I'm not sure how long I laid in bed wondering what time it was. I couldn't sleep, but I wasn't willing to get out of bed, because I had no where to go and nothing to do for several hours. I finally got up and showered, dressed and packed my bag. Didn't like it, so I unpacked it and did a better job on the repack. I was out of ways to entertain myself so I hit the streets early (by Spanish standards). At 6:45 am the only people on the streets of Salamanca were city workers, cleaning and tidying and making the place presentable. I give them credit, they keep their city clean, and they should be proud of it's cleanliness. Later in the day, they would still be at it, Cait and I saw a machine that looked like Dr. Seuss designed it. A small riding vacuum cleaner with an elephant trunk like hose that the operator moved about sucking up all offensive debris.
I eventually wandered over to Patio de Escuela, it was about 7:30. There was a young man there playing his guitar. I recognized the song he was picking, so I asked him, "Neil Young?" He smiled and said "yes", he too was german, and spoke excellent english. He was in Salamanca to study spanish, because he loved language. He'd already gone to university for law, but couldn't pass the bar exam. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, but he was sure it didn't involve law. After a while some more people showed up, and the door to Cursos Internationale was opened. It was after 8:00, so I stayed in the patio area waiting on Cait. About 8:30 I decided to walk the route towards her apartment, knowing that I'd bump into her eventually. I rounded the corner from Fe onto Vitoria and there she was crossing Rua Mayor. "Sorry I'm late, but my host mom insisted I eat breakfast on my first day of school", she said with a smile. Cait decided quickly she didn't want dad hanging around, so plans were made to meet after school at Plaza Mayor. I wandered down the street and into a cafe. A muffin and an orange juice and I was suddenly tired. I returned to my hotel room, laid on the bed next to my perfectly packed bag, and drifted off.
I awoke to the sound of conversation outside my door. Housekeeping I thought to myself, so I washed my face and grabbed my bag. "Que hora es?" I asked as I was exiting, "Diaz media" was the quick reply. Well at least I didn't snooze past check out! I settled up at the front desk and stepped out into the sunlight of mid morning in Salamanca. I went from one small shop to another, looking at books, fountain pens, custom leather work. What ever the specialty of the shop, I checked it out. A little after the noon hour, I found myself on a bench in Plaza Mayor. I just people watched, the young the old and the in between, they were all here. I closed my eyes and let the sun warm me. I got up and walked around checking out every shop in the Plaza. I was standing right in the middle of the Plaza when Caitlin came strolling up and with a big smile on her face says, "I've got about a dozen new friends!" Big relief! Another anxiety down the drain. She was to meet up with the new buds in the park around 3:30. So off to the Cursos Internationale offices to iron out the tuition problem. But the problem turned out not to be a problem, it had all been figured out before we got there. All that remained was a bit of tuition and the first month's rent with the host family, and we were out of there. Only three problems remained, the first one was lunch.
Paella, what a wonderful invention! I got a vegetable paella, Caitlin ordered the seafood. I was impressed that she was so bold, I can remember when she wouldn't even consider an onion. The next problem was a cell phone for local use, to keep the i-phone bill within reasonable limits. Outside the phone shop is where we witnessed the Seussian vacuum cleaner. With a pre-pay cell phone in hand the last problem was going to be the most daunting. This problem was mine, I had to leave Salamanca and head back to Madrid. This meant leaving my darling daughter behind, and even though I knew she was going to do just fine, I was going to miss her terribly. I gave her most of the euros in my wallet, just to handle laundry and unexpected expenses. We hugged and I told her I loved her, wishing I was more eloquent, then I sent her off to meet her new friends in the park.
I headed for the train station. I ran across the young man with the guitar while crossing a street. I told him Caitlin had mentioned meeting him, and he acknowledged the same. I offered him words of encouragement, "you know what you don't want to be, that's almost as good as knowing what you do want to be, best of luck." He smiled and was on his way, probably to the park to meet with the rest of the gang. The first available seat to Madrid was on the 8:05 pm train. This was going to offer me plenty of time to think about the last few days. I thought of a trip Caitlin and I made to New York when she was in high school. She had been studying american sign language at the time, and she tried to teach some to me on the flight. This trip was certainly a larger version of that one. Instead of sign language, it was spanish. Madrid instead of New York. I have faith she will continue to enrich my life with her talents, her style, and her smile.
In Chamartin Station I found the metro and made my way to whatever station the map showed having a Holiday Inn. I finally found it, checked in and requested a 6:00 am wake up. I lay in bed waiting for sleep and pondering something I'd noticed about Spain. Three different hotel baths and the bath in the apartment of Cait's host family, they all sported bidets. What's up with that!?! Is it a cultural thing?!
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