Cultural Experience

Today I had mineralogy, which was my first university class with students who weren't freshmen (Cursos Internacionales suggests that we take freshmen or sophomore level classes because the majors are much more specialized than in the US). I got to class on time, and like a typical Spanish class, class started 10 minutes late (most classes start between 10 and 20 minutes late). However, when the professor got there and started class, I was the only student there, and by the end of class, there were only 3 of us. Also, my professor wasn't really prepared for class, so class was done at 9:30 (It was scheduled to last from 9-11). Since class started 10 minutes late, we only had a 20-minute-long class!

During the 20 minutes that we had class, the professor talked about the textbook, which is the same as the green one that was always in the mineralogy lab, except translated into Spanish, and the structure of the class. This class has 2 finals, a theory one and a practical one. For the practical final, we have to identify a bunch of minerals in hand-samples and in thin section, but we get to use our notes and any pictures we draw (good thing I've had lots of practice drawing minerals under the microscope). The mineralogy department also got new microscopes this summer, and I'm very excited to get to use them.

If the first class is any sort of indication as to what it will be like in the future, I am going to have a very small class, but it will be very different from anything that I will have at LU.

¡Geología!

I had my first geology class today, which made me very, very happy. It was Intro. Geo. for students in the geologic engineering department, and there were only 8 people in the class. I got a bit lost looking for the classroom because the geology department is huge: 4 floors in two separate wings in the science building, but I did successfully find it. We were waiting outside for the professor, but he snuck into the classroom through the secret professor entrance, and he was waiting in the classroom for us. The professor looked like the stereotypical mad-scientist, with frizzy white hair and lab coat, and there were rocks on a table in the room (hooray rocks!).

Despite being in a different language, the class felt very much like being at home. The topic the first day was the history of geology, so there was talk about Usher and Hutton and Lylle. Additionally, the explanation the professor gave for uniformitarianism was, word-for-word, the exact definition that I have in my notes from intro geo (the present is the key to the past, or, in Spanish, el presente es la clave del pasado), which also made me very happy.

And the professor complained a little bit about have geology divided-up into sub-disciplines, which he called boxes. He also talked about how rocks should be understood in context, not in boxes, which made me feel like I could have been sitting on the 2nd floor of the YC.

Hooray for uniformity within geology!

University of Salamanca

In honor of classes starting tomorrow, I decided to write a little something about the University of Salamanca (USal).

USal was founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX, the king of León. It is the oldest Spanish university still in existence, and one of the oldest universities in the world. Back in the day, like the 1500´s, it was considered the best university in the world. That was when people like Cervantes were studying there. USal is still referred to as the Oxford of the Spanish world.

Currently, the university has some 40,000 students (both graduate and undergraduate) in 16 facultades. Each facultad is like its own autonomous college with departments within it, and students apply to and enroll in an individual facultad. Additionally, each facultad has its own buildings, library and holidays. This system is partially why students are so specialized as soon as they enter the university, although high schools are also specialized (there are high schools with a humanities or science emphasis, etc.). Very few students change majors, because they have to start back at the beginning with their classes because there aren´t really any shared gen. eds, and fewer change facultades, because they have to re-apply to a different facultad.

I´m in Cursos Internacionales, which is a quasi facultad. Cursos Internacionales doesn´t offer many classes and doesn´t have their own faculty, but they are in charge of making sure that all of us non-native speakers of Spanish know what we´re doing (they also make sure all non-EU citizens get all of the proper permission to be here). One of the main benefits of being in Cursos Internacionales is that I can take classes at any facultad, as long as I can find their course catalog, which is not as easy as it sounds (the facultad of medicine is really good at hiding their course catalog), and I get library privileges at all of the facultad libraries (the amount of access that I have to the library is up to each individual facultad, though. In some, I can´t check out books, and in others I can´t use library materials in the library).

That´s my current university home. I´m sure I´ll have more to add about USal as I get to know it better.

Ferias y Fiestas

The past week (officially, September 7-15, although it doesn't really end until this weekend) has been the biggest celebration in Salamanca: Las fiestas y ferias. The fiestas y ferias are in honor of Salamanca's patrona (female patron saint) La Virgen de Vega (her saint's day was the 8th). The city kind-of goes crazy for the fiestas, with people (even little kids and old people) out until past midnight nearly every day, the streets are full of casetas, which are little shops that sell food (and alcohol) on the street, and there are all sorts of strange and interesting performers in the streets.

They put lights all over this city, like this sign that was hung over the main road into the city.

The sign says: Felices Fiestas, and I took the picture from the back because the road was closed for the fireworks.

They had fireworks at the very beginning of the fiestas and on the last night.

Here are some casetas near the Plaza Mayor.

There were also a bunch of street performers on stilts dressed-up like butterflies and other giant insects. I think this one was an ant.

The Plaza Mayor absolutely full of people. There were probably more people in the Plaza Mayor that night than there are in the entire city of Lodi (the Plaza has a capacity of 20,000 people, and it was so full that one could barely turn around)!


On the first day of the Fiestas, we were walking down the street, and were taken by surprise by a torrent of pre-teen boys running down the street. It turns out that there are these characters in masks, and the boys tease them and provoke them, and the masked-people chase the boys away with sticks. The second time we were inundated by pre-teen boys, I commented that I finally understood how the west coast felt after the ice-dam broke at Glacial Lake Missoula.

Now that the Fiestas are over (well, sort-of over. They still have bull-fights until sometime next week), the city is going to feel very different. I would say that there's going to be a lot less people in the streets at night, but the University students are starting to move back, so I don't really think that will be the case. I don't really think that the city is going to get much quieter, but it will probably be less exotic.

Accommodations

While is Spain, I am living in a single in a residence hall. Each room has its own bathroom and a shared kitchen. I must admit, it is much nicer than anywhere I've lived at Larry U. Although the view isn't quite as inspiring.

Here are some pictures:

This is what you see from the door.

To the immediate left of my door is my closet, followed by the folding chair (left of photo) and my bed. The attractive brown blanket is courtesy of the Universidad de Salamanca.

The foot of my bed is in the left side of this pict. Here, my single shelving unit topped by my collection of Spanish-language newspaper and my newly acquired rocks is visible.

My very empty bookshelf and LU banner from Kelly. All of my books are actually from home (I put them all in my carry-on because they were too heavy for my checked bag. They were very heavy in my carry-on also). Also there's a prize for anyone who knows exactly what every book is (I think there is only 1 person in the world, other than me, who could know that).


My desk and window. The shelves are in the left corner of the photo.

The view. None of the windows have screens, so people can hang their laundry out to dry, but I'm on the first floor, so that doesn't really work for me.

The empty wall. My desk is to the left. The door on the left leads to my kitchen, and the door on the right is the bathroom door.

Bathroom with drying rack on the door and a ridiculous water heater that's set at 75 degrees C (and I can't change it).

Shower with drying laundry on it.

The only hooks in my room.

The door. Bathroom on the left and closet and bed on the right.

Kitchen. The door leads to my kitchen-mate's room.

Kitchen table, window and cleaning supplies (supplied by USal).

Stove, sink, cupboards, refrigerates and scary microwave oven (it's an oven and a microwave (hence the name), and the first time I tried to use it to heat up water, it made burning smells, and I burned my finger on the heating coil on the top. I have since figured out how to use the microwave setting, but I haven't really experimented much with the oven setting).

My room feels really bare, because everything in it (minus sheets) fit in one suitcase (I still managed to have a surprising amount of stuff), but it is starting to feel more homey.
Fortunately, it is really easy to keep clean.

Toro y Zamora Pictures

Here are some pictures that I got from other people of Toro and Zamora
Toro:
We went to a vineyard in Toro because the city is famous for its wine.

This is the sign from the front of the vineyard.

And here's the vineyard.


Secondary fermeneters and the wine-tasting room. This room smelled really good.

Wine in bottles. Apparently the wine in the bigger bottles is higher quality because of the way it interacts with the air in the neck of the bottle.

Wine bottles waiting to be boxed and shipped (and, of course, drunk).

Here's a picture of us tasting Tinta de Toro, the most famous wine from Toro. It was a bit dry and woody. The white, Piedra Verdejo, was sweeter and fruitier, and much more to my liking.

Zamora:

The cathedral.

Puente Romano

The house of El Cid, the famous Spanish general from the Reconquista (b 1040, and his name has been borrowed into Spanish to mean "general"). In Spanish, famous people are known by only one name (sort-of like Madonna...)

The bodega where we ate lunch. A bodega is officially a winery, but it can also be a wine cellar, which is the case here. The wine cellar has been turned into a restaurant that is well-known for its smoked meats.

Things I Love about a Big University (Part 1)

Online subscriptions.
USal subscribes to thousands of on-line journals (there are 936 that start with "J") with full-text articles. Which is incredible. They also have a citation link service that links citations in an article to the article it cites, which is also amazing.
Here's the link that lists what journals USal subscribes to:
http://sabus.usal.es/recursos/e_recursos.htm
I'm not sure you can see it if your not on the USal network, so don't worry if it doesn't work.
Unfortunately, for some journals (including Science) I need a log-in and password, and I can request that information by e-mailing the library from my USal e-mail account, but I don't have a USal e-mail account (that's what you get for being in the Facultad Cursos Internacionales). I'll have to make some friends with connections.
None-the-less, I still have access to some pretty sweet journals, which is going to make research easier, or more difficult because I'll have more options.
I'll still probably need the one article I don't have access to...

Segovia and Toro y Zamora

Segovia and Toro and Zamora are all cities in the autonomous region of Castilla y León (Salamanca is also in Castilla y León). Salamanca, Segovia, and Zamora are all capitals of provinces which are named after them.

Salamanca, Segovia, and Zamora all have red stars on them in the map above. Toro is a small town between Salamanca and Zamora (it's much closer to Zamora), which is famous for its wine: tinto toro.

Segovia:
We went to Segovia last Monday and had a guided tour of the city. Segovia, like many Spanish cities, was inhabitted by Iberian tribes, Romans, Moors, and, of course, the Spanish. All of the conquerors took the aspects of the previous cultures' architecture and incorporated it into their city, which resulted in the colorful, confused Segovia of today.
The oldest structure in Segovia is the Roman canals, which is a series of aqueducts, canals and tunnels that brought water to the city from the mountains 15 km away and also supplied water to the moat around the castle, Alcazar.
The aqueduct in Segovia is the best-preserved Roman structure in the Iberian Peninsula and the longest stretch of Roman aqueduct in the world, (728m). The structure is built of diorite blocks (Segovian diorite) and is not held together with any mortar. It was used until the early 20th century, but to preserve its structural integrity, it is no longer used, traffic has been routed around it, and some portions have been reconstructed.
The tallest arch is 28.5 m tall, and it is topped with a statute of Santa Barbara. According to legend, a young boy who was unhappy with bringing water from the mountains made a pact with the devil: if the devil could deliver the water from the mountains to his doorstep by morning, the boy would give him his soul. That night, there was a huge storm, and the boy realized that it was the devil's doing. He spent the night praying, and, when the sun rose, the aqueduct was completed, except for the stone above the niche where Santa Barbara stands.
From the 9th century to the 1100's, the Moors added their style to Segovia. Many buildings in Segovia were probably constructed during this time, and the famous castle, the Alcázar, was built. Moorish motifs have been used to decorate Segovain buildings until the present.
Here, a Roman relief of Hercules, the Roman god of Segovia, is surrounded by Moorish plaster-work, which has been reconstructed, and modern bill-boards.
The most prosperous time in Segovia occurred in the 13-16th centuries. The wool industry was responsible for increasing the city's fortunes, which resulted in a building and re-modeling boom, with Italian fashions being the most popular.
Casa de los Picos is one of the most famous houses from the era, with its façade entirely composed of stone (Segovian diorite again) points.
The Segovian cathedral was also constructed at during this time.
As well as Segovia's most famous building: the Alcázar.

Evidence suggests that the Alcázar was originally a Roman fort that was converted to a castle during Moorish rule. In the 1100's, Alfonso VI, the king of Castile, conquered the fortress and began using it as the permanent residence of the Spanish monarchy, and it remained the home of the Spanish court until the 1540's when Felipe II moved the court to Madrid.
Alcázar is most famously the home of Isabel and Fernando, the catholic monarchs, and as the inspiration for Walt Disney's Cinderella castle.
It was here, where Isabel gave Columbus the financing for his journey to the new world (Isabel's throne is on the left).
And here is the church where Isabel was coronated in 1474 at age 23.

Zamora:
Zamora is a small. old Spanish city with celtic roots. It is most famous for its Romanesque cathedrals (it has 25, more than any other city in Europe), Semana Santa celebrations, and was the home of El Cid.
I don't have any pictures of Zamora because I forgot to change my camera battery before going, but I do have a picture I took from google images of the cathedral. When we were there today, there was a wedding, so there were a lot more people than in the picture.
The stone in Zamora is a conglomerate that looks a lot like concrete, but concrete usually does not have internal layering or sorting, and it usually does not outcrop in cliffs.

Toro:
Toro is a tiny little town in the countryside that is famous for its wine. We took a tour of a winery, Estancia de Piedra (literally, the place of rocks), and went wine tasting (we had the tinta de Toro and the Verdejo, which means green, and, aptly, had a green lable). We had lunch in a wine cellar at a place famous for its roast meat, although they also had very good sheep cheese, for non-meat-eaters, and ice cream.
Here are some pictures of the Spanish countryside:

The mountains between Segovia and Madrid.

Olive trees. The Spanish really do love their olive oil.

A sunflower field. All over Castilla y León, there are sunflower fields, and sunflower seeds and oil are one of the biggest agricultural exports from this region.

And last, but not least, an interesting crystal growth (I think it is quartz), in a vein. The stone is from the street in Segovia. Cigarette butt for scale.

First Impressions

Just in case you didn't know, I'm studying in Salamanca, Spain this year with IES, and I will hopefully learn lots of Spanish and meet lots of rocks.

I've only been here for 5 days, and so far, I've mostly been really busy getting to know the city and other important things. The weather's been lovely, mostly in the 20's (C) although we had one day get up to 40! Salamanca has an arid climate (they average ~3cm of rain in September (wunderground.com)) because of the mountains, but we did get a couple drops of rain yesterday. Today there's been a nice, refreshing breeze from the southeast (the direction of the closest mountains).

As far as adjusting to being in a new place, as of today, I have:
1. Mostly figured out how to use the grocery store (I still don't know how to buy fresh fruits and veggies).

2. Discovered the location of the Plaza Mayor (I feel like I spend nearly all of my time trying to get to or from the Plaza), the post office (we found this completely by accident), Anayita (the building where languages classes are taught), Cursos Internacionales (International Student Center; the official name is Edificio de San Boal), the grocery store (I've been shopping in four different ones so far), the police station, my dorm (I have a single, which is much nicer than any of the dorms at LU. However, I'm on the first floor, so my window is right on the street, and there are no screens, just something that resembles metal blinds, and it is unbearably hot if the window isn't open, so I get dust and plant debris on my desk from the street when there's a breeze), the IES Center, and la Facultad de las Ciencias.

3. Gotten lost 3 times. Luckily, although Spaniards a sort-of brusque, they are very nice about giving directions. The last time I got lost, we just followed the crowds and ended up back in the Plaza Mayor. Getting directions is kind-of tricky, because all of the buildings have names rather than street numbers, streets have arbitrary names and there are plazas all over the place, and everyone just tells you to go to a specific plaza. There also aren't many streets going into the old city, so it's sometimes tricky to get to most places from my dorm, which is on the newer part of the city.

4. Tried Spanish omelets, which are egg and potato (and, of course olive oil and salt), mixed together and baked like in a pie plate. They are very good, and like the rest of the food, very greasy. I heard today that Salamantinos have three main food groups: olive oil, salty meat, and potatoes. Since I'm vegetarian, I've been skipping the salty meat, but I can vouch for the tremendous amounts of olive oil that everything is cooked in. At most grocery stores, they even have an entire aisle devoted to olive oil. Also, at the comedores, every course is served with French fries, so I think there are probably a lot of potatoes in Spanish cooking.

5. Been distracted by giant feldspar crystals in the sidewalk. They don't really have much concrete here, and in the newer parts of the city, the sidewalks are paved in tile, but in the old city, the sidewalks and streets (there really isn't a difference, most of the streets seem to be for both cars and pedestrians, although some streets are clearly intended for vehicles) are all stone. Most of the paving stones are porphyritic diorite and granite, and there are plag. crystals that are more than 8cm in diameter, and some are beautifully zoned and have lovely inclusions. In the really old paving stones, most of the mafic minerals have weathered out, and some of the feldspars are starting to succumb to weathering also. Most of the building are made of a fairly soft sandstone that is mottled with iron staining, and a lot of the graffiti in the city is from people carving stuff into the walls of buildings. There is a ton of decorative stone in the buildings (in class, I sit next to a wall of ooitic marble), and I've seen rapakivi, travertine, marble breccias, and larvikite on the front of stores. Spaniards are also very clean (although a lot of people are litter bugs), and on the way to class in the morning, I pass people who are scrubbing the ground in front of their stores. On the streets, there are little clean squares in front of all of the buildings. People walk really fast and sidewalks are really narrow, so it´s hard to take pictures, but I have a few:

A typical street paved with stone.

A plag crystal with zoning and inclusions. This is about 5cm, and about 1/2 of the size of the largest ones.

The courtyard in the oldest university building. A lot of buildings have courtyards, and a surprising number of places have grass, but it is strictly forbidden to walk on or sit on the grass (one wouldn't really want to sit on the grass because grassy areas are kept swampy).

A wall on the historic university building. The red paint is from the good old days in Salamanca when anyone who got a PhD could daub their initials with a "v" in animal blood on any old building. Now the tradition is a bit tamer, but PhD recipients can still write their initials in red paint on some walls in the city.

This is "la rana" the famous frog of Salamanca. You can see it on top of the skull near the center of the picture. There is a superstition that if you can see "la rana" without any trouble, you will have success at the University (I saw it the first time I looked at the edifice, but I'm not sure if that shows that I'll do well in school here, or if it means I read too many "I Spy" books as a child).

A lot of the plazas are paved in these really smooth river stones. Unfortunately, the stones are always falling out, and every day since I've been here, I've seen people in some plaza or another replacing them.

El catedral nuevo. This "new" cathedral of Salamanca is still older than the United States! They have replaced some of the carvings since it was built, and by the back door, there is a carving of an astronaut. They also have a tradition on the first of November to remember the big earthquake that happened in Lisbon in 1755, where a man climbs on the outside of the church to the highest steeple and plays the flute and the tamborine.

Some of the sandstone that Salamanca is famous for (and my attractive hand). To the right of my hand, there is a line that was scratched into the sandstone, which is really soft.

Mottling in the sandstone.

So far, my relationship with Spain is reminiscent of the relationship I had with the ice cream machine at LU for the first couple of terms. I´m a little bit afraid of everything, but hopefully, as I get to know how things work, it will get better, and maybe how I feel about Spain will come to resemble my current love for the LU ice cream machine.