US and A

Wow. Being back in the US has been quite a change of pace. I really have been missing Salamanca and I think that's what has motivated to pick back up the blog. My apologies for dropping the ball on the blog while I was in Spain, life was just too crazy and it was tough to keep up with everything. Basically, I took a few more journeys down to Andalucía, one with my friend Theo to Cadíz and Cordoba, and another with my friends Brian and Beri to Sevilla. I love Sevilla and it was awesome to return back and see my favorite cathedral in the World. I also got to climb Gironimus, the bell tower that was originally part of the mosque that the Spanish built over when constructing the cathedral. I revisited Cadíz as well, which was a bit of a let down compared to the last time I was there. I say this because I visited in November, whereas the last time I was in this bustling beach city was in the summer. Hence, it was freezing on the beach, but Theo and I went anyway. A couple of Cruzcampos and some lomo bocadillos sure did the trick, looking out at the horizon and knowing it wouldn't last forever. Cordoba was quite a find because I hadn't expected to like it so much. The Mezquita was like seeing the cathedral in Sevilla and Alhambra in Granada and mixing them together. Basically, it exceeded any expectations I had before visiting the city. We smoked a hookahand drank tea with a view of the main street in the old city of Cordoba. The former trip was a decision made at 5am, so we hadn't planned any hostels or even looked at return train times. It was probably the most free I'd ever felt, although my wallet didn't exactly appreciate my last minute decision. Should have gotten a Eurail pass like theo did, because he ended up paying about 1/10 of what I did for his tickets. We missed our train out of Cadíz, which may have been for the best. I had to sneak on the train and hide in the cafeteria because I didn't want to have to buy another ticket in Cordoba, but it all worked out and I got back home just fine.

Blogs on Paris and the infamous Glass/Barros/Arellano vacation to come! Also, updates on my new house and life in Denver post-Salamanca!

Stay up!

Time to catch you all up!

Wow. What a whirlwind of weeks since I've last updated! Pictures will follow soon!

I went to Ciudad Rodrigo and got to see what real Spanish rural life was like a few weeks ago. We went to Alberca, which is famous for it's pig that roams around the city being fat and smelly. At the end of the year, he is given to a citizen of the town and usually eaten at a matanza, like we have in New Mexico. Also, went to the Pena de Francia, which was absolutely incredible. It was like being on top of the world, seeing mountains for miles and miles. Finally arriving in Ciudad Rodrigo, we got to the hotel and immediately went sightseeing around the city of just a few thousand people (much smaller than Salamanca, which is about 200.000 salmantinos). The original city walls still surround the city, built to protect the city from falling against the Moors during the Reconquista from 711-1492 in Spain. It is a beautiful city, though surprisingly dead for a Saturday night. Even Toledo seemed to have more exciting nightlife on a Sunday night!

Two weekends ago I went to Madrid for the first time since orientation (besides going to the airport) and met up with my friend Joe. We are in the same fraternity at DU and he kindly invited me into his 7th floor terrace for the weekend on a couch that was more comfortable than my bed in Salamanca. The first day we stayed away from the tourist spots and instead they took me to Casa de Campo, which is basically a giant national park that overlooks almost all of Madrid, complete with lake and gondola! That night I saw what Spanish university students do on the weekends. Hacer botellón, or basically drink in public on their campus with no repercussions from law enforcement. Thousands upon thousands of students show up with plastic cups, ice, Fanta or Coca-Cola, and a bottle of their choice and make new friends. We didn't stay long, but I was soon to return the next weekend for the halloween festivites (further down). The next day we took the gondola in the Casa de Campo to the Madrid Zoo/Aquarium. It was an incredible experience because they have so many different animals at their zoo than we do in the States. However, it was all about Saturday night, which rocked my world. We went to Fabrik, which is rated a top 30 club in all of the world! There was a opening party for SupermartXé; please watch this to understand...More sightseeing and an incredible trip to the Thyssen-Bornemiza, one of the three museums that make up Madrid's Paseo del Arte along with the Reina Sofia and the Museo del Prado.

This past weekend I returned to Madrid for some more fun. I have fallen in love with big city life and if the city doesn't have a metro system I'm not sure if I want to live there! just kidding, it's just I'm spoiled with European metro systems! We arrived on a Saturday, which meant we had to get straight to the party action. I returned to Compultense campus, where, sure enough, there were thousands of uni students dressed up for Halloween. However, the only Americans there were sadly not in costume (us!). We quickly learned another tradition that involves throwing ice and sometimes glass bottles at those who try to climb the horse in the middle of campus. Apparently, ice is more common but a few bottles did fly that night...The next night I went solo to the Kings of Convenience concert. If you haven't heard of them, get to listening! They played an amazing songs, all of my favorites, and I couldn't have been happier with the weekend! We finished it off with a trip to the Reina Sofia which blew my mind for the second time! Picasso's Guernica is breathtaking and the Dali exhibits were even sweeter now that I had studied him so in depth in the spring.

This weekend is Granada; hope it goes as well as the rest of my trips thus far! Big ups and I'll be back for more great stories, stay tuned.

-Adam

Riu Rio

Portugal was the fourth country I have visited so far, living in España. It's something I've always dreamed of doing, traveling to Portugal that is. I almost opted to study in Portugal, but none of the programs suited my fancy. After visiting, it's definitely not a place I would want to be for 4 months, since it's not excatly centrally located, but it really is incredible.

I was in Porto, which lies in the top of Portugal, surrounded by the coast, a river, and wine country. Although it seems obvious, I didn't know that Port wine can from Porto, which was a pleasant surprise when i stumbled upon this on the internet. With really no itinerary before the trip, six of us ISA students hopped on a bus and prepared for an amazing trip.

Driving in to Porto, after being landlocked for as long as I can remember, was like seeing Disneyland for the first time. I was a flawless coast, palm trees, beautiful vineyards and terraces, and to top it all off, a river and breathtaking bridges that split Porto from the bodegas (wineries) in Vila Nova de Gaia. Portugal looks like California, but it also has shares many of characteristics. Shortly after arriving, we toured the city to find a city well preserved and a cornicopia of old and new buildings standing side by side. Most European cities of this caliber hardly resemble what they looked like hundreds of years ago, but Portugal has kept Porto as authentic as possible. I didn't have to go searching for any of the history as it popped up every few minutes in the form of a barroque cathedral or the town hall building that stood outside of my hostel.

Some of the highlights of trip: Drinking Port wine for the first time. It gives you a killer headache the second you drink one glass because of the sweet taste and the high alcohol content (20%). Visiting the bodegas, (one of them was named Barros and is family-owned, though I didn't have the guts to ask for a share of the family fortune.) They give free tours and tastings, which make the walks very interesting from bodega to bodega. GOING TO THE BEACH! Although the main Porto beaches are located right next to the industrial zone, the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean it hardly overshadowed by few smoke towers. Getting on national television. My other favorite part, clearly. There were elections for mayor, which had been hyped everyday we were in Porto by party buses and fiestas that compare to the hype of Obama's election week. Rui Rio, the eventual winner, rode the party bus right outside my hostel and it was parked across the street for about an hour. M

y friend Jordan and I went outside to try to get on camera with Rui Rio....we were successful! I touched the mayor-elect of Porto and we danced to "I've Got a Feeling" in front of all of Porto, courtesy channel 4. Brian and Theo stayed behind to get the evidence, but nobody had a camera handy. I promise it happened!

Mi piace Milano, tutti i giorni!

It's been a few weeks since the last blog, which can be attributed to my European traveling. Hard life, I know. After the Oktoberfest fiasco, I laid low until the next weekend. My next trip was to Milan to see my girlfriend who is studying in Florence, Italy. We decided to meet in Milan, which isn't quite half way, but flights are very cheap to Milan from Madrid. It was a fiasco getting to Madrid between rush hour traffic and the rainstorms dispersed throughout the "campo". The only downfall of flying cheap European airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet is they often fly to smaller or more obscure airports that require extra traveling after arriving. I had to take an hour long bus ride from Milan Malpensa to the Stazione Centrale.

It was nice to finally be back with Sarai since we hardly get to see each other whilst abroad. Our hotel was a one star on the 4th floor of an apartment building. Very cheap and surprisingly warm and welcoming, the hotel served its purpose. We were skeptical to use the elevator, since it seemed like it would break at any second, but it was reliable and much easier than climbing five flights of stairs (In Europe, the ground floor is zero instead of one).

Highlights of the trip: seeing Milan's famous Duomo. A bit darker in nature than the Spanish cathedrals that I'm use to. "Shopping" in the eight-story designer department stores, which hold the likes of D&G, Prada, Emporio Armani, etc....you get the point (anything out of my price range). Going to an Internazionale Milan game, better known as Inter Milan. We bought Eto'o jerseys and cheered when Inter scored in stoppage time, causing flares to be set off in the stands. Insanity. La Bella e La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) musical, translated into Italian. We got some of the last tickets for cheap and we ended up with amazing seats on the second level, towards the front. Again, simply brilliant. Apart from appreciating the time with Sarai, I experienced my first professional soccer game and Broadway play.

After making it back for lunch on Monday (flight at 630am on Monday), the week started over again. More class, more Spanish life, more of the magic that never seems to leave Salamanca. I read in a tourist book that Salamanca is the Emerald City of Europe, likely accredited to the cathedrals that rise like the spires of Oz. More on my weekend in Porto soon......

Ein Prosit

Well, Oktoberfest came and went and I'm still living. I had an unbelievable time with some of my best friends from DU. Where to start....

I started Thursday waking up at 6am, ready to get the beer flowing as soon as possible. While walking to the bus station, I saw a papelera (recycle bin for paper) on fire, with a few cops standing around. However, the firemen hadn't arrived at the scene of the crime so the papelera basically burned to the ground. I took this as a sign from the man upstairs and knew this week would be amazing! After long layovers and trouble with the Munich train ticket machine, I arrived at my first destination: the floor of a hotel.

Finally..........Downtown Munich! It was 11am and I had never been more excited to drink copious amounts of beer, so as soon as we gathered the troops we were on the way to the d'Weisn, the german name for Oktoberfest because it is located at the Theresienweise grounds. Friday was an enigma, as there were thousands of people on the grounds, but all the tents were open and we walked right in and began to walk around.

Finally, after a day and a half of traveling...BEER! We found a table next to some Danish bros and the Maß's were brought to us within five minutes of sitting down. No need to stand in a long line at the bar because everyone knows what you are there to do. We stayed in the Paulaner tent, specifically Armbrustschützenzelt, for about three hours. We then moseyed over to Hofbraü-Festzelt, where the party was just as crazy. The only difference was the quality of beer, much better in my opinion, and the placement of the band, which was right justified instead of front and center. This is the mecca of beer drinking and I can't even put into words what 7,000 people holding up their steins singing Ein Prosit or Hey Baby by Bruce Channel. However, the most important song is a song of my generation. Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, but only the bass line is sung. The reason this is so popular is, according to our Bavarian buddies from the second day, it can be sung whether one is intoxicated or sober. I took this as it was and continued to sing along.

Saturday was so much more crowed then Friday, but luckily we arrived at HB by 7:30am to snag a spot at the front of the mob. When the tape broke to let in said mob, I was almost crushed and separated from my group in a matter of seconds. I got yelled at my an unfriendly German rent-a-cop and he threatened (I think) to basically nightstick my face off if I didn't back up immediately, although there were thousands of people behind me pushing me forward. Upon entering, the much needed beer arrived at our table by 9:15am and the day officially had begun. We took this day a bit slower, seeing how fast the beer can go along with the money (Maß were running at about 10 euro a piece).

We decided to step outside and get some food, but we were in for much more that a schnitzel and bratwurst. We decided on riding a roller coaster, since Oktoberfest is much more than beer tents. It's also a giant amusement park so there are tons of children at d'Weisn as well. Our most exciting adventure, however, did not happen in the amusement park, but outside of one of the tents. By this time in the day, which was about 2pm, people were lined up outside the tents trying to just get through the main doors. It was like the morning, but it lasts all day instead of just the first rush. We went around to the side to try to get into the patio, where the atmosphere was worse but the beer was all the same. However, no dice. The security guard wasn't letting anybody in to try and clear the already overcrowded patio. We decided we would take destiny into our own hands and, when he wasn't looking, sneak under the tape into beer land. By the end, I was the last to go (since I had been caught on my first attempt) and finally made it across! What a rush it was!

Overall, Oktoberfest is an amazing experience that is meant to be shared with friends and loved one's. I was luckily enough to experience it this way and I would like to say thanks to everyone who made the trip so epic! And for all of you who didn't make it this year, there's always next year! See you in Munich!

-Adam

Sebastian y Corrida de Toros

This week has been more than exciting, with the only down point being my current state: sick. I have the commonest of colds and it's been a bit bothersome, so I've been keeping myself at home reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I had to download it from the internet and am now reading 500 pdf pages, which almost ruins the fun of holding a book and taking it to the park to read. However, the events of the past few days more than make up for the recent illness.

Thursday began the weekend, since my classes are all on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Lucky, I know! We decided to go out on Thursday night to a bar named La Fabrica, but planned to call it a night after a liter or so. However, deep into a fun new game called Land Mines, we decided to chat up one of the bar tenders. He happened to have an interesting story, starting from his home town in the Dominican Republic and ending up in Salamanca. I don't exactly remember how he arrived in Spain, but we plan to reconvene over drinks soon so I'll get back to you all on that one. Next, he introduced us to the big man on campus, Sebastian, who happens to be the owner of said bar and another named Café Puccini. Considering these two bars are often packed with University students, he seems to be pretty well off. His proof of living the high life was his BMW M6, a high end car that costs 6 figures, American. He promised us some free drinks when he's there and we gladly took him up on his offer the next night. A nice man and hopefully a friend that we'll have so I can start saving some money!

The other highlight of my weekend was the Corrida de Toros, or bullfight, that we saw on Friday afternoon. This wasn't my first bullfight; I attended a bullfight in Puerto Vallarta during Spring Break of this year, but it didn't measure up to the grandeur of this event. Thousands attend the bullfights in Salamanca during the festivals and Friday night's fight was easily a sold out crowd. The first bull raced out and the brave torero watched him carefully as he stampeded around the bull ring. His first moved proved to be the most disastrous, as he got on his knees in an effort to appease the crowd. On his first pass, the bull hit the torero and hooked him through the back of his gold-studded jacket. The bull proceeded to flail him around for 30 seconds before his team was able to free him from the bull's horns. The now shoe-less, jacket-less torero ran to the side more angry and embarrassed than anything. After reality set in and the torero has regained his confidence, he put on the most magnificent display of bullfighting I have ever witnessed. Perfect passes of the bull, the banderillas were on point, and the final kill was flawless. If it weren't for the first incident, this would have merited a the ultimate "trofeo": two ears and the tail of the slain bull. However, thought the crowd tried their hardest to plea for the highest honor, the bullfighter received two ears and was quite proud of his achievements. Most impressive of all was he was the lowest ranked bullfighter of the three, although he outperformed both of them put together.

Each torero has two bulls and we had to sit through 4 bad bullfights until we got to see our favorite torero again. His second fight was just as thrilling as the first fight and he executed his knee-pass perfectly, with the pink and yellow cape spinning around his head as the bull came within inches of him. Two ears once again, though I waved my white hat hoping he would get the tail for his flawless day in the ring. I was in full Spanish mode at the corrida de toros, cheering on the torero and loving the atmosphere. It's so controversial and quite gruesome at time, but it was like watching pure art in motion (for one of the toreros. for the others, it was almost like watching your football team getting pulverized and wanting to get up and leave before the second half started.)

For now, I'm still in recovery mode and will have myself another cup of tea before dinner. Cheers!

-Adam

Back to school...

Going back to school is always tough, fresh off the warmth of summer and no obligations. Ever since I have been in Salamanca, I've had no need to wake up before noon, so I naturally slept as long as possible every morning. However, I'm back in the swing of things, getting up at 930 and performing the morning routine before I go strain my brain (in a good way). I had my first classes Monday, which my group of friends called "Día sin Inglés", to ensure we were prepared to sit in lectures and have full-on discussions in pure Castellano. I was very nervous, but as it turns out the first day of class for Spaniards is extremely laid back and hardly anybody shows up. Most students aren't even back in Salamanca yet since they aren't used to starting school so early. In about three weeks, my professor said, our classes will about double in size.

I really enjoyed my first days of classes so far and found them all to be a perfect balance between challenging and exciting. Moreover, all of my professors seem to be willing to help the foreign students. I may be changing my class about Spanish cinema, not because the content is try, but because the professor mumbles and talks extremely soft. When trying to take college-level notes in a foreign language, having a professor who you can barely hear makes succeeding in this class very unlikely. I'll weigh my options and get back to you all on this groundbreaking decision :)

With the start of classes come more fiestas, celebrations, and something I am quite new to: intitiating new members in the residencias. Residencias are like dorms but without RA's and roommates. They are special residencias that students can live in that resemble the Greek system in the United States. However, since there are no affiliation with a national chapter and as long as it's safe, the "veteranos' dress up the "novatos" in ridiculous outfits, makeup everywhere, and parade their new members around the city. I watched for almost two hours while girls were running around chanting and guys were raving in the plaza mayor in dresses.

Sounds like a good time to me! Although, not so much for the novatos...I've already paid my debt as I was once a new member. In two weeks, the rest of the ISA group will arrive. Maybe we'll give them their own initiation ceremony for their welcome to Salamanca! ;)

-Adam