Days 56 – 61: Our Last Week in Salamanca

Because our experience at The English School had been a rewarding one and we felt that we got more out of it than we had given, we decided to bestow a little parting gift to the school. We picked a few pictures from our time in the States (since it is an English-speaking country and the gift was for an English school) and got them printed at a local print shop before class on Monday. Our plan was to frame the pictures before giving them. The pictures we selected were of Henry the Fish, Palace of Fine Arts, Grand Canyon West, and Monument Valley.

We wanted to watch the movie IT  as well and the only reasonable times it was playing in English was during the day so after a spicy Chinese lunch at the local mall, we went to see the movie. It was entertaining and despite my scare threshold being quite high, I still felt compelled to send my little (27-year-old) brother a message, cautioning him against talking to strangers – especially ones dressed like clowns. He was a good sport and humored me by agreeing. Sometimes, little siblings aren’t so pesky 🙂

After class, we had dinner at our favourite taco stand across the street and then headed to Walmart. We picked out some simple black frames and then framed them the same night so we could present them on the following day. When we got to the school on Tuesday, Clarita, the office manager was there so we gave the pictures to her. She was very appreciative and also surprised us with a sweet little gift – a traditional Mexican doll for the day Phil and I cease to live a nomadic life and decide to have a home.

 

 

 

On Thursday, we hung around at the school after class until 9:00 PM because Clarita got her mom to make a big pot of pozole before Phil and I left for Mexico City. We had dinner at the school with the same crew that we had curry night at Ivan’s with the week before. How was the pozole, you ask? In a word – AMAZING. Following dinner was a pie of peaches and cream goodness. We were gluttonous that night and ate far more than humans were meant to, but not a single bite was regretted.

 

 

The evening was a great one, filled with jokes and laughter. Saying good-bye at the end of the night was sad because we have met and befriended some incredible people in Salamanca. When you’re on the road and dream to see the world, the only place you can realistically expect to return to someday is home, so while we can’t promise to be back to Salamanca, we know for a fact that we will never forget our time here.

We want to thank Ivan, Clarita, all the teachers at the school, the students we had conversations with, and our hosts – Dolores and Isaias – for welcoming us to your city and showering us with immeasurable generosity and kindness during our time here.