of my first views of Portugal, out the bus window |
Hasta Luego,
Aubrey
