Curiosa Alyssa viaja a Segovia y Ávila

One of the great things about my language school was that they provided trips to different places surrounding Salamanca with a tour of the destination. The weekend of August 20th, I was able to visit Segovia and Ávila with many other language schools in the area. I went by myself, but quickly got to know Jan, another German student from my school. As we drove about 2 hours by bus, we passed the beautiful landscape of Castilla y León. Views of more corn, sunflowers, cuestas, and trees filled the bus windows. Our first stop in Segovia was Álcazar, a very impressive castle thought to be constructed as far back as the time the Celts were in Spain. Álcazar was the palace of many Castilian monarchs and an artillery academy. I remember Nick´s review of the castle and made sure to marvel at the stained glass. I did not remember reading about the Modejár ceilings. (here) The castle was such a typical castle, which made it awesome!! As tourists walk over the moat to enter, they soon see the suits of armor in the first room they enter, then the dining room, and next the royal throne! The tour was in spanish, so much of what our guide said I did not understand, but it was still impressive to think that Ferdinand and Isabella lived in these rooms..sort of... Unfortunately, the castle suffered severe damage from a fire. Another miraculous thing about the place is that I don´t recall any lights, and it was so bright inside. The flowers were lovely along our path to Segovia´s Plaza Mayor and Catedral. Our group had a break to wander Segovia and enjoy lunch, so Jan and I broke away to find food and see what we saw. By simply wandering the streets we went inside Convento de Corpus Christi and then continued down a calle called Juan Bravo to come across Il Fiesta Del Pulpo- a Galician fiesta held in Segovia for most of the month of August. Not knowing what Pulpo was, I walked past assuming it was just another excuse for the Spaniards to eat ham in a different way (The picture is not appetizing). Luckily, Jan happened to love Pulpo and explained to me that it was octopus. Wow!! Nick told me to try octopus if I had the chance, and boy did I do it! A whole fiesta dedicated to pulpo, how lucky could I be. Han and I shared a plate of Pulpo a feria, the signature dish of the fair. It was delicious and exciting! We enjoyed a lovely view because Segovia sits on a top of a limestone elevation. After eating, we wandered through the small streets to see many of the monuments on the map. Segovia seems to be stuck in, I don´t know, the 1500´s. With the way the streets curve around and the presence of dozens of churches in Romanesque style and many homes that appear to date back to around then. After our wandering, we went to the Cathedral and spent the rest of our free time marveling at this amazing structure. With 23 decorated chapels, a choir, and an organ- I think I could have spent all day looking at the details of each. Jan and I met up with the group and recieved a tour of the acqueduct. Segovia, as I understand, is known for its acqueduct- as it appears in nearly every city symbol and postcard. Thought to be erected in the 1st century, the structure provided water for the high lying part of town from its source 14 km away. Over 20,000 granite rocks stand unsupported by concrete. I will let the picture impress you. 

166 arches supported by 120 pillars

     At this point in the day it was so hot- ´hace mucho calor´. As we walked to the bus, Jan and I were taking bets as to who would fall asleep first. Before an hour passed, we were in Ávila. If you could picture the most perfect Spanish town to time travel to, you wouldn´t need to- just visit Ávila. This walled city is filled with churches and convents from the Romanessque period., We spent most of our time wandering the small streets past church after monastery after convent after mansion. I think we made an apropriate lap around the city, in and out of the walls from the 12th centure. In true German fashion, Jan bought some sausage and we caught the bus for home, counting the lightening on the horizon.

The walls of Ávila

Curiosa Alyssa esta feliz en Salamanca.

     Even though my mother has a gift and history of helping me to book the best plane ride possible in economy, I did not sleep much on my flight over from Washington to Madrid. I didn´t sleep because I sat next to some Spanish chicas that had just studied english in Santa Barbara. They were from Pamplona and had many answers to questions about things like where I should go while I am here, what their school system is like, and what fiestas they would be going to this fall. It seemed like a fast flight because after receiving my vegetarian paella (I told you my mother was good), I fell asleep to a movie and awoke just before I recieved my breakfast.

Calle Toro with everything closed!

     When I arrived in Madrid, I saw many people wearing Christian paraphanelia and I couldnt really understand. I thought maybe there were church groups that liked to go on group vacations together, but Leire, my spanish flight neighbor told me that the Pope himself would be coming to Madrid that week and that many people were coming together for the World Youth Day. Lucky for me, the airport had prepared for the influx of visitors and opened many more information booths throughout the airport. This was a great help because each of them were so nice for having to work on a Sunday morning (something that I later found to be rare.) I found my way to the metro from the airport, met some nice people on the subway, and hopped on a bus from the bus station to Salamanca. I know many of you will believe this when I say I fell asleep on the bus before it even left the station. I don´t remember leaving Madrid. Which is a shame because I didnt get to see anything through my window. The drive to Salamanca takes 2 hours and 45 minutes and I slept for most of it. I did manage to wake up every now and then to see a beautiful view of a shallow rolling landscape with corn or sunflowers that made the horizon look lively and colorful. As we entered the city, I immediately saw the Catedral Nueva y Vieja that would peek out at me many more times during this week in various places. When I got out of the bus, the city was very hot and very inactive. Sundays during siesta was the source of my first feeling of anxiety and fear of traveling solo. I found a map at a fruit stand and began my walk to where my apartment was. This walk that was 2km and supposed to take maybe 10 minutes took me about 45. I stopped so many times because my backpack on my back was so heavy and the sun was so hot! The streets aren´t labeled like they are in California, so many times I would go too far and miss the street that I wanted to turn on. When I found my street, I was so discouraged because there is construction and they are ripping up the sidewalks and I couldn´t imagine that anybody lived there. I will add a picture of this later. So at this point I was kind of scared because I started to think about worst case scenarios. 6pm couldn´t have come any later when I met Clara, my landlady, and I was finally let into my apartment. It was so nice to relieve my back of my luggage and to know that a shower could come soon. Right away I met my really really really nice Chinese roommate, Monica. She knows only a little bit of English, but can speak spanish simply so that I can understand. After I unpacked she knocked on my door asking if I ´tiene hambre´? I said yes but it didn´t seem like I would be able to find any food, it being Sunday and all. She told me she had made something and I thought for sure that would be a problem because I do not eat carne y pollo and I hadn´t disclosed that yet. To my great surprise she had made tofu!! I was able to have a plate of her tofu and fall asleep at an appropriate time.

      Monday was a holiday, Asunción de la Virgen, and most all of the shops were closed yet again! I had to go out to get breakfast and ended up with a sandwich vegetal with lots of mayonnaise. I walked myself around and took pictures of pretty things and old buildings. Visited my new friends at the internet cafe and watched all of the well dressed older women on a bench in the park. Most of my day was spent simply walking around the old city, enjoying the plaza mayor, talking to my new Chinese roommate, and being hungry.

Couchsurfers in Plaza Mayor!

     At around 9pm, I met up with Claudia, a new couchsurfing contact. With Nick´s advice, I became verified on the site to be able to visit with people in the many places that I hope to go. I intend to search couches near where I visit to see if anybody seems like the type to join me to coffee, tea, or a drink. I requested Claudia because she is working on her masters in Psychology in Salamanca and loves to smile :) She is from Brasil and on Monday night I was able to meet her Brasilian sister who will be studying Economics. I also met Luis, her friend from Chile, Jose, from Belgium, and another gal from Poland. It seems that some of the couchsurfers got together for Tapas and I was able to join them! We went to three different tapas bars, stopped for some time at an outside bar, and then went to their favorite bar. They drank a lot and we all had a great time! I got home much too late for my first day of school.

Mi Escuela!

     I love my class so far! The instructor is so animated and helpful and patient. Her name is Maite and she is from Salamanca. I start at 9am every week day and we spend 2 hours studying grammar and 2 hours talking for a well rounded day. Many of the topics I have learned before in high school, but it is helping me so much to learn them again with a professora. I have three other girls in my class, two from Germany and one from Holland. One is named Ninja, and she is also my apartment mate. She is always laughing and always happy. A great walking partner indeed. They gals are all at about my level or more advanced. It has really helped me to become more comfortable with speaking spanish in general and in situations when they are really necessary. But even now, I have not practiced with my new friends. Many of them are German, and we don´t always have the ability to say what we would like to in Spanish. I have learned a lot about their education system and a few of their words. After learning so much in one week, I see the benefit. I plan to figure out language lessons when I get to Talavera de la Reina.

     Other exciting things that I have done this week is going to tapas with the Germans, watching the supercup between Madrid and Barcelona, walking along the Rio Tormes, dinner with Luis, and salsa with my classmates. One of my favorite things so far about my time here is that the people are very nice, and I feel welcome. More to come with Segovia and my second week!

Test post and summer so far.

     Hey everybody! Here is a test run of my blog before I head over. I am traveling to Spain to become an Au Pair with a family in the city of Talavera de la Reina. With Nick's Uncle Bill's help, we have come to understand that an Au Pair means 'on a par' or 'equal to'. This allows us to believe that I will become a part of the family as I provide care for the two daughters for the next 4 months. As each day brings me nearer to my departure date  (8/13) I find myself getting more and more excited!! 


     So far preparation for my trip this summer has been coming along. With my grandfather's suggestion, I really need to spend some time trying to understand the current state of Spain regarding the government and the people. I intend to be informed about the country I will be living in.

     But for now, I will give an update on some of the memorable times from this summer. After graduation my family and I made a drive up to Reno to visit with my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins! We visited with each other and caught up on important things and silly youtube videos and I couldn't have asked for a better time. Jillian and I then packed up Grandma's car (thanks Grandma!) and moved Jillian up to her place in Salem, Oregon. The drive took us two days, but we managed to stop and admire the nature along the way. 

If you look closely, you can see shoes hanging from this tree! 

     The cloud formations in the sky during this drive were so impressive. We also had to stop a couple of times along the way to gather some yellow wildflowers and thistles to make a bouquet for Jillian's new room. To break up our drive we stayed in lovely Bend, Oregon. We were fortunate enough to have a place to stay with Ron, our friend we met through Dad. He drove us to the best places in town and took us to our first Vietnamese dinner. The next day we woke up to clear views of Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor. With fresh juice in our bodies Jillian, Ron, and I hiked to some nearby waterfalls for a picnic. Our drive from Bend to Salem took us through many quaint towns along US-20 and OR-22, our favorite being Sisters (how appropriate). We did some pretty kick-ass things together in Salem. We also drove outside of Salem to Eugene one time and Portland a couple of times. 

Walking out of Jillian's front door. She lives just across the park
from where One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest was filmed.

This band had about 7 or 8 members and posted up on the corner
 right in front of Nordstrom. They were super energetic!  

Only the coolest cat in all of Salem, Oregon!
This photo was taken during a concert in a different park. 

Sisters before a morning run. 

     Being together with Jillian on this trip was so wonderful! I love you girl! When I came back from Oregon, I immediately started a summer job with a 6 year old boy named Jobe. I work as his aide in a preschool in Goleta and commute down with my mother to report for duty at 7:30 every morning. Jobe is a brilliant boy who takes his play VERY seriously. 

Here he worked with some friends to make a wooden home!
Someone is taking a nap inside :)

Yeah baby!

     Another great memory from this trip was celebrating my birthday in Big Sur with Nick! We hiked in Andrew Molera State Park and enjoyed a lovely Greek salad and pita picnic on the beach. I was also able to join Nick this past weekend to remember and honor his grandfather, George Michael Sotcan. After a two year battle with mesothelioma, Michael left us on July 14th. Nick has written a wonderful song and poem (found at the bottom of his post). 

   I know there is plenty to do before I say goodbye to California for a little while so I must be off. You'll hear from me next when I have arrived in Spain!