Carnaval del Toro- Ciudad Rodrigo

Today, Brendan and I went to the small, nearby city, Ciudad Rodrigo (about an hour by bus from Salamanca), with some of my friends to see the festivities of the Carnaval del Toro (Bull's Carnaval). Minus the very cold temperature (a high of 29-32 degrees F all day), which was made worse by a lot of wind, we had a great time and loved the city! In my opinion, Ciudad Rodrigo is one of those truly authentic Spanish cities, that when you're there, every corner you turn and everything you see just breathes "real Spain". Although, of course there were many other tourists there, you could tell that this festival really means a lot to the citizens of Ciudad Rodrigo because they were every where and they were so into the events! Just take a look at my pictures below to get a better idea of what goes on during the Carnaval del Toro:

¡Bienvenidos a Ciudad Rodrigo! (Welcome to Rodrigo City!) It is surrounded by a moat! Even though it no longer has water, it's so cool!

To start off the day, they blockaded off some streets leading to the Plaza Mayor, where they would later hold "una corrida de toros" (a bull fight), and had a running of the bulls. We stayed safe and far away from the action below by getting this hill top view. We were sure glad we did because we saw some guy get pretty beat up by one of the bulls! Scroll down to see the video! (Sorry about a few swear words, but it was really scary!)

One of the scariest parts (in my opinion) about the running with the bulls is that on the streets they blockade off, they have to put these safety bars on the restaurants and bars and that is really your only access to safety if you need it... after the running of the bulls was over I tried fitting through some with my cowboy hat on and had a tough time... imagine when you're in a hurry!! Even though I think this is a dumb thing to do in the first place, if anybody is going to do it, I would recommend that they be VERY skinny!

The Plaza Mayor (where the bull fights took place later at 4pm)

Food, rides and attractions

Yummy baked goods and bread! :)

Walking through the carnival

Miranda, Elena, Cristina, Brendan and Me having a "Clara" (half beer/half Fanta limón), well Brendan was having a real beer, ha ha!

Pretty cool snail costumes! People really went all out on their costumes, and I figured out why! The prizes for winning a costume category ranged anywhere from 300-900 euros!!

There were tons of people dressed as Sponge Bob, ha ha! Also, a lot of typical flamenco/sevillanas/matador costumes.

So that's about it... we got to experience a running of the bulls from a distance, spent the day walking around the markets and carnival, admiring the costumes, eating lots of food, and having some drinks with the locals. A lot of fun- great city to visit during this time of the year!

RUNNING OF THE BULLS VIDEO:

And this is why I love Salamanca :)

Seriously, one of the best things about the city of Salamanca is the student spirit... Being home to one of the best universities in Spain, so many people come from all over the world to study here. And because of that, so much of the "life" of Salamanca revolves around the students. It is one of the most lively cities I have ever known in all of my life- even in the cold of winter- they don't mess around here! Although it can be frustrating at times because obviously, there are times that I need to study, and listening to loud, singing groups of young people walking down below my apartment doesn't help me to concentrate, I definitely make the time to participate in the fun, too.

This weekend is officially known as Carnaval in Spain (and in many other parts of the world). From what I've seen so far, it is just like Halloween, in the respect that everyone puts on some sort of costume and goes out with their friends... the big difference is there is no candy, and no "scary" theme. Last night, (Thursday) was the Carnaval Universitaria (University Carnaval). Lucky enough, yesterday, our Friday morning class that we were supposed to have today was cancelled, so me and my friends decided to go out!! :) Finding an outfit was very easy for me because my roomate Anna and her sister dressed up as cowgirls for Halloween. She was nice enough to let me and my friend Rebecca (also American) from the Master's program use the costumes. We had a blast being American cow girls together-- to get prepared for our role, I even listened to some of my favorite country music while getting ready :) Gosh I miss it! Here are some of the pictures from last night- enjoy!:

Cristina (witch), her friend from Greece (lady bug), Elena (fortune teller), Rebecca and me

Sooooo many people dressed up like Avatar-- I loved their costumes!

This is what the streets looked like everywhere we went!

Full of students in their costumes!

Look! It's "Where's Waldo"! :)

And more and more people!

What a great night! I just love the spirit of this place!

Tomorrow, Brendan and some friends from my Master's program and I are doing a day trip to a nearby city called Ciudad Rodrigo. Apparently, it hosts the best Carnaval festivities of all of the region of Castilla y León. We're looking forward to it!! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

La Peluquería

Who would have guessed that I consider getting my hair cut one of the hardest things about living in Spain, ha ha! I know it sounds silly, but even in the U.S. I am nervous about getting my haircut somewhere that I don't know the hair dresser... so just imagine me walking into a place in Spain and trying to relax! Almost impossible, ha ha! There lots of vocabulary terms that I am unfamiliar with! Plus, I need to say that 3 years ago in Valencia I went to a place to get my hair cut and the girl went really fast and didn't do a very good job. I definitely didn't want a repeat of that because I really want my hair to be longer for my wedding day. Therefore, all I wanted today was a trim, but I also wanted to maintain the style I had with a longer layer in the back and the hair angled in the front around my face. So anyways, for the sake of any other girls and women who are like me when it comes to getting your hair cut and who may be going to Spain or living here already here is a list of words/phrases I learned today at la peluquería (hair dresser shop) in case they can every come in handy for you:

Quiero sanear las puntas= I want to trim the ends of my hair

(literally means "healthy-fy" the ends)

la raya natural = the natural part (of your hair)

escalado= angled

capas= layers

She really confused me when she asked me:

¿Te corto un dedo?= Do you want me to cut one finger?

When she held out her finger, I was imagining her cutting my hair according to the length of her finger (which would have been about 2 1/2-3 inches!!) and that scared me, ha ha! But then she clarified and said ¿Te corto un dedo o dos? and then I understood that she meant the width of her fingers.

At the end of the hair cut, she offered me the choice of having her:

secar las puntas hacia arriba= dry the ends of my hair flipping out

or

secar el pelo metido por dentro= dry the ends flipping in

¿Quieres laca?= Do you want hairspray?

In the end she did a great job and I was really happy :) I will most definitely go back to her the next time around.