Extracurricular activities 01.02.2016 - 07.02.2016

We suggest various fun ways to continue improving your Spanish through our extracurricular activities. We´re also organizing a party to celebrate the Carnaval!

Take a look at everything we´re offering this week.

Monday, February 1, 18:20h: Urban art exhibit – We´re going to take a walk around La Plaza del Oeste to look at the art that can be found on every corner. Garage doors have become the perfect canvas for young artists, which will surely move you.

You can find out about the artwork in this neighborhood by visiting this link: http://galeriaurbanasalamanca.es/

Time: 1 hour

Tuesday, February 2, 16:55h: Dance class – This week, we´ll learn the basic steps of Latin dancing. We´ll be the best ones on the dance floor!

Time: 1 hour

Wednesday, February 3, 15:45h: Horseback riding – We´ll go horseback riding in the countryside where the cowboys roam. A unique experience that you can´t miss!

Sign up by Tuesday, February 2 to reserve a spot.

Thursday, February 4, 17:00h: Paddle tennis – Professor Pablo will accompany us to play a game of paddle tennis.

Time: 1 hour

Friday, February 5, 18:30h: Carnaval – We´re going to celebrate Carnaval at Tía Tula! We´ll wait for you in full costume. If you don´t have a costume, don´t worry, we´ll help you think of ideas. :)

Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Saturday, February 6 and Sunday, February 7: Trips – This weekend, we suggest checking out the carnavals in Cádiz, or taking a trip to Ciudad Rodrigo or La Alberca.

Please check with the school office for more information. 

We´d like to remind you that it´s necessary to sign up for each activity in order to reserve a spot; a minimum of 3 people is normally required. The meeting point is always Tía Tula, unless we inform you otherwise. 

The activities are not only for having fun (that´s a guarantee). They´re also meant for you to improve your knowledge of the culture in Salamanca and Spain, and to use the Spanish that you learn in class.

Activities 24/02 - 01/03

It´s that time of year again for Ciudad Rodrigo´s annual bull carnival! Although the carnival, which differs in activities from place to place, is held in different places all over Spain, Ciudad Rodrigo´s Bull carnival is said to be one of the oldest. 

The carnival includes: bulls running through the streets driven by men on horses, bull fights with capes, brass bands, fancy dress and people dancing.

If you are interested in going and joining in, the company Viamar organizes a bus trip for only €15,-. Wear your best costume and come along!

Ya estamos todos aquí

con muchísima ilusión
la alegría empieza ya
al llegar el Carnaval

La campana gorda que en la torre
colocaron de la catedral,
volverán a fundirla de nuevo
porque dicen que suena muy mal

Eso dicen por ahí
no sabemos si será
la alegría empieza ya
al llegar el Carnaval

We have our own costume party at the school on friday as well, in case you are not able to go to Rodrigo.


Below you can find our other activities during the week:

Monday 24, 17.30: Movie – Take this opportunity to practice your spanish by watching a movie with us. 

Tuesday 25, 18.00: Play some games with us in the bar Al caraván. This is a nice opportunity to practice your spanish meanwhile. You´ll only have to pay your own consumption.

Wednesday 26, 17.00: Play with us a game of basketball, if the weather allows us.  

Thursday 27, 17.30: Fotographic competition, you ´ll receive a subject or theme and we all will make pictures. The one with the most beautiful picture will win and will see his/her picture back on our facebookpage.

Friday 28, 20.00: costume party, celebrate carnival with us, we will wait for you in your most beautiful costume!

Saturday 1, Carnival of the bull (€15,-) Or Oporto (Portugal €69,-) with the company Viamar. Sign up for this activity before thursday 14:00, for more information about the excursions ask our colleagues from the reception.

Remember to sign up for the activity at the reception beforehand (the minimum number of people needed for each activity is 3). If the cost is not stated then the activity is free. We recommend that our students participate in the activities so they can get to know other students in the school, so they can broaden their knowledge of Spanish culture and to practice and improve their Spanish in a fun way.

Carnaval del Toro in Ciudad Rodrigo

On Saturday we went with a group of 8 students of Tía Tula to ‘el carnaval de Ciudad Rodrigo’. It was amazing! A lot of people were dressed up in a really original way, so for us it was an nice opportunity to take lots of pictures.

I think it’s amazing how the people who were at the event were dressed. I really loved the group which consisted of dices and other casino accessories! The second best dressed group for me were the price tags! They showed so much enthusiasm and be honest, who of you would ever think about dressing as a price tag during the period of sales?

The donuts were also pretty cool, but I felt a bit sorry for them, because I’m sure that it was so hard to walk with the box around them. I do admire them though because they really stood there as a team.

The people in the third picture were really like a big family. I’m not sure I counted right, but I think they were a group of 21 persons. I saw them walking on the street, and they all seemed so happy. The kids were also incredibly proud walking around in their cute little suit.

 

I would give the price of the most funny duo to the 2 ‘abuelitas’ (= grandmothers). When our group was looking for some food during the afternoon, we spotted them dancing and entertaining all the people around them! We just adored them!

Next to all the people who were dressed as those amazing characters, we also saw a bull fight and for the most of us, it was the first time that we saw something like that!

 

Four bulls were killed during the fight that lasted almost 2 hours. Every time the animal was dead people started cheering of happiness. It felt a little weird for us, because we actually felt sorry for the bull, but we could have expected that on beforehand! We surely don’t regret going though!

 

After the fights they also let some bulls running freely through the streets and when that happened, people went crazy! We didn’t stay for watching them because we had to take our last bus home.

 

In the bus there were a lot of Spanish students singing and laughing, so it was actually a nice ride home too.

I’d like to thank all the students who came for making this day so amazing!

 

The month of San Fermin

July, the month of San Fermin and the San Fermin festival, is officially over. We do not want to miss the perfect opportunity to write something about this event, like most of the foreign students who come to Spain. Surely it is one of the biggest festivals among Spanish festivals: Fallas of Valencia, the April Fair in Seville, the Carnival of Cadiz and the Canaries, the Spanish and Andalusian Holy Week ...

It may be a better way to refer to a student, who went to see the San Fermin festival this year, to know the details of the event. Here it is!

It was dark. It was noisy. I felt  ringing in my head. The noise grew, still in the bus station. Of course - it was my first night of San Fermin...

My first week in Salamanca passed like a gust of wind. I came across many things - The celebration at the Plaza mayor after EURO 2012, the first class in Tía tula with many U.S. students... but nothing were like the trip Pamplona!

As soon as I saw the poster, I decided to go there. I had to go! I talked to people, but no one would come with me - Although everyone finally joined when the trip was coming to an end.

The trip lasted only 24 hours, the round trip. But I will remember it forever. We danced wearing white and red. A wave of white and red on the streets of Pamplona - that was the first day of San Fermin! The fireworks were spectacular, guys were playing Croquette (a competition between drunks on the top of a ladder!) Bands played music and there were wines everywhere!

We partied until 3 in the morning and then slept in the station - my friend told me I was talking in his dream in Spanish!

There are pictures I do not remember when they were taken - but life is long. and I'm young. I may return one day with my children, to teach them about the festivals in Spain!

Cameron K. S. (a student of Tía tula from Sweden)

Bull carnaval-Ciudad Rodrigo.

It´s that time of year again for Ciudad Rodrigo´s annual bull carnival! Although the carnival, which differs in activities from place to place, is held in different places all over Spain, Ciudad Rodrigo´s Bull carnival is said to be one of the oldest. 

The carnival includes, naming a few things: bulls running through the streets driven by men on horses, bull fights with capes, brass bands, fancy dress and people dancing.

Many students from the University of Salamanca go to the city every year, just to see the carnival which starts on the 17/02/12 and ends on the 21/02/12. 

If you are interested in going and joining in, on the Tía tula information board in the school, there is a coach trip that will take you there. For more information on prices etc. please consult the notice board.