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| A view through the arches on the Plaza Mayor |
Hola there again! Well here I am writing my first blog of 2012 back in Salamanca, and the penultimate one from Semester 1 of Erasmus! I’ve been back here a week now, and I can’t believe how quickly the time goes! I had a really lovely time at home in the UK with my family for Christmas, and then I had a great New Year with Kat up in Solihull where it was lovely to spend some time with her! My birthday was a lovely day too thanks to my Mum; we enjoyed a day out shopping in London and saw Legally Blonde the musical which really was a laugh! I am enjoying being back in Salamanca now though, although I’m constantly aware my time here is ticking away like a mini time-bomb..... There are only 12 days left now here and then I leave Salamanca for good! That’s half of my Erasmus Year gone, and I don’t know when I’ll be back in Spain again! On the more positive side, I now have accommodation for my Second semester in Pavia, Italy sorted, as well as all travel booked for the 22nd of February! Exciting times ahead as mi vida erasmus will turn into la mia vita erasmus as we go all itaaaaaaaaaaaaalian!
I’ve spent the last week just relaxing and enjoying spending time with my closest friends here- you know who you all are! And in that time I’ve also been cracking on with completing some last pieces of Uni work which are needed before my time here ends. I’ve had a presentation for my ‘Historia y cultura italiana’ course to prepare and managed to write 2 pages in Spanish on a 1940’s Italian film. I think the exam will go well next week- I just need to finish off my powerpoint presentation and that’s all done! I’m also over halfway through a film analysis essay for my Literatura y cine module where I’m translating a past essay from English to Spanish. I’ve really enjoyed the translation so far, and it’s made me consider doing a Masters in Translation after I graduate next year! All that’s left now really is some Italian grammar revision for the test on the 28th Jan and that’s it! It’s all under control, as always.
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| My favourite view- across the river to a very sunny Salamanca! |
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| Elizabeth and me! =] |
On Saturday I had a lovely meet up with Elizabeth, and we went for a long walk around Salamanca and down by the river as it was such a lovely day- although freezing cold I might add. I couldn’t resist taking a few photos looking across at the cathedral from across the river. It is probably my favourite panoramic view in Salamanca! We then went to our favourite tapas bar ‘Mandala’ in the centre for a bit to eat! We were both happy and silent munching away and happy to be reunited with our spinach and cheese topped tortilla tapas dish!
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| The bridge and the Cathedral |
Speaking of it being freezing cold on Saturday, Irene (Elizabeth’s Spanish flatmate) told us that the temperatures are regularly dropping to below freezing at night and that she had seen the forecast for snow on Sunday! And right as she was, Sunday evening I was in my room doing some work when Laurie started screaming that snow was falling thick and fast! I leapt up out of my seat and we both rushed to the lounge window to see large thick snowflakes falling down! It seemed that everyone in Salamanca was excited about the snow (Facebook was very informative that night!), however the snow only lasted for a few hours, failed to set and then eventually stopped much to everyone’s disappointment! I’d have loved to have seen the cathedral and plaza all covered in beautiful white snow! It would have made some amazing photos! I didn’t make it out to see the snow, but I have borrowed a few photos from friends of the city on Sunday evening during the short period of snow fall!
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| The Plaza Mayor with a sprinkling of snow! |
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| The snow falling down! |
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| Maryse..... a French Erasmus student on the Plaza de Anaya! Lovely snowy scene! |
Yesterday was a great day too as in the evening Florian and I had planned to go to the cinema to see a comedy which I was excited to see, however when he was searching for the film times he found out that a black and white film called ‘The Artist’ which he had been wanting to see had been released in Spain! It is a silent comedy/romance set in the 1920’s and has won the most Bafta award nominations- 12! At first when Florian begged me for us to go and see it instead of my comedy I have to admit I wasn’t very taken- a black and white silent movie set in the 1920’s isn’t really my kind of feel-good film after a long day of essay work! However after my Dad telling me I needed to be more open minded and embrace new things, I decided to trust Florian’s judgement after him saying I would love the film- and he even offered to give me his iphone if I didn’t like it he was that sure!
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| The film's promotional poster! |
Anyway we went for a spot of tapas around 10pm and then headed over to the cinema. Armed with popcorn we made our way into the crammed theatre...... a joke, we were two of six people in the whole room! Haha. At first I wasn’t very impressed and was contemplating going to sleep.... but gradually I got into the film and the storyline and surprisingly the mute nature of it didn’t bother me as the classical music made up for it, as well as the exaggerated body and facial movements of the characters. Overall a wonderful storyline which left us smiling whilst leaving the cinema! Check out the YouTube trailer below to get an idea of what it was all about as I think that many young people will avoid this film just due to being black and white and silent, when they would be missing a truly wonderful film. (I nearly did remember, and if it weren’t for Florian, I wouldn’t have seen it!) My rating? 10/10- A must watch.
Right, that’s all from me for the moment- I’d best get back to translating that essay! I’ll be back for the last blog in Spain next week! I’m really looking forward to my Dad coming out to see the city on Saturday the 28th and I’m going to show him how beautiful Salamanca is, and of course make sure he tries some local tapas dishes before we both head back to the Isle of Wight on Monday the 30th armed with my 2 huge suitcases and 2 cabin cases! 60KG of luggage....... wow I don’t travel lightly do I!
Hasta luego, Zoë
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