First Day of Classes!

Yesterday was my first official day of classes as a student at the Universidad de Salamanca and also the end of my lovely 3 week Spanish vacation. Sigh. I was ( and am) nervous about EVERYTHING in true Emily fashion. I channeled all of my worries into the one thing I felt I could control - my outfit. Definitely don´t want to look American but still want to look approachable( and a little bit adorable if possible). I went for my H&M shirt that I wore on my birthday, skinny jeans, my red flats, and my glasses ( extra security shield). Approachability achieved. Unfortunately I had achieved it 2 hours before class started, so I needed to find somewhere else to pace around so I didn´t drive Paquita loca. I went to the Intl students building and stole some internetz, all the while repeating my mantra " puedo hablar español. puedo hablar español."

My first class was Literatura Española and as far as the material I felt confident about it. I got to the classroom pretty early but it turns out there was a whole bunch of overanxious international students there too and I ended up making a few friends(!). The few Spaniards who were in the class came at a much more fashionable hour and sat together, so I just chatted amicably with the other intls. The teacher came in and I liked her at once. She had lots of curly dark hair, a big smile, good jewelery, and her name was Emily too. She is very patient with all us bumbling foreigners and class went smoothly. I have to buy a few books so I´m looking forward to a lazy afternoon at Cervantes - my favorite bookstore with very cute, scuffy, dudes working there.

Came back for lunch with Paquita. Ate quickly and passed out listening to my super American iTunes collection. Ran to the office to fill out my matriculation form and then bolted to my History of Spanish music class which was thankfully in the same building. This class was not quite as successful as the first. The class had little to no Spanish people in it ( again dashing my hopes of making Spanish friends) and it was also full of chicas freakis as Paquita would say ( read: gothchicks who study art history but in the 1994 sort of way). No one spoke to each other except the two very fit and good-looking German people and since I am neither of those things, I kept quiet too. Professor was very cool though. His name is Paco and we talked aboout things like whether there was sound on Venus ( No, there isn´t) and how everything is subjective and we get to take little field trips to see some authentic Baroque and Renaissance organs, that just so happen to be right around the corner. Plus he wears plaid and is a tall skinny little music dude. I´m gonna check out a few other music classes but I think Paco and I will be very happy together.

So that was my first day and I am about to embark on my second. Wish me luck. Hopefully I will have more wit and stories about how the universe likes to remind me that I am an mess, although a loveable mess. Like when I walked into a pole walking across campus yesterday while looking at my map. You can take the girl out of Poughkeepsie.....

When in Spain....

So most people reading this know that I am a bit of a homebody. I like going out dancing or for a beer once and a while but I am by no means a party animal ( anymore :-). But it seems as though my calm/senior citizen-esque lifestyle has come at the wrong time. I have been out and about every night this week doing something with Las Ferias - concerts, casetas, flamenco performances what have you. I have fought every single lazy thought that has entered my head and gone out with my API friends ( who are great by the way).

So having had a week chock full of activity I was thinking of taking last night off and being a bum - eating,sleeping, movies, iTunes the like. When I ran this plan by Paquita she was not happy. She said: This is very strange for such a young girl to like to spend so much time at home. You did not come to spain to sit in your room. You are not old like me - you should be out! I am going out! For me, it is veyr strange that you want to stay home.

Ouch. I have not received such a serious "get a life" talk in awhile. The only person who has ever given myself such a wake up call has been myself. The truth is I'm a little scared of going out. Meeting people is hard and I feel a lot of pressure to be funny and charming. I am also scared of getting hurt or losing control or acting like a fool. Although among my friends I am pretty gregarious and bold, I feel shy around new people( especially here) and I hate that. Old insecurities die hard. I feel like I am shrinking away from this experience, at least some of the social parts of it. I haven't made any serious Spanish friends yet, apart from Paquita. Parlty due to the language barrier, which I am working on. I just don't feel like I have social skills yet in Spanish. Hell it took me almost 20 years to get them in English.

Classes start Monday and that is a much for familiar way of making friends for me. My classes are:

Spanish Literature
Hispanic American Narrators of the 20th Century
History of Spanish Music
History of the European Integration

And in case you were wondering, I DID end up going out last night. We did a little time at the casetas and then we went back to our favorite salsa club and to one of the SB professors favorite bars. Fun times with the girls - real life chats and some QT with my beloved Mahous. I wish I could be patient and give myself a break and let this experience unfold a bit. But right now I can't and thats me. Despite my best efforts, I am having fun and meeting some nice people here and there. My Spanish is getting better too. With Paquita around giving me a few nudges there's still hope for me yet.

Tomato/Tomahto

So remember I mentioned some little language mishaps that were bound to occur? Well yesterday I fell victim to one of the worst in recent memory. Picture me and Paquita having a relaxing lunch of fish and salad. In an attempt to practice Spanish and get Paquita talking ( which usually isn´t a problem) I try to ask some questions about the differences between Spanish culture and American culture. The following dialogue unfolded:

Yo: ¿En España, tiene salmon? ( asking about what seemed to me to be an emblematically American fish. Pronounced with a silent L)

Paquita: ==quizzical look==

Yo: Es un tipo de pesca, no?

Paquita: oooohhhh salmón ( L is pronounced)

Yo: Si si si salmón (gah I´m terrible)

Paquita: Salmon ( american pronunciation) es algo MUY differente.

Yo: ¿Verdad ? ¿ Que es salmon ( american pronunciation)?

Paquita: Tu sabes que es... ( You know what it is)



After a moment I realized I had made a very American and a very funny mistake. I had inadvertently asked my señora if they had semen in Spain.

In case you were wondering, the answer to both questions is yes.

Also, these next two weeks are a big festival here in Salamanca to celebrate their patron saint : Virgen de la Vega. There are shows and parades all the time and little bars-casetas set up in the street. Also every night in the Plaza Mayor there is a big concert with artists from all around Spain. After much anticipation, all of the API girls got together to see the crown jewel of the ferias concerts : PITINGO. Paquita warned me that Pitingo was terrible and even threw in a rockin´ impression of him. I´ll let Pitingo and his stunning vibrato speak for themselves.

Hasta luego,

Fio

Pitingo Killing me Softly

Hola

Hi all. Blogs are boring sometimes and more often than not people get too busy living to write it all down. But in the interest of answering all your burning questions and having a record of my own transformation over these next 4 months, I have done the most cliché thing and started a blog about my life in Salamanca. I have been here a week and so far, it is the perfect city for me. And my trusty señora Paquita is making my stay a lot easier and more fun. So I will attempt to chronicle my linguistical mishaps, strange encounters ( that inevitably follow me), new friends, and classes here. I will do my best to be faithful to you my esteemed readers ( which is probably just my mom) because even though Spain is fantastic and exactly what I need, it is very hard to be away and I love hearing from you beautiful people, so this is my attempt at streamlining our communication. Please keep the emails and messages coming!

Con un abrazo fuerte,