Long time no see!!

Wow!! I know its been FOREVER since I've posted last... at least it feels like it.  So much has happened in the last week or so! I can't believe it!

For starters, we left Madrid, and finally made it to Salamanca!! We decided to take a train, which was wonderful!! (Almost necessary since my mom and I get motion sickness easily, and we wouldn't have made it through a 3 hour bus ride... haha) The country-side was amazing, and I really enjoyed just looking out my window and taking it all in.  AND... I might have taken like a 45 min nap... haha

Getting into Salamanca felt wonderful.  Even though we had to pull my two 50lb suitcases up and down the hilly/bumpy streets to my apartment.  Only to find that there is no elevator... and I'm on the 3rd (4th really, since floors here start at 0) floor!! So, pulling my luggage up the stairs was a wonderful workout, and just one of many that I will have between carrying groceries and other things up and down the 6 flights of stairs... haha

My apartment is a tad small, but in all honesty, I think it's absolutely perfect!! But more on that later... since I have no pics... oops... haha

So, since I haven't been the best as charging/ carrying my camera, I don't have a lot of pics... SO, my next post is going to be about different places and photos that I want to share... for now, I'll just give a quick summary of what we've been doing since arriving to Salamanca.

The first few days were just spent walking around, adjusting to the changes and taking in the sights.  We were SO happy when getting to Salamanca, because we didn't particularly like Madrid, and Salamanca and Madrid couldn't be more different.  There are old cobble-stone streets, gorgeous views, and really nice people.  Within the first few days here, I was able to make a friend!! haha I had tapas with the sister of the girl that did my exchange previously.  She's a lovely person, and I've really enjoyed getting to know her!!

After getting to Salamanca, however, I still had very few answers about what I'm going to be doing here, how to register for classes, ect.  So, I met up with who I assume is my exchange coordinator, and within 2 hours, she had eased all of my concerns.  On top of that, I met another wonderful person!!  So, I've already started making friends!! yay!!

Funny enough, I was out to dinner the very night I had all of my questions answered, when my parents and I met a wonderful family from England.  Turns out the daughter is also going to be studying at the university and had the exact same questions that I was previously freaking out about! Except... she had no contact person or mentor.  So, our families met up the next day to walk around the city and I was able to show her around.  She's wonderful, and def going to be a great friend for life!

Our families hit it off so well, that we all took a walking tour together!! It was a lot of fun, and told a lot about the history of the city and different things that I would have never even thought to have asked about.  It was great! I have to say, this may be the prettiest city I've ever been in... Chicago and Santiago might win by a TINY margin... and that may be because I'm biased to them... haha

The last few days I've really just hung out with my new friends, cooked dinner with my parents in my new apartment ((Maybe my mom will send me a pic of my first dinner in my new place so I can post it... hint hint... haha)) and kinda just got set up.  I've also gone to meet with some professors and gotten all of that taken care of, so I think I'm ready for the new semester to start!! Only 3 days left!!

So... I know this is a shortened version of everything, and I PROMISE that I will post something about people and places and give pictures and such... but, for now, this is pretty much my life!! Lots of eating, tapas, walking (like A LOT of walking) and at night... watching Spongebob until I fall asleep... life is good!