Classmates and Calor

Let’s just say we were SPOILED the first half of this trip. The weather was perfect, a little chilly but tolerable. However, some crazy heat stroke has invaded Salamanca and we are ready for it to leave. Guess this is what you get with July in Spain!

In a country where the buildings are older than America, air conditioning doesn’t exist. If we find a cool (as in temperature) building, you better believe we are staying put. Classrooms and Canalejas are sweltering; it’s practically fatal (our cool new Spanish adjective). Siesta serves a real purpose now: an escape from the mid-day heat. Its hard to do anything with temperatures close to 100°, and no breeze to cool us down. Therefore, we nap.

Also naps are necessary to recuperate from the exhaustion that is five-hour class days and our compañeros. For the most part we love our classmates. We have met people from all over the world and one thing we all have in common is our study of Spanish. Native languages aside, Spanish has allowed us to make friends from Brazil, China, Korea, Scotland, Taiwan, Gabon, and New Zealand. Well, maybe not New Zealand. Meet Olivia.

 

Olivia leading an activity in a class where she's a student.

The biggest “Karen” you could ever imagine (shout-out to Gracie & MAH). She always feels the need to talk, ask questions, give commentary and request examples. Considering she is a Spanish TEACHER from Nueva Zelanda, one would think she would know that she is being the worst type of student. Hailey has the pleasure of enjoying her for her first three hours and SK gets to share Conversation class with Olivia. One day we kept tallies of her comments, questions, and never desired advice and the number went way over 50 in only three hours. You can do the math, but trust us; it’s annoying.

Here are some general observations about our classmates:

1.  Gabon—very vocal in class, always volunteering and asking questions. They are all teachers who came to Salamanca to learn how to teach Spanish in Gabon. Very friendly and always take the time to say “hola”!

2. Brazil—loud, exciting and VERY good at Spanish (#Portuguese). Our Brazilian friends are the most fun, and closest in age to us. That makes them easiest to converse with.

3. China—though they haven’t been studying the language for very long (6 months) they are already as good if not better than us. Inquisitive and friendly they have made the most effort to talk to us about the States.

We can only imagine what they think about us…

Hailey & SK