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Me with Francisco de Vitoria
Near the convent of the Ursulinas
Plaza mayor
Cathedral (Salamanca, Spain)La Tuna
When I say "tuna", I'm not talking about fish. I'm talking about the traditional groups of very cute guy students (each faculty has its own group, represented by a different colour) who dress in 17th Century minstrel costumes and play old Spanish tunes in public places. They're very talented (both musically, and in the fun stunts they perform), and always attract crowds. I had a thing for one tuna in particular - the Tuna de Medicina de Salamanca (the U of Salamanca's medicine faculty tuna). They played every weeknight at an outdoor cafe in the Plaza Mayor.
The tunos (members of a tuna) are always charming, friendly, and very flirty. When they're playing a song, the lead singer/tambourine player often pulls a girl up and dances with her (I got pulled up once). One of the bandurria (instrument similar to a lute) players in the Med faculty tuna literally made me weak in the knees whenever he sang a solo. What a beautiful voice he had! *swoon*. The accordion player was also quite the cutie. One night, after their little "show", a few members of this tuna sang a few songs to me and my Mexican friend, and I felt like swooning the whole time!
Whenever the tunas sing to a girl, the girl also has to kiss every one of the tunos on the cheek to thank them, and the tunos often use this opportunity to do silly things to attract attention. The tuna sang to me individually twice. On my birthday and on my last night. On my birthday, they got me to stand on a chair (they often do this to the girls they sing to), and while they were getting ready to sing, the cute bandurria player started playing a little tune and singing to me "Que guapa, que guapa, que guapa..." (how gorgeous you are). Then, they sang me Happy Birthday in Spanish.
On my last night, I wanted them to sing to me but I was too shy to ask, so my professor asked them. They then put me on a chair, and serenaded me with the most romantic love song! It was the song I had wanted them to sing to me. In the middle of the song, they all got down on one knee for me, and the whole crowd clapped. Before and after singing to me, the lead singer kept making flirty comments on the short skirt I was wearing. I even have a picture of him kneeling down with his arms wrapped around my legs! Being serenaded by my favorite tuna was the perfect grand finale for an amazing trip!
Viva la tuna!
