We Made It!

After a harrowing week of bureaucratic hoop jumping and nerve-frazzling dealings with airlines and travel agents, we have arrived in Salamanca. This morning we flew into snow-covered Madrid, hopped a bus that had been contracted by the program and made the two-hour drive to our new place of residence. Of course, it didn't seem like two hours to me because I was getting the first shut-eye I'd had in 24 hours. Truth be told, I'm still dragging. But I digress.

We have a great little apartment here, probably the nicest we've ever stayed in abroad. In retrospect, the seedy hotel we stayed at in Argentina was a rat hole. I'm surprised that the only thing I contracted from that building was a case of athlete's foot. Especially compared to the real professors -- I was only a grad student --, who were in this posh, uptown place, Janine and I felt like we had gotten the shaft on living accommodations; but, then again, we were in Argentina and it was paid for by someone other than me. The Querétaro apartment this summer was nice. It had a real bathroom, real kitchen, real bed (all improvements over the Argentina hole). But our current place is really posh, and we're pretty pleased.

Once we got settled in, we decided not to sleep so as not to prolong the jetlag. So we sleepily meandered through the streets in search of the one, true Spanish treat: chocolate and churros. Everyone should know what churros are (long, fried doughnut-like straws of carbohydrate loveliness). But the hot chocolate here is distinct and, therefore, intriguing. It's akin to think chocolate pudding. When you dip a churro into it, the churro comes out coated with a tasty layer of chocolate goodness. The flavor is much more subtle than Mexican chocolate, but the consistency is great. Nothing better on a 20 degree afternoon than a cup of chocolaty mud coating your throat and belly. You'll be hearing more about this tasty combo in the near future.