Valencia

We have just gotten into the swing of things here in Valencia and tomorrow morning will be my second week of classes. I actually have a lot more class time than I was thinking, but I am getting 18 credit hours for this semester so I can't complain too much. I have a literature class, in which I am reading Don Quijote, a modern cinema class, a culture class, and a language class. Right now we are also taking a crash course on Valenciano or Catalán which is another language that is spoken here.

This past weekend we look another excursion through the city and climbed up the long winding staircase of the cathedral tower to get a great look over the whole city.

The cathedral in the Plaza de la Reina

I had no idea Valencia was so big until I got to see this view.

Rosa, the daughter of one of our teachers. She is absolutely adorable along with every other small kid in Spain. The parents dress their kids so nice here and all the girls almost always have some type of bow in their hair.

Life in Valencia

FINALLY IN VALENCIA

After all the traveling around the Madrid area, we finally got settled into Valencia about a week ago. It is amazing how the weather can change so much in just a few hours drive. We left behind the snow in Madrid and came to Valencia to find much warmer temperatures and much more sun. Valencia is right on the eastern coast of Spain and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. I haven't been able to visit the beach yet, it's still a little too cold for that, but I can't wait!

HOME

I am living with a host family, Fernando and Maria, and their three children, Maria, Guillermo, and Marc. Things are pretty relaxed here and the food is great! There are lots of good fruits and a lot of vegetables are served with the meals. One thing I will say is that the Valencianos sure know how to cook their vegetables! By the time you get to them with your fork they turn more into a vegetable moosh. At every meal there is a baguette on the table to accompany the food. Oil and vinegar and sometimes salt are also used on salads opposed to those thick fattening dressings that us Americans sure love. The only thing I am still not adjusting to is the difference in meal times. Here they eat a light breakfast, like a piece of toast and coffee, and then have the "comida", lunch, anywhere from 2-3. The dinner, "cena" is then served around 9 or later. No matter how much I eat for breakfast, I am starving by one and still have to wait two more hours to eat. There are also tons of stores, cafes, and restaurants scattered all throughout the streets that are always selling about a million types of yummy breads, snacks and desserts. My favorite is the croissant that has chocolate in the middle of it! I think I could eat one for every meal if I was allowed.

One of the towers, "torres", in Valencia

CITY LIFE

Living in the city is pretty nice because you can pretty much get anywhere you need to go without a car. Since I don't really like to drive, this is great for me. Valencia has a great bus, metro, and train station service available to the public. The best way to get to know a city though is to walk through it, so that is what I have been doing a lot of! I have slowed down a bit the past couple of days because I am figuring out the metro system, but beforehand I was literally walking 4+ hours a day.

the train station in Valencia at night

CANALS

Saturday evening we traveled to another town south of Valencia called Canals. We went in the evening because they were having a festival that celebrated their patron saint. In the town square, there was a large man made tree that probably reached 30 or 40 feet that was adorned at the top with oranges. When we reached the center of town, we encountered tons of other people all crowded into the square. Many were walking circles around the tree in hopes of good luck. Finally, at 9 they lighted the firecrackers which surrounded the tree. The tree quickly caught ablaze and all cheered.

XATIVA

We traveled to a town a little south of Valencia named Xativa. It was quite a bit smaller than some of the others we visited in the Madrid area, but it was just as, if not more, wonderful as the others. The main thing we did there was visit an old castle that was situated up on top of a small mountain. When we finally reached the top after a long hike, the view was just amazing. You could see the whole city from up there.

The old castle

VALENCIA VS VILLA REAL

Before class started, we wanted to make sure we got in as much fun as possible so we went to a Valencia vs. Villa Real game here in Valencia. It was so much fun! Valencia ended up kicking their butts 4-1 and it was a really fun game to watch. I am so glad to be in another country that actually appreciates real futbol!

The group who went to the game Sunday night. We were all kind of hee-hawing if we wanted to go because it didn't start until 9 and we started school the next day, but I think we all could say that it was worth it!

Espana

Well I am embarking on a new journey and I am going to try to keep everyone updated via my blog. This way people can look at what I am up to as they please and photos can accompany my stories.

MADRID

I left this past Wednesday to fly out of Indianapolis to Philly and then onto Madrid. After I tried to pass security in Indianapolis without a boarding ticket, because I forgot to print one off because I was so occupied with suitcases, I finally printed off my tickets and started the journey. The plane rides were all pretty relaxed because I found some other people who were on the plane and that made me less nervous. Madrid was another story. A bunch of us arrived together, all exhausted, hungry and sleep deprived to a very energetic program leader who began to walk very fast and lead us through the airport in Madrid. Now keep in mind that she didn't have any suitcases in hand, I had two; something I will never do again! After being sweat covered from running up and down the airport and up and down escalators, we finally got to the metro station. Then we found some more steps and more escalators and began running some more. When we got to our stop we were greeted by a set of stairs covered in sleet that lead out to the street where our hostel was. Lets just say that this was not the climax of the trip. We finally got to relax a bit and had a nice dinner. The next couple of days we did a little bit of exploring on our own in the city and went to a bunch of art museums; El Prado, La Reina Sofia, y El Thyssen. Some of the parts were boring, but others were absolutely amazing. I actually got to see a lot of Picasso's work. That in itself was worth going to all the museums.

Some friends enjoying the weather that awaited us in Madrid.

TOLEDO

During our stay in Madrid we took a trip to Toledo which is an old city about an hour southish of Madrid. As soon as we arrived, I fell in love with it.It had lots of winding roads and cute cafes and bars tucked in throughout the winding city. There were also a lot of museums and old churches and cathedrals.

A picture of the city looking out from the tower of a church

SEGOVIA

Segovia was a cute town north of Madrid that has aqueducts that were built by the Romans. When we first got there the weather was a little chilly and gross, but throughout the day it warmed up and the city became beautiful. We explored the city for the afternoon and had our pocodillos(sandwiches).

The roman aqueduct

This was a castle that was one of the inspirations for the Walt Disney Castle