Short random thought...

So, I just got home from teaching for 5 (FIVE!!) hours straight.  I haven't done that since PDS...
It was really fun though, a little exhausting, but still fun.

However, walking through the door to my apartment was AMAZING.  That's when I got to thinking, "I'm home!"  I can actually say that I am starting to think of this apartment as "home."  It's interesting, because I've been really missing home lately, and really just wanting to jump on the next plane to Chicago and go to the pumpkin patch, carve pumpkins, and do all the other fun fall festivities I've been seeing posted on facebook.  But, after a long, hard day coming back to my little closet sized room here in Salamanca Spain feels great!!

I've come up with a theory, and its just personal, but I think long, hard days are what start to make a house feel like a home.  I mean, of course there are the people, and you can't change that.  But I have a WONDERFUL roommate, and I still haven't really felt at "home."  It was right now, right when I sat in my bed and opened my computer after my crazy day that I felt so comfortable and happy in my "piso." There's something about walking into the comfort of my room, with my bed, blankets, books, food, ect. that really makes me so happy!!

Don't get me wrong, I miss my family, friends, and wonderful boyfriend and having them near does make a place (ie city, school, ect) feel like home.  But there's something about walking into a familiar, comfortable place that is your own at the end of a long day that makes it very endearing.

Just a thought...

It's getting feisty!

So, it's Wednesday afternoon... and here I sit, not in class. Why am I not in class right now you may ask? That, my dear blog follower, is a great question.
And here is the answer:

It's a strike/ demonstration.  The students at all the universities in Spain are on strike.  (It's worse in some cities than in others)
Basically, they are striking because of the "recortes" meaning the cut-backs.  These cut-backs are affecting education, because there are less teachers in the schools, meaning less classes, and larger number of students per class.  And they are continuing to have to pay the same amount for tuition.
This is the second demonstration I've seen in in two days, and there's another one planned for tomorrow.  Not to mention there were a few last week (I'm not sure what those were for...).  So, needless to say, it's getting interesting over here.  Definitely a great experience for a future Spanish teacher, and a very educational experience for anyone.

Well, that's all for now!!

Thoughts and lists...

This is post I plan on adding to throughout my time here.  I am going to start some lists.  For now, there will be two.
A) Things I miss from back home
B) Goals of things I want to do/ accomplish while living here

So here it goes!!
A) Things I miss from back home:
1. MY PUPPY!!!
2. My friends/ family and of course my WONDERFUL boyfriend!!
3.  Buffalo Wild Wings
4.  Having an oven
5.  Corned Beef!!!
6.  Italian Beef
7.  Having a very specific class syllabus outlining what I have to read by when
8.  Grape Jelly
9.  Mc Donald's ketchup (And yes, it is different than Heinz...)
10.  Ironwood (my old apt complex)
11.  Netflix
12.  Watching football games (even though I watch them here too, there's just something special about sitting in front of a flat screen, screaming my lungs out. haha)
13.  Driving my car
14. Craft mac and cheese
15.  Firehouse (more specifically, Firehouse bosco sticks and wings being delivered to my front door.)
16.  Drinking Fountains.  There are NONE in this country, I swear!!

B) Goals while here:
1.  Improve my Spanish (duh)
2.  Travel to: Italy, Germany, and France
3.  Cook more
4.  Eat a more balance diet
5.  Learn to cook Tortilla Española
6.  Visit all the major historical sights in the city of Salamanca, and take pictures at each of them
7.  Go back to Santiago de Compostela for a few days

Well, that's all I can think of for now!! But like I said, this is a post I will continue to update as I think of things. =)

UGH... Matriculación

So, this post is going to be used as a little bit of a rant... not long though, I promise.

The one thing I've experienced since being here that is frustrating beyond all belief is registration (matriculación)!!!

I have to write down all the courses I want to take while I'm here, and have my coordinator sign it.  Easy enough right? WRONG!!

FIRST: The website is completely confusing.  And even though I'm slowly figuring it out... I'm still having tons of problems with it.  It's not easy like at ISU where everything is just a click away, no, you have to search the department, then search the classes, and if you do it differently every time, you get different information... blah!

SECOND: My coordinator is not in Spain, for another month!! So, they tell me I need to meet with someone else who is supposed to be acting in her place.  Well, if only it were that simple.  I have sent this man numerous e-mails, and not received one response.  I have also tried going to his office various times, and he's never there!! I have a friend who is also exchange, so she has the same problem, except when she finally did meet up with him, all he told her was "I'm not your coordinator, you need to go to the office and ask who you're supposed to be meeting with." When she did, you'll never guess who they told her she needs to meet with: the same guy who just told her wasn't her coordinator!!

So, I had made my appointment to register, and I went there today, and although they put me in the classes (except they put me in one I don't want... which is a little my fault cuz I can't figure the stupid website out) they won't give me the paperwork I need to give to the international office to get my username/ login for the university!! They say I have to get this guy's signature and then come back for that (and then they'll fix my courses too).

Needless to say, I'm annoyed.  I'm going to try this guy's office one more time, and if it doesn't work, I'm going to try to relax this weekend before trying again on Monday.

Other than that though, everything is great!!
=)

Toledo in a day!!

Wow!! So, Sunday I spent the day in Toledo, the old capital of Spain.  It was AMAZING.  My dear friend Alice invited me and we both had the time of our lives!! I hope that I'm able to talk about everything that happened, cuz spending just one afternoon in Toledo doesn't seem like a lot, but LOTS can happen!!
Ready, set, go!!

Well, the day started at 7:00am, meeting in a plaza about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.  There were probably around 50 of us, and we all piled into a large bus, and began the three hour trip to Toledo from Salamanca.  This was the part that made me the most nervous... I ALWAYS get car sick in buses... However, my mom left me with some ginger candy (which for those of you who don't know, ginger is GREAT for settling or preventing an upset stomach) and it worked like a charm!!

The day started out with a stop about an hour into the trip at a small cafe outside of Avila, a town between here and Toledo (of course).  We all overran the restaurant ordering coffee, snacks and different things.  There were barely any tables, but Alice and I got lucky, cuz right when we were going to sit down, some people had just left their table and we were able to sit there.  Breakfast was yummy, and eventful.  About 5 min after sitting down, a group of boys walks up and sits at the end of the table we're at, and begins talking to us.  They were HILARIOUS, and in all fairness, probably a little intoxicated.  Either way, we had a good chat/ laugh with them (all in Spanish as well!!) before getting back on the bus.  We made sure to stop for pictures before leaving town.  Although we didn't get to spend any time in Avila, I would love to return!! It's BEAUTIFUL!! I wish I could post a pic, but since the sun was in the wrong place, all of them I have are REALLY hard to see... =(

The bus ride continued another 2 hours, until we FINALLY made it into Toledo. The first thing we did was go to see a panoramic of the city.  It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!  We all stood around for like 20 minutes, taking pictures and taking it all in.  Of course, we ran into the boys again, still somewhat intoxicated.  They def made things more lively and interesting though, and they were soooo sweet, so we hung out with them a little longer, and had a good laugh.  Next, we all piled back into the bus and went to the entrance of the city.  There, we began a guided walking tour.  Now, in all honesty, I was in the back of the group, wandering alone a little taking pics and such, so I can't really say what all of the pictures I've taken are of, but, here are some of them!!

The bridge we had to cross to get into the city.  Toledo is almost completely surrounded by water, which is what made it such a great capital/ fortress back in the day!

Once we got into the city, we were able to see the crest of the city!!

Then we continued with our guided tour.  We started with a church.  In all honesty I didn't really get to hear a lot of the details about it...
What's interesting though are the chains hanging from it.  There were chains used in the 15th (??) century, holding Christians hostage.  As the Catholic religion was in the process of retaking the country, they hung the chains here on this church from each of the hostages they were able to rescue, as a way of showing that their mission was still underway, and to continue having faith.  Kinda cool.  These chains have been hanging here for hundreds and hundreds of years!! Longer than the USA has been around!! Even before Columbus sailed the ocean blue!! (in 1492... haha)









The tour continued with a few more stops, at some Jewish synagogues converted into churches, and now libraries and museums.  It was really interesting seeing the Jewish influence on the city.

There were little tiles in the streets with different symbols and such.  Really pretty!!









We got to see the cathedral...

And then, we had a few hours just to walk around and take in the sights... Throughout the afternoon, we were able to run into some more people from the trip, including the boys from earlier, and really just had a great time.  We met a group of students from Mexico who were on the trip, and they were SO sweet!! We spent the majority of the afternoon with them!!  We also did some shopping, got to practice speaking Spanish a lot, and got LOTS of exercise!! There were TONS of things related to Don Quixote and I just went crazy!! I bought lots of fun things! =)




One of the best parts of the day for me was when different groups of people, on completely different occasions, told me I sounded like I was Spanish!! Made me smile... =)
I also found a Mc Donalds!! haha Of course!


After walking around for a few hours, we all met back up in the group, and played a really interesting game.  (I didn't participate, cuz I was afraid of falling... haha) They had to tie balloons around their ankles and try to pop the ones on other people's.  The last one with a balloon won!!









Well, long day, but lots happened!! The bus ride home was nice, I tried to sleep, but not with much success... It was nice to just sit and listen to music, relax, and think back on the wonderful day!