5 Weeks, Many Lessons

It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone and that I've actually been in Spain for over a month! 5 weeks done and 5 more to go, but at this point I am not at all ready to come home (sorry Mom and Dad!) I have really grown accustomed to the relaxed summer schedule of going to school in the morning, coming home for lunch and a brief siesta, and then having all evening to spend outdoors walking the town with my friends. It's a wonderful break from the hectic college schedule.

In 5 weeks I've learned a lot about Spain and about Spanish culture so here are a few lessons that I've learned to help me fit in.

1. Spend Time Outdoors
Spaniards are outdoors a lot! Walking is the main mode of transportation in Salamanca, so for almost 24 hours of the day (seriously) people will be out walking the sidewalks to go to work, school, or play. It is so cute how after about 6 pm all of the older couples can be found making their rounds in the parks or streets. On weekends there are even dance nights for older couples at a park! Families and friends are often at the parks playing soccer, basketball, or tennis, while everyone else gets out to shop or just people-watch. Concerts and shows are also held outdoors, often times in the main Plaza Mayor. I absolutely love being outside and am taking advantage of this part of Spanish culture.

2. Be Catholic
Let me assure you that if you're Catholic, you'll have no trouble finding a cathedral to attend mass at. There are some beautiful, old cathedrals in Spain. It seems like whenever we've had weekend excursions we've always gone to one or more cathedrals to look at the historic architecture and paintings. Catholicism is most definitely the dominant religion, so good luck to anyone searching for a protestant church.

3. Love Sports
As you probably know, Spaniards love futbol. Their national team is ranked #1 in the FIFA standings and has some very talented players. When you go to a park there are people of all ages kicking a ball around, imitating what they've seen from their favorite stars. Just this past week the United States played Spain in a futbol match and in every bar, cafe, and house that had a tv you can be assured that the game was being watched (The U.S. surprised everyone and beat Spain 2-0!) What I was surprised by, though, is how much Spaniards also love basketball, tennis, and basically any sport. It was big news here when Spaniard Pau Gasol and the L.A. Lakers won the NBA championship, as well as when Rafael Nadal lost in the French Open and then pulled out of Wimbledon. Yes, Spaniards love their sports, making me feel right at home.

It's been a great 5 weeks of learning and experiencing, getting more confident and fluent in my speaking abilities. Surely many more lessons will be learned before it's time to return home. Next week I will venture from Spain and spend 5 days in Florence, Italy enjoying the renowned pasta, gelato, and art. All I can say is, What a way to spend the summer!

Flamenco Festival

Last Friday marked the beginning of a week-long Flamenco Festival in Salamanca and two other surrounding cities. Since it was happening right here in town, I figured I might as well go to a performance and see for myself how real Flamenco music and dance are performed. So Friday night I attended a show (with about 15 other people in my group) in which two singers and their accompanying guitarists, as well as one dancer and his musicians performed. And let me tell you, this was nothing like anything I´ve seen on Dancing with the Stars! This was much much better! (sorry ABC!)

Going into it, I really had no idea what to expect. The only thing that I knew about Flamenco music and dancing was that the performers sometimes click castanets in their hands. Other than that I was clueless. The show began at 10:30 at night and took place outdoors under the bright stars. The first singer was a female with a very, very strong voice that made me think she could be an opera singer. In fact, a lot of the singing sounded to me like it could be opera music. The words were sung very emotionally, strung out for a long time while the singer´s voice undulated between notes. This singer was very good, but what I really wanted to see was the dancer.

The second performer was a male dancer who was very talented vocally, but difficult to watch. He was so wrapped up in what he was singing that his face would become contorted into all sorts of painful-looking facial expressions! If I had only seen this guy on tv and didn´t know that he was performing, I´m sure I would´ve thought that he was suffering from a stab wound or something, goodness! It was clear that Flamenco singers really try to connect with their music and truly express the feelings of the music.

Almost better than the singers were their accompanying guitarists. They could´ve put on a show all by themselves with their fast-flying fingers! The guitarists didn´t play with any music in front of them, so they either have all of their songs memorized by now or they sort of improvise. In any case, the singing would definitely not have been as good without the guitarists.

And finally, around midnight the long-awaited Flamenco dancer came on stage. He was only 16 years old but performed as if he´s been dancing his whole life. I couldn´t believe my eyes when he started dancing! He was dancing, stomping, twirling, and moving with strict yet gracefully motions to the music of his 3 musicians. He had special shoes on that would click when he stepped a certain way, keeping beat with the musicians. It was amazing and I would definitely pay to see him again. As I left the show I could only think about how this 16-year old Flamenco dancer would totally beat out anyone on Dancing with the Stars...although I definitely wouln´t mind being his partner.

Playin´ in ´La Playa´

What a weekend! Last Friday was a holiday in Salamanca so we didn´t have classes and instead went to the northern coast of Spain to spend time at "la playa" (the beach). The weather last week had been quite chilly and overcast, leaving us wondering if it would even be warm enough to go to the beach. We turned out to have great timing as the weather cleared off on Thursday and stayed sunny through the day on Saturday.

We drove about 3.5 hours Friday morning to Santander, Spain, where we had a hotel literally right next to the beach. Friday afternoon was then spent soaking up the sun, building amazing sandcastles, and taking quick dips in the water to cool off. The water felt cold if you weren´t moving around in it, but when you actually got in to swim around it was perfect. Friday evening we had a low-key tour of the area around our hotel where there was a palace and a small zoo with penguins, sea lions, and seals. To me it finally felt like summer- sun burn and all!

Saturday was the day I had been looking forward to since the beginning of the trip because this was the day for surfing lessons! It turns out we didn´t have lessons until 5 pm, so I spent the morning running on the beach (my first time ever, reminding me somewhat of running in the snow in Decorah!), playing paddle ball in the sand, and swimming out to some big rocks not far from the beach. It was a ton of fun and it would´ve been a perfect day even without the surfing lessons.

At 4 pm we drove to a different place along the coast where our surfing instructors were waiting. It was hilarious watching everyone try to get their wetsuits on; some legs were going in arm holes and one persone even put their suit on inside out! Then we were each given a surf board and we excitedly marched out to the beach. After about 30 minutes of instruction and practicing on the sand, we were going in. The waves were not super big but the current was strong, making it difficult to even get out to the waves. The first couple of times I just rode out the waves with my stomach on the board, laughing as I ´whooshed´toward the beach. I´m proud to say that I did get up and surf 2 or 3 times, one time even riding out the whole wave. It was a really fun experience, but I definitely need more practice. Since I don´t think I´ll be moving to the coast anytime soon, that practice may be a long time in coming. After an hour and a half of surfing (read: being in the ocean holding onto my surfboard) I was exhausted. It´s amazing how strong those ´little´ waves are! No doubt I will sleep well for the next few nights.

Beauty in a Bullfight?

Bullfighting has been part of Spanish culture for a long time. It involves skill, risk, and courage on the part of the toreros (bullfighters) and bravery on the part of the bulls. Spaniards do not see it as a sport, though, because the outcome is never in doubt. The 6 bulls that are part of a bullfight will die, either in the ring by the 3 matadors or by a bullring assistant if all of the matadors are disabled. The matadors aim to kill the bulls quickly by hitting a major artery with their swords after the bull has been worn down. The matadors are judged based on how artfully they can get the bull to run toward their cape, how much danger they appear to put themselves in, and how swiftly they kill the bulls.

Before going to the bullfight on Saturday I had been reading the book Death and the Sun by Edward Lewine. This book tells the history of one specific matador, Francisco "Fran" Rivera Ordóñez, and explains a lot about bullfighting in general. I was very glad that I had read the book because I knew what was going on in the ring, knew what to look for in the actions of the matador, and also because I got to see the exact same matador that I had read about!

Watching the bulls go after the cape was the best part of the bullfight in my opinion. Sometimes the matadors would be on their knees as the bull charged them, or they would guide the bulls behind their backs. After a few "passes" by the bull, blood for the bull´s earlier wounds was visible on the matadors clothing! That really proved to me how close the bulls were getting to the matadors and how much danger the matadors could be in if something didn´t go according to plan. I began to understand the "beauty" in bullfighting. The matadors had to get themselves in just the right positions to keep themselves out of reach of the bulls horns and make artistic moves to keep the bull coming back for more. It was an awesome experience.

I don´t think that I will need to see another bullfight for quite a while, but I´m sure glad that I went to this one. It´s not a very pretty sight if you don´t know what to look for, but when you really focus on the matadors´ body positions and actions, the art of bullfighting is clear.

Lost and Found

´Oh man, not again´, I thought to myself as I was walking around Salamanca and realized that I had no idea where in the world I was. I don´t understand how that happens! I start off on the right path that I know takes me to where I want to go, but then somehow I take a wrong turn or don´t take a little zig that I need to. I am left lost, frustrated, sweaty, and staring at my map! That´s what I get for being overconfident and not using my map in the first place.

We arrived to Salamanca last Wednesday, so I´ve been here for 5 days and have managed to get lost almost every day, sometimes twice per day! This is not normal for me. Usually I have a very good sense of direction, and that combined with scoping the area out on my runs usually leaves me in good shape. The difference here, though, is that the streets are very confusing for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that the streets are not set up in a nice parallel and perpendicular orientation. Nope. These streets are set up with no rhyme or reason making it very difficult to know if that street currently parallel to me is going to stay that way, or make a sharp turn, or even simply end. That´s where I´ve tended to get into trouble by assuming that a parallel street will take me to the same place.

The second reason that the streets are confusing is because sometimes their names are not the same as the names on the map, and believe me, I´m not just looking at the wrong part of the map! Often the street names are not clearly marked, and if they are marked, it is intermittent instead of at every intersection. The street names here are not found on little green intersection signs like at home. Instead they are on plaques that are attached to the sides of buildings about 1 floor up from the street itself. Therefore, if there are windows or something blocking where the street sign might go, then they just don´t put one there!

But thank goodness for my map that is now ripping apart from so much use. I don´t feel dumb at all having to use a map sometimes thanks to the numerous other tourists that are blindly walking around the city. I have been very surprised by how many tourist groups I´ve seen so far. People are here from China, France, the U.S. and more. I guess since Salamanca has the oldest University in Spain the architecture is quite a draw. The streets get pretty crowded, but it makes it a bit easier for me and my blond hair to blend in.

Since I´ve already met my ´lost´ quota for the day (yup, got momentarily lost on the way back from the gym to my house, and then again took the round-about way to get to a computer lab!) I´m going to stick to the tried and true route back home. Hopefully soon I won´t be writing about getting so lost, but rather about all of my good ´finds´!