David: Spain Trip - Day 14

Sofia & Manu talking at the TIE Spain exchange farewell banquet

The Spain TIE exchange is coming closer and closer to till end. And on top of things my converter blew out this morning so I can't charge my laptop or anything else I own besides my iPhone since Manu has what I need to charge it. I'm without a razor though, so I might be a little grizzly when I come back. 

Today we went to the school for the whole school day and went to classes and played with the younger kids in the school. Connor and I were assigned to a classroom of four year olds and for about 30 minutes we played blocks and attempted to start a domino line, but it kept getting knocked down by the kids after we put up more than four. After the class Connor, James, Matt, and myself played basketball outside for a few hours to kill time before we went downtown. I slowly was getting my shot back and for those that don't know, yes, I used to be an athlete, but these days I'm 100% for TKFV, music, fashion, and I guess school can be cool too... sometimes.

Connor

Pooja, Becca, & the little kids at the school

When school was finished, Manu and I went downtown to meet up with Connor. Manu and Sofia had to work on their presentation for the farewell banquet tonight, so Connor and I had a little time to ourselves to just hangout and relax. The weather wasn't that nice out later today so we went to a bar to just sit, talk, and watch the soccer games that were on... and for the parents reading here on TKFV, going to bars is just a part of what kids do here in Spain. People simply go to just hangout with friends or watch a big sporting event. Seems like everyday we've been going to bars, but parents we are the most amazing kids in the world and you have nothing to worry about :). Anyway after Manu and Sofia were done we met up with Lucia, Amanda, and our friend Maria. We were with each other for a few minutes and then we went to the farewell banquet.

At the farewell banquet, Manu and Sofia began their speech talking about memories and things we experienced in both Vermont and Salamanca. At the end every Spanish student talked about their American students and gave us a gift. Manu gave me churros (a Spanish food that's really good) and a University of Salamanca hoodie, which I've wanted this whole trip. So Manu if you're reading this, thank you for everything you have been the best host anyone could ask for!

After the banquet we had our dinner. I was munching on the churros for a bit earlier so I was a little full, but I was still able to eat when I was there. The whole time we just socialized with each other as a big group and had a good time. 

Me & Sofia

Gonzalo & I

After dinner Gonzalo, Sofia, Manu, Santi, Alyssa, James, Jose Juan, Matt, Cristina, Sarah, and our friend Kata went downtown to the same bar we were at last night with the pool table. I sat and watched Real Madrid win seven nothing and then I completely destroyed in fusbol and got destroyed in pool. One more full day to go and I hope it ends up being a good one. I really am going to miss everyone here. It's going to be hard finally leaving. But for now I'm signing off. I can't charge my computer and now I'm down to 60% battery life. Just enough to hopefully do another one tomorrow.

The end of the game

Santi

Adios!

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David: Spain Trip - Day 8

Salamanca at night

Today was by far the best day that I've had while I've been in Spain. The day started off kind of boring and slow, but it got a lot better as it went on. To start, we went to a farm where they raise bulls to be used in bull fights and cows to breed them or be killed for food. I probably could've phrased all of that a little better, but that's roughly a summary of what goes on at the farm. There were hundreds of acres and different sections where they kept different cows and bulls. Unfortunately the tour got a little boring after seeing the same animals, scenery, and poop piles for an hour.

Bullring

Bulls

More bulls

Cows

After the tour was finally done, Manu and myself rested a bit before we went downtown. Once we were done resting we met up a group of kids, both American and Spanish. We started off with our friends Sofia, Alyssa, Matt, Rachel, Lucia, Amanda, and James and just walked around for awhile checking out a little more of downtown Salamanca. By the end of the night we were easily with a group of 20 or more. And at one point it was 4 guys and 14 girls which was definitely a highlight to my evening :) haha. While we were downtown we began at our friend Alba's (who is a part of the exchange) father's bar. Afterwards we began to walk around and I was able to meet a lot of new people (which is always what I look forward to on any trip I go on). We stopped in a few other bars and just hung out and had a good time. At the end of the night I was talking to my new friends Maria, Celia, and Marta. They taught James and myself some dirty Spanish words and sentences and some Spanish songs. So parents reading this back at home... We are learning so much Spanish haha. Afterwards everyone left and Manu and myself got some pizza again and now I'm at his house watching the NBA All Star game that I missed while he's passed out on the couch. Adios everyone! Tomorrow should be the busiest day of them all!

The Cathedral

Lucia & Sofia

Rachel & Matt

Food at a bakery we stopped at

Manu eating pizza at the end of the night

P.S. - I am officially a part of the family :)

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David: Spain Trip - Day 6

Myself & Sofia

Before I get into day 6, I'd like to write a personal message to my parents because the picture above is the first picture I've put of myself on TKFV while I've been out in Spain. So mom and dad I am alive and well with no scratches on my face as you can see. 

ANYWAY, we started the day much like yesterday (at least the going to school part). We went to school, I fell asleep in philosophy class, attempted to take a test that I couldn't understand, went to technical drawing class, had a brain fart in technical drawing class, and then we went to play a game called, padel (which is a game much like tennis).

Younger kids in the playground

Dani

Manu in technical drawing class

My friend James and myself were partners for the day and we tried to play our friends Matt and Connor two times, but kept getting moved around every time we tried to play them. By the end we finally got our match, but unfortunately we lost 21-19 thanks to James hitting the ball out of bounds. Way to go James haha. After we finished playing padel we all went outside to eat lunch... on the pavement while it was easily in the high 70s today. I had a ham sandwich (and by the way the ham in Spain is ten times better than the ham in the United States) and a drink, which was quickly made warm by the sun. And after that I played soccer, which made things even worse for me haha. But I was on the winning team with 5 Americans verses 3 Spaniards... not fair I know, but they are ten times better than us. After we played soccer I had to rush to the sink to drink the tap water to cool down and then we got on the bus to head back to the school to get picked up to go home.

Padel

Connor at lunch

A few hours later Manu and myself went to our friend Lucia's really big house to eat merienda (which is Spanish for snack and the meal between lunch and dinner). We brought a few pastries for the party and everyone else that came brought food too. I ate A LOT and now I'm sitting here poking at my stomach I built up tonight. On the bright side of things though all the food was good. I have to clap for all the vegetarians from America on this trip because it definitely is not easy to be one in Spain.

Half of Lucia's house

Cristina & Gonzalo

Some of the food from tonight

After Lucia's we went home, where I am typing out this blog post on Manu's couch right now. We ate dinner, which in Spain is a lot later than it is in the United States. We didn't sit down at the table until maybe 10:30PM and I had bread and palete (the front leg of the pig). Manu's parents are yelling at us now though, so I'm off to bed. Adios TKFV!

Manu and the palete

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David: Spain Trip - Day 5

Manu in his kitchen

I had to wake up at 7 today... but the whole being 18 and it being my birthday made it worth it. I started the day off normally with cereal, toast, and Spanish coffee. Then I went to Manu's school for the first time and struggled listening to what was going on in every class, but I made some new friends and somehow stayed awake the whole time.

Math class

After our classes we were introduced to a small group of teachers and students. Manu said some words about me in Spanish that I hope were good because I couldn't really understand anything he was saying, but oh well haha.

From there we left school and relaxed at Manu's house until we left to go meet up with our friends, Luis, Connor, Austin, and Fermin. We walked around for a bit and we helped get Connor a jacket that he had been wanting the whole trip and then met up with the rest of our friends at a bar downtown to watch the UEFA Champions League match between Real Madrid and Lyon. Manu and his family got me a Real Madrid jersey for my birthday and the game, but unfortunately the game ended up tied 1-1.

My new Real Madrid jersey 

The game on TV

The bar

(From left to right) Amanda, Luis, & Sarah

Luna

(From left to right) Sofia, Lucia, & Rachel 

Rachel & Luna

At the end of the game I was getting a little hungry so Manu, myself, Sarah, and our friends Matt, Jose Juan, and Cristina all went to get pizza at a place around the corner. I learned how to say bacon in spanish... Bacon. And I shared a bacon and pepperoni pizza. It was better than I expected it would be. And after we were done, Manu and myself went home and now I'm about to go to bed to start day 6 tomorrow!

Jose Juan & Matt

Cristina 

Bacon & Pepperoni pizza

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