Classes and Spanish Bowling

Buenas Dias!

I hope this post finds you all well. As a new week begins I feel its appropriate to recap the events of our first week in class and our first "free" weekend in Salamanca.
Our classes here are limited to JMU students only, which is both comforting and slightly disappointing. It is nice to see friendly, familiar faces each day, but I would love to have the social, cultural experience of getting to know some more college-age Spaniards. I am taking 5 classes here: phonetics, introduction to spanish literature, the latin american short story, latin american civilization, and Spanish Art. So far our professors are friendly and helpful, using simple vocabulary and speaking relatively slowly. My phonetics and literature professors are total babes, I have girl crushes on both of them! haha. All in all, I am glad to have a schedule that gives me things to do during the day, and I think that all of these classes will be very interesting and hopefully help me improve my comprehension of the Spanish language!
Our first free weekend here was a new experience, and a chance to get to know Salamanca a little better. The last two weekends we have been out sight-seeing other places, so this was our first chance to sleep in and relax.
The Plaza Mayor is really a sight to see on a weekend afternoon. Every cafe surrounding the area puts out tables and chairs, and people flock to whatever cafe is getting the most sun. Everyone else sprawls out on the ground in the middle of the plaza, in big and small groups. Most people grab a gelato from a nearby stand (my newest indulgence) and sit and chat until the sun moves, at which point they get up, move locations, and start all over again.
Although Salamanca has given us mostly cold weather, I realized that when sitting in the plaza on a sunny afternoon, its practically too hot for a sweater and jeans.
Saturday night, about 6 friends and I decided to head over to a mall close to my appartment, where there is a giant bowling alley/pool hall/bar. After slightly struggling through instructions, we all grabbed bowling shoes in our tw0-digit European sizes to knock down some pins. It was a lot of fun! We were probably a sight to see, clapping and cheering eachother on in Spanglish, but we had a great time- especially seeing that an activity which seems so American can cross cultures so fluidly.
I was surprised by the fact that at midnight we were joined by a gaggle of small children, plus an infant in a stroller who seemed amped and ready to go despite the late hour. I am continually impressed by this nocturnal culture...we were all asleep by 2AM...but thats really when things get started around here! Now I think I understand what these siestas in the middle of the day are for....
Well, its time to start another round of classes.
Adios!
Besos y Abrazos,
Lindsay