Hola. Estoy en España por la noche. Ok, that's enough Spanish. Anyway, Salamanca is an absolutely gorgeous city. Everything is old and big and beautiful. I could wander down the alleyways for days and find something new each time. More lovely than anything else, though, is the Plaza Mayor. In the center of the old portion of the city, the Plaza Mayor is the central gathering place, just like you'd expect any plaza to be. It's just so picturesque and perfect. Little cafés and gelato shops line the edges and it constantly is full of people, whether they are cute old couples slowly strolling, college students studying at la Universidad de Salamanca, or tourists taking pictures. It doesn't quiet down at night at all; Spain always seems to be awake. The lifestyle here is so unlike America and London, mostly due to the afternoon siesta. A few hours of rest in the afternoon may not sound like much, but it actually is an extremely smart and healthy scheduling choice. Rather than waking up at the butt crack of dawn and working all day to come home exhausted, the Spanish wake up around 9, work a few hours, take an afternoon nap, work some more, go home, eat dinner at like 10 or 11, and go out for the evening around 1 in the morning. Lunch is the most important meal of the day as well. It's a huge feast with meat dishes and bread and Sangria. Speaking of, I could drown in Sangria. It is so delicious! I mean, I'd had it before, but authentic Spanish Sangria is incredibly tasty. Red wine with citrus fruits and a dash of sweetner and liquor is the perfect drink to accompany a lazy Spanish afternoon of people watching in the sun (which is exactly what I have been doing the last few days). I want to see more of Spain—Barcelona, Cadiz, more of Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Pamplona, Granada, and others. To really understand what I'm talking about you need pictures. Too bad Blogger won't let me upload any tonight. I'll try again later.
I want to relearn Spanish. I took 4 years of it in high school and thought I would've forgotten most of it, but I actually remember quite a bit. I mean, I made it back from Salamanca to Madrid all on my own! However, the language barrier is making me so much more nervous for when I go to countries this fall where I don't speak the language at all. Plus, countries like China and India and such won't even have the same alphabet! Now THAT'S going to be scary. I'll get by, though...I hope. I was able to here. Eep. Maybe I should just learn a bunch of languages this summer. Good project, right?
My birthday was yesterday (well, 2 days ago since it is now May 25 in Spain), and it was beautiful in every way. I woke up relatively early to a beautiful sunrise and then spent the day eating delicious food, drinking amazing Sangria, and wandering around the city. Some friends of mine are there right now for a summer program, so I got to see all of them, too, which was great. Birthdays really are all about what you make of them, not how many gifts you get. The greatest gift I got was the chance to just be in Salamanca. I'm certain I won't be forgetting this birthday, despite the Sangria consumption ;)
It's 2:30 here. That means in about 9 hours, I will be on an America-bound flight. After a layover in Washington, D.C., I will board another plane, bound for Colorado Springs, my home for the summer. While my travels are taking a back seat for the next few months, everything I have experienced in the last month has prepared me more for my next big adventure on Semester at Sea. I've got the Travel Bug, folks, and I've got it bad.
People have warned me about "Reverse Culture Shock." We'll see how that goes, I guess. For now, though, I must say goodnight.
Farewell, Europe!
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