Fun filled weekend

Yesterday was a pretty packed day. I had classes in the morning and then after classes I heard from a friend in the group that there were free open houses and tours because of the festival going on. So we go to see several places that we wouldn't normally have gotten to see, which was really cool. Here are some pictures:

This is the entrance to an apartment in the Plaza that we were able to go into. It was so nice, and had a really nice view of the plaza, I can't even imagine how much a place like that must cost.

The next set of pictures is of the old university building at the University of Salamanca, where my classes are. The University is about 800 years old, and is the oldest University in Spain, and it might even be the oldest in Europe. Usually you have to pay to go in, but yesterday they had it open to the public for free.

My favorite room was the old library. So pretty.

The picture could be better but you can kind of get the idea.

An old classroom.

A church inside the old school building.


Then, later that day, I went to a bullfight with my two roommates. I wasn't sure I wanted to go at first because I don't like that they kill the bulls, but I figured if I'm in Spain I should experience it because it's such a well known part of Spanish culture. It wasn't as bad as it could have been in terms of the bulls dying because in most cases it's pretty quick, but we ended up leaving halfway through anyway since we had seen what we came to see. But what we did see was pretty eventful. At one point one of the matadors (it was actually one of the guys who comes out first before the featured matador but I don't know if they have a specific title) had to jump over the side of the ring because the bull started chasing him. Then one of the bulls knocked over a horse and the ride had to jump off and then get the horse standing again. After watching for awhile I started to appreciate how fearless the matadors have to be to stand right next to a running bull and not flinch. I didn't get pictures that were that great, but here are a few anyway:

The arena from outside.

The view from our seats.

The two girls I live with, Kayla and Jessica.

The procession at the beginning.

The later in the night, a bunch of us went to the fair that is going on. It was really fun! I went on a really fun ride and ate a chocolate covered churro filled with something sweet (not sure what it was exactly). We didn't stay for too long, but I had fun. I don't have many pictures of this because I forgot my camera and only have a few from friends.

Today hasn't been nearly as exciting as yesterday, I've basically just stayed at home all day, but I'm going out later tonight with some of the girls in the group so that should be fun. There are always a lot of people out in the streets, I think especially now because of the festival. It still surprises me how late people stay out, even with their kids. It's normal to see young kids still out with their parents around midnight.