A Typical School Day

I thought it might be helpful for blog readers see what a typical morning and early afternoon looks like for me and my new friends.  Here's how it goes on most days:

First, we wake up, feel how hot it is, and remember that we are in Spain.  Then we get dressed, head downstairs, and leave our residence hall.

 

 

 

We begin the one block walk...

 

 

 

...to the cafeteria... 

 

 

...for breakfast. 

 

We leave the cafeteria at around 8:15, and commence our one mile hike to class. 

 

 

 

 

 

When we round the corner and see La Fachada de la Universidad, we know we are pretty much there.

 

 

We make a right into El Patio de Escuelas... 

 

 

 

...and enter the building on the right. 

 

 

We are lucky, because this air conditioned (!) classroom is ours for the entire morning, and the professors come to us.

 

 

Mr. Duck came for a visit today, and immediately got to work. 

 

 

First, we have Language and Grammar class with Carmen. 

 

 

Carmen really enjoyed Mr. Duck's visit, and wanted to make sure that he understood that an implied conditional requires the use of the imperfect subjunctive. 

 

 

We have class with Carmen for two hours, and then we get a thirty minute break.  Some of us use that time to go for a walk, run and errand, or get a quick snack.  Today, the crepes and churros con chocolate from the café around the corner were calling our names. 

 

 

After the break, we have our culture class with Sonia. 

 

 

Today we decided to pose for a group picture before beginning culture class.  Then we got right to work discussing some of the major holidays and celebrations that occur throughout the year in various Spanish cities.

 

 

Immediately after Culture class, we have History and Art class with Enrique.  Since we finished discussing Spanish history up through the post-Franco democratic era yesterday, today we began a chronological study of artists, beginning with El Greco (who technically wasn't Spanish, but lived here long enough and became famous enough for the Spaniards to claim him as one of their own).

 

 

 After class, sometimes we head directly back to where we are staying, and sometimes we stick around for a little while.  Today, a couple of us wandered through this lovely patio across from our classroom...

...on our way to see el Cielo de Salamanca.  El Cielo de Salamanca is a domed painting that at one time was much bigger, but an earthquake unfortunately destroyed two thirds of it.  It was painted by Fernando Gallego in the 15th century, and depicts various constellations and zodiac signs.  It's like a six hundred year old planetarium.  It's magnificent, and completely free to visit.  I was looking up in such awe that I completely missed the sign below it requesting no photography.  I felt guilty about having already taken a picture, but I didn't use flash so I hopefully didn't do any damage.  In any case, my photo hardly does it justice.

 

 

Anyway, back to a typical day here.  After leaving class, we eventually start heading back towards our residential campus.  Below is some street graffiti that we walk across each day.  Translation: "Remember that each day the world dawns on you." 

 

 

We usually make a beeline for the cafeteria, as it is time for lunch.  We get three courses: a salad or other first course, then an entrée, followed by a dessert (usually fruit for me). 

 

 

By the time we are done eating, it is usually between 2:30 and 3:00 in the afternoon.  Most shops and points of interest are closed for siesta by this time, so it makes the most sense for us return to the dorms until things open up again.  Some of us take a nap, but most of us worry that if we do so, we won't be able to fall asleep later.  I typically spend this time checking my email, calling family, and - of course - updating this blog.  Sometimes I hang out here in my room with the window open and the fan running, but if it's still too hot for me, I make myself comfortable in an air conditioned seminar room downstairs.

 

After a few hours, we usually meet back up for afternoon and evening activities.  For example, today a couple of us are going to the Coco Chanel exhibit at Casa Lis at around 5:30, and then we'll meet up with the others for film class at 7:00pm.  We'll all come back, have dinner in the cafeteria, and then hang out for a bit before going to a concert that starts at 11:00pm tonight.  It will be a loooong, but fun, day.

 

And that is a typical day here in our little Salamanca bubble.  I hope you found it as entertaining as I do!