Full time student

This week marks the start of my 4th week here in Salamanca (and Spain), which means I'm half way through this part of the visit as I have a total of 6 weeks in Salamanca. It also means, I began extra classes on Monday. I am now at school for 6 hours of normal class and 1 hour of cultural class each day. Makes for a long and tiring day, limited time to explore and visit monuments and places of interest, and do my homework. There is definitely no time for a siesta! I also walk approx. 2 hours most days between walking to and from school twice per day and other rambling and wandering around the city. I may just have to go back to the days of no sleep to fit it all in!

Being a full time student has it's own challenges due to sensory overload. Just when I was starting to feel comfortable and understand more, I've increased my classes with the affect that I'm feeling lost in translation. I have sometimes likened being in a non-English speaking country as like standing beside a waterfall. All you can hear is the roar of the water when you want to listen to the bird songs. Being is Spain is a bit like that for me currently. I'm hearing the rush of Spanish around me all the time, with occasional experiences of fully understanding what's being said. I was beginning to hear more and more bird song (Spanish) until I increased my classes and now feel like I can't hear anything! I think the strain of adjusting to an extra level of formal classes etc, has been a bit difficult for my middle-aged brain (yes I am middle-aged even if I don't act like it!) Like all adjustments, I just have to keep going, give it time and enjoy the journey. At least the sun is shining and Tango (the dog) enjoys hugs.