Travels in Spain: More Things Happening

Me, Luiza, and Lindsay A. in the Plaza Mayor

I noticed that I forgot to describe the ice cream I had in the Plaza on our second evening here, which I can't believe I forgot. The place we went to in the Plaza is the most popular ice cream place there- the line backs up for quite a while. I was told that the chocolate ice cream was amazing so of course, that was what I ordered. It was like licking pure liquid chocolate. Unlike chocolate ice cream in America, the flavor was really pure- I couldn't taste extra cream, fat, or sugar. Soooo good. :)

Monday morning was a kind of slow morning. I woke up early and went running with two of the other exchange students. We only ran for twenty minutes, but after this morning, I know that running in Salamanca will be really safe. This morning, the sky was a pinkish orange, and we were running through and around the oldest part of town. Imagine the sunrise shining on old Spanish fort walls and tall cathedral spires- it was beautiful. Although getting up was difficult this morning, it wasn't hard to convince me that getting up early is worth it. However, our host mother was so shocked that someone would get up at 6:30 in the morning.

We met up with the rest of the Seattle University students in the morning in the Plaza. Sadly, our professor from Seattle wasn't there like we were expecting. We were shown our University and a few places of importance. From what I've heard from other students, Lindsay A. and I have it pretty good. Some of the students have to go to Internet Cafes, and I've heard that some of the students from another group don't get a breakfast like we do- I guess the typical thing is crackers and coffee, but Esperanza feeds us very well.

For lunch today, we had a dish that was cooked zucchini kind of hollowed with a mix of beef, tomatoes, and melted mozzarella inside. Also, there was a potato salad that had tuna, tomatoes, and green olives in it that tasted like it was covered in a bit of vinegar. I was kind of wary of it, but it was actually really delicious. On Monday after lunch, we met in the Plaza Mayor again, and the program director took us around to some of the shops in the area that are pretty popular. For dinner, we had grilled sandwiches and soup which felt a lot like home. I found out later that the soup we had was "Carrot Soup" that had onions, potatoes, and cheese in it, but I would have never guessed that the main ingredient was carrots- I couldn't taste them at all.

It was also Esperanza's birthday on Monday- she turned 57 years old, but she looks much, much younger than that. Her son sent her flowers, and she received a lot of phone calls- one from the grandmother of one of her former exchange students from Chile that stayed here for more than a year. Some of the other girls bought a small ice cream cake for after dinner, which Esperanza really enjoyed. Lindsay A. and I gave her our house-guest gifts today- I bought her some Seattle chocolate and an apron- which turned out to be perfect for her. Esperanza used to own a restaurant and was a chef for one of the schools for a while.

On Tuesday morning, our group went to The Old and New Cathedral of Salamanca (I will put all my info about the cathedral in a separate blog-too much to add to this one!), but I will say that I am in love with cathedrals now.

One funny thing- I had to buy larger shampoo and conditioner when I got here. At the store, I didn't bring my dictionary, and of course, all the bottles were only in Spanish. I picked what I thought was ok only to find out later that I had bought shampoo for curly hair. It'll still work though.

Some goodies: