La gran vida

First, let me start out by saying I feel like I've been here forever. But in reality it's only been 3 whole days. Its the life and sense of time here that throws you off, I wake up at 8:30 get dressed have breakfast and meet mark in the park at 9:15, then we walk to class that starts at 10. We have class from 10 to 1, then we walk back home for lunch and siesta, where in both cases I have eaten lunch at 2 and then napped :). Then we have some sort of tour(explained below) and then come back to our houses and have dinner around 9:30 or 10.  At 11 we meet in the Plaza Mayor and so begins the night life of Salamanca. As you can see, a very long day but its not stressful and I absolutely love it!!!
Okay, now that you know some what of a general structure of the last few days, I'll explain each in detail, for your reading pleasure!
JUEVES(thursday)- This was our first full day in Salamanca. We met in the Plaza de Libertad at 9:30 and all walked to our class that starts at 10. Our professor's name is Carmen and she reminds me a lot of Alexandra, a professor that I had my first semester for Spanish at OWU, full of life and loving her job.  The first class starts like any first day of class would and with introductions and then we do an activity where we ask and answer questions about someone in the class and then present them (remember all of this is spanish) :)  We ended up getting homework too! The first day! haha, it really wasn't anything too hard we had to find a spanish article, read it, write down 5 words we didn't know (obvi there was more than 5 that I didn't know) summarize it then present it to the class. I go on Monday! After class, I went back to my house and had lunch with my madre and then relaxed until I met up with Mark at 4 and went to a store to buy some shampoo, conditioner and lotion. That was an adventure because everything was closed for siesta, woops how quick you forget these things! Mark was able to buy a towel too! (yeah for not using a t-shirt) :) After returning the stuff to my house, we walked to the Plaza de Libertad for a tour of the city! It was great! We saw the Cathedral, the entrance to the Univesidad de Salamanca, the wall that surrounds Salamanca (made by the romans) a beautiful botanical park, a roman bridge (both of those in Spanish stories I read in my Spanish Literature class)  we saw the markers for the pilgrimage de Santiago that goes through Salamanca (they're scallop shaped), some sweet museums that we're going to get to go, awesome buildings and old roads! It was great! After the tour I went back to my house, but when I got there no one was there! As a group we decided to meet in the Plaza Mayor at 11 and so when 10:30 came around, I left a note for my madre saying I was going out to the Plaza with other students and that I'd be back later. I was kind of worried, but when I got back later that night she had left me a note on my bed saying she was sorry she wasn't home and such. So, Mark met me outside my house and went to Plaza where I had dinner and we had sangria. It was so much fun to just sit on plaza and people watch. We met up with some other students and went to a couple clubs. It was fun but very different(they can smoke inside) and mark and I walked back around 1:45(which I guess is early considering others stayed out until 3 or 4!!)I was so exhausted! I took a shower and then went to bed!
VIERNES (Friday)- I woke up and met mark and we walked to class. We finished introductions and presenting each other then discussed stereotypes of the U.S and of Spain, it was very interesting. We also got a neat assignment where we have to pay attention to the dialogue and movements in a conversation in a certain area (the plaza mayor, a restaurant ext) and then present it to the class on the last day. After class, I walked back and had lunch with my madre. Let me just tell you, my madre gives me enough food for 3 people. I was given three thick slices of ham, with a huge pile of fries, huge bowl of soup, bread and a huge peach!! I could only eat one of the pieces of ham, some of the fries and it looked like I didn't even touch the soup( but I did, I ate a lot of it)! She asked me if I liked her cooking and I was yes, yes I do! And then she was like, you just eat a little! I laughed and nodded in my head thinking I just ate a ton of food! After lunch I took a nap and then met up with mark at 5:30 so we could walk to the Plaza de Libertad for a tour of the gym that we all got memberships too. It was a very long walk and I live on the complete opposite side, but it's very nice, lots to offer like classes and a pool so I think I'll take advantage of it once or twice a week. After the tour, Mark and I walked back to the Plaza Mayor and had dinner on the patio! It was so awesome! It was dark and the lights were on and we just sat there and talked and ate for 3 hours. So much to see! I had paella, which was good and mark had chicken and vegetable kabobs! We also shared croquettas(fried something or other with pork, very good). Something really interesting about Spain, is the check situation, you have to ask for it, they don't just bring it too you right after you're done like america. It was nice because we just we're able to sit there and talk until we wanted too, but it was also hard to get our waiters attention  when we finally wanted to leave! We met up with some others and walked around to little bars that are set up in parks, each having there own speciality, whether its wine, beer or a tapa. I wasn't hungry but they had a lot of good looking food! Mark and I headed back around 12:30 (very very early) because I was exhausted!!! We ended up stopping in a park on the way back and just sitting and talking for awhile which was fun!
SABADO(Saturday, TODAY) Today we didn't have class but had a tour of the all the centro commerciales de Salamanca (malls) at 11:30, needless to say I slept until 10! I woke up had breakfast and met up with Mark in the park and we walked to the Plaza de Libertad. We took a bus to  El Tormes, and walked around that mall, then went back to the Plaza Mayor and walked to the Corte de Ingles. Mark and I had lunch here, but mine was kind of sketch, because my chicken was super pink, so I only ate like two bites. My stomach hasn't quite been right since I've gotten here. I did have some of the best cafe after the meal it was so good! The corte de ingles is a really neat store. It's 5 or 6 levels with a restuarant on the top and then each level is something different, clothes (mens, womens, kids) furniture, electronics,  beauty, its like a huge department store. After that, we walked a street with tons of shops and just looked around and enjoyed the city, it was a lot of fun! Tonight, we're meeting up at the Plaza Mayor at 11:30 with some other students, I really want to do tapas or something, and hopefully I can stay out past 1. :) 
I absolutely love the city, all the people are so nice and everyone seems so happy. It's so different from America, sense of time, food, everything. I feel safe and not overwhelmed even though it is a huge city to me. (But everyone says its so small, Delaware is small city, this is huge) Well, I think that's all, (it's probably not haha) I need to go work on my homework and upload the pictures from camera! Hasta luego!!!