Salamanca (September 18-September 21)

Salamanca was my first time traveling alone. But it was not as bad as it sounds. My friends decided to travel to Barcelona for the weekend, but I decided to go see Jake. It was nice because the residencia gave me a room to stay in so I could be in the same building as Jake and share the meals with them. He has it made. Everyday a woman, named Nani, comes in to clean their rooms, do their laundry, and cook them lunch and dinner. So over the weekend, instead of having to buy meals, I spent my money on ice cream (the best ice cream in Salamanca, by the way).

The train ride was the scariest part because I got on the train about an hour early. There were only maybe 3 people on the train at that time, but of course, one of them was sitting in my seat! Since I didn´t know how to go about asking, I just say in the seat behind her. So until 5 minutes before the train left, I was sitting in someone else´s seat worried that I was going to get yelled at for being in the wrong place. Finally, the girl got up and I slipped in, I asked the people across from me if that was where I was supposed to be and they said yes (all in Spanish though). After that I was pretty relaxed, expect everyone put their luggage above them, and I sat with it on my lap. I looked ridiculous, but I am ok with that. When I did arrive in Salamanca, Jake was waiting for me on the platform. He took my bag and walked me to his home. That night I met all of Jake´s friends (a lot of girls) which was a little overwhelming but they were all very nice. He has a little family there it feels like. That night was pretty uneventful because Jake still had classes the next day.

Friday, I slept, until...1 maybe? 1:30? Jake and the rest of the residencia had classes all day until lunch. So I...rested. When Jake came home, we ate a delicious lunch with his "family" and then actually took another nap. In Spain they have siestas where everyone goes home to eat and nap. So shops and stores are closed until 4:30 or 5 so there was really nothing to do. Then when everything opened back up we went out and he showed me around town. Salamanca is much more manageable than Madrid. It was nice being able to walk everywhere without taking the metro. I did a little bit of shopping also :) That night we just hung out with his friends.

Saturday morning was the same, except instead of sleeping, Jake and I did some homework. Apparently the next week was his exam week (he passed them all) so I had to let him study. Then, after lunch, we went to the Cathedral which was amazing! Jake has all the pictures though. I left my memory card in my computor...but Jake knew a lot about the place since he had been to on a tour when he first arrived.

This is Jake and I on top of the Cathedral. The Cathedral had so many quirks to it. Like one of the skulls on the outside of the building had a frog on it. This is now a symbol of good luck, but it defininetly did not start that way. They also did some remodeling on the outside near the entrance and on the side where there are different animals carves they added an astronaut. That sure was not there when they build the church. There was so much more and I just wish I had the pictures to show you. After the Cathedral, Jake had to meet up with his friend Salma because they were doing an intercambio. That is when Jake and Salma speak spanish to the other person, I cant remember her name right now, but then she resonds in English. I was very impressed. I only sat there the whole time because the conversation was perdominantely Spanish but I caught a few things here and there. The SPpaniard they were talking to was very nice and funny. They meet together often, maybe 3 times a week and just talk. It was fun, although evertime they talked to me it felt like a pop quiz and I would panic, but Jake calmed me down. That night we went out with some of his girl friends to go salsa dancing. I just sat and watched but Jake was good. Apparently he is one of the 2 guys in the class so he gets a lot of practice...someday he will teach me.

Sunday was low key, we went to church in just one part of the Cathedral and later went to get hot chocolate and churos. DELICIOUS...it was just a cup of chocolate and 4 churos for each of us. We ate them all. Sooner then I expected it was time for me to go home. I was sad and getting on the train was very hard. Jake left me there early because I was getting a little worked up. The ride home was fine and then I was home again with Paloma. It was a great weekend and I want to go back if I can. Jake has met some nice people there.

Here are some pictures
So we were looking at the Cathedral from the outside and it was so intricately designed with animals and old figures and then Jake points out this astronaut...thats not supposed to be there...
















Jake looking out from on top the cathedral...


The pictures above are from the light/water show that was playing in the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca the night we were there. Salamanca was a lot of fun, like I said, it was much smaller than Madrid but so much fun.