Is this real life?

Wow!!! Where do I begin? I am now safe and sound in Cáceres, Spain, where I will be spending the semester studying at the University of Extremadura. It’s SO nice to be in a home, where my stuff is safe, I have stable meals, and privacy. More about Cáceres in a moment, but first, the end of my journies… When I last left off, I’d just enjoyed a few days in Switzerland. I caught a train to Italy, and headed to Torino, the next leg of the journey. I’d chosen it for its Olympic status in 2006 and these cool city tours I downloaded free off the tourism website. Let’s just say I wasn’t impressed with how they’d kept up the city after ’06. Graffiti, garbadge in the street, generally dirtiness (not to mention the cold and terrible traffic) all contributed to its lack of charm. Charm is the one thing I expected in Italy!!! Disappointed, I left early for Bergamo, the small city outside of Milan where the cheap airport is. I wish I had skipped Torino and gone straight for Bergamo!!! With its charming Cittá Alta, cities like this are the reason you go to Europe!!! It was still cold, but so picturesque with its many churches, mix of ancient architecture styles, and general charm. I finished the evening with a delicious traditional Bergaman meal of polenta, piadine, and a local wine (a meal I definitely splurged on), and went to bed, excited to get to Spain. I woke up early the next morning, took the cheap buses to the airport, and hopped aboard a RyanAir flight for Spain. In Madrid, I didn’t even have to go through customs or get a passport check again – I think that’s a little seedy… Hope I can get out of the country!! (allthough it wouldn’t be too bad to have a little extended stay…). I met the group, and we took a chartered bus to Cáceres, about 4 hours away. Everyone else was tired from jet lag, but I’ve been in this time zone for 2 weeks!! I’m the only one in the group not from Iowa State, but its okay, because ISU is big enough that they don’t really know each other either. They’re all really nice (of course, Iowa people)! I know enough about I State to be an honorary student though (and I actually am a nondegree seeking ISU student this semester. Weird huh?). The onsite program coordinator is FANTASTIC – Toñi, your British-accented grandma who will joke with you in Spanish and English, and really cares about us having a great experience. After a scenic busride through the green countryside with mountains behind.

(about 45ish degrees here, a welcome relief from both Iowa and Italy), we got to Cáceres and met our families. Now, the interesting this is that Daniel, my brother, did this program 2 years ago, and Toñi decided to put us with the same family!!! I only found out about this a week ago, and it’s already been fun chatting about our shared experiences. I’m staying at Manuela Parodi Ramirez’s place with her daughter Sara and another ISU student Ryan. The apartment is very small with a lot of character, and just half a block away from the Ciudad Monumental, or the old part of the city. We’re the closest of all the ISU students to the center, which is a FANTASTIC opportunity to live in such a gorgeous atmosphere. I’ve already taken lengthy walks just looking at the sights and sounds of this non-flashy, authentic Spanish town. Old medieval towers every time you turn a corner, ancient churches and the concatedral, the plaza mayor with one side to the old city wall and the other on white-washed “restaurantes” and shops. I can’t even believe how much of a well-kept secret this town is!! But it won’t be well kept for long – Cáceres is in the running for the 2016 European Capital of Culture, so it’s really ramping up its program of infrastructure, cultural events (most of them free) and other opportunities. So basically this is the PERFECT time to be in this wonderful ancient city! Vibrant and modern opportunities in small ancient genuine city – what an experience! (and we don’t even start classes until next week!)



I can’t even begin to describe how pretty this city is, but it’s the city I’ve most wanted to live in of all the cities I’ve seen on this trip – and guess what??? I GET TO!!!!!! More on life at 56A Calle Caleros in a future post. So far for the program, we haven’t done much. We meet late in the morning, walk around and see stuff pretty cursorily, then leave for siesta (which really exists here – like really exists) and have the rest of the day free. This afternoon I’m going with some group members to some of the museums in town. Should be fun!!! For now, the language is going well too. Much better than trying to limp through Germany, Switerland and Italy with just an arsenal of English and Spanish. I can understand almost everything (except TV and my host mom), and my speaking is getting better – people are very patient when you use their language. Already starting to pick up on the th accent and on the dropping s’s in all the words. This place is going to be a bad influence on me… More on language in a future post as well I’m sure :). Sorry for the jumbled and rather overviewish post, but there’s just so much to explain and take in right now I didn’t want to write 17 books!!!! I’m still on the honeymoon so everything’s great, doing well, thriving, and loving it!!! I’m sure I’ll come down from the high and have some more great adventure tales to tell soon! Until then, ¡Hasta luego! (or ¡‘Ta lujo! as it actually sounds here).