There are SO many guys here with mullets. Lindsay and I have counted mullets in the Plaza Mayor here and the count is higher than any that Allison and I ever managed at the Wal-Mart at home. It's crazy. I've even seen mullets with braids, mullets with highlights, mullets with dreads and straight hair at the same time, and mullets on severely balding guys. The 80's are alive and well in Europe.
Since I am also attending a Jesuit University here, a lot of priests and nuns are studying with us. In my class, I have a father from China and a father from Scotland. We even have a few nuns from China although they don't wear their nun garb here.
There is one guy studying with us (not in my class) who was apparently sent directly by the pope to study Spanish here. He is rumored to be next in line for Pope. He is part Lebanese and is very smart.
Tuesday, I learned what hornazo is- a bakery item that is stuffed full of meat. I wasn't really hungry Tuesday (too hot outside to have an appetite), but later this week, if I'm feeling hungrier, I'm definitely getting one (pictures will follow if the plan goes through).
Also on Tuesday, we had our weekly cineforum where we watch Spanish films. In this movie, the actors were actually speaking in a dialect called Gallego so instead of our usual English subtitles, we had Spanish subtitles. I was worried that I wouldn't understand a lot, but surprisingly, I understood all but a few words and got all the jokes! :)
I'm finding studying for the MCATs, working on med school applications, and learning Spanish to be very difficult to find time for. The Spanish atmosphere is much more relaxed than the American atmosphere, but it makes for a very chopped up day where there aren't any good long breaks to sit down and get something done- it's only an hour here and an hour there.
Also, almost nobody runs in Salamanca. It's not a common form of exercise. I have been counting the number of runners I've seen since day 1 and my total is somewhere around 25- only because one morning, I saw a group of international students from another university jogging through the Plaza Mayor.
Now for some photos:
Lindsay, Johanna, and Me at the Plaza Mayor. Johanna was our wonderful housemate from Chicago for our first two weeks here.
Our house mother (Mami as she likes to be called) packs lunches for us when we go on weekend trips/excursions. This means two baguette sandwiches- one of ham and cheese and another of salchichon, a juice box, a water bottle, and a banana. This was when we were all going to San Fermin- and Lindsay and my lunches weren't even out yet.
This is at a restaurant/bar in Salamanca called Erasmus- Johanna invited us to go out to eat with her group on their last night in Salamanca. It started with tapas (snacks or fingerfood) at Erasmus and concluded with ice cream in the Plaza Mayor.
Some other photos from San Fermin/Pamplona:
Lindsay, Luiza, and Me (all from Seattle)- Lindsay and Luiza both know Tagalog so I'm learning a few words of yet another language while I'm here
Claire, Luiza, and Me- Claire is one of my housemates from France. She is studying linguistics and specializing in Spanish and English.
Luiza and Me out for dessert in the Plaza Mayor again
Manpreet, Luiza, and I hanging out on Friday night
No comments:
Post a Comment