It seems like everyday here keeps getting better and better. The past few days have all been fun and exciting in their own ways. Thursday night took me to the Férias de Salamanca, which is basically a big carnival with rides, cotton candy, churros con chocolate (mmmmmm gooood), and annoying pitchmen trying to get you to play their rigged games. We were about a group of 10 strong, wondering through a strange atmosphere that somehow felt like home. No matter what language it's in, the carnival is always the same crazy atmosphere. However, I don' think our carnivals back home can get away with the violations of copyrights that this one had. Around every corner, there was a "Disney" themed ride with obscure murals of Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto. In addition, there were Looney Tunes characters mixed in with Walt Disney's characters to add more fun to the ride, etc. It was as if Six Flags and Disney World collided, but then morphed all of the characters ever so slightly so they don't exactly look like themselves.
We only went on one ride that night, but it was more than enough. It was called "Giga Canguro", which translates to giant kangaroo, which rode exactly how it sounds. We were bounced up and down, spinning backwards and forwards for almost 15 minutes. I'm glad we chose to do tapas instead of a full dinner or I would have seen it come back up! However, in that moment I was perhaps the happiest I had been since I arrived in Spain, simply taking in the whole experience so far. The carnival was exactly what I needed: a break from the hectic fiestas and returning to my inner child trying to win a giant teddy bear and taking silly pictures!
Last night started off with a concert by the group RevolveR, a rock group from Valenica. I've been trying to think which Stateside band I could compare them to and the Rolling Stones seemed to fit nicely. Not exactly my type of music, but they played an amazing show and rocked the Plaza Mayor like Pitingo had a few nights earlier. The night began to move fast, jumping from cafe to bar to discoteca, but ending in some peaceful time taken to myself.
Every once in a while we need to find peace and serenity. Living in Salamanca, where there are more people out at 4am than 4pm, I truly needed some time to myself to appreciate the city. I went to a park when the night was coming to a close and just watched the stars. Then it hit me that I hadn't seen the stars since I left Colorado. It was a beautiful sight even if there were only about 30 stars visible. The park sits on the edge of the original walls of the city, overlooking the puente romano and the rest of the city.
I love this city.
-Adam
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