Saturday Kelsey, Brianna, Jacob, Kevin, and I went to Zamora with Nebrija. We visited Bodega Liberalia outside of Zamora and learned briefly how they make wine. The owner of the winery went more into detail about his love of painting than the wine. He did explain that the barrels used to age the wine have to be tossed and resold once the wine inside is done, and that different types of wood affect the taste. I thought that was interesting! We then went to Zamora and wandered around the town. There wasn’t much to see. A couple churches here and there…we saw 2 weddings happen! It wasn’t the best day trip but whatever!

Teresa, the program coordinator at Nebrija, was kind enough to drop off Kelsey, Brianna, Jacob, and me by the bus station. Salamanca and Zamora are a couple hours from each other and we decided to check it out since we were already in the area. It had begun to rain so we made a mad dash to find cover. The rain drops are so fat here! The bus station was not well prepared for the down pour. We had to shout to speak to each other and avoided water droplets coming from the roof.

We got to Salamanca around 9:30. It was drizzling there and in the 60s. A drastic change from the scorching heat we are used to in Madrid! We found this adorable little tapas place called Colonial. The food was so delicious and there were tapas we hadn’t seen before. I got a dish of chicken with pineapple in a creamy sauce, it was perfect! Around the corner from the restaurant was a bar called Cafe Milu. Outside it was advertised that they had a chocolate cake but unfortunately they didn’t :( We went back to the hostel to rest up for a full day of touring on Sunday.

Sunday morning, Jacob and Brianna went to mass at the Old Cathedral while Kelsey and I explored the area. Salamanca is the perfect day trip because while there are places to see, there aren’t many places that you can enter, like the palace or Casa de Las Muertes (named because of the skulls beneath the front two windows). The city is very small and what seems like a far walk on the map takes about minutes. We saw everything we wanted to see in Salamanca: the university, the house of shells, the cathedral, the roman bridge, Plaza Mayor (where Vantage Point was filmed), and the palace gardens. Salamanca is a beautiful modern city with a history. The buildings are old looking but the interiors are updated. The Plaza Mayor is beautiful! The plaza isn’t full of obnoxious street peddlers and weird side show acts. It’s surrounded by restaurants and benches and it’s a pleasant place to be. Maybe because we were there on a Sunday, but it was much less noisy than Madrid’s Plaza Mayor.

My favorite part was probably climbing the Stairs of Knowledge within the University of Salamanca. We made a photo shoot out of it and conquered the flight!

We got back to Madrid around dinner time on Sunday. I was studying for my culture midterm and decided to put my phone in Spanish. Jordan came into my room, moaned about how studying sucks and I told him how I changed the language on my phone. I hand it to him and he’s going through it seeing how many words he recognizes. After maybe 30 seconds, I said, “You’re putting my phone in Chinese aren’t you?“ He goes, “Damn it you know me well!” and throws the phone back at me. So now I’m stuck with a phone in Chinese and I keep going into all the wrong folders to change it back. Matt has an iPhone 5 and couldn’t help me fix it. Jordan recruited Alex in coming up with a list of demands before he’d switch it back: cookie brownies every Thursday, matzah pizza delivered from the Phi House during Passover, date functions, and silly things. I already promised them cupcakes/brownies when we get back so that wasn’t a big deal, and told Jordan he can come to the house for Passover meals, but I turned down the demands and just wanted my phone in English. Jordan had enough of my screeching about it and when he went to fix it, realized he didn’t know it either. Then I remembered I can use my iPad to figure out how to change it back. Sad thing is, it only took 30 minutes to think of this solution. But it was a funny break from studying!

Yesterday was my culture midterm. It went well, 85 woo! And last night, I got to hang out with Amir. It was a lot of fun! Tonight I’m going with Alyssa and a couple others to an underground Chinese restaurant. Carley had sent me a list of 101 things to do in Madrid and this is on it! The restaurant is under Plaza de Espana, I’m excited to check it out!

So apparently I make an awkward face, and the boys made a drinking game to it. Whenever I make the face, they have to drink.

My roommates keep me laughing

Matt: Brandi made her awkward face. Awkward face achieved!

Me: There’s nothing worse than dried marshmallow on your shirt.

Alex: Except death…

(I see Kelsey at the metro station the way to school and try to get her attention)

Jordan: Your friend sense is tingling.

(I shared cereal with Jordan and Alex on the metro to school)

Jordan: You’re a gentleman and a scholar.

Alex: That’s a pretty big compliment considering you’re a woman.