3: Spain

3: Spain

Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i2o9e7oso5bisc8/AAAFXR9cpxyc-bq8Md_IFv-Wa?dl=0

Today was our first day at at Dile. We got plastic folders with a pen and a paper booklet full of Spanish activities. Our group of 17 was split into three groups for instruction. Our group has Helen in it, a student from Berlin who's been here three weeks and didn't speak any Spanish before that. She's really good. She also knows German, French, Italian, and English. I got to know her a bit in the last part of classes which was an excursion to the façade of the university once more to answer a sheet of questions.

We have Teresa, Seve(rino), and Laura as teachers. Seve is very energetic, and enthusiastic. Teresa and Laura are more laid back. Even just listening to Spanish all day is really helping me. We did some activities and I'm starting to remember my two years of Spanish…

I'm surprised by how far back the Dile  building stretches. At first, from the street, it looks like it has one, maybe two classrooms. But actually it has at least five, plus other rooms. It's a near building.

The first part of our days at Dile will always be Spanish writing, speaking, listening and grammar. The last part is always some sort of outing: today we went to the university, for example. In the afternoons Dile teaches ESL to Spanish speakers, and our Esquimalt group meets up again. Today we're meeting at 4pm at Plaza Meyor, under the bell (apparently a very classical historical meeting point for everyone throughout the ages).

I bought pistachios the other day and now I have a bag full of shells and whole pistachios and other nuts all mixed together, after bringing them  and eating them around town last night. So now I have the fun activity of sorting out the shells from what is edible. It's taking awhile.

The wifi here is still not super great, and I can't find a good way to upload pictures yet but when I figure it out you'll know because there will be pictures on all of these Spain posts.

Just hangin out in front of the cathedral playing "snaps", a great game. Will explain later.

Wow. Cathedral of Salamanca. Wow.

I thought it was just one room. I was wrong. I think I'm lost, there was a big room, then another side chapel, and now I'm somewhere in the corridors to the side of the side chapel…  Every wall is carved and gold plated, or painted. Some of the images have their heads blanked out, and some have been redrawn in again. I think this is evidence of the occupation of this area at different times of different religions, I know there are some that don't allow images of God to be portrayed so the head is blank. History. I don't know. But I'm standing in a place that's over 1500 years old… and I'm still finding new rooms and getting lost.

There are more giant books here. Music ones. And so many paintings as well. Everything is ancient, stone, silent, and intricately detailed.

Thanks to my grade five project on Greek columns, I can tell you that most of the columns here are Corinthian.

There's a room here with one of the oldest organs in Europe. It's not actually that big. It looks like it was once very, very beautiful. 

There's a group from France here as well. I talked to them, said I did an exchange there. But they didn't really seem like they wanted to talk to me. I mean, they do look all fancy and fashionable and I'm wearing runners, safety sunglasses, a fleece, etc. so who knows.

They've got a guide though, speaking in nice slow Spanish for them to understand (that I can understand). So I'm tagging along on the tour with Ken and Kendi. Free information. Apparently they frown on translation here.

There's a choir room all with individually carved chairs. The tour guide says the big choir book is called a  "cantorale" and in this room there's another giant book holder for the choir and two organs. The guide says the book was given as a gift from a composer to a poet of the time, as a thank you for a musical collaboration.

There are some guys vacuuming in one of the really fancy gold plated chapels. It's funny to see the juxtaposition of casual modern and extravagant history.

There's one chapel with so much detailed gold plate that it just looks like bumps. But the bumps are people, plants, and animals in gold plate.

There's a chapel with a saint's left arm contained in a silver plated box. It's very withered. And it looks like old dead flesh, which it is. At this point I can't help thinking of the TV show Supernatural. Sam and Dean would probably need to steal it for some fancy spell. Or maybe Castiel would steal it for them. Yesterday there was a statue of Micheal defeating Lucifer, which also made me think of Supernatural… I can't help but think this is not how it's supposed to go; Supernatural references Christianity, not the other way round.

We are at a tapas bar that used to be a horse stable for the rich members of the university. It's a long dome-roofed building made of bricks, no windows. It's popular with the university students, so there are people working on laptops and drinking coffee in this ancient brick horse stable. There's a coat of arms on the wall made of stone that's probably more than 1000 years old and there are university students at bar tables on iPhones. Such juxtaposition. It's all over the place here.

I just had a slice of Spanish quesadilla, a kind of cross between stuffed mushroom caps and quiche. There was egg, potatoes, fish (prawns?), egg, cheese. It's pretty darn good.

Free shopping time. There are some mannequins with very mal-placed eyebrows. It's a bit disturbing.

There's a shirt that says "I was a watermelon, but I feel like a cloud".

I just realized I'm taller than most women here. Are people shorter in Europe?

We stocked up on food (snacks) at the Carrefour (which just happens to be right next to a gigantic historical church- everything is like that here). I got some nuts, raisins, giant corn, tomatoes, cheese, and some of the BEST HAM EVER. Jamón Ibérica. I'm never going back. It's made from pigs that eat only acorns and have the very best luxury pig lives ever.

I bought a t-shirt. I'm surprised because I thought I wouldn't like anything, but this one caught my eye. It's a design of a hand with lots of detail and doodles on a dark magenta background. It was only €9 so I don't feel too bad about "splurging". Also, the printed price is the actual price. There's NO TAX. It cost exactly €8.99. I love it.

I bought a scarf. €12. White, can double as a shawl. Goes with everything. Estoy muy contenta.

Had fries and squid and strawberries for dinner at 10pm.

Fin