Salamanca

My latest trip was to a beautiful and very old city near Madrid called Salamanca. Despite the cold weather that I'm trying to get used to, I absolutely loved it. It's charming and has a certain kind of spirit, something you can feel when you're there. My friend Diana and I stayed in a hostel in the center of the city and began our journey of seeing all the famous monuments there are to see in Salamanca. The most famous is probably Plaza Mayor. I took probably 50+ pictures of it.

Plaza Mayor

There are so many old and cool buildings in this city, it's hard to remember exactly which is which. There is also a tradition in Salamanca of finding the astronaut and the frog that are carved into two different buildings facades around the city. It took us two days to find them but we finally did!

The astronaut on the facade of the old Cathedral

The tiny frog is on the head of the skull

The nightlife in Salamanca is crazy because of the students who live there. The famous university in Salamanca makes it a popular place to study abroad or for European students, participate in Erasmus. Needless to say, it was a ton of fun. It felt like I was in college again. Sigh.

Here are some of my other favorite pictures from my trip to Salamanca:

Street art

Facade of the Cathedral

Shells on the door of the public library

Parque de los Jesuitos

Madrid - Seville - Faro

A few weeks ago, I finally got to revisit the city that made me fall in love with Spain: Sevilla. The other great part about being able to go back to Sevilla was that one of my best friends, Adriana, now lives there. It really felt like I was back for real. But alas, it was only a pit stop on our way to the beach in Faro, Portugal.

Río Guadalquivir in Sevilla

Although the weather forecast was iffy, we still hoped on the bus for a 3 hour ride to the beautiful Algarve coast of Portugal. It rained almost the entire first day we were there unfortunately. When it finally stopped, we walked around the old city of Faro. It is the only part of the city that still has old buildings since an earthquake destroyed most of them a few hundred years ago. The windy cobblestone streets were picturesque.

The entrance to the old city of Faro

One of the pedestrian streets

This particular weekend was an annual fair in Faro. We enjoyed delicious Portguese meat, cheese, wine and of course, sweets. While walking around the game and food booths, rides and watching people enjoy the lively fair, I got that feeling: we aren't all that different. This feeling comes up for me every once in a while. This fair was almost identical to one that you would find in the US. And I just felt like...it's so cool that I'm here in Portugal but it almost feels like I could be back home.

Ferriswheel & games at the fair

Faro is a port city that is surrounded by small islands that are part of a natural park. We took a boat out to an island called La Ilha Deserta (The Deserted Island). The only thing on the island is a restaurant and an lighthouse. That's it. It was so peaceful and pristine. There aren't many places like that anymore. At least that I have had the chance to experience.

Portugal has become easily become one of my favorite countries. Visiting Lagos two years ago and Faro this year, I have learned that Portuguese people are so unbelievably kind and caring. They'll try to help you find your hostel when it's pouring rain and neither of you can understand what the other is saying. I love Portugal so much that I'm going back next week: this time, to the capital, Lisbon.

Faro's Marina

Valencia

A little late, but I wanted to write about my trip to Valencia, a beautiful, beachy city on the east coast of Spain (apparently beachy isn't a word? Too bad). With a semester of Andalusian weather under my belt, I had my notions about what a difference it would be living in Madrid. I thought, "One more trip to the beach!" before it gets too cold. Boy, was I wrong because it still gets to be about 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit here. Well anyway, I headed to Valencia with my friend, Erin, harboring excitement and the melancholy feeling that comes with the end of summertime.

A 4 hour bus ride away from Madrid, Valencia has everything I want in a city. Chaotic urban buzz, historic architectural beauty and most importantly, a flawless shoreline. We had some amazingly, delicious horchata (which originated in the city), giving it a bunch more positive points in my book. I could drink that stuff forever. Valencia is also famous for their paella valenciana and I can vouch for that. It consists of vegetables, white beans and meat (typically rabbit). To die for.

Paella Valenciana

The beach was beautiful, albeit a bit windy. But I didn't care. The water was calm and starting to get a bit chilly for my liking but I had to say that I swam in the Balearic Sea! Wanting to be a bit more cultured, we decided to head to the Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias (The City of Arts and Sciences), an arts and sciences complex designed by a world renowned Valencian architect, Santiago Calatrava. We only really had time to explore one of the things to see at CAC so we decided on the aquarium and it was a great decision. I love aquariums to begin with but this place... wow. There are different buildings based on environment (Mediterranean, Tropical, Arctic, etc.) I'm terrified of sharks but part the exhibit was in a tunnel under the aquarium. Also, jellyfish make me squirm but they had a species of neon glowing jellyfish. It was just so awesome.

Playa de las Arenas

Meeting people is always a fun part of traveling. We met a lot of German people, some Australians and a Brit. The British guy, whose name I don't remember, told me how he visited New York after I mentioned I was from there. I asked if he enjoyed the city and surprisingly, he said no! He ditched the city for an upstate New York getaway. I thought that it was going to be a long shot but I asked him which town...it was New Paltz! I told him how I went to college there and how it's one of my favorite places in the world. He said he absolutely loved it. I was beaming with pride. As if I discovered the place or something...

Anyway, here are a few pictures. Highlights, if you will. Enjoy :)

The statue of Neptune in the Plaza de la Virgen

A typical Spanish breakfast: Coffee (first and foremost), una tostada con jamón y tomate (toast with ham and tomato) and churros con chocolate (churros with chocolate to dip them in). Please try not to drool on your keyboard.

Door of a church

La Lonja de Mercaderes (Commodity Exchange Building): one of the most emblematic buildings from the Valencian civil gothic style, it was used for commercial transactions and as a municipal bank.

That's me in front of the Palacio de la Exposición in Plaza del Carmen

Moto

Gorgeous ceiling of the Mercado Central (Central Market) in the city of Valencia

Just a small sample of the amazing street art in Valencia

A street leading to Plaza de la Virgen

Finally updated :)

Oh my god. Really. I feel terrible about not having written. Sometimes it's hard to believe people actually have been reading (my two posts...). But anyway, as I was so kindly reminded by a friend, it is absolutely time that I updated this.

Since I last wrote, my life here has definitely changed. Arriving in Alcalá, staying in a hostel, I felt a like a tourist, like I was on vacation. The move just didn't seem real; it felt like a dream. However, since moving to and living in my apartment, getting into the groove of going to work every day, I can say that I finally feel like my life has finally returned to some form of normalcy.

Starting a new job is always pretty stressful, at least in my opinion. You don't know who any of your colleagues are yet, where anything is, etc. I found it particularly stressful to be starting a job that I basically knew nothing about. I am by no means a teacher. But after a month or so of getting into the routine of this teaching gig, I feel like I finally have a handle on it. The first few weeks were insane. Chaos. I've never seen anything like it in my life. It is true what they say about Spanish kids; they're out of control. But their genuine excitement over meeting the new American assistants was kind of heartwarming. I was getting hugs and "I love you's" on the first day.

One thing I can say is that they are much more affectionate than American students. Despite their chaotic nature and defiance, they really are adorable. I have students who are in primero, which is first grade. Most of them are 5 or 6 years old. I also work with cuarto (fourth grade) and quinto (fifth grade). They all range in age from 9-12 years old. The first graders are irresistibly cute, but know very little English. I find it a little more challenging than working with the older kids. But I can't help but have a huge smile on my face when I walk into the classroom and they act as if their favorite fútbol player just showed up. Pure excitement. Or seeing them in the hallways, they love yelling out "Hello, Teacher." But keep in mind when they say teacher, it sounds like tee-chair. So cute.

Fourth and fifth graders are great. I love getting to know them and just talking with them. What amazes me is some of the students' willingness to talk and really practice their English. It makes me wish that I had learned Spanish at such a young age. They're willing to make mistakes and aren't embarrassed to do so. I remember feeling like I didn't want to raise my hand in Spanish class because I was afraid of speaking incorrectly. I think bilingual schooling is a really great tool for young people in Spain.

Life here in Alcalá is lovely and so normal. It seems strange that my life is "normal" anywhere else but home. Although the true giddiness and excitement over living in Spain has kind of worn off, I know there are many more things to come, things to see and adventures to be had!

I hope this satisfies! I am going to write separately about my travels here in Europe so I have more things to post about soon. I promise it will be soon!

After only a few days here, I feel like my life is a little less hectic than it has been for the past few weeks. All the anticipation leading up to this move was intense. It's nice to hang out and be a tourist for a little while and pretend like I'm on vacation.

My first day consisted of arriving at my hostel and almost immediately going to an apartment showing. I had some trouble finding the place building but finally when I did find it and the landlord, I introduced myself. He looked at me with a shocked expression. He said he thought I was going to be a guy! Lauren. That is not a guy's name! Well anyway, he apologized because he saw me walking up and down the block trying to find the apartment but didn't intervene, thinking I was just someone else. Very silly.

The apartment has 4 bedrooms and 3 Spanish students are already living there. For me, this was a big pro- I want to improve my Spanish and this is exactly the way to do it. The bedroom is the largest in the apartment. There are two newly renovated bathrooms, a large kitchen, living room and balcony. The price is right especially because it includes all the utilities. Another big pro is the location. It is close to everything! Including the cool historical district of Alcalá. So with a pro/con list with nothing on the con side, I decided to take it. I didn't want to stress over whether or not someone else would take the room while I was shopping around. I'm moving in tomorrow! Pictures to follow, of course.

The rest of the day was spent with a friend of a friend who has lived in Alcalá for three years. It was really great to have someone show me where everything is. We also figured out that my new apartment is about 10 feet from hers! Perfecto!

Today I ventured out to Madrid with a fellow English assistant and walked around forever. Even though I was in Spain two years ago, I never really got a chance to visit Madrid and explore it to the fullest. I must say, it is awesome! A great mix of old world and new city. I am really excited about how close it is to Alcalá and how easy it is to get there! I'm excited to explore there some more and experience the nightlife.

Til next time!

Today is the day!

Exactly two years ago, I was packed up and ready for my semester abroad in Seville, Spain. I was so excited to get my first real taste of Spain and of travel. Three months flew by and I was convinced. In the cab on my way to the airport, heading back to New York, I knew I would return to Spain some day. I didn't think the day would come so soon. But it's finally here and my love affair with Spain is coming full circle.

Today is no different. I'm all packed. Ready to go. 10 months away from my family and friends. Am I really ready for that? Not so sure, but the truth will uncover itself tomorrow morning when I land in Madrid. I'm so overwhelmed with excitement as I count down the hours until my new adventure begins. On top of that, the outpouring of love and support from those around me has got me a bit chocked up, I must admit. So as you can imagine, my emotions have been playing a long game of tug-of-war.

It's difficult to leave the people who are most important to me. There aren't enough words to describe how grateful I am to have such amazing people in my life. So thank you will have to suffice. I'm excited to share all of my stories and adventures here with you all!