10/16/2023
This week is going to be busy with Spanish. I will have group classes from 9 – 1, extra Spanish conversation with Pedro from 2 – 3, and the evening cultural event from 5 to 7. I’ll need to fit in a quick break at home if at all possible, if nothing else to drop off my books.
A gentleman from San Luis Obispo named Chris arrived last night. He’s staying here with Ana and me. He’s only studying Spanish for a week then he’s going to visit friends in Portugal. He and his wife take separate vacations so they have lots to talk about. How modern! I love it!
Yesterday I went to mass at the cathedral with Caroline and Maureen. It was a good way to listen to more Spanish. The structure was the same and the prayers and stories were easy enough to follow.
After church, we went to lunch at a nice restaurant near Caroline’s place. I had bean soup, sea bass, and a delicious flan cake as part of a set menu meal.
I spent the rest of the quiet, cloudy day at home, relaxing, drawing, studying, and processing photos, which is the activity that takes the most time for me on this blog.
10/17/2023
Things are going well. I am in exactly the correct class as I am learning new things and solidifying old topics. The teachers, Pedro and Maria Jose are well-coordinated so we are learning new things and reinforcing the right things. There’s just enough conversation in the class, though I wish there was a bit of CELTA conversation with each other. In my training as a teacher of English as a second language, we were taught to let the students learn a bit and then practice with each other. They don’t use that technique here. Too bad, as it’s a proven way of learning a language.
Chris likes the school and coursework but Caroline, who is in the same class as him, is not happy with the book, the price of the class, or the coursework.
I’ve changed my plans about going to the coast of Spain. Everyone says I’ll love it when I go, but the weather is supposed to be dreadful and I’m so looking forward to Prague, that I’ve changed my plans to go there early and relax a bit more. Maybe I’ll rent a car to explore more or take a little train trip to a nearby village or something. Beaches are really boring when it rains.
10/18/2023
The absolute most exciting thing happening is that there is a Bollywood movie being filmed here in town. The Plaza Mayor is closed off for the entire week and there are speedy little chase scenes happening here and there near the school. It’s much harder to get around now. There are at least three identical bright red mini Cooper prop cars, one of them pre-crashed. One is perfect. The third one has a whole sort of scaffolding apparatus sticking out of the side window, presumably to lift and “roll” the car at some point. Salamanca Police Cars and student extras are all involved.
Numerous movies have been filmed here over the years. The tight streets, historic stone buildings, and cobblestone roads must be very enticing. Pedro said the restaurants in the square are each being compensated 1000E per day for their loss of business. There must be 50 businesses just in that part of town that the film budget needs to cover. Even the tour guides who are unionized are being paid a fee for their loss of income. Guau! Now I know why movies are so expensive to make.
We had our cultural experience in the form of a dance lesson last night. We had fun even though it was in a small, hot room with no mirrors. It was almost identical to the line dancing classes I take in Green Valley. I thought we might see flamenco, but they said that’s from a different part of Spain and acted like it was impossible to do flamenco dancing here.
I am worried my blog is out of space for all my photos. It’s stubbornly down on the management side and I don’t know how to fix it. I guess I’ll have to pay my web designer to fix it if she can.
10/19/2023
It was a very soggy day today. Chris and I walked to school together relatively unscathed, but by the time we got to the “pausa” for coffee, it was raining like cats and dogs or lluvia como el mar.
At the break, I’ve been eating a PB&J sandwich which I’ve been making at home and having a café con leche at the vegetarian place across the street from the school. It’s a nicer cafe than the one in the school, has better food, and is never as crowded. We’ve been eating lunch there too. I’ve tried their tiny tapas portions of pumpkin soup, lentils with onions and tomatoes, spicy roasted potatoes, potatoes with sour cream, chickpeas in a sauce, lasagne, bean stew, and pesto pasta. They have beer, wine, coffee, tea, delicious desserts, and regular-size plates too. It’s been easy to pump up my nutrition with food from there.
At 1 pm we had our final cultural tour to the Museum Casa de Lis. I can’t really tell you much about it because Salva was the teacher-guide and I could barely hear him speak. I realized that I’m partly reading lips when I am trying to comprehend Spanish. When I can’t see the person speaking, I catch much less of it.
The museum pertained to a guy who built a house, say, and now it’s filled with decorative arts. I didn’t have a ton of time to see the place but I got the gist of it and saw the famous stained glass ceiling and creepy doll collection.
Then I swam back to school and had my conversation session with Pedro. It went great and we discussed the nuances between saber and conozer, the differences between mejor and mayor, national parks, tectonic plates, sheep crossing through Madrid on an annual migration, and his brother who is an arborist. Todo en español, claro.
On the way home, I tried to get my prescriptions filled, but it didn’t work. Two medicines are not available in Spain yet and for one of them, I’d need a doctor visit and authorization first. Hopefully, they will be more lenient in Prague.
Much of my papers and clothes were wet when I got back. Everything is drying out so now I’m watching Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV+ on my computer and drinking wine. There’s a Friday vibe but I still have classes tomorrow. The plan then is to meet the ladies at El Corte Ingles for a wine-y lunch.
10/20/2023
I had a good day. I was sad to finish my classes and so randomly say goodbye to various people. The organization of our group was pathetic. I didn’t even know some people and there was never a group get-together to welcome us or say goodbye. I told Pedro that I didn’t think the school did a great job at that and he said that normally the American just organizes everyone, deciding on where to have drinks after the sessions. He said I must not have stepped up because I didn’t like this one student. (I didn’t). He might be right. After 34 years of teaching Spanish, he says he can tell everything happening with the students even when he can’t actually see what’s happening.
Eventually, I got to El Corte Ingles and ate a burger while sitting with the ladies, who had already eaten because it took me so long to get there. On the way there, after my 2pm to 3pm conversation class with Pedro, I helped some lady on the street with directions and another tiny woman put some cardboard in a giant recycling bin. I thought I would take the bus but I never could catch it. Then I got lost. (I rarely get lost after I’ve been in a place for a few days, so I was annoyed with myself). It took me nearly an hour to walk the same distance that would have normally taken me 25 minutes. Since I was expecting rain, I’d worn hiking boots which were tiresome in the city.
After lunch and helping Maureen with a tech problem on her phone, I found some things I needed in the shops and came home to pack. I am not sure what it was that Ana fixed me for dinner. It was something called palomitos – translated as popcorn – but it was like little pieces of lasagne that puffed up – maybe in the microwave – and then she served the same store-bought mayonnaise-y salad as before on the little palomito cracker things, with half a plate of raw tomatoes. Glad I had my wine.
Tomorrow is a travel day. I’m taking the same bus as Caroline to Terminal 4 at the Madrid Airport. Then I’ll stay nearby at an outrageously-priced Holiday Inn before my flight on Sunday to Prague.
10/21/2023
After a great motor coach ride from Salamanca to Madrid, I’m resting in my amazingly clean and fresh Madrid hotel room. I worked out in the tiny gym but the pool is closed and now it’s too cold out anyhow. I say I’m in Madrid and I am, but near the airport and in an industrial park with an Amazon warehouse down the street. So I took a walk around here earlier but there is not much to see. I can see the planes landing at the airport from my hotel room. I had a delicious simple dinner in the hotel restaurant of grilled chicken and veggies and a little splurge on a chocolate lava cake. I’m off to Prague tomorrow at noon.
