Friday was our second excursion: this time we would be learning traditional flamenco dancing from one of the most prestigious dance schools in all of Valladolid. Our flamenco teacher was a professional flamenco dancer who taught at the school. She didn’t speak any English, but she used lots of hand motions and demonstrated the steps with her body so everyone was able to follow along.
I never realized how challenging flamenco was. Steve and I have taken salsa dancing classes together, and we caught on to the steps very quickly. However, flamenco is not a partner dance, and a great majority of the movement is in the stomping of the feet. It is definitely the type of dance you need to wear heels for. She also taught us words that are specific to flamenco dancing and don’t actually translate into English. Tacon meant to tap your heel to the ground and golpe meant to stomp your whole foot. It was like learning how to dance and learning a new language all at once.
We went out to lunch after flamenco dancing, and then relaxed until 5:00 when we jumped on a train to go to Salamanca for the weekend. Salamanca is a city that is about an hour from Valladolid that is known for being home to the third oldest university in all of Europe: Universidad de Salamanca. I fell asleep on the train (like I always do) and Lily, Ethan, and Kyle had some fun taking pictures with me while I was asleep.
We finally arrived in Salamanca, and we split two rooms in a cheap hotel among 10 people (5 per room). We had to sleep sideways across two twin beds pushed together but it worked out fine, and that evening we went out to a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant that specialized in pizzas.
I’m sorry I’ve been slacking about updating the blog everyday, but I’m catching up slowly but surely! Keep posted. Ciao!
Anna-phylactic Shock 