Last Post from Salamanca Spain

Well in 2 hours we need to be at the bus stop.  Then we will be on our way to Madrid to catch a plane to Lisbon.  Jorge told us tonight that there was almost a snag in our departure.  Apparently the air control people were going to go on strike at 6 am on Saturday.  So they had thought about us taking off Friday at 4:30, sure glad it all worked out, that would have been too much stress on me!
Last classes today, got my certificate, got all B's so I am very happy, worried that my GPA was going to be messed up and my honor's would be messed up too.  We had a going away lunch at Erasmus today, it was a type of BBQ, there were A LOT of meats, bacon(not our kind), like a pork steak, chorizo, and a couple of other kinds, salad and french fries.  It was a lot of food!!  I got a short siesta in today as I don't know when I will sleep again, not much of a plane sleeper so we shall see.  Our going away dinner was at a fancy place tonight, with many courses.  Dessert was great but the best part was they brought in I can't remember the name of them here in Spain but like a Mariachi band, they were so good!!  I wish they would have played all night!  After they finished and left, a member of our group Fernando sang a beautiful song for us too, he has quite the voice!  It was a great evening, many laughs were shared, tears were shed and lots of pictures were taken.

I won't be writing here until I get back to the states, I think I will post a few more about acclimating back into everyday life.  And of course I will go thru my pics and see what else will be good for sharing!
See ya in the States!

Chantelle

Ultimo Examen are finished!!

Took my last final today, in grammar.  Wasn't as painful as I was expecting so I probably did really bad on it... Got all my tests back now except that one.  Not too bad considering... I figured I would be failing and so far don't think I am...Only 2 days left of school.  We come home on Saturday, we have to be up at the bus stop at 4:15 am.  Won't be going to bed Friday, we have our going away dinner, I figure that will go til midnight so will have about 4 hours to finish up packing maybe relax a little and lug my suitcases down all the stairs...  Got another suitcase today so I can start packing my souvenirs, so glad for that, another worry gone!  I have enough euros left to get ice cream both Thursday and Friday and have a few small coins to bring home which is just what I wanted.  There is a bag calling my name and some earrings and I really did want another pair of shoes but will have to wait and see what kind of room I still have in my suitcase.  There is a Yves Rocher store here so I want to go check that out see if they sell my perfume and how much if so that will be neat!  Well gonna start packing to come home, see ya later!
Chantelle

                                                 Plaza Mayor all lit up, breathtaking!  It really is a Plaza Mayor!!

I didn't upload these in the order I should have so I apologize they are all mixed up.  The first one is one of the unique houses I saw in Portugal, 2nd is a business in Portugal, they have such pretty one of a kind homes, I didn't get a picture of the one I really wanted as there were people standing outside of it and I didn't want to upset them but they are really pretty!  Next one is along the boardwalk in Aveiro Beach, next pretty amazing building in Madrid, beautiful huh?  Next 2 are Aveiro Beach again, the Atlantic Ocean.  Next one is in Madrid, these were atop of a building across from the street we got unloaded from when we arrived in Madrid, next is the Espana flag waving tall and bright.  The next one was along my bus tour in Madrid, don't know what it is but thought it to be beautiful so I took a pic!  The next one shows the building from the statue few pics ago with the fountain in the view.  The lion statue is outside of the building of Congress from what I understand.  The next one was just an interesting building along our walk, it looks as though the top of the building in rusty, it was really a fascinating building!  The next 2 are sculptures outside of the Reina Sofia in Madrid, the second one is a replica(I think) of something I saw on the floor with the Picasso work.  The next one is a tree in Portugal, they line the streets with them, they don't even look real to me!  Next one is street art in Madrid, real people or statue??  You decide!  The last one is terribly exciting, just a pic of the tour bus I went on for the day, best 20 euros I spent!!

Catch up...

Been a while since I posted thought it was time to get caught up.  Well we went to visit the Civil War Archives and I think I was most fascinated by a piece of art that was a bunch of teeny(and I do mean teeny) photos put together to make something else.  It was AMAZING!  Friday was a sad day for us, we had to say goodbye to Amna, our new friend from Kuwait, she was only able to stay for 3 weeks so as a send off for her Shanna, Dan and I went to Valor with Amna for Chocolate y churros.  It was really good but sad all the same.  Amna was so nice she gave each of us a piece of paper money from her country.  They have coins too but some of the bills are 1/4 and 1/2's, very interesting!!  Saturday was full of adventure!  We went to Madrid.  It was a HOT day, not one for walking all around the city, I however took a bus tour all over the city and enjoyed myself immensely.  We stopped to eat our lunch and there was a homeless man with a cat(that reminded me of my cat Fami who I am missing) sitting outside of the McDonalds that we used the bathrooms at, I had to give one of my sandwiches to him, I hope he shared it with the kitty.  After lunch we went to the Reina Sofia museum and saw amazing works by many  but I of course was most fascinated by Picasso's work, Guernica was fantastic I had no idea it was so large!  Sunday, wow, after being in Madrid and not getting back til late in the evening Saturday we had to be on the bus Sunday morning at 7 am for Portugal, Aveiro Beach.  The scenery was beautiful but the bus ride was long.  The beach was very large but it was windy all day.  Aveiro Beach is a place that is very breathtaking.  The houses are one of a kind.
Monday, my first final of 4.  Very angry with myself, never had test anxiety before but had it today.  Such an easy question and I didn't get it until I turned in my test , it was a total give me and I gave it up...  Hope I don't do that anymore but thinking I will do it 3 more times...
I need to study for my 2 finals for tomorrow.   My computer is about to die so I will post pictures later.
Adios!
Chantelle

Tuesday night

Had a fun day of classes, first class we had to write a day in someones diary, pretty interesting!  Class 2 we talked about where you would go in Spain to talk with friends, chat with coworker, grab a quick meal etc..., 3rd class was not too bad, I actually understood some again today, good thing too as I understand some of this is on the final, I am worried about this class, 70% of my grade is based on the final and it is a TON of information!!  Class 4 we listened to a story, shared what we got out of it and then we read the story, understood so much more then.  Then we picked out similars and opposites in the story from choices written on the sheet, I actually figured out a few without needing the dictionary for all of them, I am pretty impressed with myself!
Got some more souvenir shopping done, feel good about that.  Some advice, don't sit under a tree, you know what will happen, yep again today, this makes it the 3rd time in Spain, once on my leg, once on my shoe and tonight in my hair.  I have now passed Destiny and she doesn't want to catch up because she says I can have this one, thanks so much Destiny!!!  Well it is late and there is another day of school tomorrow so I will say Buenas Noches!

Free Weekend has come to a close...

Well it was nice while it lasted but back to the grind tomorrow.  Our dinner was suppose to be served late tonight as there was a game playing so Shanna and I decided to try a new place, as we were strolling we came across Denise, Lauren and Lorena chatted a while and Denise and Lorena came with us for dinner.  We went to a pasta place in the Plaza Mayor,  the pasta was good.  Afterwards we had to have some ice cream of course so tonight I got to try the hazelnut, to DIE for, it was scrumptious!  As we were walking back we went a little too far but got to see some more pretty buildings and they were lit up too as it was starting to get a little dark sure wish I would have had my camera on me...  Well it is late so talk soon!

Chantelle

Some shots around Salamanca

The first 2 shots are with the frog on the skull, can you find it?  The next is just one of the many ice cream stops along the way in the Plaza Mayor, a lot of temptations!!!  The next shot is one of the University of Salamanca buildings, on the right is where I take my last class of the day.  The next 2 are just pretty buildings I wanted to share.  And the last is the decadent churros with chocolate.  Way too much!!!  But it was really really good, I guess no ice cream today...  As you can see the weather is beautiful, it is a fantastic day in Salamanca!!

This is our free weekend, it started at 2pm.  Had a long lunch and looked at pictures that a girl from my classes she is from Kuwait and her dad have taken around Salamanca, they were very pretty!  Came back to the dorm with the intention of checking emails and then heading back out to find an ATM machine but my pillow was calling a little louder than my feet were to go out the door.  I ended up taking a late 1 1/2 hour siesta.  Then headed down to the Plaza Mayor for a performance that was suppose to happen tonight at 20:00 but for some reason didn't so we went to dinner instead.  Headed back to the dorms by 10pm as I was hoping to get a phone call from family, finally came 45 minutes after I was hoping but it came so I was excited.  I have been emailing but it is different to actually hear voices!  Tomorrow my goals are get some homework done(our bubbles were burst this week to find out we have finals in EVERY class the last week :(    )  get all my souvenir shopping done and hope to do a little work on our group project that is part of this experience, our group decided to do the impact of tourism on Salamanca.  We have some good ideas so I hope we can turn them into a great presentation.  Also hope to go with my camera tomorrow as I want a good picture of the frog that I got to see today, I want to share that with everyone!!  I also noticed a lot of new things tonight as I was walking to the Plaza tonight so I expect I will take some shots of the things that I hadn't noticed before. Well believe it or not I am exhausted so off to bed I go, so much for staying up late tonight!

June 13th

It was a little warmer today, hope it is good and warm tomorrow as I don't get my laundry back til tomorrow afternoon I am guessing.  Wish I would have packed some warmer stuff but I thought it would take up too much room and it is Spain for cripes sakes it should be warm!!  Had a really good lunch and dinner today, had to stop off for ice cream for dessert, I got Kinder which I think is a candy bar here, it was tasty!  Not a whole lot to write about today, yesterday we went and toured the cave in Salamanca and Calixto garden.  It was neat as there is a well that you wish into with your love and put a padlock above it and that is suppose to keep your love together forever, I thought that was very sweet.  The garden was very beautiful, there was music playing while we were there too.  They have lights in the ground so I can only imagine what it looks like illuminated at night.  Very beautiful.

Various shots

The first two shots  are the aqueduct in  Segovia, the next is Devery, me and Cheez at the top of the aqueduct, the next is a group shot outside of Alcatraz, next is some live street art in Segovia, they were sitting on thin air, the last is one of the beautiful stained glass windows in the castle, such detail, they were unbelievable!

Segovia and Avila Excursion

Wow!  The aquaduct is sooo amazing in person, it is hard to believe something like this can still be standing after 2000 years with nothing holding the stones together when you think about water coming thru you would think it would wash out the stones too.  I got some amazing shots but my camera battery died on me so I have to charge before I can load anything up and the internet isn't working so hot tonight again.  It was a very long and tiring day but a lot of fun!  For lunch I had something different, I was told this was a typical tortilla in Spain, not like the Mexican ones this is a sandwich on bread with like scrambled eggs and I was told potato even though I didn't taste any potato.  It was tasty.  We also visited Alcatraz which is a castle, the legend had it that this castle is what inspired Walt Disney for Sleeping Beauty's castle but this was later deemed false as it was a castle in Germany that in fact was the inspiration.  I got some really neat shots there too.  The weather was actually cool, I had to wear my sweatshirt for the first time since I got here, I took it off not long after we reached Segovia but I put it back on when we got to Avila, very windy.  I am getting a nice tan though!
When we got back it was almost time for dinner so when we had walked down to the bar that we eat all of our meals at the crowd was pretty big as there was a big "football" game going between Portugal and Germany, they are right next to each country but you root for Portugal all the way.  For dessert they gave us a beer because of the game, never been given a beer for dessert before.  Since I am not a beer drinker I passed it along to someone else.  Tomorrow night I am guessing it will be crazy in the streets as Spain is playing.

Well I think it is time for bed, I am wore out.

Bye
Chantelle

Friday night

While most of the people are going out for the evening, I am staying in to do some homework and rewriting of notes.  We have to get up early tomorrow for our excursion to Segovia and Avila.  Can't wait I am looking forward to the Aqueduct!!  Did a little wandering around town finally!  Got some Euros finally and promptly did some shopping finally!  Could have easily bought more but wanted to pace myself and I have to recount how many people I wanted to bring home fans for.  They are so beautiful here!!  Well I have to get to bed soon, must rest!

Bye!
Chantelle

Feeling so refreshed!

Just enjoyed a nice shower after a long day of walking around and seeing sights.  We had class today and I was pretty much lost during most of it, my second class of the day I didn't understand anything until the end when she said tapas, THAT I understood!  Which reminds me, when I looked at my blog last night after posting I saw that a post I had made telling you what tapas are was not there soooo I will explain.  We went on a Tapas tour the other night.  This is what the Spaniards do for socializing.  They go out in the evening and bar hop, but it isn't like our bar hopping back in the states which the main purpose is to get drunk.  In Spain they go from bar to bar order 1 drink and get different tapas, which are pretty much like appetizers but really from what I saw they are quite large compared to a meatball on a stick.  Most of them we had were  served on a small piece of bread, one had shrimp and garlic, one a skewer with like chicken peppers and onion, one had  a piece of chorizo (which happened to be my favorite!) and then one served more like seafood stuff, calamari and I don't know what else, the last one we went to had jamon that they sliced right there in front of us.  So the people here use this time to socialize not really drinking, plus when you are eating food that helps you keep from drinking too much.  Anyways, it was a lot of fun!!
Today we had a cooking lesson at the restaurant that we had our welcome dinner, I tried one that had wild mushroom and a different kind of tomato than we have, they said it is less acidic, one person told me it is similar to a tomatillo, it was quite tasty.  Then we were off to a Art Deco museum, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum and I sure wish we could have it was beautiful.  The ceiling had a bunch of stained glass it was pretty from the outside but once you got in it was breath taking!  Upstairs the view of the city was unbelievable too!!

I am happy I have found a great place to buy water, it is right on my way home from the restaurant we eat our meals at so I can finally get the hydration I have been missing so much!!

Well I have some homework to do and research on the area we are going to for our excursion on Saturday so I know what I want to buy when I get there so I think I will sign off for now!

Bye!

Wednesday in Spain

Well todays classes went better than yesterdays, except for the fact that we got homework today.  After lunch which was a tasty kinda of lasagna type dish but much too skimpy for all the walking around you do here, we stopped for some gelato, I got the mojito, and it was just ok, don't think I would get it again but glad I tried it.  Tonight, excuse me this afternoon(it is not night until 21:30) we had a film to watch but it was all Spanish with no subtitles so I opted out to do some homework in the lobby of the hotel, didn't get a lot done but some any how.  Then we had a lecture on something, not sure what as again all Spanish and the room was soooo cold all I wanted to do was curl up and take a nap, sure glad I didn't fall off my chair!  Then the outing for the night was a visit to the Bull Fighting Museum.  The costumes are certainly beautiful and I understand it is the culture of Spain but I am not such a fan, as an animal lover I just can't.  What I did find interesting though is that only the bull fighter can wear a costume with gold on it, the people helping out are lower than him and are required to wear silver adornments.  Can't wait til Friday, we don't have any scheduled activities after classes and I plan on getting to a bank and finally converting some money to get some shopping done!!  I have already found some really cute things to bring back for family and friends (and me too! shoes!)  I think someone will be getting a purse, I think she knows who she is!  It is not a matter of need but want,  right?!  Well off to finish up homework, probably make another post tomorrow as we have a cooking lesson at a fancy restaurant tomorrow night.  Hope they show us how to make those yummy tapas we had the other night!

Chantelle

Salamanca

We arrived yesterday after a lot of flying.  I am still exhausted and trying to catch up on sleep.  The food is wonderful but way too much!!  We had a welcome dinner last night and then out to a couple of clubs.  Thought we knew our way back but didn't and were lost wandering the city til 3 am.  School starts tomorrow, have to take a placement exam to determine my level, I don't really need this test as I know I am one level below beginner.  I had chosen to stay with a host family and they are really nice, my room is nice my roommate is a nice young girl from Arizona but I think I need to be closer to the school, we are quite a walk to Plaza Mayor and then the school is beyond that.  I want to spend my time wandering the city getting to know it, not walking to and from school so much.  Not even to mention coming all the way back here for lunch and then heading back to Plaza Mayor for activities in the evenings.  I hope to make this switch tomorrow during the siesta.  So far I have seen a lot of shoe stores!  I may end up buying another bag and checking it with stuff to bring home, I had planned on mailing it but not sure yet what to do...