So let me lay this down for you, metaphorically, that is. Spain is certainly known for their food, as many Americans have observed with the recent growing trend in Spanish food. Yeah, paella, ham, Spanish tortilla, and basically anything that is fried in olive oil and tastes good finds its home here in Spain. When we eat one or two of these things in one meal, no big deal. But this weekend, this one meal, we ate ALL that and more. Let me recount all that we ate in one meal, beginning with the appetizer:
1. Salad
2. Tons of bread
3. Clams
4. Calamari
5. Croquettes
6. Shrimp Kebabs
7. Stuffed peppers
8. A plate of ham and chorizo
9. Spanish tortilla
10. Cold canned white fat asparagus (weird but good)
Main course:
1. More salad
2. Fish
3. French fries (because we all need french fries to really cap off a good meal)
Dessert:
Dove chocolate ice cream bar.
To say the least, we did not finish nearly anything on the table. But it was EPIC.
But the best part is....guess who footed the bill? Furman University.
Thanks, Herman Lay!
In other news, I have probably gained 30 pounds from this weekend. We visited Salamanca, Spain which is home to old silver, a bajillion cathedrals and convents, and Universidad de Salamanca. the university is one of the four first universities of Europe which also includes the likes of Oxford University, University of Bologna, and University of Paris. With the age of the university comes lots of traditions. Two that I would like to remember (and therefore that is why I now write them on this blog to bore your poor little souls) are 1. When a student receives their doctorate from the university, they kill a bull to eat, and with the blood of the bull (mixed with like oil and something else), they are able to write the word "victor" on any wall that they want in Salamanca. If and when I do receive my doctorate (this is when the Spanish subjunctive tense would be applicable to the English language), I would not mind doing this in a sort of passive aggressive sense. 2. Before going in front of the jury for your doctorate, the worried and busy student would sit in this particular room in the cathedral of next to the university. Here, there is the tomb of a wise old bishop and at the foot of the tomb that is shaped like a person is a seat. You can lay your feet on his and it is said that the night before going in front of the jury you sit there, getting all the smarts from the bishop before the next day.
The cathedrals are very similar in style to ones that we had seen before in other parts of Spain. However, here we were actually able to go to the rooftops and the highest parts within the cathedral. If you look at some of my photos, I was able to get some super sweet shots.
And maybe the coolest thing is that Salamanca is home to the decision making to get Christopher Columbus to America. In one of the cathedrals' small rooms, some of the royalty and big money folks of Spain at the time decided that they would go ahead with the America project. It's crazy how something that may have seemed so ridiculous to them at the time would have been such a big change in the lives of every single person that is alive today. DUDE. Who would have thunk?
Sorry this has taken me so long to post. We have had a test this past week, which means I have been studying a tad and also going to the park, el Sol, and walking around town. Unfortunately, we have not gotten any other cat calls (MEOW!!!), but we have been seeing many more people as the school starts for the jovenes here in Madrid. Temperatures are around 70 degrees F, and so we are finally not having to be naked in order to sleep without sweating our heads off. In fact, I am actually using a blanket now!
More to come. I think I want to put some of my thoughts, not just my day-to-day up here soon. Perhaps you will find it just as interesting as I think it is, especially if you appreciate how I analyze everything.
FEAST
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