Yesterday morning, our group met in La Plaza Mayor at 10:30am and took an extensive tour (via Jesus...he really knows everything!) of both Las Catedrales Vieja and Nueva. Even though I had already seen them with Alex during his visit to Sal, I really benefitted from the added anecdotal information this time around. Next, we passed by the famous wall with the Salamantino frog. Personally, it looks like nothing more than a ball of play dough on top of a skull, but they call it a frog here and get super excited about it. We finished the tour strolling through a beautiful courtyard with obvious Arabic influence near the statue of Fray Luis de Leon.
As usual, it took me about an hour to walk home, making intense zig-zags in and out of stores on Calle Toro, oo-ing and awe-ing over things I don't have the money for. Siesta lunch was another "swamp" tasting soup (but was basically just broth), salmon and roasted red peppers, bread, and fruit. As usual, my full tummy lulled me to sleep and when I woke up I made the short trek across the street to Cafe del Arte. I don't know why, but the same bartender that yelled at me before has been so pleasant my last two visits. Maybe Spring has brought him a new lover too. On Friday, he warned me to guard my bag on account of the poor economy, and yesterday he asked how I was doing. Baby steps...I'm working to repair this relationship and become one of those regulars that chats it up with the servers, all on a first name basis. Perhaps this is overly ambitious, but I'm confident this man has a soft side deep down. Besides, I'm working hard to respect the unspoken cafe rules. I will leave if it becomes overly congested, I will sit at the smallest table possible (or share with a rando), I will order more than one coffee if there for more than 45 min or so. Internet has become THIS precious. I will do nearly anything at this point.
Two cafes con leche later, I headed back home to shower and get ready for our evening group event: seeing "Desnudos en Parque Central" (Naked in Central Park) at the theater on Calle Toro. Although I understood most of the dialogue and such, this was one of the most boring productions I'd ever been to. Midway through, I glanced a few seats over to my right, and Jesus was even dosing off. Yikes. The problem was that they only had 6 cast members and the same exact set the entire time....not to mention that I was so aggravated with one of the main characters. Every time she made a joke or started crying, I thought I was going to have to leave the theater. Everyone seemed to wake up at the end though, when they really DID get DESNUDOS en el parque. The ending scene was the man in his boxers and the woman in her bra and underwear. Wow, can't get much more scandalous than that, right? Ahh, how foolish we were to forget we are in Spain. The bra came off, her hands the only cover. As soon as the man (probably about 65 years old, I might add) began tugging at his boxers, I dove my head between my knees. "Please no, please stop, no more, I want to go home." I can't remember the last time I've been so uncomfortable. And just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, the house lights went out and it was over. THANK GOD!
After the play, we were given 15 euros for food since it was about 10:30pm at this point. Alex, Tori, Colleen, Leah, and I made a mad dash for the nearest Donor Kabap place. Although we had to wait about 20 minutes for our precious bocadillos, it was well worth it. After Donor, we headed to a bar called Gatsby...one of the stranger bars I've ever been to. In the front of the bar, there were men my dad's age, and in the back, there were kids my little sister, Rebekah's, age. Yuck, where do we fit here? If we stay in the front, strange, old men stare and try to dance with us, but in the back, I feel like a chaperone at a middle school dance. We made the executive decision to leave and go to Jacko's, but ending up stopping at a chic wine bar on the way. We ended the night at Erasmus, near the University, where we met up with various other group members, but ended up going home early...around 3.
Woke up this morning at 12:30 from a delicious sleep. After being cooped up inside, doing little else other than my devotional, siesta lunch (arroz con leche again!), and reading Lazarillo de Tormes for Intro to Lit., I was dying to get out and walk around in the sunshine. I have so much reading and papers and tests coming up this week and next...it's like I haven't had any work until now. Reality finally strikes. Tonight, we're meeting our group at 8:45 for dinner at an Italian Restaurant. Yum!
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario