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Published: July 20th 2011
I left Sevilla a bit conflicted. On one hand, I loved the city and met wonderful people there, who still had a week to study. On the other hand, I was ready to get away from that suffocating heat! As I was walking home from class on my last day there, I saw that the temperature was 45 C/113 F. Murder! Three weeks in Andalucia had given me a tan and bleached my hair some. So as a part of me cried at the thought of leaving, I also rejoiced at the promise of nicer weather up north.
Again, I had to take the train to Madrid (Chamartin), go to a different train station (Atocha), and hop a different train to Salamanca. It was a 5-6 hour trip in total, I think. Once I arrived to Salamanca, I realized that I had no idea where I was and dragged my luggage until I could find a taxi. Thanks to this, I now have farmer's hands. Ugh. (Soy princesa, no?)
My first night in Salamanca, I stayed in a hostel that was really cool/modern/what-have-you, but they worked on a weird keycard system. You needed it to enter the hostel, use
the elevator, get into your room, turn on the lights in your room, etc. This sounds all nice and dandy, but if someone's in the bathroom, you have to either wait until they get out or leave them in the dark. Oh, God! Also, the bathroom flooded whenever anyone took a shower. I was only there for a night so, I suppose I can't really complain.
The next day, I went to my apartment that I shared with a girl from Belarus, a German girl (Francesca), and 2 French girls. I never got to see the girl from Belarus and the French girls avoided me because, it seems, they could speak neither Spanish nor English very well. They were only there for a week, though. After those three, 2 more French girls (Iffy & Dian) moved in. Perhaps, I went to Salamanca with plans to study the wrong language? ha.
As for Salamanca, it's beautiful without a doubt and as an American, I was constantly amazed by how old the buildings were. They have the old cathedral and the "new" cathedral, which was built CENTURIES ago. It really was an amazing city, but after the first week, I
kinda felt like I'd seen everything that there was to see. So, I found myself going out nearly every night with Iffy and Dian to try out the different bars. Also, because they didn't go to the same school that I did, I got to meet different people through them. They were fun girls and we made good (or interesting, to say the least, haha) memories, but I just don't have the energy to stay out until 4 am and go to class at 9 am. Is it a French thing? I don't know, but I'm impressed. ha.
The school (Berceo) I went to was so much smaller than the one in Sevilla. In my first week, there were only 4 students in total! Later, more came and we ended up with a class of 8 in total. This, I think is perfect. In Sevilla, we had 10 and that just makes it hard for everyone to get a chance to talk and you don't really get to know your classmates. At Berceo, we all went to the same bar during break for some coffee and just to relax.
Despite a few problems that we had, I still
liked the school. During conversation one day, we talked about our idea of the ideal man and as an example I mentioned Marchena, who then was brought up again a few times other days (not always by me, I swear). One day, for instance, we were talking about where we see ourselves in the future and all I said was that I live in Valencia with my husband and kid. Felicia (my professor) said, "Marchena, no?" hahaah. Then, the story evolved into a whole other thing and oh, my! It was pretty hilarious and, now, even if they forget my name, I'll always be remembered by those professors and my classmates as "that American that liked that footballer." Should I be proud or ashamed? I don't even know! (Orgullosa, por supuesto.)
♥ ♥ ♥
Courtney
P.S. - I think it's worth noting how different schools can be. (This I should have already realized considering that I work in one.) Berceo (Salamanca) was very worksheet-focused. I guess they work on the theory that you learn best by memorization and repetition. We would receive a lot of homework then, I spend most of classtime correcting said homework. In Clic (Sevilla),
Profe Guapo gave us homework and we spent a portion of time correcting it, but most of our time was spent talking and doing activities. I'm not saying that one is/was better over the other, but I think maybe I would've been better off staying in one school. It's difficult when you get used to one way of learning and then, have to become accustomed to something different. /Just a thought for next time, ha.
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