America beware...

The mullet is back... with vengeance. I see it everywhere- guys and girls alike. The most stylish seems to be a mullet with dreadlocks.... interesting. Speaking fashion... check out these pants that are supposedly all the rage right now- in the first picture, it's the one on the left. (I am not sure what is going on in the right, I haven't seen that. Yet.) In the second picture, you can see just the pants. Hideous. I can't even imagine that they are comfortable. Who wants to walk with all that fabric between their legs?? Here's to hoping that this European fashion never makes its way to America.


Okay, so with the shocking "fashion" update out of the way... as you have probably realized I have made it to Spain! Life has been much busier than I expected it to be (so far anyway) so I haven't had a whole lot of time to just sit and write. Today has been really nice though. I have spent all morning lounging... drinking coffee and watching Spanish TV. So we spent a few days in Madrid where we saw the bullring, called "Plaza de Toros"-


We didn't actually see a bullfight, though I am considering going to Pomplona during the running of the bulls and might see one there. Although... I'm not sure I want to because it seems really gory. There is this famous bullfighter named Jose Tomas who recently fought in Madrid. There are these large doors that are rarely ever used-- they are only opened when something really amazing happens (I guess) and during one of his fights a little while before I arrived in Madrid, the front doors were opened for him. So here is the line of people waiting to buy tickets. The prices shot up because this guy was in town:


Anyway, a few days ago he was gored during a fight and I imagine he'll be out for a while and that his chances of one day becoming a father are now severely limited.

There are 10 of us in the program, 9 girls and one guy. Then there is our fearless leader, Andy, from Scotland, who is sort of our liaison between us and the company we booked our trip through. He shows us around and helps us book travel and all sorts of other things. He's great. Also traveling with us is our Professor (from CSUF) Reyes, and her husband. Reyes is from Spain which is really amazing because she knows the culture so well and is very helpful. We will soon be traveling to visit her house in the North of Spain (about 5 hours away) for a week.
Here's a picture of some of us. I am going to name them from left to right, in case I ever tell stories where you want to put a face with a name. (I think if you click on the picture it will get bigger.)

Christina, Adrianna, Jessica, Megan, Angelina, Mariana, Terra, and Me.
We are missing Marnita, and Ben. (Well, and Andy, Reyes y su esposo.)

We get along really well, but they sure like to party! Every night. Until 4... 5... even 6 in the morning. It's crazy.
Here is how I usually participate-- watching from the balcony above....
Marnita is in this picture (on the left) and Ben... the only guy.



While we were in Madrid, we saw a Flamenco show- it was great! It was a pretty small venue and it was beautiful. Here is Terra and I enjoy our sangria during the show-

After the weekend in Madrid, we arrived in Salamanca and met our host families. I LOVE my host family. Our "mom" is great. Her name is Antonia. It took me a few days to realize, though, that they don't actually live in this apartment. They live in an apartment across the street. So it is a little bit more like living in a dorm, (because other students stay here too) which was a bit disappointing. But in some ways, it's nice too. Antonia comes over to cook for us. This is my roommate Angelina:



Here is the Plaza Mayor, which many (all?) Spanish cities have, and I love it. It is incredibly gorgeous (a replica of which was featured in the movie Vantage Point) and I know I will miss it when I leave. This isn't a great picture of it, but here's an idea:
It is enclosed like this on all four sides. Here is the north side where a stage was set up for the first week we were here. They were having a festival and Rufus Wainright came to play! Surprise for us-- free concerts!


We took a walking tour of Salamanca and here are some of the sights. Historically, Salamanca is pretty significant, and is home to one of the oldest ( I think the third oldest ) university. Here is (not a very good picture of) the front of the university:

There is a legend here is Salamanca about the frog (or toad?) that is part of the facade and is pictured here:

There are two sides to this story.
Frog: if you find the frog you will have good luck on your exams.
Toad: (I find this one more likely, though the town embraces the first). In ancient literature, a toad was used to symbolize the presence of an indiscretion, an affair or a loose woman etc. When the university was first founded it was all men, several of them priests. The town had many prostitutes at the time... to keep the men entertained when they weren't studying? In this version of the legend the toad serves as a warning to students that if they are distracted by a wayward woman, they would find themselves on a road that would lead to death (like the skull on which the toad sits) whether that death be physical, spiritual or academic.

Here is the medallion(?) also on the facade of the university of "Los Reyes Catolicos" King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel. Under their reign Spain was officially united as one country. They are called the Catholic King and Queen because of their devout (or... fanatical) catholicism. It was under their rule that Jews and Muslims were persecuted and expelled from Spain.
We also toured the Cathedral which is absolutely gorgeous. It is the first thing you see when driving into Salamanca. We ran into some visiting nuns there:

And, look what is carved into the side of the cathedral


An astronaut!! Seemed a little out of place. But that part of the cathedral is part of the "new cathedral" which was added on to the old cathedral. I believe it is supposed to be a testament to the greatest achievements of the 20th century. Or something. Anyway, it was weird.

One last history lesson for today. There is an ancient route called "Camino Santiago" which basically means the path of St. James. It is a pilgrimage that people take where they walk up to ten to fifteen hours a day for up to thirty or so days, depending on where they start on the route. They wear/wore a large shell around their necks to signify their pilgrimage. In each town, there was/is a symbol of this shell pointing them directly through the center of the city so they can get straight through. Cities (or towns, then) would often feed and house these pilgrims without charge. This is a famous building in Spain that is here in Salamanca, it is called "Casa de las Conchas." Which means house of shells. The shells (stuck to the side of the building) are representative of the Camino Santiago.




Anyway, sorry it has taken me so long to post, if I did it more often, I suppose my posts wouldn't have to be so long! Life is good here, busier than I thought it would be, but I hope to relax this weekend. We have done A LOT a lot a lot of walking (generally a minimum of 3 hours per day) and I am working through my third round of blisters. I hope to take it easy this weekend though, and I have so far. The food is good, they eat tons of ham. Like... every part of the pig. I will talk more about that later I suppose. I get along well with the group and my class is challenging. My Spanish is getting better but still needs a lot of work.

Hope this update finds you well and that you too are enjoying the long days of summer!
Until next time,
-Kari