Salamanca

Hi Everybody,

This is the last blog post of this adventure and I’m quite sad about it. I can’t say that I’m excited go back to the reality of exams and school starting but at the same time I am looking forward to seeing everyone back at home. Kelly told me the other day that she’s “getting tired of this” lol! I guess me traveling for too long and the time difference has really impacted our communication. However, my friends on the east coast and in Europe have really been benefiting from the time zone change. Guess it’s time to start bugging a different lot of friends now.

Salamanca was wonderful. It wasn’t the trip I expected but it was heartwarming all the same. My host mom is taking care of her sister full time right now, and her sister Irene is hooked up to oxygen. So most of my days were spent watching television and getting angry at the telenovela protagonist when he/she did something dumb or trying to guess the outcome of the movie before it finished. It was a real party at our household lol! 

Here's the balcony view! So as you can see, staying at home during the trip wasn't bad at all when you've got a view like this, plus great company. 

Since we were watching so much tv, there were ads and I saw one for this movie called “The Danish Girl” set in the late 1920s. It looked so good, so I told everyone about it and then Irene told her daughter about it and before I knew it there were half a dozen of us around Spain sitting down to channel 5 at 10pm. Weeelllll the movie was about a transsexual married man in Paris and his artist wife. I was like of course this happened to me! There was no way you could have known the subject based off of the 60 second ad. Luckily Espe and Irene are super modern and loved the film. Unluckily it opened a whole can of worms for dialogue and I had to explain the medical logistics of a sex change with two eighty year old women. You can’t make this stuff up if you try!

Keeping up with these ladies was not easy I don’t know how they do it. Every day they went to bed at 3 am or past 3 am and were up by 8:30 or 9 am. I literally was like the loser kid who couldn’t keep up with the older siblings and went to bed early at 1:30 am, always halfway through a movie of course. 

But guys, I lived like a total princess, didn’t have to clean, didn’t do my laundry, didn’t have to cook. The only thing my host mom let me do was set the table and bring the dirty dishes to the kitchen. Love her! Can I just bring her to LA with me? Let’s just say apartment living is going to be a rough transition after this first class service.

Coincidentally one of the Polish women I lived with in Malaga was doing a second program in Salamanca. On my last day we met up for chocolate and churros. Espe was so excited to meet another one of my friends that we sat there for three hours! 

I had so much fun walking around the plaza with Espe afterwards looking for my old hang out spots. 

I even went to the University of Salamanca because legend says that if you find the frog you get a year of good luck in your studies. I’m not sure if it totally counts since this is my second time finding it, but I’m going to take it since I couldn’t remember exactly where it was after five years.

We went to the cathedral.

And the library.

Then the Plaza Mayor.

Back during study abroad on my walk home from school I would stop at this one shop to get gelato at least three or four times a week. I swear I tried all the flavor twice. So I couldn’t walk home from the plaza without a gelato! It's tradition!

Irene was so excited to hear about our adventures when we got home. We were all getting kinda of sad but I tried to keep the conversations light and funny. We even put on a silly cooking competition with celebrities from olden times who were quite the characters. We were sitting there laughing and eating our dinner there was a fireworks show that we could see right out the window! Not a bad send off for a princess hahaha. Irene joked that she had them ordered just for me. 

Let’s just say that leaving today wasn’t easy, but I know that I’ll be back. Someway or another I always end up in Spain again in my travels. So until next time Espana!

Love you lots,

Carolyn

Leaving Malaga...For Now

Hi Everyone!

Okay I didn’t mean to fib when I said I’d keep you guys updated. But if anything, it was simply because there really wasn’t anything to update you all on. Today is my last day in Malaga, and while I’m so excited to make the grip to see my host mom in Salamanca, I’m feeling pretty nostalgic about my time here in this little beach town. I’ve grown quite attached in the past two weeks.

This week was pretty much a version of groundhog day on repeat, and I mean that in the best possible way! I would wake up and get some studies don on the balcony I love so much. 

Around noon I would head out to the beaches near school and get a front row view of the ocean while I munched on salads or sandwiches for lunch. 

I must have done something good because this week I was the only student in my class, so I pretty much got private lessons for three and a half hours every afternoon. I’m not kidding when I say that my Spanish got so much better only in two days. I was kind of hiding behind Silvia in that she would help me or answer the questions I didn’t know. Well, since I was on my own, it was on me to either figure it out or admit that I had no clue what the word was. We talked about so many cool topics like the jail system, or international law, or judges vs magistrates. I really loved going to school every day, but I guess that is not too surprising since I love to learn.

Anyways, I digress a bit. After classes I would take a book to the beach and usually lay out in a kind of shady spot, even my brown skin is no match for this Spanish sun, I’m not sure how all the people sit out there tanning for hours because it’s hot! After finishing my first year at law school I thought I would never read for fun again! But apparently that’s not the case here, I get through about half an easy beach read a day! It’s so nice to remember that I can enjoy books instead of having the constant desire to use their pages as fuel for my next bonfire.

So here I am, living the life reading books on the beach every afternoon after class and then at sunset I would walk home usually with an ice cream in hand along the beach. You can’t make this life up! Seriously I think I just need to retire to a beach town because I’m loving this lifestyle. 

By the time I would make it home, the Polish ladies would be home and I’d sit out on the balcony with them until 11:30 pm or midnight just chit chatting about various and sundry things. It was so pleasant, and they always had something from their home to share with me. I tried a warm apple dessert drink, homemade cherry marmalade, lots of chocolate. Best $4.99 bribery I’ve ever spent to join these balcony sessions lol!

So you see? My days were exciting but not exciting at all as I fell into this rhythm. Before I knew it the week was over and here I am catching you all up to speed while I wait for my plane. Mr. Habib must have had some effect on me, because even when I try to be chill, I still find myself at every airport two hours early! Lol! You’d think I’d be a pro by now, but I always figure the one time I don’t leave two hours something will happen and I’ll definitely miss my flight because of Murphy’s law.

I’m definitely excited for the last four days of adventure to come! Definitely leaving this vacation with a bang.

Love you all,

Carolyn

Saturday With Silvia

Hi Fam!

Today is Silvia’s last day and I’m trying not to think too hard about it. We’ve become fast friends over the course of the week so of course we would spend her last Saturday in Malaga together. I was a lazy butt and slept in this weekend so I met up with Silvia around 11 and we decided to explore a part of town called Soho. I don’t think they know what Soho actually is lol! But the town was full of locals and cute little cafes and it was literally right next to the city center and yet there were no tourists, minus us of course. We kept seeing signs for a flamenco show but no one could actually tell us where to buy tickets. We should have known better than to listen to a Spaniard telling us the place to buy tickets was “five minutes away.” We probably walked for about 15 minutes before we came remotely close to the ticket booth. Oh well haha.

Afterwards we decided we deserved a little tapas break and had a local tapa “berenjas con miel.” Yup, that’s eggplant with honey. Honestly I was like well if it’s a traditional Malaga food then I should try it. OMG it was so friggen good. The eggplant was lightly fried and cut thinly so it got crispy. And then it was a mix of salty and sweet. Also their honey here is dark, which I had never seen before, and definitely not as sweet as our honey back home. We pretty much finished the plate between the two of us! I’m sorry for all the times I said I hated eggplants, this trip is definitely proving me wrong.

Spain has a super famous beach right next to the city center, so we decided to laze around and enjoy the sun for a bit. Silivia told me I had to get in the water and it was SO COLD. I literally hopped in and out. Warm Hawaii bathwater ocean it was not. But the sun helped dry us off rather quickly. The crowds at this beach was insane! Definitely glad I’m near the more local beaches with less people and tourists.

Afterwards we went to the flamenco show, and I know it was a total touristy thing to do but we really enjoyed it! The rhythms are so insanely complex I couldn’t figure out how to tap along, and that’s with so many years of musical training. So you can imagine what it must have been like! The guys and the girls danced while a man sang. Up on stage the performers are so enthralled in the music and the steps and they’re always watching the dancer. If I didn’t know better I’d say the whole thing was improved just by the intensity of their gaze upon the dancer’s feet, watching his or her steps. It was a great show and we got out just in time for sunset on the port.

It was so nice to have a personal photographer again! Lol…here’s some snaps. 

We had more tapas for dinner and watched the sun go down over the city. The sky was putting on quite the show for us! 

Unfortunately Silvia had an early flight so we had to say goodbye at 10:30 pm and I caught the bus home, feeling sad but also super happy that I made a new friend!

Will keep you guys updated.

Love,

Carolyn

Sweet Bribes

Hi all!

I cannot believe I have made it to Friday! OMG, how the time has flown. Seriously. Yesterday was a hot mess because the neighbors downstairs had their roof start leaking, so they called the manager to shut off OUR water. There's five of us in this apartment and somehow I ended up being the designated speaker. Well, our door had people ringing the bell all day long. Angry neighbors, frustrated managers, people from our program. It was rather overwhelming, and I learned a very crucial thing, my Spanish goes to shit when I'm stressed. It was 9:30 pm and we thought we had solved the problem because the manager turned our water back on. But nope! The neighbor comes again and declares that she's shutting our water off and didn't know why we turned it back on. I was overwhelmed and I started stammering, it was hilarious. She thought I didn't speak a bit of Spanish, which honestly was probably for the best. So then imagine her at my door making these big arm movements and trying to use gestures to get her point across. I stood there for probably a good 10 minutes before I put my big girl panties on and negotiated with her in Spanish. When I actually started talking using full sentences her jaw dropped. I was like sorry lady you flustered me, I couldn't find the words I needed. But using my pro spanish for lawyers lessons, I got her to allow us an hour with water before she cut us off. Yup, I used my legal negotiation skills to invoke sympathy and compassion and suckered her into giving us an hour when I would have settled for 20 minutes. Go me! After she left, I banged on all my roommates doors to get them to shower and brush their teeth within an hour. You just can't make these stories up guys. Alas, today seems to be better since we have running water and a handyman was sent to break open our apartment wall. I decided to leave the banging and head out for the city before my classes this afternoon. 

I walked along the shops and the port. I'm not sure if it's because there was so much commotion going on and all of that stopped or because it was a quiet day in the city without the hustle and bustle of tourists, but it felt as if the entire world had settled down just for the day. It was so odd, but at the same time I really appreciated the quietness. It allowed me to sit with my thoughts for the morning and really just enjoy my own company. I'm not going to lie and say that it was easy, it took me a moment or two to get comfortable. But once I did, the morning passed wonderfully and I felt so refreshed and re-energized. I feel like I can be a really big people person, but it's so important for me to have space to recharge on my own, especially when I'm always surrounded by people. Here's a few snaps of things I took along my walk.

Afterwards I made my way back to my barrio (where school is) and met up with Siliva before classes. We had tapas right next to the beach before our class with a real lawyer. Yup, a Spanish lawyer came to teach us today! Let me tell you, keeping up was not easy at all. But I learned so much about Spanish civil law and we read and examined contracts. It was so exciting! Their system is totally different from ours. For example, a will is pretty much predetermined as to how the assets will be divided between the heirs, and it will be done equally. The lawyer was a great advocate for such a fair system, and I see the point, but also, it's your stuff and you should be able to do what you want with it without having to compensate your "true heirs" for doing so. I think that's my American independent streak coming in. We studied marriage and divorce, agricultural contracts. Before I know it the four hours of classes were up and my mind was spinning! I honestly cannot wait for next weeks classes, even if they are with my teacher again instead of the lawyer.

While I was walking back, I was struck with an idea as I passed a bakery and in the spur of the moment bought three desserts. So the Polish women I live with have evening balcony sessions every night. I love the balcony but feel a bit awkward joining them all the time. Sooooo, I did a little sneaky Pete move. When it was time for their balcony session, I took the desserts out and told them that I would love to share my favorite Spanish sweets with them. BAM. Now I'm in their crew. They were so excited and happy to share their buffet of treats with me. We actually stayed up until like half past midnight chatting away. One of the women, Magda, asked if I was from Sri Lanka, and we got on the topic of Bangladesh and my parents. They were so impressed with my life and my travels! And I was like, my parents kind of did all the hard work. But they insisted that my story and job was just as interesting. They were telling me about their lives in Poland, and they were like we just can't imagine since we are Polish that come from Polish who've lived in Poland their whole lives. To me their lives in Poland are just as interesting!

We had great conversations and stayed up until half past midnight. In Spain they have a phrase "de mundo" which is a way of saying that someone is worldly. In that moment, sharing my travels with these Polish women on a balcony in Spain, I really felt as if I had become de mundo. Sometimes, I can hardly believe I've had such good luck in my life, or the fact that I'm really here. I guess I'm feeling pretty grateful right now. Thank you all for always coming on these adventures with me.

Love you lots,

Carolyn  

Noches De Espana

Hi guys!

Another day of classes went by and I cannot believe that I am already at Wednesday, time is flying. Today after classes Silvia asked if I wanted to meet up in the city center to go to dinner. My first thought was YES more friends! My second was, oh crap hope she's not a serial killer. I talked the second thoughts down and told both my mom and Jes that I was going out with my Italian friend (can't play it too safe?) and actually put a dress and makeup on for the first time in since coming to Spain lol! I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but honestly it's so hot here and I spend so much time outside that I figure it's not worth sweating all the makeup off if I'm only going to go to classes and the beach. 

The entire time I was in London, Jes would make fun of me because for the life of me I could not zip up my dresses by myself so I would keep having to ask her for help. I mean, I probably could have done it with a lot of struggling but why would I waste my time when help was literally right there. As you can imagine, this was a point on the road trip that the mums and Jes liked to make fun of me for and I would laugh along. Well guys, now I'm here in Spain alone and wanted to wear a dress. You can't see the smile on my face but I've got this huge stupid grin on my face because I zipped up by dress all by myself in less than five minutes! Obviously I had to take a photo and send it to Mumma Bailey, Jes and mom proving that indeed I was a capable adult. It's the small victories guys. 

I walked to the bus station, and I don't know why this happens to me every single time, but I was on the opposite side of the street waiting for the crosswalk, and well that there was the bus I needed to take to get into the city center. So annoying haha! I mean it wasn't the end of the world because the next bus was only 15 minutes away, but I have yet to be on the right side of the sidewalk when the bus comes. Maybe one day....

I always travel with a ring that can double as an engagement ring when I travel alone, pro trip I learned from Jes. There were some annoying people on the bus and so I busted out my ring. Well, this system only works if you have a fake fiance in mind. Thanks to Jes, that afternoon I was happily engaged to Jorge, an entrepreneur in crowdfunding that was currently running a workshop in London for the week. Honestly, would have never thought to do that, but Jes always uses my alter ego Carlos the lawyer on her travels!! lol. The things we travelers do.  

I got to the city center a bit early so had time to take a quick selfie before I met Silvia for dinner. We went to this restaurant called Pimi, which is really famous with the locals. Honestly it did not disappoint. We had shrimp soaking in butter and garlic, patatas bravas (which are fancy fried potatoes), and various other little things like olives, cheese, and bread. We talked about her job, which is AWESOME by the way. She works for the European Union Parliament and was telling me about how she negotiates with other countries lawyers and working with the dignitaries. She also speaks five languages...could she be any cooler?!

After dinner we walked around the city center and decided to go to a rooftop terrace bar. Ironically the one that had been recommended to her by a friend was exactly the one in the hotel mom and I had been staying at. The view was okay during the day, but absolutely spectacular at night! I called mom later and she could not believe that we had been right there and totally missed out.

Talking with Silvia was a bit like looking into a mirror of a future self. I mean she was telling me about her study abroad experience in Madrid when she was 20 and it paralleled my experience in Salamanca in so many ways it was a little bit spooky. We both have this love of travelling and exploring new cities. We know how to go on adventures alone but also how to share those adventures with others. Even though she's forty and married with kids, she still ventured off to Spain for work while her kids enjoyed the summer with their grandparents. I guess the both of us kind of march to the beat of our own drums but the tunes are similar. Seriously, she's the coolest Italian lawyer ever. 

I absolutely love this picture of me on this terrace because I think it says so much more than any words could describe. I'm practically beaming. I just love being in Spain and I think about my younger self, the girl who would never say two words and kept to herself, and am just so proud that I could get to a space where I can so fearlessly adventure on my own and know that I'm going to be okay. And if my forties end up looking like Silvia's, I definitely wouldn't complain.

There was a blood moon out that night which only added to the magic of everything. 

Before we knew it, it was midnight and we both had classes at 9 am! After a day of great conversations and food and laughs, needless to say I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I can't wait to see what the rest of this week brings!

Miss and love you all,

Carolyn

Virgen Maria de la Carmen

Hello Guys!

Today was another good day! We get a 10 minute break every hour, and Silvia and I went out for coffee during our first break. Since she's Italian, she drinks espresso black and well, looks like I do too because "there's only one way to drink espresso" lol! I'm having so much fun in class and the subjects are challenging me. Spanish law uses black letter law so it's so different from our system. I think there went my dreams of being a lawyer in Spain. There is hope however, since contracts are universal, so I'm not ready to give up on my dreams just yet. 

After classes, I went to go sit on the beach. Today is Virgen Maria del Carmen's day. She's the patron saint of the sea. For cities with fishermen and located near the ocean, today is especially important for them because she's the one who looks out for their safe passage and fruitful fishing days. I'm actually really excited to be a part of this. So I raced home to get all my homework and a quick workout in before the procession started. 

No one told me that they were working on mountain time...so looks like I arrived on time, but in Spain that means you're an hour early. Good think I brought a towel to sit on the beach and passed my time enjoying the ocean views and the numerous boats sailing by!

Want to know another thing no one told me? No one told me that this was a fancy pants occasion. So you got me looking a bit questionable in my workout clothes (I hadn't even showered because I knew I would just get sweaty from going outside again). Then you have the rest of Spain dressed up more nicely...not tuxedo wise, this is a beach city after all, but they were in nice pressed pants/shirts or jumpsuits/dresses. Good thing I'm independent of the good opinion of others!

Oh yes, that's my pirate party bro tank that says "work like a captain, party like a pirate." I'm keeping it real classy guys hahaha. Also! You know the whole Peppa pig story, so imagine my surprise when she followed me to Spain!

The procession was led by the school kids and at the front was a cross and lamps. They read some prayers and such but I could not understand a word, so I just sat there and listened quietly.

This is mosaic of Maria del Carmen which they bring the big Maria statue they're carrying over to and then raise her up and say "Viva Virgen Maria del Carmen!" As you can see people have already come to bring her flowers throughout the day. What you see here wasn't even half the flowers surrounding it! 

Here is the huge Virgen Maria del Carmen they were carrying throughout the entire town. It looked so heavy, I was glad I wasn't one of the 20 men below supporting the base and walking through the town. 

So as they walk Maria around, they have chants that they say together with the city. There's a captain of  a boat who stands in front of all the guys carrying her and says things like "Quien es la mas guapa?" (Who is the most beautiful?) and the town answers "Maria del Carmen!" Or they go "guapa, guapa guapa guapa." I gotta say, Maria's got it good. For all of eternity these people are shouting "Long Live Maria!" and "Beautiful" at her during her day. 

Pro tip, if you're ever at an event and you have no clue what is going on, put yourself next to a couple of younger kids with their parents. I promise before long you'll have explanations for everything. Did I ever tell you how much I adore Spanish children? They are absolutely adorable with their little voices and accents. This mother had put her three year old on top of her shoulders. And the three year old would not stop asking questions. It was so funny, but also very  beneficial to me who literally had no clue about this procession. 

My favorite moment was when she was like, "why are they saying that she's guapa so many times?" And the mother without missing a beat said "isn't she guapa? I mean look at her?" and the little girl pauses for a moment and goes, "yeah, I guess she's guapa, but I'm guapa too." I could not stop laughing. 

What happens next is that all those boats I was talking about earlier? Well they were here to get blessing from Maria del Carmen. So they all come in a semi-circle as close to shore as they can. And then the procession continues into the water. The entire town encloses the other part makes this huge circle, and then Maria gets walked around the inside of the circle blessing each part. Each section she's in front of repeats the chants and then crosses themselves. My favorite part was when she was in front of the boats because the captains and crews went wild. They were chanting the loudest and blaring their boat horns and making so much noise, you just couldn't help but laugh and get really into it. 

There were so. many. humans. I tried not to think about it too hard, otherwise I probably would have panicked a little bit being in the middle of such a crowd. But seriously, I was only this close because I unknowingly had walked to the beach and figured that something would happen here since everyone seemed to slowly be trickling their way to the shoreline. 

Here's Virgen Maria del Carmen blessing people. I cant imagine how hard it must have been to carry her around in the water. One time the guys almost lost their footing in the sand and you could see the huge statute start to sway. Everyone was like OH NO! They'll drop her! But I think the others in the water ran to their rescue and she didn't fall in the end. 

After Maria del Carmen makes her rounds, they put her in a special rowboat decorated with flowers and row into the sea with her and all the boats follow in her wake. Honestly it really was something to see. Totally spectacular to be a part of such reverence and enthusiasm. 

The second she started rowing away, I noticed that the parents with kids were rather quickly hightailing it closer to the boardwalk, I was a bit confused since I wanted to watch the boats row away. That is until everyone in the water turned to the beach and rushed us! Splashing and getting as many humans wet as they can, both in the water and in the shoreline. Ever been in a stampede? Well that's pretty much what it felt like with all 300 of us running to shore. It was rather humorous I wish I had a recording of my face as it dawned on my that all those humans were running towards me! I was like oh crap! and ran as fast as I could to get ahead of the herd. Good thing I'm pretty tiny and was able to slip between people as the chaos ensued. It was all in good fun, those of us that managed to stay dry laughed in solidarity at the boardwalk.

That night was a lunar eclipse and Mumma Bailey suggested that I watch it from my balcony. I had been having a bit of trouble being friendly with my roommates and felt a bit awkward around the apartment. Mumma Bailey said that I just needed to go and make friends with them. Well I think that that was her secret mission all along. I went to the balcony and the two Polish women I live with were already out there. Now mind you, I was ready for bed and dressed in pjs with retainers in. Well, since I was just kinda standing around, the Polish women insisted I sit down and offered me some Polish chocolate. Not knowing how to explain retainers in Spanish and not really wanting to take them out in front of everyone (just gross) I politely declined. But they insisted and I was like crap, how do I turn them down without being insulting. Well as you can imagine I didn't, and said a little prayer the chocolate wasn't loaded with nuts, and for the next hour chatted with the polish ladies while eating super yummy chocolate with retainers and all. Probably not one of my finest moments. But 1) I didn't die (don't worry I got a good lashing from all my friends and family about risk taking - lol to the fact that eating chocolate with ingredients I can't read is considered a big risk for me),  2) I actually really enjoyed their company and realized they were just less confident in their Spanish, and it was not that they didn't like me,  and 3) they never once commented on how long I was taking to eat a single tiny piece of chocolate lol! (idk in my mind I figured slow poisoning was the best option - like resistance training - if I were actually allergic to the chocolate, which I wasn't). We had good chats and I went to bed rather happy to have finally made friends in my apartment. Thanks Mumma Bailey for your sneaky moves!  

Love you guys,

Carolyn