First day of school

Today was my first day of school. It was very exciting.

I woke up on time which was a good start, and not a certain thing after my late night. But, the school is literally around the corner from my apartment so it took me only a few minutes to walk there through a park in the sun. I completed the formalities and got a student card – makes me feel young!

My school day runs from 9am until 2pm. The first hour is conversation – which was a class of four people. The next few hours are more standard language lessons and there are only supposed to be two of us in that class, although today there were four today. Everyone seems very nice.

Both classes were very entertaining and I already feel I am learning even though it is covering ground I’ve been over before. It makes a huge difference when you can walk out the door and use what you have learnt for real.

After my classes I sat in the terrace of a local bar and did my homework over a beer and bocadillo – it was hard to image a more perfect school day.

This evening I did a tour of the highlights of Salamanca with one of the teachers. While it was in theory a group tour there was just me – so although I’d already seem the highlights it was great to get a local’s viewpoint. I learnt where the best meat and pastry shops are – so my goal for this week is now to expand beyond the local supermarket for dinner.

I also learnt the meaning of the faded, and not so faded, red words on many walls. When students at the university completed their degrees they celebrated their victory by memorialising it it on a wall, written in bull’s blood. The ‘V’ is for victory. The tradition continues although the paint is now paint, not blood.