El calor me mata

It is so hot in Spain right now.  Record hot.  So hot that you take a cold shower, get out, and immediately start sweating.  No AC in the dorms.  I'm on the 4th floor.  So let me introduce you to mis amigos.... mis ventiladores (my fans).

Meet Wally.  He came with me to Spain this year.  He's from Walmart in the US.  $6.  Best $6 I've every spent.  He operates on batteries and cools my face during the night.  Wally is my face fan. 

Meet El Fénix (The Phoenix)...he's the oldest of the group.  He was kept in the basement from the primera fase last year, and I got him back this year.  He has a lot of problems and often dies, but he always rises from the ashes.  He takes about 25 minutes to "warm up" and start working.  There is also weird, orange goup all over his buttons.  He's good to have, though.  He turns and can cool a whole room when he works.

Meet Sr. Chino.  Sr. Chino comes from a "Chino" in Spain...honestly, it's what the stores are called here.  It literally means "Chinese."  They are cheap stores owned by peopled of Chinese decent.  Similar to a Dollar General.  Mr. Chino is the most dependable.  He has high settings and makes a good white noise.  He also has a timer on him. 

Yup, I have three fans in my dorm room.  And here's an overall picture of where I live!  It's the same building I lived in last year...la residencia/the dorms.

I actually have a view this year rather than a crappy, barren courtyard like last year.

I just got to Spain three days ago but it seems like I've already been here a few weeks.  I'm exhausted, happy, miss my husband (love you Charlie, I know you are reading this!), and am excited/nervous about my classes.  The workload is the same as last year but it somehow seems like more this year.  It's nothing I can't handle, it's just extreme amounts of class, little study time, and lots of "go, go, go."  But we need the city excursions and out of town excursions...why sit in a classroom and learn about the Roman bridges when we can walk to go see one??

Puente Romano, Salamanca

I arrived in Spain on Saturday with my friend Elizabeth that I met last year during the first phase of the program...we explored Madrid and because it was so hot, we spent a lot of time in El Prado/La Reina Sofia museums.  Facinating, amazing, wonderful...I have studied/will study most Spanish artists, so having learned about their work and then seeing it makes it far more powerful.  I don't have pictures, because taking pictures inside is prohibido...but I do have a few of the city.  This is my 4th time in Madrid, so I wasn't as "picture crazy".

Me and the famous Estatua del Oso, the Bear Statue in Madrid (the symbol of the City)

My first cafe con leche of the summer...it's actually quite disgusting how many of these I drink ;)

Elizabeth and I in a park near the Prado and right by our hotel!

Protesters in La Puerta del Sol...the unemployment in Spain right now is over 20%...what they are protesting among other things.

Street near our hotel

Elizabeth and I got to Salamanca around 12:30 pm by bus...she had accidentally left her backpack on a bench in the metro (!!!), and we had to go back to get it.  Luckily she realized it right away and even luckier that it was still here.  I talked with the guard to have him call the station where we left it so the guy there could get it...such a close call.  Her computer, kindle, pasaporte, everything was in that backpack.  She was freaking out (and rightly so). And when something stressful happens, Spanish people tell you the following things in this order.... which also happened to Elizabeth, exactly in this order...

1.  Tranquila.  This literally means "calm down."  I've often pondered how if someone said that in English it would be soooo offensive, but in Spanish, it's not at all.  It's just trying to make you feel better.

2.  No pasa nada.  This literally means "nothing is happening" or loosely translated, "no big deal," or "it's fine."  People say this all the time. 

3.  Joder, chill, man.  This last one I've heard in English a lot ;)  The first word is a cuss word, but everyone says it...a lot.

These next couple of weeks are going to be filled with lots a lots of class.  My classes began today, and I can honestly say that I like all of my teachers a lot.  This year I'm taking a Spanish culture class, a cine class, an evolution of linguistics class, an art history class, an Latin American lit. class, a grammar class (not how the language is used but being able to explain why), and a modern social and political issues class.  Whew.  And then I have my Master's!  I just need to submit the paperwork.

I'll update when I can, at least to post some pictures...but after today, I forsee my time being pretty limited.  And when I do have free time, I don't want to be spending it on the computer, that's for sure!