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

Férias y mucho más

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

Fiestas de Salamanca

Since my last post, so much has been going on. I got a bit homesick and felt out of place for the first time. It's hard to adjust to a city, even one as beautiful as Salamanca, that you'll be living in for four months. It felt like I didn't belong, but slowly I started to realize I was more at home than I could have imagined. If it weren't for the internet and the support from everybody, I don't think this experience would be so amazing. The fiestas have officially started and the casetas are at full force, serving various "pincho de ferias" (a beer or wine and a signature tapa). It's the perfect after dinner snack because the night last so much longer here. Every time I've come in before 3am, Milagros makes a funny comment about how I haven't adjusted to the student nightlife just yet. Monday night was the exception to the rule, keeping me out to see the sun rise. Beautiful, but only because I was able to sleep all day.
Monday night started with a firework show from Italy. If you've ever seen a 4th of July show, I can guarantee this one was better. The last minute and a half would have blown any US firework show out of the water. The view and the pyrotechnics combined created one of the most beautiful shows I've ever had the privilege of watching (for free, mind you).
Next was the concert, which started promptly at 11pm. The main and only act of the night was Pitingo, a Spaniard who has become famous performing famous American songs with a flamenco twist. My favorite was "Killing Me Softly", a song made famous in my day by the Fugees. He also sang remixes of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and "Turn the Beat Around". Pitingo is an energetic performer, very stylish, and a perfect representation of the Spanish music industry. After bouncing around the concert with various groups of people, I met up with my main friends and we headed to a few bars.
I haven't met many Spaniards since arriving in Salamanca, which will likely change once classes start. However, at Cafe Puccini we met four Spaniards all studying at the University of Salamanca. We all chatted for an hour or two before heading to a club to dance. When the night came to a close, it was already 5am. The same night would have only kept me out until about 2:30am, but since Spaniards like to start the night so late, it's only right that we don't go home until the sun comes up.
The rest of the week has been much more low key, although starting Thursday it will start all over again. I'm excited to see how the next few days turn out, seeing as I have nothing planned thus far.

Until next time folks,

Adam

p.s. I found the rana, although I had a bit of unwanted help from a postcard. I still think I'll be ok ;)