Salamanca I: Mi casa nueva y mi horario

Enjoying a great day in Salamanca. This is a view from the city
toward Rio del Tormes, the river that passes through Salamanca.

When I thought about studying abroad, I never thought about to much about how I'd be living with a woman I'd never met before. I never thought about the fifty point turn necessary for my host-mom to get her compact out of a parking spot with mere centimeters between her car and the others parked in front and behind. I never thought about the cold sweat and extreme anxiety I'd feel waking up in someone else's home. At the same time, I never thought about how I wouldn't really be on my own. I didn't think people would go out of their way to guide me back to my apartment after making a wrong turn at night. And I certainly didn't think my host mom would sit and chat with me at each meal to make me feel at home. In my first few weeks here, I've realized that in the gap between what I expected of my study abroad and the actual occurrences here have made each day memorable.

Starting off with the nuts and bolts:

I live in an apartment near the Salamanca train station, about 25 minutes walking distance from the University of Salamanca. My host mom, Vicenta (goes by Vicen), is a grandmother and has her granddaughter Maria and her son Angel over frequently.

My schedule (horario) for a normal weekday...

8:00-Wake up. Light breakfast (most often pastry and tea).

9:00-11:00: Spanish grammar class. My professor, Merce, makes the class very casual and spends a lot of time joking with students. It's a great way to start the morning and the students—many from the U.S., Taiwan, China, and Japan with one woman from Brazil—make the class very entertaining. One thing I've noticed is that Merce knows exactly where our weaknesses are in learning Spanish and gives us some good colloquial expressions to sneak into our day-to-day conversations.

11:00-12:00: Spanish conversation. Taught by an extremely energetic professor, Charo, this class focuses on conversation and essential vocabulary. The other day, a student from China brought in a "1000 year egg," a Chinese delicacy. I actually didn't mind the taste (the process involves preserving an egg for a few weeks, sometimes months) although the texture of the egg white was more like gelatin and had an iron-like aftertaste.

Blurry picture of Salamanca city hall, built into
Plaza Mayor. Everyone meets under this tower
and you hear people say "bajo el reloj"—under
the clock.

12:00-1:00: Arab influence in Spain. Although this class is a lot more difficult for me, I really appreciate the effort of the professor, Dolores, to explain the appearance of Spanish words influenced by Arabic (e.g. Azúcar-sugar, almohada-pillow, berenjena-eggplant).

1:00-2:00: Spanish
art history. Our professor, Enrique, pours a lot of emotion into this class. This week we focused on El Greco and in past weeks we talked about prehistoric art in Spain and Roman architecture (even analyzing the process for building the Roman Bridge here in Salamanca).

2:00: Return for lunch. This is an enormous, multi-course meal incorporating chicken, fish, meat, bread, soups, and salads on a rotating basis.

3:00: Here comes the famed siesta following lunch, a time when people relax or get in a quick snooze before hitting the streets (my host mom characterizes the people in Salamanca as "gente de la calle" or "people of the street") or returning to work. During siesta, I'll go play pick-up basketball at Parque Picasso nearby, talk with my parents and brother back home, read, or sleep. Then, I might work on homework or, most often, go into town to check out some shops near Plaza Mayor or go down to the Rio del Tormes to cross the Roman Bridge (Puente Romano) or explore some of the other reasonably-priced cultural museums around town.

9:00: Return for dinner. Very similar to lunch except lighter, often served with yogurt and a small piece of candy.

10:00: Either meet up with friends for some exploring or hit the hay.

Un día en Toledo

Me in front of Toledo (a picture pretty much everyone takes
when they come here). That is the Tagus river—in my opinion
it looks like the river is scooping up the city.
Shirt/jacket count: 4

Last summer, I took a Spanish class to brush up on some language skills and my instructor told me, "If you have one day in Spain, you spend all of it in Toledo." After traversing the pastoral hills surrounding the city, I realized why she made this strong suggestion. Toledo in many ways brings together everything a visitor expects in Spain. A panorama of Toledo shows the Alcázar (castle) of the city, and the Cathedral—both presiding over a dreamlike city riddled with narrow alleys and cobblestone paths. In more ways than one, Toledo signifies a coming together. For one, Toledo has been heralded as "the city of three cultures" for its history as a city open to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. On the paths, our group saw markers along the street to identify the type of district (e.g. a menorah for a Jewish district). Also, Toledo marks the coming together of everything one anticipates in their Spanish experience, namely strong reverence for history, pastoral views of the countryside, and relics from the past.

Orange tree in the cloister garden at Monasterio de
San Juan de los Reyes.

First, we walked over the San Martín Bridge and passed through a tower into the city to see the Monastery of Saint John of the Kings (Monasterio San Juan de los Reyes). The church's cloister has a garden and the lighting was exceptional—casting a reddish glow into the courtyard area. After walking through the cloister and the church, we moved onward to Santa María la Blanca nestled close to the monastery. The synagogue physically represents the collaborative aspect of Toledo's history as it came from Islamic architects for use by a Jewish congregation and, arguably, this is the oldest synagogue building in EUROPE still standing. Built by Muslims, occupied by Jews, and now preserved by the Catholic Church, this building stood out to me as a symbol of religion bringing about openness and friendliness rather than inter-religious conflict.

El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz

Finally, we were able to marvel at my favorite piece of Spanish art: El entierro del Conde de Orgaz by El Greco. The 16th century painting shows a mix between the celestial and the terrestrial and shows the terrific beauty of a noble death—with saints assisting the burial (according to the legend). I personally enjoy the detail of the painting and the speculation surrounding his works—in this case about what he meant by inserting himself into the painting (see the seventh man in from the left of the frame directly above the open hand). Being

among a handful of people physically present and simply thinking about the number of people that have studied this extremely elaborate painting made the experience all the more awe-inspiring.

My lunch on Plaza Zocodover—croissant with jamón Íberico!

After our tour ended, we took a walk to the main square in Toledo and perused shops with collections of swords, glass work, plates, and tiles. Then, we approached Plaza Zocodover and as the group dispersed a few of us chose to eat a casual lunch right on the plaza. As I observed the many Spanish families seizing the opportunity to enjoy some time in the sun, I began to realize how Spaniards live in the moment and make concerted efforts to stay active.

Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo is of a
13th century Gothic style. Many postcards
show off this tower.

Through the bus window as we left the diminishing Toledo behind and set a course for Salamanca, I felt glad to have spent one of my first days in Spain in one of its most precious cities—one I hope to revisit soon. Filled with nervous excitement, it was then time to move on and meet my host family and settle into my temporary home away from home.

Momentos en Madrid

Me in the Puerta del Sol in front of the Bear and the Madroño

tree—symbol of madrid. Shirt/jacket count: 2

            My study abroad experience begins in Madrid. As the longstanding and rapidly developing center of the country both physically and culturally, Madrid fosters both history and advancement with historical monuments standing out among a sprawling metropolis. We stayed in the Hotel Regina, near the Puerta del Sol, Madrid’s main meeting point for shopping, tapas, and sightseeing. One of the most unusual feelings crept up on me when I woke up in the middle of the night in Madrid. I heard some shouting outside and in the midst of jet-lag couldn't even believe where I was. I went to the window, and instead of looking out on a quiet street lined with trees as I'm used to in Oregon, I saw the flashing lights of a tapas bar and heard singing from a group of friends just heading back for the night. Then, my disorientation turned into excitement for what was (and still is) to come. During my unforgettable experiences with the group, we visited a few major sites including the Museo Prado, the Royal Palace, and El Escorial.

La familia de Felipe IV or Las Meninas by Diego

Velazquez.

The Prado

            In past Spanish classes, I had seen slideshows with paintings from Goya, Velazquez, Picasso, and El Greco. The opportunity to see works from all of these artists (and Rembrant, Bosch, van der Weyden, the list goes on) provided an intense few hours of exploration. We were able to see Velázquez’s Las Meninas, and spent a few moments looking at the painting through a mirror (espejo in Español) to see just how realistic the painting appears as a backdrop to our reflections. After our tour ended, I decided to stick around and look at another Velazquez exhibit, featuring pictures of the Infant Margaret Theresa—daughter of King Philip IV of Spain. I felt completely out of my depth amongst other viewers who talked to great lengths about what Velazquez was saying through his portraiture.

The Royal Palace (Palacio Real de Madrid)

A gargantuan facade of the palace.

       Standing in the middle of the Plaza de la Armeria Courtyard, I felt like a speck. The grey skies appeared to meld into the palace and I took a moment to soak in the grandeur of the palace’s exterior. Once inside, we visited a few rooms including the throne room and proper dining room. I got a good walk in without retracing a single step through the palace (containing a whopping 3,418 rooms within 1,450,000 square feet). The most interesting part of this tour for me was the influence of the oriental on the interior design. The art varies widely and randomly exhibits both western and eastern influences (even within each room) with frescoes, plates, and furniture.

El Escorial 

In front of the entrance to El Escorial.
Shirt/Jacket count: 3

           A one-hour bus ride brought us from the center of Madrid to El Escorial, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. El Escorial has served as both a Royal Palace and a Monastery. The royal family used the site as a summer residence because of the mild summer climate. Today, Augustinian Monks (monjas) still use the structure as a place for living and education. The library (biblioteca) there had books from all subject areas—all bordered with gold and preserved on the shelves. From the library we then went to see King Phillip’s special chair—upon which he was carried by servants from Madrid to the monastery, also known as Phillip’s eighth wonder of the world. We were able to see two pantheons in the palace/monastery—the pantheon of kings and the pantheon of princes. Both of these included ornately designed tombs and incredible symmetry. 




Aside from the major touristy adventures, Madrid taught me a few things about how life goes in Spain. In between moments of shoveling in some tapas, asking people for directions, or seeing a father use a stroller as a battering ram to get a better spot during the parade on the Día de los Reyes Magos, I realized that taking a leap into a new culture provides a wealth of new stories to tell. While this blog has taken some time, I hope I convey these stories well. For more pictures, there's a slideshow icon on the right of the blog that pops out. Simply click on that icon and take a look!

Estoy listo!

Hola a todos! Thank you for checking out my blog. My name is Jack Lammers and I am studying abroad at the University of Salamanca in Spain. Writing a blog is a new thing for me but I'm going to give it the old (and appropriately named) college try!

This is a Portland custom! People take a picture of their shoes as they 

stand on the PDX Airport carpet (soon to be replaced).

This is a "selfie" of me at the airport before leaving for Spain at an absurd hour in the morning on January 2. Apparently "selfie" was Oxford Dictionary's word of 2013. In other news, I'm 100% sure those people behind me think I'm trying to covertly photograph them. UPDATE: Here I'm wearing a shirt/jacket combo and...well let's just say I got REALLY comfortable with these two articles of clothing in the first few days. I'm going to keep a count going of how many photos I have taken with these same pieces of clothing because I'm sure I smelled just awful by the end of our time in Madrid.