Salamanca (12/8)
Talk about a super puente! So after getting home from Paris on Monday morning, I slept all day, went grocery shopping, drank a little wine, had a good nights rest, and then got up early and headed to Salamanca with my booskie! Salamanca is about a 2.5 hour drive from Madrid but its a pretty drive. I can´t exactly put my finger on it, but I really like getting out of the city for awhile. It just´s overall refreshing. Before going I had done a little research about what there was to see there and such, and everyone kept talking about the Old Cathedral ( constructed in the 12th century) and then the New Cathedral ( built in the 15th century). Both of them are world heritage sites by UNESCO and both are considered must-see´s of Spain. So when we get to Salamanca I keep seeing all these beautiful extremely old buildings and I kept asking Gonzalo "is that the cathedral? is that the cathedral?" but it never was! I think almost every building in Salamanca could easily rivale the Cathedrals, especially the old University of Salamanca buildings. Nothing really puts how young the US is until you see buildings that were bulit in the 14th century and still used to this day!! The thing about Salamanca and almost every other city in Spain is that almost all the monuments are in regards to Catholicism. While I am not necessarily touched by the message, I more than appreciate the history, as well as the politics, behind it all. And yes, religion is more than political.
In Salamanca there is also a fairly large collection of archives from the Spanish Civil War, complete with some of the propaganda used during the civil war, as well some of the official documents that were accusing people of conspiracy against Spain and such. A lot of the propaganda is almost identical to what the states used during WWII all the way through the cold war. Lots of "communist" rhetoric and such. I know that I personally know very little about the Spanish civil war and somehow in all my "western civilization" type courses, Spain was always overlooked. However, if anything, I think it would be interesting to study/research the allegations of communism during the civil war, and what exactly they considered "communism". I know you can ask a lot of Americans "is communism good or bad?" and they would answer "bad, of course! Damn commies!" and then if you precede to ask what communism is they would say something like "they want to take my land and my money!" While that definition falls more than short of the actual definition of communism, that is what American's have been taught to believe, and i'm sure it was very similar during the Spanish Civil War.
Little Cultural Note : So when we were in Salamanca Gonzalo told me that in Spain frogs are considered good luck. So on one of the University of Salamanca buildings there are a ton of carvings and figurine-ish like things and according to legend, if you can find the frog you will do well in your studies. Also in almost every store in Salamanca you can buy these little frogs, for good luck of course! I've never particularly considered a frog good luck, but I' ll run with it!
So a couple fridays ago (man, i'm really behind on this blogging business) I celebrated my first birthday away from home. While I have been away from a fair amount, I have always made sure to be home for my birthday. So when I was in Australia I came home like December 8th, and then I left Washington D.C. on my birthday to be home to go out with my mom and rick. I'm not exactly sure why I have always made sure to be home for my birthday, but I have. Well this year that just wasn't feasible. I actually didn't tell anyone at school it was birthday because it was one of those things, that if somebody mentioned it when I wasn't mentally prepared for it, i might have had an emotional breakdown. So just to be on the safe side, nobody at school knew. However, Maria and Marina, one of the girls I give private lessons to, actually remembered it was my birthday (I don't even remember telling them!), so when I went to give my private lesson on the 10th they had bought me this really expensive pencil case!! They are amazing. I got really lucky in regards to private lesson parents. On my actual birthday, I woke up with a ton of energy and a smile on my face! I treated myself to a little shopping, had some chinese food, and partied with my friends. Me and Alissa tried to make Mojitios but failed miserably! I really wanted a Strawberry Daquiri but we don't have a blender...boo! So at about 11 we started the party at my piso despite it's extreme coziness. I actually think cozy is an understatement . So anyways, Jasmine (who bought me these really cool incense things for my birthday!!) Tom, Megan, Natalie and Sarah ( Natalie's friend that was in town visiting), and then Gonzalo came with both Jesus's, Alex, and Carlos. Yay for my Madrid family!! It was really sweet because when Gonzalo's friends came they had bought my chocolates and a teddy bear! Beyond adorable. So after I said hello to everyone and thanked Gonzalo's friends for the chocolates and the bear, Gonzalo took me in my room and gave me his present....a ring! CALM DOWN, CALM DOWN! So as many of you might know, I have been wearing this really cheap ring on my left pointer finger for 4 years. It has very little sentimental value besides that I have been wearing it for 4 years. It was a ring I bought in Florida at John's Pass. So anyways, Gonzalo had noticed that I wore the same ring all the time so for my birthday he got me another one! I also confessed to him my "I Love Lucy" addiction and showed him pictures of my room back in the states, so for my birthday he got my 2 "I Love Lucy" posters for my bedroom to help it feel more like home. Pretty sweet, huh?
So back to my birthday celebration, I think everyone had a really good time, I know I did. It is definately in the top of my birthdays. Not exactly sure why, but I just felt like it was a good group and wouldn't have had my birthday any other way. So after getting throughly liquered up at my apartment, we walked to this club near Diego de Leon and danced the night away. I give my birthday celebration 4 stars :) Thanks again to everyone that made it special!!
School happenings: As I have mentioned before, one thing that my school has the auxiliaries do is perform "classics" for the school each month. So this month we did Little Red Riding Hood with a Christmas theme. We had Little Red Riding Hood taking Christmas presents to her Grandma. I played the Grandma and while I only had two lines, I gave it my all! The Thespian in me came out and the kids loved it! We even got an "OTRA! OTRA! OTRA!"
Not so good news: Unfortunately, homesickness has oficially set in the past 2 weeks, damn holidays! However, I am just human, right? I am thoroughly ready for the holidays to be over with, so come on 2010!
My Holidays: Since I am not able to be with my family this holiday season, Ana (the pharmacists I give lessons to) invited me and Alissa to her house for Christmas Eve Spanish style! So I WILL be spending Christmas Eve with a family which will be really nice. Then, on Christmas day me, Alissa, and Natalie are heading down to Andalucia for our vacation time. The itinerary is Cordoba, Sevilla, and Granada, and back to Madrid for the New Year!!!!!
I most likely won't blog before the Holidays again, So Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year...see you in 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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