Salamanca Week 2

Hello all!

I've just finished week 2 of my studies here in Salamanca, and am posting a few pictures of my week here. The university provides a few walking tours of the city, so I went to two of them this week. The first one, on Wednesday, was of the palacios of the city, which, in my opinion, the highlight was the Casa de las Conchas, or, House of the Shells. Built in the 1500s, it is, as you can see from the picture I posted, covered in seashells. You might say, that's a bit unusual, since Salamanca is unfortunately located at least 6 hours away from an ocean or a sea. That would be true, but it was built in honor of a daughter-in-law who came from Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, and that is the symbol of that city.

On Thursday, I went on the tour of Las Catedrales (The Cathedrals). Salamanca has 2 cathedrals - La Catedral Vieja (The Old Cathedral), and La Catedral Nueva (The New Cathedral). La Catedral Vieja was begun in 1120, and is beautiful inside, of course. It has a really beautiful gold-plated altarpiece with 53 scenes of Christ's life, and also features one of the oldest organs in the world. La Catedral Nueva was begun in 1512, and is much larger than the other. Although, they're directly connected together, as the New Cathedral was built to help support the older one from collapsing. It's quite unusual. Also, there was some damage done to these buildings in the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. Nothing too serious, but you can see some cracks in some of the walls.

My favorite part of the cathedrals is on the outside fachada (facade). As you can see in the photos, it's beautiful and old-looking. However, around the baroque-style details, there is actually an astronaut, and a creature eating an ice-cream cone! These details were added as masons re-did this area in the 20th century, and while keeping to the baroque-style, wanted to make it clear that this was a renovation.

In class this week it's been quite interesting. In history class, we've been learning about the Guerra Civil (Civil War) in Spain (1936-1939). It's really crazy to realize just how recent that is, and the incredible amounts of damage done to this country and how many lives were lost (350,000 were killed). Something that I also hadn't learned before, is how many orphans were sent off to the Soviet Union, and there are actually quite large Spanish enclaves now in Russia. That was an interesting tidbit. Also, in literature class we've been studying Ruben Dario, who I've studied before, but I'm particularly interested in because he's one of the first authors in our Spanish 4 curriculum, and also we've been reading some of Miguel de Unamuno's works. I had a professor in college who was quasi-obsessed with Unamuno, so I feel really excited to hear it again. Also, Unamuno lived here in Salamanca and at one point was the rector of the University here. In my syntaxis class (grammar) we have looked at ser and estar exhaustively, so that's always a good time. :)

A few things that I have noticed this week. It is truly very hot here. While I realize the East Coast has been in the midst of a record-breaking heat wave, I finally understand why Spanish businesses close during the siesta. Most things, for example, the University's offices. They are open from 8:30am - 2:00 pm, and then from 4:30-6:30. These are very typical hours. Most stores will also be shut during the midafternoon, reopening perhaps around 5. Our class finishes at 2:30, and to walk back to the residence hall at that hour is often very difficult. Also, very few places have air conditioning.

Also, I have found a small shop that sells Aquafina water, which is wonderful. Every other bottled water brand that I have found here contains sodium. It's very unusual, but all of the bottles will say that water with sodium content is good for diets poor in sodium. Strangely, the food here is very salty, so I would have a hard time imagining someone with a diet that needs to be augmented with extra sodium. But alas, good old Aquafina is sold here also.

This weekend I am looking forward to a couple of day trips. Tomorrow I will be visiting the cities of Leon and Zamora. Then at night, there is a piano concert in one of the small palaces near my residence hall. Then Sunday I will be taking a day trip to the Sierra de Francia. More about those trips soon. AND we cannot possibly forget. Sunday night - The World Cup FINAL!!! Spain vs the Netherlands. Should be lots of great craziness here.