June 28th, 2011

So I actually am writing this on the 29^th because last night we all went out tapas hopping to four different bars and then out dancing until 3 o’clock in the morning! Slowly I am beginning to get on the Spaniards’ time schedule. In a nutshell a typical day for them is:

-wake up, and eat a small breakfast

-go about your business until 2:30 which is “la comida” the biggest meal of the day, upon where you will immediately after indulge in a two hour siesta.

-return back to work (often past the time your store says you reopen) until about 8:30 when you might go out for tapas and dinner.

-finally, you better not go out to the bars or clubs until at least 12:30 or 1:00 because nobody will be there yet.

-crawl back home at some outrageous hour and try to tall asleep in 100 degree weather

-repeat.

This is basically a template one might follow if they are trying to live like a Spaniard. And I do believe once I get on track I will thoroughly enjoy it.

Back to yesterday’s events though. We met Andy at 11:00 for a tour of the great Catedral of Salamanca. It is one of the most impressive structures that I have ever seen. We definitely got a work out climbing to the very top where all of Salamanca can be seen. The red clay rooftops are absolutely stunning.

From there, we returned to the classroom to review some of the vocabulary we might need when ordering or cooking in the kitchen with our Señoras. I am learning so much about Spanish cuisine. I had no idea I knew so little about food over here. To get a taste of what we learned in class, here is my submission to our food blog:

What do I think of when I think of Spanish food? Jamón, jamón y jamón. Andy has told us that we are in the epicenter for cured ham. For lack of a better word… WOW. Definitely am going to take advantage of this opportunity. Apparently the process of curing the ham takes years! It amazes me that Zingermanns will charge you $200 dollars for one pound of cured meat. I wish I could take some back with me. Here, a jamón y queso sandwich is definitely a staple.

Although before coming here I knew about the abundance of jamón, it was only yesterday that I first discovered Tapas. It is my true belief that if the entire world indulged in Tapas there would be world peace. Wars would no longer exist. There is nothing a decadent tapa and glass of sangria can’t cure. Combine this with a daily siesta?? Heaven.

Tonight the Foodie Practicum is going to “Tapas hop” a bit more. I cannot wait to continue explore the Spanish cuisine!

After class we all returned home for a quick lunch and siesta before we all met at the pool to relajarse un poco. Although it was a pretty far hike it was worth it! Very refreshing and we got a chance to practice our Spanish a little with the locals.

The best part of yesterday though was the Tapas hopping. Andy treated us again all to a wonderful dinner to 4 tapas restaurants for food and drinks. At the first restaurant I tried Salpicón de Mariscos which is a seafood dish with olives, parsley, vinegar, onions, peppers, and crab and octopus. It is served cold and very refreshing. My sangria there was to die for. It went down so easy we all had to remind ourselves not to down it like fruit punch. The next bar we went to I had una tostada con goat cheese. Delish. And at the third bar I had my last tapa which was some of the jamón Serrano – basically heaven on a plate. Trying all of the different kinds of drinks was a blast as well. One drink is called a remujón I believe, which is white wine and sprite mixed together. Another is red wine mixed with fanta limón o naranja which tastes like a fizzy sangria. Brandon tried hard apple cider which we all know now not to order again to say the least haha. But by far the BEST discovery was at this quaint bar called “Bar su casa”. We had homemade chipatas (shots) that were of acorn but tasted like delicious carmel. DEFINITELY dangerous. Wow. Especially when Sherri is buying us rounds and rounds of drinks (she regretted that in the morning when she realized she was broke haha).

At 12:30 we all met up at the Plaza Mayor to go out to the clubs. As you can see from my picture, the plaza is stunning at night when it is lit up. The clubs were awesome and there were so many people from different countries! Everyone had their flag painted on their faces.

Love love love it here.

Katherina

June 27th, 2011

Last night I discovered Spaniards will go out and party until three in the morning on a Sunday night. How do I know this? There is a bar right below my apartment. With the noise from the bar and the heat from the night getting sleep was a little difficult. As my Parisian roommate Benjamin said: “It was either window open with a little breeze and really loud, or window closed with no breeze and a little loud.” But siestas definitely make up for the lost sleep in the afternoon so it’s all good haha.

For breakfast my señora had out fresh fruit, orange juice, and a chocolate drink that you mix in with your water. And she also had crackers with chocolate spread. This didn’t exactly tide me over for a two thirty lunchtime so it is good that my class this week is “A Foodie’s Guide to Spain”! I have a really fun class and my teacher, Andy Noverr taught us all about the food vocabulary before we headed out to the supermarket. There I bought a banana and some almonds to keep in my room. From there we were introduced to… Tapas! Probably the best invention on the face of the earth. Yes that’s right, better than the ipad or the internet etc. etc. Ann Arbor should really adopt them, I think AA is hipster enough for it. And the best part is, they all come with a free drink. Soo… Sangria all around?! Me encanta.

After class I walked home and had a small lunch with my señora and took a relaxing siesta before meeting Julia, Emily and Nicole to buy phones. Only one day with no connections and it felt like an eternity. How sad is that? I kind of enjoy being free from facebook and the internet. Once that was done we had a couple hours to kill before the group pizza dinner so we wandered around the gorgeous city admiring the architecture while we relaxed at a café for some refreshing coca colas.

Dinner was absolutely delicious and all of the students are such a blast. Tomorrow morning I am going running with two of the girls to explore the city (hopefully we don’t get lost! Yikesabee). So I should get into bed.

Hasta luego!

Katherina

June 26th

Well after a very hectic and tiresome journey, I made it! I am finally at my casa with my señora in Salamanca. But it took a while to get here. After pulling an all night-er flying from connection to connection, we successfully reached Madrid, and we even found the Avanza Bus! But right when I was beginning to feel like I had actually managed to navigate my way around a foreign country, I discovered that my bus ticket had been for the three o’clock bus YESTERDAY!! Can you imagine my reaction? I was hysterical. Here I was, running on no sleep and no real food, and some Spanish man that spoke no English wouldn’t let me board the bus and simply kept repeating “Metro, Metro!” Thankfully, some extremely nice ladies and the girl I was traveling with were very eager to help me and speak Spanish to the man while I was barely getting an English out through my heaving sobs. But don’t worry, that’s the worst of it! So far it has only gotten better from there.

On the bus I sat next to a very nice (and very cute) guy from Philadelphia who is taking graduate classes in Salamanca and he immediately boosted my mood. My friends from the plane and I had found some other girls in our program and we all reached Salamanca by 6 p.m. Waiting for us there were dozens and dozens of adorable Spanish Señoras fanning themselves whilst smiling and giggling to eachother. They all looked so cute in their Sunday best and I couldn’t wait to meet mine. They called her name and she came running towards me to give me two kisses on each cheek (which is custom) and immediately calling me niña. We chatted all the way to the car, and I surprisingly kept up with her Spanish pretty well! It is amazing I can already feel myself getting better and I have only been speaking it for a few hours.

While we were in the car she was telling me a little about herself. She works for a restaurant bar close to her apartment and her job is to make the tapas! You know what that means… delicious food todos los dias para mi! (Did I mention during this whole ride we were both sweating perfusely from the 90 degree heat wave?) Before heading home, we drove to go pick up another boy who was going to be staying with her for two weeks. His name is Benjamin and he lives in Paris but speaks English as well – I am so jealous of those people who are fluent in more than one language… He is fifteen and very sweet. I am looking forward to being able to walk to class with him.

Our Señora’s name is Asención but she likes to be called cioni (kind of like toni but with a –ch sound). She lives in a cute little apartment on a very busy street. I have my own room and it is quaint and perfect. Benjamin shares his room with another boy who is my age that is from Florida. According to Cioni he is very antipatico (unfriendly) and not social at all. Benjamin and I found this out at dinner when he just complained about her and said he could not wait to go home. (I don’t know how you couldn’t like this sweet woman?!) But he is only here for one more week as well.

The dinner she made was delicioussss. It is a tortilla made of egg and potatoes, kind of like a simple frittata, and I wolfed it down. She also had a fresh salad with olive oil, tomatoes and peppers, which was delicious. Tomorrow morning she will walk Benjamin and I to class since it is the first day so we know how to get there *sighs of relief *.

After I showered and ate I sat with her in the sala for a little while to watch the Spanish news report. So far this is definitely an adventure. I am enjoying it but also missing home at the same time. There is no internet so I will have to wait to call home tomorrow. Can no longer keep my eyes open, so good night!

Buenas noches,

Katherina