Alicante

Este fin de semana pasada, un grupo de cuatro amigos y yo fuimos a Alicante, una ciudad 2 horas sur de Valencia. Fuimos porque tuvimos vaccaciones de cuatro días. Fue muy divertido porque fue la primera vez que salimos solos de Valencia y tuvimos que comprar billetes por el tren, reservemos un hostel y planear todo del viaje. Alicante es una ciudad que está el la costa blanca y es más pequeño de Valencia. Pero, habia muchas cosas para hacer es una ciudad muy precioso y bella. Un día el tiempo casi fue bastante bueno para tomar el sol por la playa, entonces nos quedamos por mucho tiempo en la playa. También, habia una castilla muy grande, encima de una montaña muy cerca de nuestro hostel. Pudimos ver por las ventanas de nuestro hostel para verla. Por otro lado, me gusta mucho el sentimiento del hostel porque todos fueron muy agradecables y conocí con muchas personas de otros países como Inglatera y el Sur de Africa.

This past weekend, a group of four friends and I went to Alicante, a city 2 hours south of Valencia. We went for our vacation of four days. It was really fun because it was the first time that we left Valencia by ourselves and we had to buy train tickets, reserve the hostel and plan the whole trip. Alicante is a city that is located in the Costa Blanca and is a little bit smaller than Valencia. But, there were lots of things to do and it is a city that is really beautiful and cute. One day it was almost warm enough to soak up some sun, so we went to the beach and spent a lot of time. There was also a big castle that was on top of a mountain that was really close to our hostel. You could see it from the window of our hostel. For another side, I really liked the feeling of the hostel because everyone was really nice and I met people from places like England and South Africa.

Una vista de un lado de la ciudad de Alicate. Saque esto foto encima de la montaña con la castilla.

This is a view of one side of the city of Alicante. I took this photo from the top of the mountain with the castle.

Me gusta esto foto mucho porque me recuerda de una escena de Forrest Gump cuando Forrest dice, "No pude decir cuando el cielo termina y el cielo empeice."

I like this picture a lot because it reminds me of a scene from Forrest Gump when Forrest says, "I didn't know where the sky ended and heaven began."

El grupo

The group

Comimos el primer noche a un restaurante china y ellos tuvieron traducciónes muy chistos de la comida.

The first night we ate an a chinese restaurant and the had really funny translations of the food.

Cuenca, la ciudad encima de la montaña

Este fin de semana pasada fuimos a Cuenca, una ciudad entre de Valencia y Madrid sabe por sus tiempos muy fríos. Salimos por la mañana de Sabado y llegamos a las 12 mas o menos. Por el día, exploremos la ciudad y una amiga y yo andamos por un camino de una montañita y la vista fue bonísimo. Más tarde por el día, fuimos al museo de arte abstracto que está en las casas colgadas, casas que son muy viejos, del siglo 15, saben por su arquitectura y como son incorporadas por el pared de la montaña. Además, nos quedamos en un hotel muy guay que fue mucho mejor que los otros. Está 10 minutos afuera de la ciudad de Cuenca entre montañitas, y porque Cristina y yo nos despertamos una hora temprano domingo, andamos por una montaña.

This past weekend we went to Cuenca, a city located between Valencia and Madrid that is known for its cold temperatures. We left Saturday morning and arrived at about twelve. For the day, we explored the city and a friend and I walked a path up a small mountain and the view was beautiful. Later on, we went to the museum of abstract art that is located in houses that are really old, from the 15th century and known for how they are incorporated into the walls of the mountains. Moreover, we stayed in a really cool hotel that was a lot better than the other ones that we stayed in. It es ten minutes outside of the city and is about ten minutes outside of the city of Cuenca, and because Cristina and I woke up a an hour early and walked to one of the little mountains.

Este es una vista de la ciudad Cuenca.

This is a view of the city of Cuenca.

Algunos de los edificios de Cuenca.

Some of the buildings from Cuenca.

Una vista encima de la montañita cerca de nuestra hotel.

A view on top of the little mountain by our hotel.

Una roca en un parque geológico afuera de la ciudad de Cuenca qui fuimos despues explorando Cuenca.

A roca at a geological park outside of the city of Cuenca that we went to after exploring Cuenca.

Cristina y yo al parque geológico.

Cristina and I al the geological park.

Adios Ingles

So, I have decided that it is time to cut out most of the English speaking I have been doing this past month here in Spain. This comes as a combination of me not being satisfied with my progress in Spanish as well as giving up something for lent, but I have decided that the only time I get to speak English is via Skype, my blog, or in reaching people who don't speak Spanish. I also am speaking some English on my cell here because the minutes are expensive. With that being said, I am going to try to write everything that I write in English, in Spanish as well. I need to start thinking in Spanish, so that means getting rid of a lot of the English I have been using with friends. I am sure my spanish translation is horrible now, but hopefully with time it will improve.

Pues, decidé que es el tiempo para dejar el ingles que estaba hablando este mes pasado aquí en España. Este venió de una combinación que no tengo una satisfación con mi progreso en español y tambien es algo para dejar por la cuaresma, pero decidé que el unico tiempo que puedo hablar el ingles es por Skype, mi blog, o para contactar personas que no hablan el español. Todovía, estoy hablando el ingles por mi móvil aquí, porque para comprar los minutos es muy caro. Con diciendo esto, voy a tratar a escribir todos de las cosas que yo escribo en ingles, en español tambien. Tengo que pensar en español, y para hacer esto, necesito dejar mucho del ingles que estoy hablando entre de amigos. Yo se que ahora mi traducción es muy horrible pero espero que va a mejorarse con tiempo.

La playa en Valencia

So even though it's still a little cold for the beach, I had to go for a visit...or two...or three. It's really nice because even though the beach isn't very close to my house, I can take the metro and it takes less than 30 minutes to get there. It's really beautiful, but it is a touristy beach and I would really like to explore some of the natural beaches in time.

Merry got to come to visit for a while and before I let her go back to the states I took her to the beach.

A snapshot of the beach.

Mer and I had some fun playing with our shadows.

Emma and I. She is one of the other crazy people on the trip with me!

Barcelona

So not this past weekend, but the one before, we traveled about 3 hours north of Valencia to Barcelona. Use a "th" sound for the "c" in Barcelona and you will sound just like a Spaniard! all around it was a really great trip and we got to see some architecture that was quite different than anything we have seen thus far. To begin, many of the barrios are built with little winding streets, which is really nice because you don't have to worry about cars. While we were there went to a lot of art museums including those of Miró, Dalí, and Picasso. We also got to see some of the buildings built by Gaudí. If you have not seen any of the art from these artists, you should do so. I especially recommend the buildings in Park Guell, which were built designed by Gaudí. They look more like something out of a fairy tale than real life.

the city of Barcelona. It's quite a bit bigger than Valencia.

One of the houses by Gaudí

Mer and I reenacting that old farmer pitchfork portrait

A building at Park Guell, or as I like to call it "Tierra de las dulces).

A beautiful sunset at Park Guell.

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!