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