Settling in as a Spaniard

This week I finally feel like I am starting to get in the swing of things. Each morning I have a grammar class and then culture class. Then we all head home for lunch and siestas. At 5 we have a conversation class at a little café and every day we get free drinks! (Huge plus.) Our conversation professor is really interesting; he loves Flamenco, plays the guitar, is a huge aficionado of Spanish cinema, and is obsessed with the NBA. It is helpful to be able to talk amongst ourselves, practice our Spanish, and learn from him about fun things going on in Salamanca and interesting facts about Spanish culture. It is extremely rude to stretch or yawn in public, but even more so in class. Yesterday Juan Manuel (JuanMa) told us it is truly the most offensive thing you can do during class. I have also noticed that Marianna and David do not eat the skin of ANY fruit or vegetable, they are always peeled and the both think it is very odd I like to eat the skin. It is also very interesting to observe how they interact with each other here. They NEVER use please or thank you and almost always use commands…"Give me a coffee" etc. They think that using please and/or thank you is a waste of time. At first I it seems rude or cold, but even within this past week I have gotten much more used to it. Marianna answers the phone always with "Yes" or "Tell me." One time during dinner she picked up the phone and said, "We are eating dinner" and hung up! It is really funny and shocking at first but I am slowly learning this cultural differences. David and Marianna also find my water bottle absolutely hilarious and think it looks like a baby bottle. People really don't drink out of water bottles here, only plastic bottles they re-use. David likes that my water bottle filters the water and finally last night admitted he thought it was cool and wants on himself. It is funny to think I have only been here for a little over a week. It seems like I have been here for so long and known everyone forever! I am so lucky that Marianna and David are so accommodating, my teachers are so great, and that everyone has been so welcoming. This week I am going to start doing something called "intercambios." It is when you meet up with a student of the University so they can practice English and you can practice Spanish. I am really looking forward to spending time practicing Spanish and helping a Spanish student with English that is close to my age. This coming weekend is a Holiday for Salamanca so there are a ton of fun artists, musicians, and performers here through Monday. Everything is free so it is really cool to just be able to stop on the way home from class and partake in the festivities. Last night we went to a Flamenco dance class and it was so entertaining, especially with the boys. Flamenco is a hard dance to learn but they taught us the must basic steps and apparently people my age really do dance Flamenco and Salsa in certain dance clubs (of course there are other "discotecas" that are more modern). Tonight we are going to see a show at the theatre. None of us really know what we are seeing but we are all excited! Afterwards a couple of us are going to get tapas. You can get a beer and 2 tapas for 1.90 euro…a bottle of water is 2.10 euro…I still can't get over it!!!!!