Ultimate Day!

Last weekend I went to a frisbee tournament held in Salamanca, Spain! It was a hat tournament, meaning that everyone who signs up, gets sorted onto teams based on ability and then the teams play. This was especially great for me because I got to meet a lot of people and practice my Spanish a lot! The Quimera Ultimate Salamanca team did a fabulous job organizing the tournament and other activities and kept the price to a nice 5€! The tournament was called Ultimate Day; a little play on the Mayan theory of the last day of the world (ultimate) and ultimate frisbee. Clever, but not really relavent just yet... The bus ride from Granada to Madrid to Salamanca was a tough 8-9 hour ride but totally worth it in my opinion! We arrived in Salamanca on Friday afternoon, settled in, and went out for a few drinks and tapas. When nearly everyone had arrived we got more drinks and then went on a tour of the city's highlights (the city was really beautiful, but unfortunately I broke my camera two days before I left, so the only pictures I have are from my friend's camera). After that we separated into our teams for the weekend and had to do a scavenger hunt around the city. Unfortunately we didn't realize that none of the other teams were meandering through the tasks and not stopping for drinks, so we came in last :( Then everyone went to this really fun bar and danced!

Ironically my team had the most foreigners on it (with only 4 Spaniards, and 5 students (all American, except for 1 German)). Regardless, we still had to speak Spanish because the Spanish players didn't speak English. Our team name was: Jakaltekos; which I'm pretty sure doesn't mean anything, it's just a random word...

My team!

Anyway, the games were really fun and surprisingly my team played really well. Everyone had a bit of experience, but unlike the other teams we had no big handler to help us out. I even handled for some of the games! It was soo nice playing in a tournament again and I've decided to try and play as much as I can while I'm in Spain. After 6 games the first day, we were all super exhausted and went to this awesome wok buffet place for dinner. At first I was really nervous talking to all the Spanish players but as the day went on I think I talked to nearly every single person at the tournament (about 80 people total, it was quite a feat!)

The next morning it was raining lightly but we had to finish the tournament. My team somehow made it to the championships but then lost. Oh well. I had a really great time playing and became good friends with the other students on my team. Two of them are studying in Madrid, one in Sevilla, and the other in Salamanca!

The team we lost to in the finals :(

One weird thing about the tournament (or maybe because this was a hat tournament) was the crazy amout of spirit / friendliness (not really sure how to describe it). After every game we would all line up, just like how we would at home, but instead of highfives, we did the kisses on the cheeks. Now I'm all about the kisses on the cheeks, but not after everyone is all sweaty and gross! The worst was when you would see a guy with a thick beard and it would touch your cheek and there would be actual wetness on your skin. Eww! We also did spirit circles after every game and one person from each team would reflect on the game and then say how everyone really enjoyed the competition. It was really nice at first, but after the first two circles it was often hard to find new things to say, and ended up getting awkward. After the spirit circles the teams would always play some game together like ninja, mini tank etc.

After the championship, awards were given to the winners, the most spirited and MVP. Somehow I was nominated for MVP and actually won it. But it was so awkward because everything was said in Spanish, I didn't even realize what I was being nominated for; I was just told to stand in the center of everyone while people cheered for whoever they wanted. Then they called my name and I just like smiled around and only after I asked my friend who spoke Spanish, what the heck was happening did I understand.

All of us who were nominated for MVP!

After a most welcome shower and a delicious tortilla bocadillo, it was time to get back on the bus for the ride home. I ended up getting home around 3am on Monday only to wake up for class a few hours later (it sucked), but to me it was definitely worth it. I met soo many great people who all have a pasion for ultimate, and so many of the players were so nice to me when I tried/struggled to talk to them. I really like the ultimate community here, and have already signed up for two more tournaments!

Friends from the Granada team who also came to the tournament! 

This weekend (tomorrow) I am going to Madrid, Toledo, and Avila with UConn, and I'm already planning on spending time with my new frisbee friends who are studying there! I love Spain!