Two Weeks in Salamanca

So today was the last day of courses in Salamanca and we are getting ready to move on to the immersion week in San Lorenzo de el Escorial on Sunday.

We have had an exciting time horse-back riding and swimming at the finca, visiting a Picasso exhibit at the art nouveau and art deco museum Casa Lis ( you can ask everyone about the creepy dolls on the second floor of the museum and the beautiful museum cafe).  We had a flamenco class  and an afternoon at the pool. We even got to practice a play by twentieth-century Spanish, German, French, Mexican writer Max Aub (yes he did have four nationalities at one point) titled ¿ Que has hecho hoy para ganar la guerra? which deals with the Spanish civil war and specifically everyday Spanish “Republicans” (in the Spanish context these were the anti-franquistas intellectuals supported by the worker’s movement).

Today everyone got a certificate attesting that each student had completed 40 hours of Spanish coursework at Mester.

I asked everyone to write down at least one thing they liked about Salamanca and these were the results. The time spent horseback riding, watching the soccer games, and dancing were at the top of the list….

“Horseback riding and swimming,” -Liz

“Relaxing at the ranch, swimming, & watching Twilight” -Vallena

“watching the world cup games wth everyone especially after Spain got to the finals” -Max

“Watching Spain win their matches and being able to celebrate with Spaniards” -Simon

“Salsa dancing” -Patrick

“the pool at the ranch. The dorms were really nice. I LOVED watching the world cup games together + helado” -Emlyn

“Siesta, Finca horseback riding + tapas” -Katie

“the hostal, horseback riding”- Hannah

“Las discotecas and language partners” -Taylor

“watching Spain reach World Cup finals for the first time ever”- Rachel

“Being in the plaza mayor and seeing the whole city celebrate together when Spain won soccer [matches]“- Amanda

“I loved going dancing after the futbol game” -Satchie

“la finca, food, World Cup” Taryn

“the finca” Lizzy

Tonight they will have their last session with their language partners : ( but tomorrow we will have a goodbye Salamanca ice-cream shin-dig before students have free time to walk around, shop, take pictures and say goodbye to what has been home for the last few weeks.

First Friday Salamanca

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Spain for a week already!

Students have been attending classes in the morning  and we have been having fun in the afternoons and the evenings.

On Tuesday we went to the old cathedral and walked up to the tower for some fine panoramic views over Salamanca. We also celebrated the victory of Spain against Portugal (tomorrow we will watch the Spain Paraguay quarter final) and danced!

The dancing trend has continued as we had a salsa lesson that gave everyone a workout last night. Vallena, Taryn, Amanda, Rachel, and Katie even choreographed some new moves…We realized also that Patrick must have a Cuban uncle….he was a salsa star!

We also went to the movies to watch a Spanish comedy ” Que se mueran los feos,” though the trip to the movie theater has incited a few to go watch “Eclipse” dubbed in Spanish this weekend… I told them not to be surprised by Edward and Bella’s Spanish voices….

Yesterday, we also had an interesting theoretical bullfighting lesson with the matador Miguel Ángel Sanchez who explained certain techniques and gave a background to the culture of bullfighting. Of course most of the action of the corridas will center around the Fiestas of San Fermin, which will occur in Pamplona next week.

Today we had an art workshop where we made the colorful “charro,” a symbol of Salamanca, from very colorful clay… Israel, our art teacher, will fire the pieces and we will get them on Sunday (hopefully they will come back to the US intact for some of you to wear also)….

Now that we know Salamanca, we will get to know some real

inside stories and legends on our ghost tour of Salamanca this evening. Tomorrow we will have a day trip to the beautiful town of Segovia so we will definitely keep you posted!

First Days in Salamanca

We have arrived in the beautiful city of Salamanca. Home to one of the oldest European universities where famous Spaniards, such as the conquistador Hernán Cortés and the poet Luis de Góngora, studied. The architecture is quite amazing and the city is a lively student city.

After the whirlwind of Madrid we are trying to settle down and find the right course level and the right accommodations for those students who preferred to stay in the dorms instead of their language school families.Yesterday was the first day of school and many students have decided to try out different levels to find an appropriate class that is not too challenging or too easy. There have also been a couple of moves to the dorms since we are staying at a great residence (http://www.studiohostal.com/index%20in.html) around the corner from the language school. Other students have decided to stay in their home stays…

Sara, our absolutely awesome local leader and native Salamancan, led us around her city and showed us the beautiful cathedral (old and new), the gorgeous university, she told us about the legend that if a student can find the skull and the frog on the ornate façade of the main building that they will pass their exams…

After dinner and free time students met with their language school partners for a nighttime tour of the city…Everyone seemed to love their time with these university students….

We have a great week ahead of us… salsa classes, an “Introduction to Spain” seminar, and on and on….

But, most importantly, tonight Spain vs. Portugal!!!!!! We’ll be watching the game and we will be hoping to celebrate Spain’s advance to the quarter-finals.

Leaving Madrid

So we have experienced World Cup madness, and celebrated Spain’s victory against Chile (unfortunately the US lost last night against Ghana)… we have walked around some of Madrid’s exclusive districts, seen some of the best collections of Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern art, and

we have checked out photo exhibits from the current Photo España festival. Our headquarters, the Hotel Senator, located on Madrid’s most famous street, the Gran Via has allowed us to be in the middle of it all….

Now we are packing up and heading to Salamanca via Avila!!!!

We have made it to Madrid!

We are all safe and sound in Madrid, and, while we are definitely jet-lagged, Madrid’s vibrant streets makes us forget that some of us have not slept in a while…. I’ll be posting some more photos in the meantime here are some pics of our lovely lunch and our first walk-about-town!

Hello Salamanca 2

I am looking forward to seeing you at SFO and JFK on June 23rd on our way to Madrid. We have an exciting month ahead in Spain. As the US Trip Leader for Salamanca 2 I am also thrilled to be in Spain during the World Cup!

As the trip begins and continues, I will post photos and updates on our activities in Spain, so please stop by this page.

See you soon,

Giovanna