I’ve been on St. Petersburg College’s study abroad Spanish program for two weeks now; the term “immersion’ is quite appropriate.  The classes are taught in Spanish. The SPC professors almost always speak Spanish.  And when dealing with all the shop and restaurant owners, most do not to speak English. For example when a student’s sandal sole came loose, I had to ask in Spanish what kind of shops sold glue, then get directions to the shop and finally ask the clerk where to find the glue. It was a practical exercise in the use of Spanish, and the student has had no problems with his repaired sandals.

I have had many “one-of-a-kind” experiences during our many excursions.  The following are two examples: Salamanca had a four-day festival celebrating St John of Sahagn, Salamanca’s patron saint. On a Friday night we walked to the Tormes River and had one of the best fireworks displays I had ever seen. Then Sunday night we went to Plaza Mayor. The plaza is a 4 and 5 story square.  It is actually a trapezoid but it is hard to see that it does not have square corner. Residences occupy the second, third and fourth floors, most with wrought iron balconies. The city put on a light show there. The light show was projected on one wall of the Plaza. The area used was 5 floors tall and the width a little wider than the height. The city had put on a contest and the six top winning digital productions were shown. They were animations of the building rotating, falling apart or turning.  Another showed a transformer figure with many movements, such as running and jumping.  The colors were vibrant and the images played off of the columns, windows, balconies and other features of the building. It was a very imaginative and creative show and nothing like  I have ever experienced before.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about a few of my experiences. I certainly have really enjoyed my trip so far.

I have really enjoyed my study abroad experience in Spain; we have learned an amazing amount of Spanish in only a couple of weeks. Professors Levin, Albrecht, Ivan and Maricha have been wonderful.  I opted to stay at the residence which is a dormitory used by students from other parts of Spain.

There is an option to eat our meals at the Residence, however I have chosen to eat at the local  cafes and restaurants.

There are also many markets where you can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.  You can order regular meals at the restaurants, but many do not open until 8:30 or 9 at night.  My favorite meal so far has been eating pig or piglet.

One of the things that I have found very interesting is the use of stone. Most buildings and cathedrals are made from marble and granite.  The stone masons have done a remarkable job in cutting the stone so that when they are assembled to make the structure there is no space at the seams.  Some structures, such as as cathedrals are very complex.  For example they have many arches some over 100 feet tall.  And they are so large that it is hard to imagine the labor required  to guarry transport in and assemble so much stone.

The aqueduct in Sagovia is another marvelous stone structure.  It is 86 feet tall, 550 feet long and has 75 single and 44 double arches.  All the stones are dry stacked without the use of any mortar.

Stone is used in many other ways.  Many streets and most sidewalks are granite.  Outside the city there are miles of well crafted stonewalls.  There are also miles of wire fencing supported by stone posts 6 feet tall.

I could go on for a long time but in closing Salamanca is an amazing place.

-By Roy Lockwood