In the dead of winter, Spain seems another world away, but it isn't really all that long until my summer classes begin in Salamanca. The program I have been accepted to is offered through the Spanish Minsitry of Education (it was very cool to receive official acceptance from the Embassy of Spain!) and will consist of a group of 30 teachers from the US and Canada working towards a Master of Spanish Language and Culture. We will be in class 7 1/2 hours per day for five weeks, from the end of June through July, both 2010 and 2011 with other hoops to jump through in between (like, writing a thesis and taking 6 more related credits in the US.) All told it is a 500-hour commitment. Quite a lot to tackle at my age, don't you think?
Salamanca is a beautiful city with unusual architecture. Take a careful look at the figures carved in stone. They are in a quiet, peaceful convent courtyard but they are grotesque. Why on earth...??? A guide said, " The walls can indeed speak. It's just that we don't understand their language." What do you suppose these carvings are trying to say?
The other photos include the Plaza Mayor, rightly dubbed the most beautiful in all of Spain, and the monastery and church of San Esteban, where Columbus stopped by to discuss his ideas of navigation. The monks here in Salamanca got him the appointment with Isabella, and the rest, as they say, is history.
