The first few days spent in Madrid were a lot of fun. I got to meet all of the American students in our program and tour the city with them. We visited the Prado museum, the city of Toledo, and a city named El Escorial. Some of the Cathedrals that we saw were unbelievable (especially Toledo—pic below). It’s crazy to think about how much history Spain (or Europe) has compared to the United States. Madrid is a fun city though. I’ve enjoyed talking with people and exploring Spain’s capital. Last night we ate at a restaurant called Botín. It is the oldest restaurant in the world, started in 1725. We split meals between two people and it still ended up being 22€ each (~ $30). But the band from University of Madrid that came and played for our table was definitely worth it (not to mention some really good wine). 
I enjoyed watching some locals attempt to skate at the rink set up next to the Catedral de Toledo
Arriving in Salamanca today to a ground full of snow made me feel quite at home (and gave me a good laugh for those complaining). My roommate Britton and I met our Senora, Vicente, a 60 year old woman who lives with her 13 year old German Sheppard “Ades” (nicest dog in the world), bird “Pipi”, and her 40 year old son Angel (it’s not uncommon in Spain to live with your family even when you’re grown up). Vicenta doesn’t know any English so that will be a challenge but so far I don’t think it’s been too bad. One thing I definitely have noticed is how pure Castilian Spanish (Spanish spoken in Spain) is. Compared to Latin American Spanish it is a lot easier to understand and more….crisp? (can you describe spoken language like that? Sure) anyways, basically just less slurring of words.
I walked around the area and so far Salamanca seems really nice—plenty of young people out as expected for a city with 20% of it’s population being college students. I found it amusing that about 2 out of every 3 cars I passed had hand prints from people grabbing snow off the cars to make snowballs. Apparently these rare snowfall are an entertaining thing for all ages (I’ll post pictures later).
For the first time on the trip I’ve started to feel significant emotion. Realizing what my life is going to be like for the next four months gives me a little unsettling feeling. Being separated from the 25 other (English speaking) Americans that I’ve been hanging out with the last few days is tough. But I know that after these first few weeks things will hopefully become a lot easier. Tomorrow I get to take a placement exam and then tour the school and city. I’m really looking forward to it because, well, I like school :)
Feel free to check out more of my pictures on my flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickjwelch
I walked around the area and so far Salamanca seems really nice—plenty of young people out as expected for a city with 20% of it’s population being college students. I found it amusing that about 2 out of every 3 cars I passed had hand prints from people grabbing snow off the cars to make snowballs. Apparently these rare snowfall are an entertaining thing for all ages (I’ll post pictures later).
For the first time on the trip I’ve started to feel significant emotion. Realizing what my life is going to be like for the next four months gives me a little unsettling feeling. Being separated from the 25 other (English speaking) Americans that I’ve been hanging out with the last few days is tough. But I know that after these first few weeks things will hopefully become a lot easier. Tomorrow I get to take a placement exam and then tour the school and city. I’m really looking forward to it because, well, I like school :)
Feel free to check out more of my pictures on my flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickjwelch
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