What I miss the most about America: Breakfast.

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

I hope everyone is doing well!

It's been another fantastical week in Salamanca, Spain.

For the most part I have just been going to class, which is interesting since I am learning a lot about Spanish, Spain, and Spanish culture. I also have started going to the gym!! YAYAYAYAY!! To all of you who know me, I am sure it does not surprise you that I joined a gym while in Spain. I like to alternate days by going for a run and then going to the gym and doing exercises with free weights. I got a discount at the gym because I am an IES student so that was definitely a plus, AND I can also take salsa and flamenco lessons there now because I'm a member! So yes, I think that was a rather good decision on my part. Besides trying to stay in shape, I am also trying to experience as much of the food culture here as possible (hence, the reason why I need to go to the gym and run...haha). There is this lovely Croissantería near where I have class and this week I decided to taste test the croissant con frambuesa y queso (raspberry and cream cheese filling). ¡AY, QUÉ SABROSA! OM NOM NOM.

The most interesting thing I did this week, though, was take a day trip to Ávila with a few of my new amigas. Yes, Mom, Ávila as in the birthplace of St. Teresa of Avila. Ávila is absolutely adorable. It's this cute little quaint town about an hour away from Salamanca. It is surrounded by this huge medieval looking wall they built to keep the Moors out. We got to climb up the wall and walk around it. The view was amazing with snow-capped mountains in the background. I also visited the Basilica of St. Vincent and toured the Cathedral, which is actually built into the wall so it's like this fortress/castle/cathedral. I also saw where St. Teresa was born and raised. I mean her house isn't there anymore, the convent of St. Teresa was built on the site, but still ¡qué guay! (how cool!). Also, in Ávila there are these famous pastries called "Yemas de Santa Teresa". Yema is spanish for "yolk", which is what these are made of, egg yolk and sugar. And yes, they were delicious. We also sampled some other cookie items while we were there. And I have no clue what was in them, but they were also very om nommy.

Speaking of Spanish food, I have some fun stories to tell you about the food my host family sometimes cooks. Most of the time, my host mom makes delicious dishes all of which I enjoy. Julia and I like her lentil soup with ribs the most for lunch and salad with lettuce, tuna, pomegranate, dates, walnuts, carrots, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil the best for dinner. Breakfast, however, is a whole other story. I have decided that they do not like breakfast here in Spain. When we first got here all they gave us for breakfast was two pieces of white toast with butter and jelly with either a cup of coffee or hot milk. Now, I am not one to complain, but being the health freak that I am I could not help but notice the lack of nutrients in this, the most important meal of the day. Also, I don't drink milk for breakfast. And actually, I do not enjoy hot milk at all (unless combined with hot chocolate mix, which I still only drink sparingly). Julia and I raised this to our host mother's attention in the most amiable way possible. And she, being the wonderful woman that she is, will now give us wheat toast for breakfast, and if we are lucky there are days where we get yogurt with granola or avena (which is oatmeal crushed up and she just puts that on the table and we are suppose to just mix it into our yogurt uncooked). Also, she stopped making me hot milk and now gives me yogurt because she noticed that I just didn't really drink the hot milk. Anyways, so one of the first mornings we were there, she had set out on the table two bowls of dry frosted flakes for us and gave Julia a cup of hot coffee and me a cup of hot milk. That was all that was on the table. Julia and I both looked at each other and were like, "Ok, where's the milk to put in the cereal?" Well, you guessed it. I had frosted flakes with hot milk and Julia had frosted flakes with hot coffee. It was an interesting experience to say the least. And then the other morning this week, my host mom put the crushed up oatmeal on the table and two empty bowls. Well, now I get a yogurt almost every morning instead of the hot milk, so I just mix it in with my yogurt. But for some reason, she had not given Julia a yogurt as well, which she usually does with the crushed oatmeal. She then told Julia to mix the crushed oatmeal with her hot coffee. So, Julia poured the hot coffee in with the crushed oatmeal and ate that for breakfast. WHAT IN THE WORLD? It's not even real oatmeal flakes and she didn't even get to microwave it or anything to cook it! Not to mention the whole coffee part. So....yeah. Breakfast isn't big here.

Also, I just want to give a shout out to Scott's mom, HAZEL!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAZEL!! Hope it was wonderful!!

Well, I miss you all!!

LOVE AND PRAYERS,

Hope