Salamanca at Last!!

Luckily for me Salamanca is completely different than Madrid. Salamanca is another beautiful city, but it is a lot smaller and safer feeling. It still has a city feel, but without all the hustle and bustle and craziness that Madrid had. I still wouldn't really call Salamanca "welcoming" though. This is only because Spaniards are so direct. My professors here actually make fun of how "polite" Americans are when they are speaking Spanish. This is funny to me because I feel like Americans have the stereotype to by rude and always on the go. Spaniards definitely have a more relaxed attitude towards life than Americans; I mean they literally shut their shops down from 2-6 for lunch and siesta everyday. And they never seem to be in a hurry while walking. But when it comes to asking someone for something in a restaurant or buying a movie ticket, please, may I, and thank you are never required. You say I want (this), or give me (that). It feels so rude to me. Also, everyone wants to be talked to in the "tu" form this is the informal "you" form. This is strange for me because it is respectful in other countries to talk to someone in the "Ud." form, the formal you form. But here it is almost disrespectful because you are basically calling them old. These things are all going to take some getting use to, but I think after 9 months here I should have the hang of it.