Día de Compras
17 de Julio
We started of Thursday just like any other day, by heading to our classes at the university. During our first class which happens to be grammar, we received our final exam grades back. The university's grading system is a bit different than ours back in the United States. Instead of receiving a numerical grade we are given a letter grade based on our overall achievement on the exam. Our final grade for the class though, is composed of the average of our participation, homework and exam grades. After we received our grades, we participated in a debate (in Spanish of course). The class was divided and the two sides argued about whether it is better to live in a city (un ciudad) or a small town (un pueblo). Both sides had valid points and it was an overall fun experience. In our conversation class, we finished presenting our final exam oral presentations and began some new activities. In our final class of the day, culture, we learned about festivals that take place in Spain. Some of them include, Fiesta de la Tomatina and La Semana Santa. La Tomatina takes place in Buñol, a town in Valencia, annually. People line up on the streets and wait for the trucks with the smooshed tomatoes to come by, and when the trucks finally come, those waiting are bombarded with tomatoes! There are many legends about the origin of the fiesta, but people say that it began when a crowd threw tomatoes at a bad singer. From then on youth have continued the tradition. La Semana Santa is a festival that takes place during Holy Week throughout Spain, but the main ones take place in Málaga and Seville. A "brotherhood" from each church traditionally carries "pasos" or floats around the city, while wearing the traditional costumes for as much as 10-16 hours! After our classes we had a free afternoon to shop for souvenirs and explore Salamanca, before we left for Madrid on Fiday.
