A Weekend in Salamanca…

Well I haven’t written on here in a while and I think it’s time for an update. I have to say that staying in Salamanca this weekend was definitely worth losing a weekend of traveling. Let me explain…most students who study abroad use their 3 day weekends to travel all over Europe. This idea of traveling is a big reason why I decided I wanted to study abroad. However, after booking trips to Barcelona, Paris, and London last week I realized that this whole traveling thing is kind of pricey, and decided to save some money by spending this weekend in Salamanca. Also, we had just returned from a busy 4 day trip to Madrid on Tuesday.

It was wonderful to enjoy the city with lots of free time. On Friday and Saturday I went on a long walk with my friend Kelsey down to the river. We found a track at a park and did laps around it. It felt so great to exercise two days in a row! My favorite part of the weekend was definitely Sunday. After the church service(which was amazing) I went to a lady named Jacqueline’s house for lunch. There were 3 other international students going too, and we all rode the bus with another lady from the church to get to Jacqueline’s apartment. Her apartment was right on the river and was SO beautiful. The meal was probably one of the best I have had yet in Spain. We sat around the table for several hours enjoying all the different courses and each other. It was great to be immersed in Spanish conversation, especially with fellow believers, for so many hours. Kelsey and I stayed at the apartment until 6:30!

I have continued to be blessed by all my experiences here in Spain. I am excited for my first full week of classes and my trip to Barcleona this weekend! More to come soon.

Las Fiestas de Salamanca

Well I’m in the middle of my second week in Salamanca, and I have to say I am loving it more and more as time goes on. Granted, there are a few things I miss about being in the good old USA, including Wake Football, but I have accepted that there are many things about life here that are different and I just need to continue adjusting. The past few days have been especially exciting due to the Festival of Salamanca. Last night was a very fun experience with my “intercambio”, Luis. He sent me a text message yesterday asking if I wanted to meet up with some of his friends and some of my friends to watch the concert in the Plaza. Of course I said yes, and we all went to the concert last night! It was so much fun.  After it was over he took us to a pub that we had never been to before. We all called it an “early” night and went home around 12:30 am. The Spanish guys thought we were crazy for leaving that early. I am excited about this evening because some friends and I are going to go out for dinner! Then afterwards we are going to watch the fire dancers in a park! It should be exciting. My adventures continue. I am also really excited about our upcoming 4-day trip to Madrid.

Oh, and someday I am going to figure out how to upload pictures to this to help everyone visualize what I am talking about

I´m loving Spain!

I cannot even begin to describe my love for this place. It is hard to believe I have only been here a week. I already feel so at home, yet not at home at the same time. Luckily for now I do not have any feelings of homesickness or regret for missing 3 months of life in both Fayetteville and Wake.  I think overall one of the most exciting things about being here is that everyday is an adventure, at least that is how I try to approach it. I learn so much and see so many new things everyday! I like the schedule we have had this past week. Right now my group from Wake (which is 37 students and a professor) have been taking an intensive spanish class with our professor. Wake Forest has a centro here that is in the main part of the city, which is basically a little version of Wake. We go there for 2 hours a day for class. I usually stay afterwards to use the internet!

I do think that most of what I am learning is outside the classroom. Speaking of learning, my spanish has improved so much this past week. Simply talking to my family everyday and interacting with people in stores helps so much. My family even told me that they think my Spanish is great! That made me feel so good. I still have a long way to go, but I am definitely improving my conversational skills. What a blessing!

Last night was my first late night life experience in Spain. Some of my friends and I have found a great little place to go. They teach free salsa lessons and is a very relaxing place to sit and talk. We stayed out dancing and hanging out until about 4 am last night. It was so fun! Don´t worry, everything is really safe, and one of my friends that was with me was a boy, so he walked us all home! I always feel very safe in Salamanca. I am excited to enjoy the rest of this weekend. There is so much more I could say, but unfortunately I only have a few minutes left at the internet cafe I am currently using. I promise to write more soon.  I wish I was better at this blog thing (aka like Beth Martin). Hope everyone is well!

Exciting news!

I have a spanish cell phone now. Here they call them “moviles” and the system is very different than the ones in the states. All you do is buy the phone and then buy minutes for it, so it’s pay as you go. This is very convienent for us! I had to spend about $85 for it, but it’s a great investment for communicating with my spanish family, my other wake friends that are here, other friends from wake in other countries, and people at home.

So if anyone is interested, my number is:

(+34)-[this is the country code] 622671503

Today has been a great day so far. I didn’t sleep too much last night because I wasn’t tired when I went to get in bed around 12:30 am. Well, my body was tired, but my mind wasn’t. Hopefully tonight will go better. I haven’t felt tired today yet though, which is a blessing. We had our first class, which was very good. After that I stayed here at the WF centro to use the internet to chat with my mom and Eva. That was great too. After that I went to the spanish equivalent of Wal-Mart with my friend Margaret. Then I went home for “comida” , which is the big meal of the day, around 2:30. I was happy to see my madre and my hermanito, Alejandro. He was playing soccer in the house! So my lunch was baked chicken, chicken noodle soup without chicken in it, and a salad. It was wonderful! All of the food has been wonderful so far. What a blessing. And then came buying a phone-which was quite an adventure, but great in the end.

Let me know if you want me to call you!

Do not fear…

Well, I survived my first night in España! Before I went to sleep I read Isaiah 43 over and over. It was literally what kept me from crying myself to sleep. I don´t think I wanted to cry because I was actually scared, only because I was slightly overwhelmed. I flew to Spain and met my new family and unpacked and went exploring on my own all in one day. Oh, and I did all that while communicating in español. How crazy!

It is wonderful to be here though. After a great night of sleep, I woke up to commotion outside my room. I got dressed, went to the kitchen and found a set of grandparents there! They had come over for breakfast. My madre asked me if I wanted to eat with them, and of course i said yes. So I poured my frosted flakes and went into the living room. I basically just sat there and took in their conversation. They speak very fast and interrupt each other all the time. I love it! They are all so warm and friendly. I think my madre loves the housewarming gifts I gave her. She used the cardinal pot holder to put the coffee pot on at the table. So precious. So after breakfast I played with my precious new little brother, Alejandro. He is amazing, and I´m pretty sure his spanish speaking skills are better than mine. Let´s just say I have alot to work on.  After I showered I took a walk around the street I live on, then came to the internet cafe again. After this I will go back to the apartment for lunch, then head to the Plaza Mayor to explore and then meet my group at 5. Hopefully I can find some people i know around there! I am excited to hear about everyone´s housing situation.

yay for living in España!

finally in Salamanca!

hey everyone! I am not sure who is even keeping up with this thing, but I figured I would update while I have the chance. I arrived in my home for the semester about 2 hours ago. It was a fairly long day of traveling and I was so happy to finally be in Salamanca. The flight from newark to madrid was great for me because i slept the entire time. We had to wait for a long time on the bus at the Madrid airport because 2 of the girls didnt get their luggage. My madre picked me up in her car at our group´s dropoff point and drove me to her apartment. She is young (29) and is married to a man named Roberto who i have not met yet. I was so excited to learn that she has a 4 year old named Alejandro! He is visiting his grandparents rightnow, but he should be back for dinner tonight. I was able to bring up all my stuff and start unpacking.  She gave me my own set of keys and showed me how to lock and unlock the door properly. She took me to the grocery store so I could buy the shampoo and things I needed that I had to take out of my bags because they were overweight.

After that she left me, which was strange. So I went back and finished unpacking my room and put together their housewarming gift. I then ventured out to find an ATM and this internet cafe. What a blessing to be able to communicate! I am so excited about everything I am going to experience here. It is a truly beautiful and small European city. Not sure what I will be up to for the first part of tomorrow, but we have to meet in the Plaza Mayor at 5 pm for a tour and a dinner.  That should be exciting!

 

Thanks for all your love and prayers.

Susan

Less than a week until Espana!

It’s hard to believe that the next time I write on here will be when I am in Spain! I am full of excitement as I sit in my quiet house in Fayetteville anticipating what will surely be the adventure of a lifetime. My packing began today and has gone well so far. I discovered the incredible tool known as space saver bags, and am excited to get everything organized into those to make my packing easier.

Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely things I am worried about; including speaking Spanish with my host family and doing a presentation for my intensive Spanish class the second day we meet. However, I know the Lord is going to provide for me and as my mom says speaking Spanish will be like “riding a bike”.

I hope that I will have at least a few friends who will enjoy reading this blog throughout the semester! Many of my fellow abroad friends have also created similar sights so I know for people back at Wake there is certainly a lot to keep up with. I will certainly miss everyone who I leave behind in America but I am sure that Spain is where God wants me this semester and I am excited to see how He works through it all!