The past five days we have been traveling with the Bucknell students and Fatima. Our first stop was Segovia. When we went into the cathedral, Emma said, "This place is so holy and gracious." She also said she felt really sad that Jesus died for us. There were tons of statues of Christ on the cross or bleeding in Mary's arms. Aidan loved all the GOLD everywhere. I don't think the cathedral made much of an impression on Ian, he kept asking why he couldn't do free running in the cathedral.
On the bus we were talking about celebrities and Fatima said she didn't like the way Angelina Jolie looks because her lips look like two morcilla sausages. Collin and I could not stop laughing. Morcilla is blood sausage, the same one that gave me a four day long stomachache.
We also went inside the castle that the Disneyland castle is modeled after. The ceilings were super intricate. There was a very strange painting that had children in it without eyes, all the adults had eyes. There was a well that all the kids were dropping horse chestnuts into to hear the sound they made when they reached the water. We all climbed a very tight spiral staircase and everyone except Collin was huffing and puffing. After the climb, Ian still had plenty of energy to do 20 cartwheels at the top of the tower. We saw a statue of a she-wolf (not Shakira) suckling Remus and Romulus. It had Roman numerals on it, Aidan used his new skills to figure out what year was written on the statue. Do they study Roman numerals in the U.S.? I don't remember learning them besides X I and V, but Aidan was using D and M too.
For dinner that night in Segovia, we had a nice dinner (salad made of boiled salted potatoes, raw onions, purple olives, tomatoes and olive oil and curried chicken with french fries). Our dessert was NOT good: apple pannecotta that more closely resembled a petrified mound of tasteless rubber. I really think it would have bounced if I had thrown it on the floor. Everyone ate the sauce and candied walnuts that came with it, instead of eating the actual dessert. Collin had the BEST glazed donut he has ever had in his life at Limon y Menta, a pasteleria right next to our apartment. He was disappointed that he couldn't buy a dozen more the next morning since we left before they opened up.
Emma slept in Fatima's room that night. Fatima let her watch El Hormiguero, a talk show with purple ant puppets and LOST in English. Emma told her all about Bunnicula and all in Spanish.
We took some pictures by the castle wall in Avila. The kids threw dirt clods at the students, picked dandelions and climbed all over the rocks.
Emma had Megan braid her hair into a fishtail braid while she read Woman magazine in Spanish. She looked exactly like a lady having her hair done in a beauty parlor.
Ian had very potent onion breath for 2 days straight from eating raw onions in his salad and cooked ones in a tuna empanadita. I called him cebollita (little onion) for a few days. He also can magically do the splits, he's never be able to do them before.
In Salamanca we arrived just in time for el Novato, when they make the new students at the university dressed up in wacky clothes and go around saying they will do anything you want for 1E. Mostly, we saw them singing favorite songs of older people. I told two guys to kiss for 1E. They did NOT want to do it, but finally agreed, but I had to pay them 3E. They had to do it twice because I missed it the first time. They were pretty good sports about it. I truly doubt many male college freshmen in the U.S. would kiss each other for $1-3.
The Plaza Mayor in Salamanca is amazing. It is lit up at night and has carvings of prominent figures in the history of Spain, mostly kings and queens, but also people who have made significant contributions to society. Collin and I ate at a restaurant later that had great shrimp for Collin, but awful pasta for me. I was served a giant plate of cold salty Alfredo with raw mushrooms. I ate as much as I could, but it was really awful. Later we walked around and saw the library which used to be the Maldonado family mansion. It is covered with conch shells because he was a member of the Order of Santiago and it is also along the path of Santiago. The symbol of the pilgrimage is the conch shell. The original Maldonado had three fleur de lis on his family crest. He was in a duel with a French prince and was about to kill him, the King of France asked him what he could give him to spare the life of the prince and Maldonado asked for two fleur de lis on his crest. The King gave them to him in exchange for the prince's life, but wasn't happy about it so Maldonado got his 2 fleur de lis and also his name which means donated against the will of the King. On top of the cathedral is a metal ball with a spire. On the anniversary of the Lisbon earthquake, a musician climbs up to the ball and plays his flute for half an hour. At the time of the Lisbon earthquake a musician climbed to the top of the cathedral to see if anyone had died in the town. When he saw that none one had died, he played the flute and the tambourine to celebrate and inform the townspeople.
The students if they graduated were allowed to write the word victor and their name in Bulls' blood on the outside walls of the university. Where do you go to purchase Bulls' blood. The University of Salamanca is the oldest university in Spain. We also saw some men carving walls! I guess they are made of some type of soft sandstone that can be carved when wet. I've always wanted to know how they made those walls.
I must mention a strange candy they make here: egg yolks rolled and preserved in sugar. I have yet to try one, they just don't sound that good to me.
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