Day Fifteen - Wednesday

THIS IS WHAT TORTURE LOOKS LIKE

Today, we had two hours of Cuentos... there are no words for this. I was exhausted afterwards. I cannot handle talking about a story wherein the main character looks for, finds, fights and is killed by his alter ego who is in fact himself, much less for two full hours with one of my classmates leading the discussion and my professor leading him by the nose/completely taking control.

Ugh.

After Cuentos, I would have loved to go home and nap, but I couldn't... I had to go home and pack for Barcelona before I left for my conversation table! Once I did that, I headed over to the colegio to meet with the students.

“NOT AS GOOD AS LAST YEAR.”
“OH REALLY, WHAT DID THEY HAVE LAST YEAR?”
“STANDARDS.”

Oh, Firefly, how perfect you make the world. Bonus points if you know what happened next!

I preface this section by saying that I thoroughly enjoy my Wednesday group of students – they are (mostly) intermediate level students with a huge desire to express themselves, and have very little trouble doing so.

When I got there, I decided to discuss the fiesta from the night before, to see what they had thought of it. I was surprised to find that they thought it was horrible! Sandra was the most negative about it, saying that they had only had three games where the year before they had included at least six or seven, that the band had played songs either for incredibly small children or more traditional pasa dobles or rumbas for the older generation without choices for anyone in between, that the bar was constantly running out of drinks and having to run to local supermarkets to pick up more, and that the fireworks show had been much better the year before. Jorge and Ana agreed with Sandra's opinion, but mentioned that last year was the school's 100^th anniversary so, because of that, naturally it had been a much bigger celebration.

Through Jorge, I also found out why there had been very little cheering during the band's last number – it turned out that the song they had chosen, while a great song, was a song that was rife with sin and almost considered to be anti-religious! The real kicker was, it was played at an event to support and celebrate the life of the Virgin Mary! Once I realized this, I couldn't stop laughing, even though Jorge and Sandra were solemn and clearly shocked by the band's song choice. We discussed their overall opinions of the song and their religious faith and how it related to their school and everyday lives. Fascinating conversation with fourteen year-olds! I'm becoming more and more aware of how very aware they are of more mature concepts, such as religious faith and future career goals, from more young ages than you would find in America.

After we had discussed that for a while, I switched gears and we talked more about what topics we could use in the future – the boys quickly grabbed on to the sports topics and the girls wanted to discuss culture and more about the “outside world”. It turns out that Sandra will be taking an English exam in a few weeks for her future career (sort of like the PSAT) and will have to discuss gender stereotypes... ooh I plan to have fun with that idea next week...

Once it had been an hour, I dismissed everyone and we set the room back to the way it was. Jorge hung back and asked me a series of questions about American youth culture (still in English! I was impressed!), including what American high school-age parties were like. Were they like they are in the movies, where everyone is either obsessed with alcohol or with hooking up with “the hot young women”? We talked about how alcohol consumption is very different between the two cultures. Overall, I was impressed that he really was trying to perfect his conversational skills and was genuinely interested in other cultures besides his own. I'm not sure that attitude exists with such force in America... which is incredibly sad. We're always saying, “you need to translate, we only speak English” instead of taking the time to learn a language. We're such an instant-gratification society that it's become almost comical.

Sorry, quick rant done. Geez, I've been on a bender about this the last few days... sorry, will move on to lighter stuff now!

A HOUSE BUILT IN THE NAME OF LOVE

Historia de Arte was pretty straightforward today, so rather than bore you with talk about sculptures and stuff, I'm going to do what I should have done last week and describe La Casa de las Conchas, which is now the famous public library here in Salamanca!

The house, which gets its name from the fachada covered in conchas (sea shells), belonged to one of Isabel and Ferdinand's advisors and loyal friends. The family did not add the shells until the advisor/friend died and left the house to his son. The son married a girl from a very important family, whose family crest had sea shells inside it in a 2:1:2 fashion (meaning there were 2 on the first row, below it was 1, and then 2 more on bottom). This is important for later: in Spanish art and architecture, this is how groups of 5 symbols are organized.

When this son married this girl, he was completely in love with her and wanted to redesign the house to reflect his love for her... so, he had conchas commissioned and attached in the cracks between the bricks of his home to demonstrate this. Also, within the house he commissioned combinations of their family crests and miniature angels and wreaths (the symbols for marriage when together) to show how they were a happy couple. Finally, in the courtyard of his house (just inside the front doors, it is two levels, with the second level overlooking the first) he ordered and added Italian columns with their family crests at the top of each of them. Apart from the slight adjustment in material use (the columns are supposedly marble), the only way we can tell that they are Italian is in how the shells are arranged on the family crest: in a 2:2:1 fashion (see above for explanation of levels).

So basically, this guy marries a girl, and then redesigns his entire house, including the outside, in order to demonstrate his complete love and devotion to her. All of my ladies reading this: you know this has to be our next Valentine's Day gift request, right? Anniversary? Christmas? Let's band together and make this happen! Viva el Amor!

…AT NIGHT

We got back after class and enjoyed what might be the best burrito of my life, and afterwards Chelsea and I headed out to do some night-time exploration with the other girls! She's been itching to do some night photography and I completely agreed with that sentiment. We walked through the Plaza Mayor all the way down to the rio, crossed it, and came back up the old and famous Puente Romano and got some incredibly fun shots! Man, that was so much fun... hanging out with my girls was the perfect way to end the day :)