Valencia!

Finally an update! Saturday morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel before leaving for Toledo. For breakfast at the hotel, there was the typical breakfast foods: many kinds of bread to make toast, lots of fruit (including a light green melon I had never had before), yogurt, cereal, etc. But they also had some foods that you wouldn’t normally eat for breakfast: cold cuts of meat, cheese slices, and lotssss of desserts. I could never manage to eat dessert at 8am. So when we left for Toledo, which was only an hour or two away from Madrid, I didn’t know what to expect. But when we got there and started driving on the outskirts of the city, I was amazed. Toledo is by far the most beautiful city I have ever seen in my life. I thought Madrid was pretty, but once I got to Toledo, Madrid didn’t come close to comparing. Madrid  is a very big, busy city and I enjoyed it a lot. But Toledo. The city is in the mountains and a river runs along the base of the center of the city. The buildings are so beautiful, so elegant, so Spanish. We stopped at the side of the road on the outside of the river looking at the center of the city and the view of the city was just amazing. It really made me realize that no doubt, I am not a city-girl. I love landscape and mountains and trees and water. I loved the tranquility of Toledo. It was perfect. So after we ooh-ed and ahh-ed for a while, we walked across the big, stone bridge into the city. The buildings are just as beautiful up close. I loved all the restaurants and quaint hotels and the churches and the cobblestone roads and just everything. So we did a walking tour with a guide and he showed us some main sights in Toledo. We went to two churches and he spoke to us in Spanish about the different details of the church, like the history, the painting by an artist named Greco in one, the different gargoyles and what they meant in the other, etc. After we were done with the historical sites and had walked through some of the city, we went to a plaza and had free time for lunch and shopping. A group of us ate at a little restaurant and I ordered a jamon y queso bocadillo (ham and cheese sub-type sandwiches…although the “ham” is more like tough, limp bacon). That’s another thing: since we have been in Spain, Bre and I have ordered jamon y queso bocadillos probably every other meal because they are cheap and we know what we’re getting but we are definitely sick of them now. So we are eating, and there’s a little Spanish girl in there with her mom and she’s three or four but she comes over and starts talking to us. So we’re speaking Spanish to her, but she is also hard to understand because she is three, and she has a water bottle and she’s playing with it and throwing it and I’m picking it up for her and she was really cute. So she’s sitting next to me and my purse is between us and after a little while, Sarah, who is at the table next to me, whispers, “Alisha, watch your purse.” And up until that point, it hadn’t even crossed my mind that children could be trained to pickpocket. I have been sooo careful with my purse since I have been in Spain, but my guard was definitely down with that cute little girl and who knows. I’m sure it was completely innocent and her mom (who strangely kept leaving her child with a bunch of strangers and also leaving her purse at the table) didn’t teach her to do that, but it’s possible. It was just kind of an eye-opener. In Madrid, two people in our group were pickpocketed, even after all the warnings from our ISA leaders that pickpockets were everywhere in Madrid. So I moved my purse to the other side of me and we finished eating and left. After our free time was over, we went to our hotel. When we got inside, we walked over to the picture windows and all started freaking out when we saw the huge, beautiful pool outside overlooking the mountains. It was so pretty. There was a tiki-hut bar and hot tub and the pool was huge with palm trees all over and after sweating our butts off all weekend, everyone was sooo excited to go swimming. The hotel we stayed in had somewhere around 1000 rooms and it was sooo nice. More like a resort than a hotel. So we changed and went down to the pool (which was about 15 feet deep) and swam around and laid in the Spanish sun for the next four hours until we had our meeting. Most the kids in our group were staying at the hotel that night and going to the discoteca (club) in the hotel, but since it was Sarah’s 22^nd birthday, eight of us girls decided to take cabs back into the city. We were so glad we did. Toledo is even more beautiful at night. We decided to eat in the center of the city at a nice restaurant that was reasonable in price. Because there was so many of us, they put us at a table downstairs and we were the only ones, so we had a great time. Our waiter was beautiful and we kept talking about him in English, and when we asked if he could understand us when we spoke he said no, but that could’ve been a lie. Haha. So after we ate, we went back into the plaza where there was a concert and other activities going on. We met a bunch of American girls that had just visited Valencia and were studying in Toledo. We chatted with them for a while and they showed us a good restaurant for getting sangrias. So we walked to the restaurant and sat outside, drinking sangrias and talking for a couple hours before we finally decided to get cabs and head back to the hotel and go to bed. In the morning, we left beautiful Toledo for Valencia, and I kept hoping I’d like Valencia as much as I loved Toledo.

On the bus ride to Valencia, I was sleeping and the bus was silent because everyone else was too and one girl who was sitting across the aisle from me and back one row was watching something on her laptop and kept busting up laughing into the silent bus. Sooo, she woke me up and I couldn’t go back to sleep. Even with my Ipod, I could still hear her laughing. I was so irritated. By the time the girl finally decided to go to sleep herself, the rest of the bus was awake. We left Toledo at around 10 or 1030, and after stopping for lunch, we arrived in Valencia at 3:45 to meet our host families. Our bus met all the parents at the stadium in Valencia. Our ISA leaders called us out of the bus one by one to introduce us to our parents. I was prettttty nervous. We got off the bus to meet Marcos, our host dad. At our meeting the night before, the ISA leaders told us that it is custom to kiss on both cheeks and showed us how. Lol. So that is how Marcos greeted us. It’s so much warmer than the American custom of shaking hands. It made me feel truly welcome. So Marcos drove us home in his car (some people took buses or a taxi or walked home) and luckily his apartment (we live on the 6^th floor) had an elevator so we didn’t have to haul our suitcases up the stairs. We met Maria, our host mom, and they showed us around the apartment. It is the strangest layout. There are three hallways that make a C shape and the rooms all go off of those hallways. Marcos and Maria showed us our room and where we could put our clothes. They told us they would give us time to unpack and went to the living room. Bre and I unpacked, and had plenty of space for our things. I like our room a lot. It’s plenty big and it has a large window that lets in lots of light and the windows are always open so there’s a nice breeze. We have a pretty cool view and right below us is a large court where kids play futbol and basketball all day. I wasn’t expecting to have wifi (pronounced weefee here, lol) and I don’t have it, but once I heard so many of my friends saying they did have wifi in their apartments, I really wish we did. But Marcos showed us a café right on the other side of the court that has free wifi…we just have to buy a drink or something. 

So Marcos. He’s around 60-65 and he is just the sweetest man. I am so glad he’s our host dad. He and Maria have had many international students stay with them, so he’s very good at speaking clearly for us and not using too many big words that will confuse us. He’s great. He’s smiley and he laughs and jokes a lot and he’s very patient with us. If I don’t understand something, he’s very good about rewording his sentences to something I do understand. Also, if there’s something important we’re trying to understand (like directions for example) and we’re confused with his Spanish explanation, he knows English very well and will tell us if all else fails. So that’s nice. It’s comforting that if there was ever some kind of emergency and I needed to speak in English, I could. In general, it is harder for me to understand Spanish men than Spanish women so I assumed I would have more problems understanding Marcos than Maria. However, Maria is actually much harder for me to talk with. Her accent is much stronger and even though she also speaks clearly, it’s a challenge to catch her words. But she is also very nice and I like living with them. We also live with two other students. One girl is from France and she’ll only be here until Saturday. The other girl is from Korea and she's here for a music conference for two weeks. The French girl speaks Spanish and English and the Korean girl speaks only English, so when the four of us eat dinner together, we have to speak in English so the Korean girl understands, which is kind of a pain since we’re here to practice Spanish. 

It’s fun to discover what is different about the United States. The hardest to get used to is that you are not allowed to walk around the house without shoes on. I’m not sure why this is unacceptable, but it is. One morning I walked out of the bedroom in my bare feet to go to the bathroom and Maria and Marcos saw me and nicely told me to put shoes on. Then the other day Bre opened the door of the bathroom right after she showered (the bathroom is directly across from our bedroom) and Maria saw her without shoes on standing in the bathroom and told her to put them on too. Haha. It’s strange because it’s mostly considered rude in the U.S. to wear shoes in the house. But it’s backwards here. I have to put my shoes right beside my bed when I go to sleep so I don’t forget to wear them in the morning. It’s nice when we have our door shut at night because then we can walk around barefoot all we want. J Also, in Spain, most people ciesta (rest) in the middle of the day. A lot of stores will close after lunch and before dinner. Almost every day after lunch Maria will ask me if I’m tired or tell me to go take a nap. Lol. The other day was the first day I did rest after lunch because there wasn’t enough time to go to the beach before the meeting we had. But I don’t like it. I feel like I’m wasting a perfectly gorgeous day. Another thing is about the water and electricity in Spain. I guess a few years ago, Spain didn’t have any water and you could only use it at certain times. Now they are very conservative with it. Maria and Marcos aren’t too strict with it…they didn’t tell us our showers could only be a certain length…but I try to be respectful and make my showers as quick as possible. We also can’t drink the tap water in Valencia. I bought a 6 liter jug of water for 2 euro (a steal!) to pour into water bottles while I’m here so I don’t have to buy a bunch of individual ones. Our ISA office also has big jugs of water we can fill bottles with. 

So our first night, Bre and I just explored the city a little bit before meeting up with Mallory to meet some of the girls in our group that were in the summer one program that we hadn’t met yet. One of the girls is Mallory’s roommate and she wanted us to go out with them. They’re kind of cliquey, but hopefully that will get better once they get to know us. We also were lost for an hour trying to get there, but eventually we did. The next day we had to meet with our group at the stadium and Marcos was so sweet. He rode the bus with us to show us how to get there and when we got off the bus, he even walked us over to the stadium until we were about 20 feet from our group. Our first two days, he explained the bus systems and how to get where and which buses to take to school, back from school, and to the beach. Well, I am the WORST person with directions, so I didn’t absorb it too well, but he’s been awesome helping me figure out how to get places. He’ll tell me to get my map and he shows me how to get everywhere and he’s great. Nonetheless, Bre and I got lost the first chance we got and a few more times after that. The second day we were here we got lost on the way home from the ISA office and then again on the way home from the beach. Altogether we spent about 2 and a half hours lost. The buses are just soooo confusing and hard to figure out. 

A few days ago we went to the beach for the first time. It was gorgeous! It was so huge that everyone in our group picked a place on the beach beforehand so we could find each other. I needed a towel, so I bought one that says “Espana.” As soon as Bre and I got there, we went swimming. IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA! It was a little too warm for my taste, but it was awesome! Later, Mallory and I just sat out in the sea for a long time, enjoying the water. We all kept saying, “We’re in Spain swimming in the Mediterranean!!” Haha. After the beach, and after finally making it home for dinner, we went to bed early. That’s another thing about being here. Breakfast is always around 8, lunch is at 2:30, and dinner is at 8:30. Maria always makes something different and she always remembers what we don’t like. For example, we had paella the first night (Valencia is the paella capital of Spain or something like that) but I didn’t eat my tomatoes, so she asked me if I didn’t like them and said she wouldn’t give them to me again. Bre doesn’t like tuna, so she didn’t get it in her pasta the other day. I also didn’t eat my runny yolk when we had an egg with dinner (I ate the white stuff around it) so she asked how I like my eggs and said she’d make me a tortilla (like an omelet) next time and that’s how my egg was cooked after that. She’s very nice. The servings are so big, though. And if I don’t finish something, she always asks if I didn’t like it. I am always telling her I am just full. Lol. For breakfast we have two slices of bread and we can put jelly or this chocolate spread on it. She always gives us cereal, and milk (cold or warm, whatever we prefer) that tastes a little funny, and a muffin or pastry of some sort. At every meal there is also a big pitcher of water for us. 

The weather here is so hot and so far, it has always been sunny, except for today and yesterday it was a little cloudy in the morning. Marcos was telling me that it is sunny 300 days of the year and the other 65 it is usually cloudy and sometimes rainy. 

The other night, I went to plug in my alarm clock and it worked for about five minutes, and then I heard a noise and realized I didn’t use my converter. Because the voltage here is 220V and at home it is 110V, you  have to use a converter to change the electricity for small appliances. Well I thought of that with my blowdryer, but I forgot about my alarm clock. So, it’s broken (sorry, mom!). It was also very hot when I unplugged it. Oops. Luckily it was a cheapie, but I have to use my phone now as an alarm. We started classes this week. I go from 9-1:45 and then I’m done. No classes on Fridays, so it’s a great schedule. 

We bought something called a Mobilis pass that you pay for so many trips and you can use the metro and the bus with them. Also, there is a bike system in Valencia called “Valenbisi” and for 18 euro a year, you can use the public bikes as much as you want. Even for the five weeks we are here, it is a good deal. The system is really ingenious. There are stations all over the city (there are five that Marcos showed me right around our house) and the bikes are parked there. You go, scan your card, pick a bike, and take it. It has a bell on it to ring at people and a basket to put things in. But sooo many people use them. So you take your bike, go to your destination, and park it at another Valenbisi station. You can only have one “checked out” for 30 minutes, but for the most part, that’s long enough. So then you leave it and go on your way and if you need another one, you take it later. You don’t have a specific bike so it’s very convenient. You just take one and leave it anywhere there is a designated spot. There are some problems with this, because if the station you go to is full, you have to find another one before your half hour is up. Or if you go to school and need one and the station is empty, again, you have to find another station. But there is a map at all the Bisi stations that tell how many are there, so it’s a great system. All the sidewalks have Bisi sections too. So we decided to do the Bisi thing, and now I ride the Bisis to and from school. Marcos helped me highlight my route on my map, and for the first time, I didn’t get lost! 

So at school, I have a grammar class and a culture class. The grammar teacher is super funny and relaxed. He spends a lot of the morning sitting cross-legged on the desks in front of us. For my culture class, we go on fieldtrips to different places in Valencia. The other day when I got back from school, I was a little late for lunch because of it was my first time with the Bisi, but Marcos was so nice about it and I walked in all flustered and he just kept telling me to relax, that I made it home and that’s all that mattered and that it didn’t matter what time I got back, as long as I did. Then he finished making lunch because Maria was at lunch with her friends and he just sang in the kitchen as he got it ready. So it was just him and me at lunch so we just chatted. He always will tell jokes and make me laugh and when he tells me he’s kidding, he’ll say in English, “I’m jucking.” Hahaha. Also in Spain, they speak with a lisp. This is something Spanish teachers at home will tell you, but it’s something else to experience hearing it. It’s not all “s” sounds, but some. For example, Valencia is pronounced “Balenthia.” I doubt I’ll ever pick up the lisp though…I’d feel silly. After class this week, I went to the beach with some friends and Maria packed me a picnic. At first I felt rude not being home for lunch, but she keeps asking if I want to go to the beach and I guess it probably is easier for her to make a bocadillo instead of a meal. So I accepted her offer.

We had intercambio the other night. Intercambio is where we go to dinner with some local students and hang out with them and they work on their English while we work on our Spanish. It’s a great way to meet locals and get better at speaking. We walked into the restaurant and the Spanish students were already seated. Bre, Mallory, Jenny, Allison, and I all went to a table with three boys and sat down with them. When we sat, they said, “Ay, muchas chicas.” Lol. Their names were Antonio, Jose, and Carlos. We all sat talking and they spoke English pretty well and we spoke Spanish to them too. It was a strange mix of languages. Someone would speak Spanish and then someone else would respond in English and it just kept switching from one to the other. The funny part was when Jose would speak, I had to ask him to slow down and then when I spoke, Antonio would ask me to slow down. Haha. We asked them what they thought of Americans and Antonio has been to Texas so he loves Texas people and Jose said they’re “fat, drunk, and crazy.” And they said they think all Americans are like the people in American Pie. The guys were so nice and funny though. We had a great time. We got free pizza and sangria and just talked and laughed for a few hours. We’ll probably hang out with them again. After that, they were having free salsa lessons at the bar across the street from the restaurant. So almost our entire ISA group went over there and a bunch of our new Spanish friends (we convinced the guys to come with us and dance too). There was a teacher with a microphone at the front and he taught us to salsa and it was so much fun! We had a blast. 

Yesterday I went to the beach after class with Morgan and Patrick. I got kindaaaaa burnt on my back after laying on my stomach for like 45 minutes. The Spanish sun is so strong.  I put sunscreen on my front so I didn’t get burnt there…only my back. Last night most of the ISA group went to this really fancy club called Gandhara. It’s like a VIP only thing, but one of the kids that was here for the first summer program got us all on the list. The place was really high-class and we mostly felt really out of place but whatever. We had to go though these doors to the outside that had an India feel to it. We all just hung out and had free hors d'oeuvres and wine. Today we did a scavenger hunt in an old part of the city that is very pretty. Then we went to the beach again. Tonight, we’re getting together at a restaurant to hang out. And tomorrow we’re going to La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias in Valencia. It is some of the most advanced architecture in the world and has the largest aquarium in Europe. So I’m pretty excited for that! Also, we bought bus tickets to Pamplona next weekend for the running of the bulls! It started out with just me, Jenny, Allison, Mallory, and Bre, but once we had our tickets we told our other friends about it and there’s another 10-15 kids going with us now. We’re so excited! It should be a really great experience! Well, that’s all for now. Sorry this is so long! I’ll try to update more often!

Besos!