The lesson of the day

A classroom full of people with different nationalities has proved to be very educational in many ways. Aside from actually practising our Spanish (I have classes everyday between 1 and 3pm), we have had some interesting debates over the last few weeks.  Since we are a very international bunch, we tend to talk about our respective countries and represent the general views held by the people.  But as British, Italian, Spanish, and German citizens, we have tended to avoid going too deeply into potentially contentious issues such as politics and the Euro.  Therefore, we stick to stereotypes and perceptions (which of course are linked to politics) and we have found that perceived ideas of a general nation tend to be true. We all appreciated the following joke:

In fact, we agreed on the majority of this, except for our Italian friends, who disagreed with their contribution to heaven...

Today, we discussed a famous song by well known Spanish pop group 'Mecano', entitled Cruz de Navajas, the lyrics of which tell a story about a young couple who live together but hardly see each other.  After analysing the words and ignoring the lovely (and therefore misleading) tune, the man catches the woman having an affair and somehow ends up dead.  The song doesn't specify how he is killed, but we each offered our own opinions: the Hungarian suggested he committed suicide after seeing his woman with her lover, our British contribution was that he was killed in a brawl with the other bloke, while our Spanish teacher insisted that our tragic hero would have killed his love to avenge his honour, and the new bloke acted in defence to protect the girl.  When I questioned why the man would want to kill his wife, the Spanish reply was: well, she had caused him much pain because he loved her so much and she betrayed his honour.  This left me puzzled as I couldn't understand how you can bring yourself to kill someone if you truly love them.  The majority of my peers seemed to agree with me, although apparently this reaction in a similar situation is not uncommon in Spain. However, I am still unsure whether this is a cultural difference, or a more a difference of generation or character.  

One thing's for sure, I am learning more than just the language here, and I've definitely got a long way to go before understanding the country as well.

¡¡¡ Qué calor !!!

Thanks to phone calls with my family and numerous posts and statuses on facebook, I gather that the weather at home at the moment is currently even worse than a typical British summer. In light of this, I thought I would share my weather experiences too: 

And to think I almost wore long trousers today!

As you can see, the mornings are very pleasant, I leave for work just after 8.30 so it's not too hot - although today I could sense something had changed. I didn't even need my cardigan! Shock.  But I was right, and by the time we left the office to sit outside for lunch and walk to class, it was above 30oC in the shade, and the usual breeze had dropped.  I felt like I was climbing Everest while inside an oven, rather than just popping up the road (which is a hill, to be fair).  When work finished, we moaned and complained as we plodded around the streets, hopping between patches of shade until we found the bar.  A couple of glasses of 'tinto de verano' later and I was still grumpy and tired, but I managed to drag myself home where I am now hiding in the cool safety of my room.

Good news though: the boiler is fixed! Can't wait for a hot shower.... :/

Reasons to miss the UK

Now I have been here just over two weeks, I would say I am starting to leave the "honeymoon period" behind.  Although I am still finding it very exciting to be living in Spain and I am discovering new things everyday, I am also realising there are some things I can only find in the UK.

1. Tea - For those of you who know me even a little, you will know that I LOVE tea! Preferably Tetley or Twinings English Breakfast, milk, no sugar. In Spain, even a kettle is hard to come by, so I can at least count myself lucky that we have one in our kitchen! However, this is where my luck ends.  Unless I spend about 4€ on 3 teabags of PG Tips or go and milk a cow so I don't have to use long life milk, I will have to do without for a while.

2. Tesco - The food in general is still something I cannot get my head around.  At first glance, my local supermarket looks just like the ones I am used to at home, but upon closer inspection, I find myself disappointed.  For example, as mentioned above, fresh milk can only be found in a tiny corner of the yoghurt section, and even then it is only sold in large bottles - not ideal for a single tea drinker. There are entire aisles dedicated to a mysterious substance called tomate frito, something to which I have not yet found the attraction, and there is not a Dolmio or Lloyd Grossman sauce in sight.  They don't sell even basic medication such as paracetamol, you have to go to a pharmacy. The fruit and vegetables are all loose and must be weighed and then labelled...apart from the potatoes.  You can only buy them in big bags, but I thought "it's ok because I can make mash." No. The Spanish culinary gods are laughing at me once again, for I have been unable to find a masher anywhere, apart from in El Corte Ingles (equivalent Debenhams or House of Fraser), which cost about 20€ and I refused to pay that.  So for now I'll have to make do with a big bag of spuds and a little fork.

3. TV - I could dedicate an entire post to Spanish telly and its weirdness, and I probably will, but that's for another day...It's entertaining enough, but at times, like nothing I've ever seen before.  There are a number of dubbed programs which I would normally watch in England, ie., Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Scrubs, Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but it appears there are only 3 people working for 'the dubbing company', a man (to do ALL male voices in ALL shows), a woman (to do the same, for the female characters and also for the children) and the Indian man who does the voice of Raj in Big Bang Theory.  This past week has been the running of the bulls in San Fermin, so instead of watching the news on a morning, it has been 'San Fermin: Live' - a TV program which provides commentary on the events to come later in the morning, plus an update on the number of injuries sustained by the crazy people trying to outrun a load of angry bulls. I miss the BBC.

4. Hot Water - One of the main reasons for my writing this post.  The flat has not had hot water for a few days, since the boiler (la caldera - at least I am learning new words) is broken.  We had to wait until today (Monday morning) to call out the boiler fixer men, obviously, since we are in Spain and nothing happens on a Sunday or Saturday afternoon (see next point).  However, when I returned home today from the swimming pool in the 30oC heat, I was met with another very common word: the boiler will be fixed mañana. Of course.  At least I now have a very special relationship with the sink and the kettle.

5.  Sunday Shutdown - If you go out on a Sunday afternoon, the only place you will find people is the Plaza Mayor (as mentioned in a previous post).  Elsewhere, the streets, which are normally rammed, are deserted, all shops are closed and shuttered up.  Popping out to get some bread (or anything at all) is not an option - I think I see more people on a Saturday morning at 5am after a night out than on a Sunday.  Although I shouldn't complain, it gives me an excuse not to do anything all day!


I'm still enjoying myself, promise! There are also a lot of aspects to the Spanish way of life I am preferring, and I plan to tell you all about those too, eventually...

¡Buen finde!

You heard it here first: I stayed out on Friday night until 5.30am! Unbelievable scenes from a girl who is normally tucked up in bed by 1 after suffering through Klute. Maybe it was the excitement of a new place and new people that kept me going, we'll have to wait until next weekend to find out, watch this space....
So, after a well deserved sleep in on Saturday morning, the four of us met in our usual spot on Calle Toro before going off to explore our new city.  Armed with his newly purchased (and very useful) guidebook, Sebastian was able to enhance our trip and we became tourists for the day (If you can't beat them, join them!)

Like Durham, Salamanca has a cathedral (there are two, in fact!) which took almost two centuries to build, finally being consecrated in the early 18th century.  It is one of the first things you spot on the drive up to the city as it is on top of a hill, and therefore has become a welcoming sight.  It's amazing to see how many tourists are here taking photos, and I get to walk down these streets everyday - I'm certain it will never get old!

Here's me and Seun in front of 'La Casa de las Conchas' - there are many legends surrounding the reason why the building is covered in conchas (shells), but my favourite is that there is gold hidden beneath one of them, but no one knows which. In the background is 'La Clerecía', a building which is now part of the university.

'El Convento de San Esteban'

Although we covered a lot of ground, I still haven't seen everything there is to see in and around the city, and I am sure I will be demonstrating more tourist-like behaviour in the future!

After 5: When work is over!

This week after work, usually we do something fun, ie., going to a bar, to the pool or just for a wander around the city.  Sitting in the middle of the Plaza Mayor on Thursday with ice creams, we were discussing that being in the office all day makes us appreciate post work "freedom" much more.  When we finish at 5pm, the sun is still high in the sky, giving us plenty of time to enjoy our new home.  On Fridays we finish work at 4, and so we made the most of this and started the weekend early by finding the nearest outdoor swimming pool.

As you can probably see very clearly from this photograph, I am trying to get a tan, but it is clear I have a long way to go...

The view from the pool

Working 9 to 5...

Today I finished Day 2 working in the office of a huge language school. Apparently, I am a 'Sales and Marketing Intern', but it's amazing how many glamourous names there are for forwarding emails and deleting spam... Being in front of a computer all day is not ideal, and for those of you who are Durham language students too, you will be familiar with our dear friend Roger's warning about not getting a job where you are on a computer all the time...oops! However, my colleagues are lovely, we speak Spanish in the office but everyone speaks English, as well as many other languages! The sales team has to be international since obviously there are people calling from all over the world, so it's really interesting to hear Italian coming from the desk next to me, and German or French opposite. There are other interns too, but they are on the E-team, which involves writing articles and blogs in their native language to form part of the publicity for the language school.  To my surprise, when I arrived on my first day I saw Seun, another student from Durham, was a new intern too! The other interns are from all over the world, but I have my daily language lessons with Caterina, who is italian, and Sebastian and Michelle who are from Germany, but we all speak Spanish together.  We get on really well and we are all a similar age, so we have started going out together in the evenings.  Even though I didn't come home too  late last night (it was about half 12), somehow I managed to ignore my alarm clock.  Brilliant.  Fortunately I woke up with ten minutes to spare until I had to leave, so I grabbed an apple and ran. Well, walked briskly, I wasn't that late, and I am in Spain after all.  "What a horrible perpetuation of stereotypes!" I hear you cry. Normally I would apologise, except the first person in my section of the office was me....

Lazy Sunday...

Today I made the most of my freedom and slept in, before later heading out to explore the area. I'm glad I went shopping yesterday, since everything is closed on a Sunday.  Walking around the streets near my flat, I didn't see anybody else until I got to the Plaza Mayor.  However, the Plaza was filled with cafes and ice cream shops for the swarms of tourists....and for me!  

Not quite a Sunday roast, but I don't mind variety!

Home Sweet Home

My bedroom

I couldn't be without teddy!

Immediate First Impressions

Arriving yesterday evening, I felt better than I had expected.  Following an emotional couple of days saying goodbye to friends, Paul, and finally a tearful farewell with my parents at the airport, I assumed I would be an emotional wreck.  However, the plane journey passed quickly thanks to my friendly neighbour, and we chatted the whole way.
Although I am not one for stereotypes, whilst waiting for the bags I got my first indication of the laid back "mañana" attitude for which the Spanish are so famous.  For the first 40 minutes, the carousel was home to only a couple of battered cases, a tent pole and a tennis racquet, obviously left from a previous flight, until finally the bags from the Edinburgh flight arrived.
My flat and live-in landlords are great.  Carlos helped me up the stairs with my suitcases, and their eldest daughter, who is eight, immediately grabbed me by the hand and took me to her bedroom (which she shares with her younger sister) to introduce me to their 'Monster High' dolls.
My room is lovely (pictures to come) and I have been provided with nice bedding and towels.  One thing I have learnt is that my Spanish is not as good as I thought and excitable children are particularly hard to understand! I blame the lull after exams, my brain feels turned off!
After venturing to the supermarket in the evening, I can confirm that not everyone is as friendly as my new housemates...or maybe the grumpy cashier was just having a bad day?