Salamanca: In Ten Days
06/21/2011
Today was the day for orientation testing. We had multiple choice questions and then an individual conversation with a professor. We were told to be quiet several times, but each time the volume of the room increased. I did not get through all of the questions and my conversation was short: How long have I studied Spanish? How many days a week do I have class for Spanish? (At this time, absolutely none LOL.) How long have I been in Salamanca? Have I ever been to Spain before? Why am I learning Spanish?
We got our schedule later that afternoon with our textbooks. It was very funny because I did not get any of the classes that I had originally picked out (Business Spanish or History of Women in Spain). We had two days to switch classes and I had already decided to switch out of Culture class. I was very happy that I landed in the grammar level that I wanted.
We received our book bags and our Spain cell phones. I walked around to check the time for walking to all of my four classes.
University of Salamanca
University facade in the Patio de Escuelas Menores
The University of Salamanca is the oldest university in Spain (1134) and the fourth oldest in Europe. It was the first school in Europe to gain the title of University. On the facade of the university there is a small frog. Initially, the frog was a warning to students about sinning and evil spirits (there is a joke that Salamanca was constructed as church, bar, church, bar, church, bar). The students did not like that interpretation and so the frog evolved into good luck for tests (and the promise of marriage within a year). I think the frog looks more like a tumor than a frog. City officials had planned to replace the old frog with a new frog, but the people from Salamanca protested.
University Frog from http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/salamanca/frog.htm
The statue is of Fray Luis de León. He was a poet, professor, and friar from the Spanish Golden Age (15th to 17th century). In 1572, he was imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition and ordered to be put on the rack. When he returned to his classes at the University in 1576, he said, "As we were saying yesterday..."
