Day 2!

Things are getting much easier now! Even though I´ve only been here 2 full days, speaking Spanish 24/7 is a good way to pick it up again! Things with my family are going well-still have cold showers, but rumor has it that you have to turn on the propane gas before you turn on the shower....well, mi mama didn´t show me how to do it, so I´m not sure if hot water exists in my house...

Yesterday we walked all around Salamanca, and the town is absolutely beautiful. If you could only see what I get to see everyday when I walk to class! I get to pass all these really neat stores and buildings. We took a walking tour yesterday of a lot of the monuments, so I have lots to explore over the next month now! Things here are so old and very ornate. Class today went well-unfortunately, it´s starting to feel like regular old class again, so the day felt much longer than yesterday!

The people here are a little different than what I´m used to. They certainly don´t have the Southern hospitality that I´m so accustomed to, but they are very friendly. Yesterday I didn´t have a set of keys to get into my house and mi mama wasn´t there, so I asked the neighbor how to use the pager-thingy...and she understood me! Also, toda la gente (all the people) seem to smoke! Ah! Everyone does it. And the Spaniards have interesting tastes in clothing and in hairstyles. You know those crazy hairstyles you see in magazines? Well I always thought no one was crazy enough to do that to their hair, but these people are! And the favorite hairstyle??? THE MULLET!! I can´t believe it! But all of the people our age have them-guys and girls! I´ll see if I can´t get a good picture of one...

I´m actually having a hard time writing this in English-which I guess is a good thing! I´m trying to actually start thinking in Spanish...I´ll let you know when that happens! Tonight we are going to start planning our trip for this weekend-we´re trying to decide between Segovia y Avila or Madrid. Mi mama told me that Segovia was boring, but I think secretly she has a wild side (like all these Salamancans) because she told me she loved karoke, to dance, and always talks about how great the night life is...we´ll have to see, because tonight we´re finally going out for tapas...I haven´t been able to go the last few nights because I was having dinner (at 11 PM!) with my family.

I hope everything´s going great at home!