WEBVTT

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In the US, it's not
the culture to go abroad to study.

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But my mom said,
"Oh, well, you can go to Spain."

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And I was an 18-year-old kid, you know.

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And it was just like this…
It was like an adventure.

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I don't know exactly when things got so

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fucking bad.

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When I moved to Spain,

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I was the youngest kid in my program.

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American college students
who were studying abroad in Spain.

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I studied abroad in Sevilla.

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-Sevilla.
-Sevilla.

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After I got to Spain, we were saying,
"Oh, let's go on a trip."

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¡Hola!

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Discover Excursions was recommended.

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We were adults for the first time.

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Looking at the photos
from that time, we were so vulnerable.

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Something bad happened.
I don't have the language for it.

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She called me, hysterical crying.

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Like, what the hell happened?

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I never would've imagined
what was happening.

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It was happening for years.

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I think it was
like 50 people towards the end.

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I was like, "Wow, this is wild."

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You feel like you were in the room
with the devil.

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My name's Gabrielle Vega.
I am 30 years old.

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I'm the oldest of three girls.

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I grew up in a normal suburb in the US

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We got bicycles,
and we were always outside.

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It was just, like, a sweet childhood.

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I'm a horsey, Mom.

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My father is a first-generation American.

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My mom's from New Jersey.

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My family has no Spanish roots.

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But my husband's side
has deep roots in Spain.

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His grandparents were from Asturias.

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My parents really loved
the idea of me going back to Spain

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and reconnecting
with the origin story of the family.

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That's it.

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I remember the night before,
I was packing my bag,

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and I was by myself, and I

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was getting really sentimental.

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I had started writing letters.

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I think that's the only letter
she's maybe ever written to me.

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It was meaningful.

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We knew she was excited,
and she really wasn't afraid.

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And so it was, you know…

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It was a happy thing
for us to send her off.

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I think my dad, I don't wanna say regrets,

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but wishes that he taught me…
taught us Spanish when we were younger.

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He was looking at where
could I learn the purest form of Spanish.

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And so he was like,
"Oh, it's in Salamanca."

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So that's kind of why
I decided to go there.

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I don't know. I just felt like
the world kind of just opened up,

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and I was just gonna do whatever I could.

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I knew nothing about Salamanca.

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It's really, really beautiful,
and you learn the little things about…

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You meet under the clock
when meeting your friends in the plaza.

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That's where you go to meet.

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And you just set the time,
get there, whatever.

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I didn't know how to drink.
I didn't know how to behave.

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I was on my own for the first time.
I didn't speak the language.

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It was so new.

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But I remember living there and feeling

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like it was the first time
I saw color in my life.

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So I really loved it.

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And tried to immerse myself
as much as I could.

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UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA

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I was with kids
who were probably 21, 22, 23.

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We were thinking about all the trips
'cause Europe is packed.

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And so I was like, "Oh, I could go
to France or Morocco, go to Africa."

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And we're like,
"Well, Africa, I don't know."

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But you could go, and that would be great.

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I had always known that was one
of the trips that I really wanted to take,

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just because it was so foreign.

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Discover Excursions
was known across our group.

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I knew they went to Morocco.
It seemed like tons of kids had done it.

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Are you looking for a fun
and easy way to travel to Morocco?

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Come with Discover Excursions
on a safe and eye-opening trip.

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Ride on a camel.

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Try delicious food.

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And enjoy sun-filled days
in miles of endless desert.

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Trust us. You'll be surprised
by what you'll experience in Africa.

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Do more than travel. Discover.

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We were just the market for it,
for that company.

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It was like, "Oh, well, you wanna go
to Morocco? This is the company."

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They had all the marketing.
They had pictures of all of us.

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Little American kids going.

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Yeah, I mean, it was…
Discover Excursions was a legit business.

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Welcome.

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We're open Monday through Friday,
10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. No siestas for us.

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It was very professional.
It was pretty affordable.

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But it was also very much this kind of…

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fun, sort of like young environment.

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It was young tour guides.

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And kids from my program,
we all kind of decided to go together.

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They organized the trip.

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The days were planned.
You had an itinerary, and it was like…

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I think it was a group of 200.
It was a huge group of kids that went.

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I think it was two buses or something.
It was a lot of us.

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I remember telling us
she was gonna go to Morocco.

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So we were like, "Oh, this is great."

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And I know she was excited.

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We basically went to Morocco.

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And we went around
the northern part of the country.

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Wow!

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Oh my God!

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I remember being really impressed
at how beautiful it was.

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There were these mountains
that were really incredible.

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The architecture
being extremely different.

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The main tour guide,
my impression, was Manuel.

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I remember Manuel

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talking to all of us on the bus.

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Standing up at the front and talking about

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how we're gonna have a great time,
do X, Y, and Z.

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He seemed friendly and warm
and kind of like an excitable person.

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Probably in their early 30s, late 20s.

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He seemed like a nice guy
who was gonna show us around

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and was really excited we were there.

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We went to the Blue City.

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I went to the markets
that were really incredible.

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I remember being almost overcome
by the aggression of these salesmen.

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I was with my friends,
and we were excited by the whole thing.

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Because it was like
we were in this different world.

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And they spoke every language.

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They spoke French, English, Spanish.
It was like… It was overwhelming.

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The smells were overwhelming.
And not in a bad way. It was just like…

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It was like I was
in this really new place.

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I think it was Saturday.
And that was the last night of the trip.

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Hello, little kitty.

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It's so pretty.

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They wanted us to feel comfortable
the whole time we were there, you know?

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And they emphasized safety.

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"Morocco's not super safe.
You guys should stay inside."

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"There's a bar at the hotel on the…"

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I think it was the top floor of the hotel.

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"We can go up there
if you guys wanna drink."

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"It's best if you don't go outside."

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"At night here, it can be sketchy,
and there's a big group of us."

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We were all encouraged
to stay in the hotel that night.

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And we went to the bar.
Me, Ashley, and Nicole.

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We were staying in a room together.
The three of us.

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I had met them through my program.

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I remember I smoked a cigarette
with my friends.

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And Manuel popped up.

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He was like,
"Are you guys getting another drink?"

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We were like, "Yeah, we were gonna…"

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And he came up with this idea
where he was like,

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"I can get champagne,
and we can all hang out in the room."

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And, like, whatever.

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"I'll get it. Don't even worry about it."

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And we were like, "I mean, sure."

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I didn't even think about it.
I was like, "Okay, that sounds good."

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And we went to our hotel room,
the four of us.

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He had ordered the champagne to the room.

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And he was the one
that opened the door when it came.

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We were sitting on the beds
and just hanging out.

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The three of us girls.

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And…

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And yeah, he came over.

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I'm pretty sure
there was a piece of furniture.

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You know the piece of furniture
in front of the beds?

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He had put the champagne there.
And we were behind him on the beds.

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And he just started pouring it
with his back to us.

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It was very casual.

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It was a very friendly
kind of environment.

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And I just remember

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his whole fucking, like…
vibe started to change.

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He wanted to play games and stuff.

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He basically started asking us,

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"Well, how many people
have you slept with?"

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And he would, um…

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He started saying,

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"Well, why don't we all switch shirts
or play truth or dare?"

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And he was like, "Do you guys mind
if we get… if I get more comfortable?"

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And he just takes his pants off.

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He's in his underwear. He takes a pillow
and puts it over himself.

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I don't fucking…
I was just like, "What the fuck is that?"

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But then you rationalize it,
and you're like, well…

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Maybe it's just a cultural difference,
you know?

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Maybe it's just him being,
I don't know, different.

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I don't know.

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I remember I started getting really tired.
Like really, really tired, and…

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There was a cot by the closet.

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I got up from the bed,
and I went to the cot.

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And I laid down, and I knocked out.

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I don't know how long I was asleep.
I have no idea.

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I just remember I woke up at some point.

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And no one was in the room.

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And I felt like shit.

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I had never felt that way in my life.

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I have not felt that way in my life since.

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There was almost a disconnect
between my mind and my body,

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where my brain
was working on such a slow level.

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It was just exhaustion.
I don't know what that was.

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When I got up, I just remember
leaning up against the wall

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and dragging my feet,
one in front of the other,

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to get to the bathroom.

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I went to go open the bathroom door,
and when I opened it…

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Nicole and Ashley and Manuel
were all in the shower, the three of them.

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They were in their shirts and underwear.
He was in his underwear.

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I remember I closed the door.

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And I was like, "What the fuck was that?"

00:14:06.079 --> 00:14:08.160 align:center
And then, um…

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They all came out, scurried out.

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It almost looks like
they were all embarrassed, kind of.

00:14:15.640 --> 00:14:19.040 align:center
And so I just went in,
and I sat on the toilet.

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And I was facing the door.

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And…

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All I remember…

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And it's the thing that's haunted me
for years.

00:14:32.079 --> 00:14:36.199 align:center
It's that memory
of the door swinging open,

00:14:36.280 --> 00:14:41.520 align:center
and seeing his crotch come towards me,
and then him putting himself in my mouth.

00:14:41.599 --> 00:14:44.079 align:center
And then me getting hit in the head.

00:14:44.160 --> 00:14:46.319 align:center
And then I just blacked out.

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I woke up the next morning in the cot.

00:15:10.599 --> 00:15:12.640 align:center
And I was in my clothes.

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And my roommates, Nicole and Ashley,
were in the beds. They were sleeping.

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He had just… He was not in the room.

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He was gone.

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And I was in a lot of pain.

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I was very sore.

00:15:27.280 --> 00:15:30.479 align:center
And I remember I moved the blanket,

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and I looked at my legs, and I had…

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I was wearing pants,
and I remember I looked at my knees,

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and I had bruises on my knees.

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It just felt like something
was really wrong. I was just in pain.

00:15:43.560 --> 00:15:46.760 align:center
And I felt very out of control
and very slow.

00:15:47.959 --> 00:15:49.520 align:center
And I remember getting up.

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Got in the shower, cleaned myself off.

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And they woke up,

00:15:56.160 --> 00:15:59.079 align:center
and we had to get all our stuff ready

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'cause we were leaving that morning
to go back to Spain.

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And I just remember
feeling so fucking exhausted.

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I got all my stuff.

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Went downstairs with my stuff.

00:16:21.400 --> 00:16:26.040 align:center
And I sat on the couch that morning
when we were getting ready to leave.

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And I remember I put my head back.

00:16:30.599 --> 00:16:31.680 align:center
And I closed my eyes.

00:16:32.760 --> 00:16:34.319 align:center
And I had that flashback of…

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the door opening
and him putting himself in my mouth.

00:16:44.520 --> 00:16:46.880 align:center
And I remember
I felt like I was gonna throw up.

00:16:52.359 --> 00:16:58.800 align:center
It was, like, so vivid
and visual and just, like, horrifying.

00:17:00.040 --> 00:17:03.560 align:center
That's when I… realized what had happened.

00:17:08.280 --> 00:17:10.240 align:center
The craziest thing was…

00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:13.720 align:center
I couldn't have a breakdown.

00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.079 align:center
I couldn't freak out.

00:17:16.800 --> 00:17:18.720 align:center
I was in a different country.

00:17:18.800 --> 00:17:20.520 align:center
I had to just go through it.

00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:24.240 align:center
I had to just be like,
"Just go. Just get on the bus."

00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:25.359 align:center
"You'll be fine."

00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:28.640 align:center
Manuel was at the door of the bus

00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:32.080 align:center
when we were all going on the bus
to go to Salamanca.

00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:39.480 align:center
I walked to get onto the bus,
and he just looked over my head.

00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:43.040 align:center
I was not…

00:17:43.520 --> 00:17:47.520 align:center
It was almost like I was
completely invisible, which I preferred.

00:17:57.960 --> 00:17:59.840 align:center
But I didn't cry. I didn't…

00:18:00.560 --> 00:18:02.280 align:center
I didn't do anything. I didn't react.

00:18:04.120 --> 00:18:07.440 align:center
I just went completely into myself.

00:18:07.520 --> 00:18:10.200 align:center
And I was just like… No one was home.

00:18:25.080 --> 00:18:30.480 align:center
I think I went back to the US
maybe, like, May 2014.

00:18:31.600 --> 00:18:34.200 align:center
I remember crying on the plane.

00:18:35.560 --> 00:18:40.000 align:center
'Cause I still wasn't really even
admitting to myself what had happened.

00:18:46.320 --> 00:18:48.200 align:center
When she came back,

00:18:48.280 --> 00:18:50.560 align:center
she was not herself.

00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:53.919 align:center
She was just kind of withdrawn
and not herself.

00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.919 align:center
And we would say,
"What's the matter? What's wrong?"

00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:59.200 align:center
And she's like,
"I just don't wanna be here."

00:18:59.280 --> 00:19:01.760 align:center
"I don't wanna be here.
I don't wanna, um…"

00:19:01.840 --> 00:19:04.440 align:center
"I'm just not used
to being back in the States."

00:19:06.280 --> 00:19:07.760 align:center
I remember researching it.

00:19:07.840 --> 00:19:10.960 align:center
It was a common thing
for kids who had studied abroad.

00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:14.200 align:center
It's called re-entry depression.

00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:17.120 align:center
If they come back
and they're not themselves,

00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:18.960 align:center
just know that it's normal.

00:19:19.040 --> 00:19:21.320 align:center
That's what she kept telling us
was going on.

00:19:25.120 --> 00:19:28.000 align:center
It was my biggest fear,
reaching out to my parents

00:19:28.080 --> 00:19:30.720 align:center
and telling them 'cause I had so much…

00:19:33.840 --> 00:19:35.320 align:center
So much, like…

00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:38.640 align:center
that I didn't want them to know.

00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.080 align:center
You know? Like…

00:19:44.280 --> 00:19:47.480 align:center
I'm the first kid.
I'm their daughter. Like…

00:19:48.760 --> 00:19:52.040 align:center
I don't know anyone
that this has happened to. Um…

00:19:53.360 --> 00:19:56.840 align:center
And I just didn't want them to feel
like they failed me as parents

00:19:56.919 --> 00:19:58.320 align:center
and let that happen.

00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:03.840 align:center
She was only home for maybe a month.

00:20:03.919 --> 00:20:07.720 align:center
And then it was time
to start school at the university,

00:20:07.800 --> 00:20:10.960 align:center
which was about
a seven-hour drive from our house.

00:20:12.760 --> 00:20:17.440 align:center
Gabrielle showed no enthusiasm.
Like zero. She wasn't excited.

00:20:20.919 --> 00:20:24.200 align:center
I was really,
really, really, really depressed.

00:20:24.280 --> 00:20:28.120 align:center
I had never dealt with depression
like that before.

00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:30.000 align:center
And, um…

00:20:30.080 --> 00:20:33.360 align:center
It was…
Everything in my life became difficult.

00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:36.080 align:center
Everything in my life
became very difficult.

00:20:40.360 --> 00:20:44.360 align:center
I started having like these…
suicidal ideation

00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:48.360 align:center
and just these intrusive thoughts
about killing myself.

00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:53.440 align:center
I thought,
"You have to tell your parents."

00:20:53.520 --> 00:20:56.760 align:center
"You have to tell your parents,
Gabby, what's going on."

00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:01.360 align:center
I was outside. It was a Saturday.

00:21:04.520 --> 00:21:07.800 align:center
It was a beautiful day. And she called.

00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:12.200 align:center
And she was like, "I'm coming home."

00:21:12.280 --> 00:21:15.200 align:center
And I was like, "Why are you coming home?
What's going on?"

00:21:15.280 --> 00:21:18.040 align:center
And I was like, "You know, I was raped."

00:21:18.120 --> 00:21:21.320 align:center
"I was raped while I was in Spain,
and I need to come home."

00:21:24.520 --> 00:21:25.960 align:center
And, um…

00:21:28.560 --> 00:21:31.240 align:center
Honestly, it's kind of a blur after that.

00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:36.040 align:center
I didn't say, "What happened?"
I said, "Come."

00:21:37.800 --> 00:21:40.760 align:center
And it was like two and a half years
that I didn't tell my family.

00:21:40.840 --> 00:21:42.159 align:center
They thought I was depressed.

00:21:45.520 --> 00:21:47.000 align:center
Having no idea.

00:21:47.080 --> 00:21:50.240 align:center
I think, "How could I, as a mother,
have no idea?" But I didn't.

00:21:50.320 --> 00:21:53.240 align:center
And even my mother-in-law, abuela,

00:21:53.320 --> 00:21:55.679 align:center
had said,
"Do you think something happened to her?"

00:21:55.760 --> 00:21:57.960 align:center
"I think something
happened to her in Spain."

00:21:58.040 --> 00:22:01.200 align:center
And I said,
"Nothing happened to her. This is normal."

00:22:01.280 --> 00:22:04.919 align:center
You know? And I look back and I say,
"Ugh. I can't…" She knew.

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:07.360 align:center
She even recognized
that Gabrielle wasn't the same.

00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:16.679 align:center
My parents opened the door, and they just…

00:22:18.760 --> 00:22:23.280 align:center
They just gave me a hug and,
you know, we just tried to go from there.

00:22:23.360 --> 00:22:25.520 align:center
I was just… I was desperate.

00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:27.320 align:center
It was exactly what I needed.

00:22:27.399 --> 00:22:29.240 align:center
I just needed my family.

00:22:29.320 --> 00:22:31.919 align:center
And I had to face the fact that I was…

00:22:32.919 --> 00:22:34.280 align:center
suppressing all…

00:22:34.360 --> 00:22:36.880 align:center
I just had to face it all
and just tell them

00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:39.600 align:center
and stop carrying it myself.

00:22:41.840 --> 00:22:43.120 align:center
Yeah.

00:22:44.080 --> 00:22:47.960 align:center
I said, "Did you know this person?"
She said, "Yes. It was the tour guide."

00:22:48.040 --> 00:22:50.760 align:center
"It was the person
who owned the tour company."

00:22:54.200 --> 00:22:56.080 align:center
And I feel like that's how she felt.

00:22:56.159 --> 00:22:59.520 align:center
She didn't want
to say the words aloud even

00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:02.040 align:center
or to even talk about details.

00:23:02.120 --> 00:23:07.080 align:center
She just wanted to be in the security
of her own home and be with us.

00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:12.360 align:center
They asked me, "Do you wanna
go to the police?" And I was like, "No."

00:23:12.439 --> 00:23:16.840 align:center
"No, I don't wanna go to the police.
I don't want anything to do with that."

00:23:20.679 --> 00:23:25.399 align:center
It was a time to recoup and just… heal.

00:23:27.520 --> 00:23:29.720 align:center
Yeah, it was rough. It was rough.

00:23:30.840 --> 00:23:32.480 align:center
A rough time.

00:23:55.040 --> 00:23:58.640 align:center
Um, I am an artist and graphic designer.

00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:03.560 align:center
In 2018, I was in my senior year
of college

00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:06.520 align:center
at Florida State University
in Tallahassee, Florida.

00:24:11.800 --> 00:24:15.080 align:center
The worst moment of my life
was at Florida State University.

00:24:17.360 --> 00:24:19.640 align:center
I remember going outside and crying.

00:24:21.120 --> 00:24:23.840 align:center
It was a project that I was working on.

00:24:23.919 --> 00:24:29.000 align:center
It was an installation
on people's experiences.

00:24:29.080 --> 00:24:31.520 align:center
Their best and their worst experiences.

00:24:31.600 --> 00:24:35.360 align:center
It was supposed to be about the idea

00:24:35.439 --> 00:24:39.600 align:center
that we're shaped
by our best and worst experiences.

00:24:39.679 --> 00:24:43.240 align:center
I felt like my world stopped.

00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:46.200 align:center
I was just totally lost.

00:24:46.280 --> 00:24:52.320 align:center
I reached out online to Facebook
and Instagram and social media in general,

00:24:52.399 --> 00:24:56.840 align:center
trying to find people to do the interviews
and record themselves for it.

00:25:00.800 --> 00:25:06.120 align:center
Gabrielle ended up being
one of the people who responded to it

00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:11.560 align:center
and sent in her audio recording
of her best and her worst day.

00:25:15.439 --> 00:25:19.760 align:center
When I heard her worst day,
there was just…

00:25:19.840 --> 00:25:22.960 align:center
There was something
very familiar about it.

00:25:24.199 --> 00:25:28.040 align:center
This is Gabrielle.
I'm gonna start answering your questions.

00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:30.480 align:center
The saddest moment in my life?

00:25:30.560 --> 00:25:32.600 align:center
Probably when I was raped.

00:25:35.560 --> 00:25:37.679 align:center
I was in Morocco by myself.

00:25:37.760 --> 00:25:41.280 align:center
Well, not by myself. With two friends.

00:25:41.360 --> 00:25:42.880 align:center
And, um…

00:25:44.560 --> 00:25:45.880 align:center
we went on a tour.

00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:50.240 align:center
A tour guide took me
and did some fucked-up shit.

00:25:50.320 --> 00:25:53.600 align:center
Anyways, that was really hard
for a 19-year-old girl.

00:25:55.560 --> 00:25:57.040 align:center
Yeah, and after that day,

00:25:58.360 --> 00:26:01.640 align:center
everything… was just different.

00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:03.800 align:center
I wasn't a kid anymore.

00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:08.120 align:center
She didn't say the name of the company.

00:26:08.199 --> 00:26:10.000 align:center
She didn't say Manu's name.

00:26:10.080 --> 00:26:12.960 align:center
It was just a gut feeling that I had.

00:26:13.040 --> 00:26:16.919 align:center
And that was what prompted me
to reach out to her.

00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:27.880 align:center
She sends me a message, and she's like,
"Hey, thank you for sending this."

00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:32.040 align:center
"I really appreciate you doing that.
I'm so sorry this happened to you."

00:26:32.120 --> 00:26:36.480 align:center
And I asked her if the company
that she had gone with

00:26:36.560 --> 00:26:38.960 align:center
was Discover Excursions.

00:26:39.840 --> 00:26:41.600 align:center
She said, "Yes."

00:26:41.679 --> 00:26:46.520 align:center
She asked me if the person
I was talking about was Manu.

00:26:47.120 --> 00:26:49.000 align:center
And I said, "Yes."

00:26:51.840 --> 00:26:56.840 align:center
And so I just started panicking,
like, completely lost my mind.

00:26:56.919 --> 00:27:01.040 align:center
I knew about something very similar
happening to somebody else.

00:27:04.840 --> 00:27:09.800 align:center
I went to Spain to study abroad in 2017.

00:27:17.360 --> 00:27:20.000 align:center
My older sister had recommended

00:27:20.080 --> 00:27:22.120 align:center
Discover Excursions to us.

00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:26.199 align:center
Um, we wanted to go on the Morocco trip.

00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:30.199 align:center
You know, and you wanna believe

00:27:30.280 --> 00:27:32.960 align:center
that your tour guide will have
your best interests at heart

00:27:33.040 --> 00:27:35.000 align:center
when you're out of the country with them.

00:27:37.679 --> 00:27:38.520 align:center
What?

00:27:38.600 --> 00:27:40.480 align:center
I remember that…

00:27:41.199 --> 00:27:44.560 align:center
there would be one night
during these trips

00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:48.000 align:center
that would be a big party
that they would throw.

00:27:59.520 --> 00:28:04.320 align:center
And that actually ended up
being the night where he, um…

00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:07.640 align:center
He assaulted these other girls
on our trip.

00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:12.880 align:center
I saw him acting weird around her.

00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:16.360 align:center
He was just…

00:28:17.280 --> 00:28:18.840 align:center
all over Catherine.

00:28:18.919 --> 00:28:21.760 align:center
I felt like he was following her

00:28:21.840 --> 00:28:25.439 align:center
and just was always around her,
always talking to her.

00:28:28.840 --> 00:28:31.880 align:center
I asked Liz,
"Can you get me in contact with her?"

00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:40.120 align:center
So then I reach out to this girl.

00:28:40.199 --> 00:28:43.639 align:center
She was like, "Yeah,
Manuel basically pushed me on the bed

00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:46.800 align:center
and tried to put himself on me.
I got really freaked out."

00:28:46.879 --> 00:28:51.040 align:center
"But I actually heard that something worse

00:28:51.120 --> 00:28:54.679 align:center
happened to two other girls
on a different Discover Excursions trip."

00:28:55.679 --> 00:28:58.399 align:center
So I said, "Okay.
Can you put me in contact with them?"

00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:01.199 align:center
"I need to track them down
and talk to them."

00:29:02.760 --> 00:29:04.320 align:center
And, um…

00:29:05.800 --> 00:29:08.600 align:center
So I got in contact
with Hayley and Carly for the first time.

00:29:18.520 --> 00:29:22.639 align:center
And they basically told me that he

00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:25.480 align:center
cornered them in a room, both of them,

00:29:25.560 --> 00:29:28.879 align:center
in a room in Portugal
on one of the Discover Excursions trips.

00:29:31.040 --> 00:29:35.280 align:center
He very much was trying
to get us to just keep drinking.

00:29:36.120 --> 00:29:39.199 align:center
He wanted to play a game of truth or dare.

00:29:39.280 --> 00:29:42.439 align:center
And he wanted us
to kiss him and dance for him.

00:29:42.520 --> 00:29:45.720 align:center
He was grabbing one of them by the wrist
and wouldn't let them go.

00:29:45.800 --> 00:29:48.199 align:center
And he was trying to force them
to touch him.

00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:54.360 align:center
He said, "One of you touch me.
One of you kiss me."

00:29:54.439 --> 00:29:57.199 align:center
He told us that we could not leave

00:29:57.280 --> 00:30:00.120 align:center
because we could not leave him
with blue balls.

00:30:00.199 --> 00:30:02.879 align:center
And they were freaked out. Freaked out.

00:30:02.959 --> 00:30:07.159 align:center
Hayley was able
to kind of spin away from him.

00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:10.439 align:center
And then when Hayley
told him to let me go,

00:30:10.520 --> 00:30:16.520 align:center
he told her that he couldn't let me go
because someone had to finish the job.

00:30:16.600 --> 00:30:19.840 align:center
She had to run out into the hallway
and basically open the door and say,

00:30:19.919 --> 00:30:23.120 align:center
"If you don't fucking get out of here,
we're gonna tell everyone."

00:30:23.199 --> 00:30:24.720 align:center
He let me go.

00:30:24.800 --> 00:30:29.280 align:center
And… and then the next day, he was gone.

00:30:29.360 --> 00:30:35.560 align:center
And all the other tour guides
said that he had had a family emergency.

00:30:39.360 --> 00:30:42.600 align:center
So once I found those three women,

00:30:43.280 --> 00:30:46.639 align:center
I had like a complete switch in my mind.

00:30:53.639 --> 00:30:56.120 align:center
She called me, hysterical crying.

00:30:56.199 --> 00:30:58.600 align:center
"He's doing this to other girls!"

00:30:58.679 --> 00:31:00.800 align:center
And I was like,
"What are you talking about?"

00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:06.800 align:center
I was in the car, driving home,
on the phone with my mom

00:31:06.879 --> 00:31:09.720 align:center
and immediately focusing
on what I was gonna do.

00:31:11.560 --> 00:31:15.159 align:center
So I got home
and started posting on Facebook that day.

00:31:19.560 --> 00:31:21.199 align:center
"My rapist is still raping people."

00:31:21.280 --> 00:31:24.879 align:center
"If you know anyone that's going to Spain,
you need to tell them

00:31:24.959 --> 00:31:29.320 align:center
that Manuel Blanco Vela
at Discover Excursions is harming women."

00:31:29.399 --> 00:31:31.040 align:center
"Please share this."

00:31:31.120 --> 00:31:31.959 align:center
"Me too."

00:31:32.040 --> 00:31:35.120 align:center
So I just started writing nonstop.

00:31:35.199 --> 00:31:38.120 align:center
And I took it to a whole other level

00:31:38.199 --> 00:31:40.520 align:center
where I just started…
I wrote the same message.

00:31:42.879 --> 00:31:44.959 align:center
"Hey, haven't heard from you in a while."

00:31:45.040 --> 00:31:49.040 align:center
"My rapist is still raping people.
Can you please share my Facebook status?"

00:31:49.120 --> 00:31:50.240 align:center
Insane stuff.

00:31:51.199 --> 00:31:54.840 align:center
I sent it to probably 200 people.

00:31:54.919 --> 00:31:58.719 align:center
Just direct message on Facebook.
Just sending that out.

00:31:58.800 --> 00:32:02.240 align:center
My dad had contacts in Miami

00:32:02.320 --> 00:32:05.560 align:center
with the general consul at the embassy,
the Spanish embassy in Miami.

00:32:11.320 --> 00:32:14.199 align:center
So I went down there,
told them what was going on,

00:32:14.280 --> 00:32:16.040 align:center
told them I found these women.

00:32:16.120 --> 00:32:19.320 align:center
And I remember
the general consul was very kind.

00:32:20.600 --> 00:32:23.000 align:center
And was gonna help me but was hesitant.

00:32:23.080 --> 00:32:26.120 align:center
He was like,
"You shouldn't go on the news about this."

00:32:26.199 --> 00:32:28.600 align:center
"You shouldn't talk to anyone about this."

00:32:28.679 --> 00:32:31.879 align:center
I wondered why he didn't want us
to go to the press, you know?

00:32:31.959 --> 00:32:34.760 align:center
Because it's bad press for the country.

00:32:40.080 --> 00:32:43.360 align:center
The second he told me "no,"
I was like, "That's what I'm gonna do."

00:32:57.600 --> 00:33:00.840 align:center
We were in the green room,
and I was starting to get freaked out.

00:33:00.919 --> 00:33:03.560 align:center
I was blacking out, you know?

00:33:03.639 --> 00:33:05.760 align:center
-One minute!
-One minute, guys.

00:33:05.840 --> 00:33:07.879 align:center
Here we go. Let's have a good show.

00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:15.080 align:center
I remember
I was standing behind the stage.

00:33:16.280 --> 00:33:20.560 align:center
And, um… I just started sobbing.

00:33:23.080 --> 00:33:28.199 align:center
-Camera three…
-Four, three, two, one.

00:33:29.159 --> 00:33:30.320 align:center
And we're live.

00:33:30.399 --> 00:33:34.360 align:center
And I just started breaking down.
And she came up to me, and she was like,

00:33:34.439 --> 00:33:36.040 align:center
"You're doing a really good thing."

00:33:36.120 --> 00:33:38.840 align:center
"This is really gonna help you,
and you're gonna get him."

00:33:38.919 --> 00:33:40.600 align:center
And I was like,

00:33:40.679 --> 00:33:43.159 align:center
"Okay, if Megyn Kelly says it,
I guess, fuck it."

00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:44.800 align:center
"I gotta go and do this."

00:33:44.879 --> 00:33:49.240 align:center
And so she goes out on the stage,
and then I go out.

00:33:49.320 --> 00:33:52.120 align:center
And I remember just looking at her.

00:33:52.199 --> 00:33:54.320 align:center
And she asked me a question,

00:33:54.399 --> 00:33:57.439 align:center
and I literally
don't remember anything from it.

00:34:00.080 --> 00:34:02.399 align:center
But apparently, it went really well.

00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:05.480 align:center
My husband and I were in the green room
while they did the filming,

00:34:05.560 --> 00:34:07.240 align:center
and we were very proud of her.

00:34:07.320 --> 00:34:13.159 align:center
And I think at the time we knew
that this is gonna be something big.

00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:16.239 align:center
I knew…

00:34:18.040 --> 00:34:20.920 align:center
that I was going
into really unknown territory.

00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:22.799 align:center
I had no idea what…

00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:24.839 align:center
I was…

00:34:24.920 --> 00:34:27.799 align:center
I had no idea that this was gonna turn out
the way it did.

00:34:32.120 --> 00:34:33.839 align:center
When that show happened,

00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:36.040 align:center
a lot of people
started reaching out to me.

00:34:37.600 --> 00:34:41.000 align:center
My phone just started going off.

00:34:42.560 --> 00:34:45.880 align:center
During the interview,
they showed the image

00:34:45.960 --> 00:34:49.839 align:center
of the man I knew as Manu White.

00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:53.159 align:center
And I started screaming, "It's him!"

00:34:54.319 --> 00:34:57.799 align:center
I was sitting there
and was like, "Wow, this is wild."

00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:00.920 align:center
I don't think he was mentioned.
But I was like, "This is Manu."

00:35:02.799 --> 00:35:06.760 align:center
It all came crashing together,
hearing Gabrielle's story.

00:35:08.240 --> 00:35:11.880 align:center
I never in a million years
would have thought it was Manu.

00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:14.720 align:center
I felt a big sense of clarity.

00:35:14.799 --> 00:35:16.120 align:center
But also…

00:35:16.200 --> 00:35:18.640 align:center
…like an insane amount of anger.

00:35:19.799 --> 00:35:24.600 align:center
I guess when I learned
from Gabrielle, it felt so clearly

00:35:24.680 --> 00:35:27.319 align:center
that he is a serial predator

00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:31.080 align:center
and that he committed
these crimes and assaults.

00:35:31.160 --> 00:35:34.799 align:center
That's when I knew
that what happened to me

00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:39.360 align:center
was happening to women for years after.

00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:41.280 align:center
And probably years before.

00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:45.000 align:center
I was telling my parents,
"I found a girl here from Rhode Island."

00:35:45.080 --> 00:35:47.240 align:center
"I found a girl here from Virginia."

00:35:47.319 --> 00:35:49.920 align:center
"I found two girls from Florida.
Three girls."

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:51.040 align:center
"One's in New York."

00:35:51.120 --> 00:35:55.400 align:center
Finding all these women, and my parents
were like, "Jesus fucking Christ, kid."

00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:12.720 align:center
This is part of the story that I…

00:36:12.799 --> 00:36:16.120 align:center
I messaged Gabrielle about.

00:36:16.200 --> 00:36:19.000 align:center
That one day…

00:36:19.080 --> 00:36:22.120 align:center
I believe this was early April.

00:36:23.160 --> 00:36:27.520 align:center
I sat in the office, and Manu's not there.

00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:32.080 align:center
My job was literally to go through…

00:36:32.160 --> 00:36:36.400 align:center
There were different Facebook groups
of universities studying abroad.

00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:40.200 align:center
And I was supposed to go through
each individual person

00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:43.720 align:center
and send them a message
from the Discover Excursions account,

00:36:43.799 --> 00:36:47.960 align:center
saying, "Come to Morocco.
Here's a discount code."

00:36:52.200 --> 00:36:55.720 align:center
And then I see him kind of pacing,
on the phone.

00:36:57.120 --> 00:37:00.440 align:center
And then he comes in,
and he grabs me like usual.

00:37:00.520 --> 00:37:02.520 align:center
"Aubrey, it's time to go to lunch."

00:37:02.600 --> 00:37:06.920 align:center
"I need to tell you,
you know, what's going on."

00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:08.120 align:center
And I'm like, "Okay."

00:37:10.040 --> 00:37:11.680 align:center
So we go to lunch.

00:37:12.359 --> 00:37:15.280 align:center
He sits down. He orders. Like usual.

00:37:15.359 --> 00:37:17.799 align:center
He always orders all the stuff for us.

00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:22.720 align:center
And he goes outside, and he's just walking
and pacing on the phone,

00:37:22.799 --> 00:37:25.600 align:center
like a little frantic.

00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:33.319 align:center
Then finally he comes.
He sits down. He can't eat anything.

00:37:33.400 --> 00:37:36.760 align:center
And he tries to explain to me, like,

00:37:36.839 --> 00:37:39.120 align:center
"There are these girls

00:37:39.200 --> 00:37:44.600 align:center
who are just trying
to ruin my reputation and hurt me,

00:37:44.680 --> 00:37:46.760 align:center
and get my money."

00:37:46.839 --> 00:37:49.799 align:center
"I don't know why they would do
something like this."

00:37:49.880 --> 00:37:53.120 align:center
"This is horrible. And my poor family."

00:37:53.200 --> 00:37:55.200 align:center
"This is ruining my reputation."

00:37:55.280 --> 00:37:58.160 align:center
"This is gonna cause pain for my mom."

00:37:58.760 --> 00:38:02.960 align:center
I was like, "Oh, wow. Yeah.
Like, that's crazy."

00:38:03.880 --> 00:38:06.720 align:center
He was trying to twist it.

00:38:06.799 --> 00:38:09.480 align:center
He was trying to get my sympathy.

00:38:09.560 --> 00:38:10.760 align:center
And…

00:38:11.520 --> 00:38:15.280 align:center
I… I went back to the office, and he left.

00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:20.120 align:center
I knew that it was on The Today Show.
And I watched The Today Show.

00:38:22.359 --> 00:38:26.280 align:center
And I saw just how bad it was.

00:38:28.799 --> 00:38:30.440 align:center
And I left.

00:38:30.520 --> 00:38:35.760 align:center
And then the next day,
I think, the office was shut down.

00:38:38.200 --> 00:38:42.200 align:center
We are following this case,
which has gone viral in recent weeks.

00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:45.680 align:center
The police are investigating whether
a tourism entrepreneur from Seville

00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:49.760 align:center
raped dozens of clients,
primarily from the United States.

00:38:49.839 --> 00:38:52.359 align:center
A Florida student
has recently spoken about her case,

00:38:52.440 --> 00:38:55.880 align:center
and this has triggered
a wave of similar reports.

00:38:55.960 --> 00:38:58.440 align:center
We are at the offices
of this travel agency,

00:38:58.520 --> 00:39:00.799 align:center
which, as you can see, we found closed.

00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:03.400 align:center
We also tried to speak
with the agency's director,

00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:07.240 align:center
who has so far not responded
to messages from the media.

00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:16.520 align:center
I call the agency, Discover Excursions.
Nobody answers the phone.

00:39:16.600 --> 00:39:19.440 align:center
I go there in person
because it's close to the newsroom.

00:39:19.520 --> 00:39:21.560 align:center
It's closed. No one is inside.

00:39:21.640 --> 00:39:23.760 align:center
I manage to get Manuel Blanco's number.

00:39:23.839 --> 00:39:24.880 align:center
I call him.

00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:28.839 align:center
He answers the phone.
I said I was from Diario de Sevilla

00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:31.319 align:center
and wanted to speak with him,
and he hung up.

00:39:33.040 --> 00:39:35.520 align:center
Then I decided to send a WhatsApp message.

00:39:35.600 --> 00:39:38.319 align:center
He sent a very brief reply.

00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:43.080 align:center
"On behalf of our company, we can only say
that this is all slander and lies."

00:39:43.160 --> 00:39:45.120 align:center
"There are no lawsuits and no evidence."

00:39:45.200 --> 00:39:47.720 align:center
"Everything went viral without any basis."

00:39:47.799 --> 00:39:51.600 align:center
"The company's lawyers are aware,
both in the United States and in Spain."

00:39:51.680 --> 00:39:54.040 align:center
That was the message,

00:39:54.120 --> 00:39:56.839 align:center
which I included in its entirety
in my news report.

00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:00.319 align:center
"I WAS TERRIFIED."

00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:02.680 align:center
People started sending me stuff.

00:40:02.760 --> 00:40:05.920 align:center
And I'm pretty sure somebody sent me

00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:12.880 align:center
the screenshot of the Google
"permanently closed" location thing, and…

00:40:14.799 --> 00:40:17.680 align:center
that was fuckin' awesome.

00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:21.520 align:center
It was awesome.
It was amazing. It was like…

00:40:21.600 --> 00:40:26.560 align:center
It was like, "Okay,
so now the access is cut off."

00:40:28.160 --> 00:40:32.440 align:center
Fuck you. Fuck your friends.
Fuck everyone who supported you.

00:40:32.520 --> 00:40:33.960 align:center
Fuck you.

00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:55.480 align:center
I would say the majority of the messages
came that week.

00:40:55.560 --> 00:40:57.520 align:center
And then they would slowly
start rolling in.

00:40:57.600 --> 00:41:00.000 align:center
'Cause then I would have girls
come and be like,

00:41:00.080 --> 00:41:03.760 align:center
"My friend was raped by him,
but she's too afraid to contact you."

00:41:06.520 --> 00:41:09.040 align:center
"I was raped by him, but…

00:41:09.920 --> 00:41:12.480 align:center
I don't wanna tell my family.
I don't know what to do."

00:41:12.560 --> 00:41:15.640 align:center
A bunch of people
coming to me and trying to…

00:41:15.720 --> 00:41:18.000 align:center
They would come to me
and tell me everything.

00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:20.560 align:center
It was one of those moments

00:41:20.640 --> 00:41:25.720 align:center
where I had no idea
what I was involved in.

00:41:26.400 --> 00:41:29.280 align:center
And I remember
I got a direct message on Facebook.

00:41:32.200 --> 00:41:33.760 align:center
She said,

00:41:33.839 --> 00:41:36.040 align:center
"Manuel Blanco Vela killed my daughter."
Facebook.