ESN viaje a Salamanca

     I spent three days traveling in and around the areas of Salamanca, Spain. I went with international students who are currently in Galicia. We first stopped at the Quinto de Bublé winery. We arrived during the time of vindemia (grape gathering) so we were just able to see the workers put the grapes in the machine and learn about the bottling process. We ate lunch in a beautiful setting, overlooking the winery and ate our sandwiches.

     Our next stop was Zamora, a town located in the province of Castilla y León. Zamora is the city with the most Romanesque style churches in all of Europe. We walked around a castle and later enjoyed the wine from Quinto de Bublé wineries.

We arrived to Salamanca at around 8 o'clock ate dinner and walked around the city before going out for the night. The University of Salamanca, which was founded in 1218, is the oldest university in Spain. 30,000 students attend the university, which makes it a very fun city to go out in. In Spain and other European countries students start attending university later than most students in the United States. I love being in Spain right now because although I have already graduated from university, I am the same age (or younger) as all the other Spanish and international students.

La Plaza mayor in Salamanca seems to be the meeting point for people of all ages. I ran into a group of university aged guys, dressed in traditional clothing playing traditional instruments and serenading the people in Plaza de Mayor. From the pension we were staying at I heard people singing the song "bailando" and complimented one of the members on his singing abilities. He responded to me in Portuguese (which I'm used to because the city I currently live in is located less than 20 miles from the border of Portugal. This group of friends from Portugal was visiting Salamanca for the weekend to play their music and have a good time. I later saw them them in the discoteca.

     We stayed in a pension in Plaza mayor and I shared an apartment area with seven other guys, because there was a mixup. One of the coordinators was on the phone trying to figure something out, when one of my best friends in Vigo, Carlos, suggested I stay with them because there was an extra bed in their room. Among all 8 of us we shared a bathroom (if anyone was keeping score I took the shortest shower haha)

    We went out for some beers and then met up with the rest of the group to a bar where we each paid 5 euros for unlimited beer and sangria.  I was standing next to a girl names Petra and our friend Julio asked Petra and I if we were related. I didn't even know Petra, but we became quick friends because, "we are cousins." People were actually really confused when we said we weren't related because everyone automatically thinks that I'm from a central European country like the majority of the foreign students. We then went to a discoteca and as I mentioned before I saw the Portuguese students who were part of "la tuna" I came back to the pension at around 5:30. It is not uncommon to go out until 7 or 8 in the morning in Spain, but we had a long day of touring ahead so most of us wanted to go to sleep.

     The next day we ate delicious croissants and then went to visit the roof of a cathedral. My favorite part of the trip was climbing the spiral staircases. In order to prevent collisions there was a clock displaying the amount of time we had to wait to either climb up or down the stairs.

     After the visit to the cathedral we saw people dressed in fancy clothes and realized that a wedding was about to occur so we sat near the cathedral to watch everyone gather and we even saw the bride! When we left we danced around the city to the music of the street musicians and ate lunch. I ate lunch with my awesome roommates. We had a fantastic city tour and walked along the river. We then ate dinner all together and I sat with my 3 german friends and 2 greek friends. We checked out some bars before settling on a discoteca. I would like to thank my German friends (special shout out to Sophie for teaching me to say, "that is a weird guy." I didn't want to tell my friend in Spanish or English (because I didn't want the weird guy to hear) so I told my friend in German, he told me that I was understandable so that's good enough for me.

    The next day I went with Carlos to buy something for lunch before we departed for Puebla de Sanabria. We passed a street musician and his friends and they asked me to take a picture of them, and then the musician said he wanted to sing a song for me. I told them that Carlos and I were visiting Salamanca for the weekend and that we lived in Vigo, and as coincidences always seem to occur, on of the musicians is originally from Vigo.

    Puebla de Sanabria is a city located 20 kilometers away from Portugal, it is located on top of a hill with a beautiful castle. We had the obligatory cafe con leche and chocolate and then walked around the village and enjoyed the views of the river. We walked around the castle like zombies, because we hadn't slept very much over the past few days. I am back in Vigo and happy to have slept more than 3 hours.

Auxiliares de conversación

I am going to Spain to be a language assistant at a school located on the coast in a town called Panxón, which is located in the region of Galicia. Galicia is located in the Northwest of Spain, directly above Portugal. Spain is a linguistically diverse country, as there are four commonly spoken languages. Castillian Spanish as well as Gallego are spoken in Galicia.

Galicia is not on the tourist track of Spain and although I have never been there, I am incredibly excited to call the region home for the next year. I plan on living in a larger city close to my school, called Vigo. Galicia Is a rural region and I am so lucky to have been placed only 30 minutes away from my school.

As a language assistant I work 12 hours each week and receive 700 euros each month, which is more than enough to live comfortably in Vigo. People without  European citizenship are allowed to participate in this program because the money we receive from the Ministry of Education is considered a scholarship and we are considered to be in a continuing education program. In order to participate in this program a university degree is needed in any subject or the applicant must be in their third year of university.

I spoke to the guy who worked at my school, CPI de Panxón last year and was told that the school is fantastic and that I am very lucky to have been placed there. The school is for children ages 4-18 and although I do not know what grades or subjects I am assisting with, I am excited for the opportunity to teach multiple age groups. I have big shoes to fill because the guy who had my job last year is awesome and gave me the best advice!

The job starts October 1st and ends May 31st. I hope to leave the United States mid-August so that I can visit my friends in Sevilla and some other countries in Spain before I start looking for a room and a second job.

La Feria de Abril en Sevilla

I first heard about this job in 2011 when I was an au pair in Pamplona, Spain during the summer. I spent a few days in Madrid and while in el museo de jamón I saw a girl order a mix of lemon fanta and beer. I wanted to order the same so I asked for una cervaza con fanta de limon, the girl who ordered the drink told me the official name of the drink, clara, it is delicious and I highly recommend it. We discovered that we were both American and she told me that she was working for the Spanish government as a language and culture assistant and loved it. So here I am, three years later about to participate in the same program. Luckily I was able to spend a semester in Sevilla, Spain during the Spring of 2013, and that only increased my love for Spain.


I hope to visit the villages of Galicia because villages always have the best fiestas and the surprise sheep stampede is always cool. These pictures are from my favorite village, Castrillo de la Murcia, located in Burgos, Spain. When I was an au pair we went to this village several times for the fiestas because my host mom was from there. I also visited the village in 2013 after studying abroad.

The city of Vigo is located less than 25kms from the border of Portugal, which means that starting out the night in Vigo and ending it in Portugal is very likely. I spent 6 days in Lisbon and loved it, so I definitely plan on going back. I traveled to Lisbon alone and recommend staying in a hostel with a bar because it is easy to meet people to explore with.

I am looking forward to practicing my Spanish and Gallego, as well as exploring Galicia, Spain, and Europe in general. 

Andalucía Road Trip

I spent a week traveling Andalucía with my parents in March.

Nothing is better than eating and drinking cheaply at 5-6 tapas bars a day with your parents, simply enjoying the ambience and relaxed way of life in Andalucía

First stop Córdoba: We wandered the old, narrow streets of Cordóba and visited the Mezquita in this beautiful city located 45 minutes from Sevilla on the fast train. Besides scratching the car on a street that was way to narrow (that is why there is insurance) the trip was amazing and Córdoba is a lovely small town.
On this trip we ran into one of my professors in Cordoba and a classmate from one of my linguistic classes at Appalachian State University in Granada.

                                         Just a normal man, wearing normal clothing.

We visited several of the pueblos blancos on our trip and my favorites were Zahara and Grazalema.
These villages are located close to one of the most popular white villages, Ronda, although Zahara and Grazalema are relatively off of the tourist track.

                                                                            Zahara

                                                                And Grazalema

Meeting friendly locals in the tiny villages who were happy to bring us tapa after tapa, was not a rare occurrence on this trip once they heard my parents speak spanish ;).

We even got to eat Paella on the beach made by this idol, Ayo!

morocco

The three days I spent in Northern Morocco were filled with new smells, ways of life, welcoming people, new friends and suprises. Morocco is only a short ferry ride away from Spain, yet the cultures are so different. I only skimmed the surface of this amazing country and I hope that I will be able to go back to enjoy more of this amazing country. When we first arrived we were rewarded with amazing views of the sea. So many families were walking on the beach, playing soccer and enjoying their Friday evening.

In the town of Tangier we were allowed an hour of free time and as my friend and I walked through the markets and the streets, I could not help but smile. And that smile must have been huge because a man selling colorful slippers at the souk told me "You are laughing too much." He said it with a smile and although the language barrier is evident, he meant this in the best of ways.

I highly recommend traveling to Morocco, especially if you are in Europe because it is relatively close and an amazing country of contrasts and friendly people.

Chefchauen is a village in Northern Morocco known for the various hues of blue, which encompass the city. We crossed a bridge over a river in order to see a view of the town. Although the view was beautiful, the people below the river were the one's who grabbed our attention. Families gathered near the river, little boys played on a roof, while an older woman washed her clothes.