Valencia Bucket List

Hola Todos!

As this is my final week in Valencia, I decided to make a list of all the things I still want to do before leaving. Among other things, my list includes: visit the cathedral, ride the Ferris wheel by the beach, and see a bull fight. I can now say I have done all three!

Monday after work I visited Valencia's Cathedral. The cathedral is very beautiful from the inside, with elements of the renaissance, gothic, and baroque periods included in the construction. By now I'm sure you're tired of reading about all the cathedrals, so I won't go into too much detail on this one, although there are a few elements of Valencia's cathedral that are worth noting. The first, I was already aware of, while the second was a strange surprise. First, Valencia's Cathedral claims to house the holy grail, as in the actual goblet Jesus and his disciples drank from at the last supper. I say claim because, much like Christopher Columbus's body, multiple claims have been made as to who has the real one (unlike his body though, you can't just do a DNA test to authenticate it). According to the cathedral, the cup was taken to Rome by Saint Peter and later to Spain to keep it safe from people persecuting Christians. The cup itself is from somewhere in the orient. Real or not, its fun to say "I (may have) saw the holy grail!" Second, Valencia's cathedral houses the intact hand of Saint Vincent the Martyr. They have the actual, preserved hand of a Christian martyr on display. When I first saw it I thought it was a black glove, until my audio guide informed me that it was in fact a human hand. Weird, but kind of cool, and definitely not something I saw in any of the previous cathedrals. Aside for those two things, the cathedral also had two Goya paintings. Visit the Cathedral: check.

Yesterday was my last beach day, so it was my last chance to ride the Ferris Wheel. KC and I got to the beach around 3:30 and before settling into the sand, we got lunch, and after we walked over to the Ferris Wheel. The Ferris Wheel is located between the beach and the ship port. We were also the only two people on the ride when we went on, so we got two rotations and they stopped us at the top so we could take some pictures, which I'll include below. As expected, the view from the top was incredible! I could see the down the beach, out to sea, all of the ship port, into the city, and even buildings from the city of arts and science! It was a good way to kick of a not so good last beach day (we got caught in the only thunderstorm we've had this entire trip). Ride the Ferris wheel at the beach: check.

My apartment is about a three minute walk from the plaza del toros, where bull fights, as well as concerts and other events, are held. For Fiera del Julio, there are bull fights scheduled all week and through the weekend, so KC and I decided to go as a see one on Wednesday night. The fights started at 10, and from my understanding can often last upwards of three hours. We didn't arrive until closer to 11 and we only stayed for about an hour-- two bull fights. It was definitely an experience, but its not one I think I'll ever have again. For one, I was nervous the entire time. Even though I know the matadors are trained and professionals, I was afraid the bull was going to gore one of them. This never happened, but I still spent the entire hour on the edge of my seat out of nervous energy. I also didn't particularly like the sport itself. It was cool watching the matadors twirl their capes in showy, swooping motions while the bulls ran at them, but once they started stabbing the bulls with the stakes and finally the sward, I felt bad for the bull. First, a few guys with big pink capes came out and would taunt the bull into running at them to tire it out. Then, two or three guys with colorful stakes came out and stabbed the bull while the first guys kept it distracted with the capes. All this made the bull angry, tired, and in pain. Finally, the matador came out with a smaller red cape and, after taunting the bull some more for show, he stabbed a long sward all the way into the bulls back at an angle. If this wasn't bad enough, they then kept taunting the bull, making it run around, and poking and stabbing it with knives as it was in pain and dying.  Basically what you are watching is an animal being tortured and killed, and though I'm certainly not a member of PETA, it felt cruel. The experience reminded me of a book my dad used to read to when Tate, Bret, and I were younger, Ferdinand the Bull. Ferdinand was a big, strong bull, but he liked to smell the flowers, not fight. Watching the fights made me with more bulls (and people, frankly) were like Ferdinand. See a bull fight: check.

The hand of Saint Vincent the Martyr

The supposed Holy Gail. I had to zoom in ALOT for this picture because they keep it set pretty far back from tourists

A view of the port and ocean from the top of the Ferris Wheel



KC and I at the top of the Ferris Wheel

 

The guys with pink capes came out first to tire the bull out.

The matador and the bull

Hasta Luego!
Aubrey

A Taste of Valencia

Hola Todos!

It would be a crime to visit Spain and never try any of the traditional foods, but Valencia especially plays a large role in the food of Spain and has many famous and original dishes that are must try's while in the city. For starters, Valencia is the birthplace of Spain's most iconic dish: paella.

Paella is a rice dish which contains various types of meats, seafood, or occasionally vegetables. Though it is possible to get paella in many different types and varieties, traditional Valencian paella, or paella valenciana, does not contain sea food. Instead, it contains chicken and rabbit. It's interesting to me that their traditional paella wouldn't include sea food since, thanks to the cities location right on the Mediterranean Sea, seafood is a large part of the diet here. However, since chicken and rabbit are what's traditional (and also because I don't like eating my shrimp with legs and eyes) that's what I tied when I had paella here. It was really good! Surprisingly, eating rabbit didn't bother me either. This wasn't the first time I've had paella, but it was one of my favorites. I really liked my Madre's paella in Salamanca, but I didn't like having to pick thought the clam shells and shrimp legs to eat what was essentially at that point just seasoned rice.

After paella, arguably the most famous food (or drink, rather) originating from Valencia is horchata. Horchata is a cold, white, milky drink made from ground tiger nuts. People often compare it to almond milk when trying to explain it to foreigners. Because it is a cold and refreshing drink, and because Valencia is so unbearably hot in the summer, horchata is a popular summer drink here. It is sold in restaurants, convenience stores, and little carts on the street. I tried horchata my second week in Valencia, and I wasn't a fan. It's very sweet, which I didn't like. That said, it was cold and refreshing, so I can definitely see why people like to drink it here. For me though, I'll stick to water and ice cream when I want to cool off.

Valencia is known for their oranges. They grow on trees all sound the city, and it isn't uncommon to see oranges just laying on the ground as common as a pinecone by a pine tree. For that reason, Valencian orange juice is very fresh and delicious. But it isn't the only drink they make here with their oranges. Agua de Valencia is an alcoholic drink originally from Valencia. It is made from orange juice, cava, vodka, and gin. From what I've seen, it seems to be drank in a manner similar to sangria in that people often order a glass, or pitcher if sharing, while sitting at a café, perhaps with tapas. I personally found the flavor to be too sweet and a little off putting. Still, as a drink unique to Valencia, it was a must try, if only just once.

My favorite Valencia food may not be the most famous, but it is definitely a prominent part of the city's street food. When visiting the beach in Valencia, take a stroll down the walkway along the beachfront restaurants hotels, and markets. While on that walk you'll notice that you pass not one, not two, probably not even three, but many street vendors set up with a table and a portable grill selling corn on the cob. The corn is grilled and served with salt and sometimes a little olive oil. Quick, easy, cheap, and delicious (not to mention probably a lot healthier than boardwalk fries), it is the perfect beachside snack. I don't think I've been to the Valencia beaches once without some corn to snack on when I got hungry! And since it is so simple to make, I may be trying my hand at this one when I get back to the States in just over a week.

So there you are. A quick overview of some of the best and most traditional foods in Valencia. If you ever visit, I would highly recommend trying all four!

A little cup of horchata (orxata in Catalan) on a hot day walking through Plaza Ayuntamiento

Hasta Luego!
Aubrey

Barcelona!

Hola Todos!

Wow. Its been over a week since the last post, and not for want of things to write about. On the contrary quite the opposite is true. I've had a very busy week! For starters, I actually finally felt like I had some real and moderately interesting things to do for my internship. I sent out some emails to promote an event that the foundation is putting on and then I translated some documents form Spanish to English. Also, I stayed later than usual at intercambio on Tuesday because they had free paella!! Free paella means I didn't have to cook myself dinner OR pay for someone to cook for me. Score! but since this is Spain, it wasn't served until 10/ 10:30, so I had to stay later if I wanted my free dinner. It was a fun night though, and definitely worth it! More exciting than real work and free paella, though, was my trip two weekends ago to Barcelona.

(warning: this post is long!)

Over the course of the past eight weeks I've had the good fortune of being able to visit diverse and exciting cities all over Spain. With so many interesting places, all with their own quirks and history, its been difficult to choose a definitive favorite. That is, until two weekends ago.



Panoramic view of La Sagrada Familia form a park across a pond

Now, I had exceptionally high expectations for Barcelona before visiting. Thanks to fantastic images of Antoni Gaudi's whimsical architecture in Parc Guell and the Sagrada Familia, movies like Vicky, Christina, Barcelona which depict the city as vibrant and full of energy, and stories from friends about wonderful times spent there, I had already fallen in love well before I stepped out of the metro on Friday evening into Plaza Catalunya. Barcelona was so built up in my mind, not unlike the way people romanticize Paris and New York, that had the city not been what it was, I could have been in for a huge disappointment. And while it wouldn't be fair to say that the weekend went perfectly smooth, I absolutely have no qualms with the way things went because just being in the city-- wandering down the streets, sitting by the pier, picnicking in the park-- was mesmerizing in and of itself,  and that left no cause to get upset, even when things didn't work out quite as planned.

The trip itself was rather spontaneously planned. I knew I wanted to go to Barcelona one of my weekends in Valencia, but I had not yet made any plans. Actually, I had just told my mom a day or two before that I didn't know if I would realistically make it up there at all, when Thursday afternoon I checked train times and hostel availabilities and decided what the hell, let's just do it. I booked my hostel around midnight, and despite the short notice I found a clean, safe, and fun one located in the center of the city, beds available all three nights I was staying.

The plan was to leave Friday afternoon right after work, and to return early Monday morning in time for work, that way I would have just over two full days to explore the city. Luckily, the train schedules were accommodating. It was about a three hour train ride between Valencia and Barcelona, and a good part of it went right up the coast providing a lovely view of the Mediterranean from out the window. I arrived at Barcelona Sants station around 6:15, and I would have been at the hostel before 7 if I had just taken the metro from the start.  Unfortunately I wasted about an hour because I was initially set on walking to the hostel. I ended up essentially walking in circles around the station trying to orient myself in the direction of the city center, before finally admitting defeat.

My friend Hyland-- who if you remember, visited me in Salamanca at the beginning of her two month backpacking tour around Spain-- was also in Barcelona last weekend, so we were able to spend the whole weekend together. As an added bonus, she lived there last year as part of an exchange program, so I not only had a friend to run around the city with, but I also had a fantastic personal tour guide.

Friday night we strolled down La Rambla, a famous street in Barcelona lined with flower vendors, ice cream stands, and street art (along with junky tourist traps). We followed La Rambla from the top at Plaza Catalunya, which happened to be very near my hostel, past the tall, iconic monument to Columbus, and down to the pier. After, we grabbed dinner at one of Hyland's favorite restaurants, where I had the most delicious sangria and ravioli (Not paella. I know, I know, I should have had something more Spanish). That put an end to a very pleasant first evening in the city, and set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday was pretty relaxed. I decided I wanted to save all the Gaudi stuff for Sunday, so there was no obligations to be anywhere at a specific time on Saturday. We started off the day walking down La Rambla to the Boqueria, which is Barcelona's large, famous food market. We browsed around the market maneuvering through the hoards of people (because it was very crowded! Much more so than the Mercado Central in Valencia). The Boqueria sold everything from bright, ripe fruits and vegetables, to local cheese and meat, to delicious baked goods, to fresh seafood straight out of the sea, eyes and all. I bought a delicious smoothie for one euro, as well as an empanada and some pineapple for breakfast, and we proceeded to take our food down by the pier to eat. It was just as beautiful by day as it was by night, although the overwhelming number of pigeons was a little annoying.

There was a little market with people selling antiques, jewelry, and other assorted items, so we walked through that briefly, and then made our way to the gothic quarter, an old, beautiful neighborhood in Barcelona conveniently located near La Rambla.

Two of the main attractions of the gothic quarter are the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar and the Gothic Cathedral. Santa Maria del Mar was cool in comparison to most of the other churches/ cathedrals that I've seen during the trip because the interior was very simple. It lacked all the ornate gold decorations, large religious paintings, and all around opulence that most of the others had. Instead it had only the high crossed ceilings (I've already forgotten the name from my art class. Jesus would be so disappointed...) and stained glass windows characteristic of gothic architecture. I really appreciated the simplicity of the building. We then went to the cathedral. We didn't go inside the gothic cathedral because you couldn't go in wearing shorts, but at this point I've seen so many cathedrals that I was ok missing that one.

Another fun attraction located near the gothic quarter was Barcelona's Picasso Museum. The museum was cool because, even though it isn't necessarily the home of his most famous paintings, they have a lot from his early years as well as the collection of paintings he did as studies for his interpretation of Velazquez's Las Menians. They also have Picasso's Las Meninas. The museum was set up to take you through the different stages of his paining career leading up to the creation of Las Menians, so you got to see how his style progressed as you made your way through the museum. I even got to see a few paintings that we learned about in art, which is always fun!

One of the information plaques in the Picasso Museum mentioned a Barcelona café called Els Quatre Gats where Picasso, as well as many other modernism artists used to frequent. As the café was not too far from where we were, we decided to take a trip there for coffee. Even though it's pretty touristy now, it was neat to think that some of the great artists of the 20th century used to congregate there.

At this point it was only about two in the afternoon and we had already accomplished everything on my "must do" list for Saturday, except for one evening activity. This is where it came in handy to have Hyland as my tour guide. It was about lunch time so we decided to go back to the Boqueria to pick up picnic supplies. After she took me to a park with a large pool of fountains and lots of surrounding palm trees and greenery. One thing I liked a lot about Barcelona in general, was the amount of greenery that was incorporated into the city. I never felt lost in an urban jungle of concrete because there were always plants and trees around (plus, Barcelona isn't really a city of concrete skyscrapers to begin with, but that's beside the point). For lunch we bought a baguette, chorizo, cheese, and a tomato to make little sandwiches, as well as strawberries, stuffed dates, and a small bottle of cava, which is Spanish champagne. The dates were especially good because they were not to dry and they were stuffed with things like chocolate, cheese, Spanish ham, or nuts. They made for a unique and delicious dessert!

The last thing we were planning on doing on Saturday was going to see the Magic Fountain in Plaza España. The magic fountain is a fountain show with lights, music, and water formations and it was, as its name suggests, magical. However, since we had to wait for it to get dark to do the fountain, we decided to walk down by the beach and get a drink. We went to a little bar right on the beach and choose a table right next to the edge, as close to the sand and ocean as we could find. It turned out it was a little too close though because unbeknownst to me, one of the legs of my chair was dangling over the edge and as soon as I sat down I fell back, chair and all, into the sand.

After such a perfect Saturday I was even more excited about my plans for Sunday! I had tickets for Parc Guell, Casa Batllo, and Sagrada Familia, so the only major Gaudi work I wasn’t planning on seeing was La Padrera, and even that I planned on seeing from the outside. For years photos of Gaudi’s work drove Barcelona very close to the top of my “must visit” list. I was ecstatic over the fact that in less than 24 hours I was actually going to see them!

We visited Parc Guell in the morning to try and beat the crowds and the heat. We were successful with the crowds, but even though it was only nine in the morning, the weather was HOT. Still, it was worth the sweat because not only was the park incredible, but the view of Barcelona was amazing as well! Most of Parc Guell is free to the public. However, if you want to visit what they call the "monumental zone", which is the famous area with Antoi Gaudi’s quirky buildings, colorful tilework, and masterful blending of nature and architecture, then you had to buy tickets. In general, Parc Guell was filled with curved shapes and lots of color. I especially loved the tile work on the benches and the tile covered iguana statue. It absolutely lived up to expectations.

Surprisingly, one of my favorite things I saw all weekend, if not the favorite thing I saw, was Casa Batllo, a house designed by Gaudi. The house is worth visiting for the façade alone as the outside is covered with what looks like colorful stones or flowers, balconies that resemble bones, and a colorful tile roof that brings to mind a fish, dragon, or any other number of things depending on your where your imagination wants to run. I think for many people, the façade is the most interesting part of Casa Batllo, but for me, even more incredible was the world you entered when you stepped into the house. The house gave off the feeling of being underwater, as if you stepped out off the streets and into the middle of the ocean. There were very few straight lines in the design of the house which gave a feeling of fluidity and constancy of motion. Every little detail in the architectural design seemed to add to the underwater theme: walls with turtle shell designs, swirled ceilings that gave the impression of a whirl pool or sea shell, ombre blue tile work surrounding the spiral stairs taking on the hue of the ocean, a ventilation system that bought to mind the gills of a fish, and even white ached hallways that made you feel like you could be in the ribcage of a whale. Theses details became even more impressive when I learned that many were not only for aesthetic, but were also purposeful and structurally significant, not to mention ahead of their time. The ombre blue tiles worked with the amount of light entering the house (the higher you go, the more light that enters) to brighten the hall, the fish gill provided a creative and innovative way to control air flow in the house, and the angle of the whales ribcage gave the narrow hallway a more spacious feel. Other highlights of the house included the back patio and the rooftop, where the chimneys also took on a fun and original shape. I visited Casa Batllo expecting it to be an interesting supplement to my Gaudi discovery, but I left having seen something more creative, innovative, and strange than I ever could have imagined. I wish Antoni Gaudi was still alive, because I wouldn't mind commissioning him to build me my own personal Casa Batllo.

When we bought the tickets for La Sagrada Familia the only times left were in the evening, and there were no tickets to see the tower. We showed up at our time, which was very near closing, but when we tried to enter the Cathedral, we got some unfortunate news. We had accidentally bought tickets for Saturday, not Sunday, which explained why there were so few tickets left when we bought them Saturday afternoon. To make the situation more frustrating, the ticket office closed before we could purchase tickets for Sunday. So there you are. The flaw in an otherwise flawless weekend. But even without going inside, I was able to enjoy Gaudi's masterpiece. La Sagrada Familia was staggeringly beautiful and incredibly unique. It had large words inscribed into the façade, clear enough to see from across the little pond that we sat by to view it and the tops of  the pointed  towers all had colorful crosses, although they were hard to see as they were covered for construction (La Sagrada Familia is still unfinished). It impressed me that one man could have all those ideas in his head to design such a complicated, beautiful, and one of a kind work of art. And even though I didn't get to see the inside, I now have something really spectacular to see the next time I visit! Because I will be coming back to Barcelona someday.

To cap off the weekend, Hyland and I had a very Spanish dinner at the same restaurant we went to Friday night. When I say it was a Spanish dinner, I don't mean traditional Spanish food-- we both had pasta. What I mean is we ate late. Like, we didn't leave the restaurant until well past midnight and the restaurant was preparing to close. Just as we kicked off the weekend at the dragon restaurant-- that's not the actual name, but there is a large paper dragon on the ceiling so they might as well call it that-- we finished the weekend there as well, a perfect way to bring things full circle. At five the next morning I woke up, headed to Sants, and boarded a train to go back to Valencia and straight to work.

Christopher Columbus at the top of the monument

 

 

Gothic Cathedral in the gothic quarter

 

The fountain in the park where we had our picnic on Saturday

 



As you can see, the Magic Fountain draws quite a crowd! It was also Hyland's first time seeing this.

Parc Guell

The Façade of Casa Batllo. Unfortunately, I'm a poor photographer so you can't see the roof here

 



The chimneys from the top of Casa Batllo

 

 

So now what did I do this past weekend? I stayed in Valencia, walked the city some more, and went to the beach. I'm also officially into my last week of the Valencia program, which is just ridiculously hard to believe! On Saturday I'll be in Paris, and by next Thursday I'll be home sleeping in my own bed. Until then I'll try to stay a little more on top of the blog...

Hasta Luego!
Aubrey

Snapshots of Valencia

Hola Todos!

Over the past few days I've been trying to make time to see a little bit more of the city. Because of this, I finally have some photos of some of the various plazas and other cool areas here in Valencia. So no writing today, just pictures. Enjoy!



Plaza de la Virgin and the Cathedral of Valencia

 

 

 

Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Also, Plaza del Ayuntamiento

 

A little café outside the Mercado Central

Mercado Central. This is the place to go for really good fresh food.

 

Hasta Luego!
Aubrey

L'Oceanogràfic

Hola Todos!

One of the biggest tourist attractions in Valencia is the Ciudad de Arte y Ciencia (City of Arts and Science), which includes L'Oceanogràfic, the biggest aquarium in Europe. I spent four hours on Sunday exploring eleven of the twelve different areas within the aquarium (the twelfth was open to tours only).

The City of Arts and Science consists of a group of large, futuristic buildings that look like they popped out of a sic fi movie. Around them there is lots of water and greenery, and if it weren't for the extreme heat of the sun beating down on Sunday afternoon, it would have been a lovely place to take a walk, maybe pack a picnic lunch, and just have a pleasant, peaceful day. Within the "city" there is a science museum, an opera house and performing arts center, a planetarium with three large Imax domes, a building with many plants indigenous to Valencia (which I've heard transforms into a very cool discoteca-- club-- at night), and the aquarium. So far, I've only seen the aquarium.

From the outside, it did not seem particularly large. L'Oceanografic is made up of a series of buildings and outdoor exhibits and organized by regions of the world. Some exhibits included the Mediterranean, the Arctic, the tropical seas, and the Red Sea. There were large tanks with full ecosystems, small tanks with one specific species, and the occasional tunnel to give you the feel of swimming with all the fish. In many ways I was reminded of the Aquariums at Atlantis minus the "lost underwater city" décor.

One of the exhibits was a wetlands exhibit. This one was held in a large spherical, Epcot like building filled with bright pink and red birds, fish, and a few turtles. I actually went inside the dome, despite my general dislike for being in contained spaces with lots of flying animals (birds, butterflies, its really just not my scene...)

At 6:45 I attended the dolphin show at the aquarium. Dolphin shows are always a good time, although I wish I had waited until seven to arrive. The first fifteen minutes of the show were spent choosing the kids that got to be "helpers" in the show. It was cute at first, but after a while you just wanted them to get on with the show.

To end the day, I made my way over to the oceans exhibit, which may as well have been called the sharks and sting ray exhibit, since those were the two major attractions. There had been smaller species of sharks and rays throughout some of the other exhibits, but if you wanted to see large dangerous sea animals, this was the place to go. There was a long tunnel you could walk through (again, like Atlantis) and the sharks and rays would swim around you, giving you views of every angle but down, and making it feel like you were in the tank with them. It's an thrilling experience.

Here are some of the pictures from the day. Hope you're all having a  great week so far!!

Part of the City of Arts and Science

 

A view of the wetlands exhibit from outside the aquarium

 

 

A shark swimming over me in the tunnel

 

Hasta Luego!
Aubrey

p.s. The strangest thing happened yesterday. I was trying to look up Rehoboth Beach on google, and I could not figure out how to spell it because I genuinely could not remember what letter is used to make the "h" sound. After a moments pause I typed "reJoboth." Like a Spanish "h" sound... Weird. To make things worse, earlier that same day I typed "informaCion" where I had meant to type "informaTion"... I only noticed my mistake when the computer told me I had spelled it wrong.

The 4th of July in Spain

Hola Todos!

I'm a few days late with this, but Happy Fourth of July!!! While everyone back home in the states was busy waving American flags and sparklers all weekend, I was having a pretty good time of my own here in Valencia.

So the question remains to be asked... what do you do for the Fourth of July when you spend it in Spain? It's not like spending it in London where you can rub your freedom in the faces of the Brits we separated from oh so long ago. Its not like spending it in Paris where you can humbly give thanks for the help the French provided in winning the war (although lets be honest, Americans are anything but humble when it comes to our independence...) But Spain? Spain didn't really play a part in the American Revolution (I mean, I guess you could thank them for discovering America to begin with, but there's a whole other holiday for that, and it isn't until October). So the answer is you don't do much. That is, unless you're in Valencia and it just happens to be a Saturday during la Feria de Julio, in which case there are plenty of ways in which you can pretend the city is celebrating American Independence. But all that happened in the evening, and I really need to start with Saturday morning.

Saturday we had the one group excursion scheduled for this part of the trip. The excursion was through Euroace, the company that placed the internships and holds the classes and intercambio sessions. There were a wide variety of people on the excursion from all over the world, all in Valencia to study, intern, or in my case, both, through Euroace. I met people from Brazil, Germany, China, Italy, and many different areas of the United States. The fun part about the Valencia part of the program, as opposed to the Salamanca part, is that I am meeting people from all over the world! It's cool to talk to these people and just hear about their lives and experiences since they are all so different.

For the excursion we drove about an hour and a half outside the city to a river to go kayaking. The entire drive there the people from Euroace kept telling us there would be some rapids and white water that we had to kayak  though, and that there was a high probability that we would all flip at some point. That was an over exaggeration. There were some mild rapids and there was one area of white water that we actually had to go down like a slide, but it wasn't too difficult. Actually, the hardest part for KC and I-- we were in the same kayak-- was trying no paddle straight and not run into the shore. The trip was a peaceful way to spend the early afternoon. We kayaked down the river for about two hours through mountains, flowers, and greenery, and when we finished we had a quick swim and then a picnic. At the picnic area, there was a beautiful view of a nearby town sitting over the river.

Now the worst part of the day: I went to take a shower after the kayaking trip, and after about a minute in the shower, the biggest cockroach I've ever seen crawled over my foot. Needless to say, I was out of the shower in about half a second. I also haven't been back in that particular bathroom since the incident. The bug is gone, but I'm not taking any chances.

After the cockroach incident resolved with KC bravely killing it while I watched on in horror, we both threw on our most patriotic red, white and blue attire and headed out on the town for the evening. We decided to head back to the little carnival I had walked around Wednesday night, where we got burgers and fries for dinner. At the carnival I rode one ride and KC played about a thousand games. The ride was a spinning, up and down ride kind of like Dumbo at Disney World, but way more intense. It spun fast, went backwards, and instead of controlling your own height, the guy in charge of the ride bounced you up and down and up and down like a hopping kangaroo. It was also one of the longest rides I have ever been on. Just when you thought the ride was over (for the third time!) it started bouncing again. I definitely made the right call making that the one ride I went on! KC on the other hand didn't ride any of the rides, but she was determined to win a stuffed bear. She kept trying and failing at the balloon pop dart game and at the end of the night left the carnival with out a bear and without a decent chunk of the money she came with.

After we left the carnival, we concluded our evening and our Fourth of July celebration with a fireworks show put on by the city. Technically, like the carnival, they were for the Feria de Julio celebration, but we all know that fireworks on the Fourth of July can only have one real meaning... America!

So there you are. How to celebrate the fourth of July in Spain. And I would be willing to bet that my celebration was just as "American" as many of yours at home, excluding the obvious fact that I wasn't actually in America. After all, I hit almost all the major points that make up a truly American fourth-- the red white and blue ensemble, the day by the water, burgers, and a fireworks show-- and I even threw in the bonus American style carnival.

The river we kayaked with a view of the town at the end



The Carnival Lit Up at Night

 



The first of many attempts... she never did win that bear.

Hasta Luego!
Aubrey

A Busy First Week

Hola Todos!

I would like to be able to call this post "Exploring Valencia," but that would be a complete misnomer. Until Friday I saw very little of Valencia, and even Friday I barely scratched the surface. The all around lack of sightseeing, or even just casual wandering of the streets to get to know the city, was due to the far more demanding than anticipated work and lesson schedule.

Tuesday was my first day at my internship. The first day was fairly dry, but I think that's standard of the first day at many internships. I spent the entire four and a half hours I was in the office reading over documents in Spanish which explained the company's objectives and provided lengthy accounts of past projects and events they put on. At the end of the work day before I went home, I was given a web address with more information about one of the company's specific events to read for homework that night. So it was a dry first day, but great practice with reading comprehension! I did my reading homework in the time before my six o'clock Spanish class, and after class my roommate and I took a trip to the grocery store. I have to say,  budget of approximately ten euros a day for food can be stretched a long way as long as it's used for grocery's instead of eating out. For dinner I made myself rice with chicken and vegetables, and it was delicious! I've actually become mildly obsessed with carrots, mushrooms, and zucchini cooked in olive oil with salt and pepper. I've literally eaten that every day since Tuesday because its so good! And with some chicken (cooked exactly the same way) and some white rice... great cheap, easy, filling, and DELICIOUS meal!

On Wednesday work was much the same, except this time I read a document with 99 proposals on how to eliminate government corruption, which I read in preparation for a meeting I had to attend from six to eight latter that night. I was a little disappointed that I had the meeting on government corruption since Wednesdays I don't have Spanish lessons and I had been planning to go to the beach, but listening in on the meeting was really helpful for practicing listening comprehension. The meeting consisted of members from my company, Fundacion por la Justicia, some of the lawyers who had written the 99 propositions that I read and that they were discussing, and members of various political parties in Valencia. They talked fast, so I had a hard time keeping up, and I didn't understand a large part of what they were saying, but by the end of the meeting I was able to pick up more of what they were saying. As listening comprehension has always been one of my weakest spots in Spanish, any practice with it is both helpful and welcome.

When I got out of the meeting around eight, I did not want to return immediately to my apartment. As luck would have it, on my walk home I stumbled on a small carnival for Feria de Julio, which literally just means July Fair. The fair spans the entire month of July, and there are various events, parties, and activities planned throughout the month to celebrate. The carnival turned out to be just the break I needed, so I walked around for about half an hour and bought myself a hotdog for dinner. The carnival was small and had very few rides, none of which I rode because I was happy to just walk around. Just being there, doing something in the city (even if that something was a very American style carnival...) made me feel better about having done absolutely nothing so far. The other major bonus of the carnival was that it got me hooked on what seems to be a very common Valencia street food. After I had eaten my hotdog, I stumbled upon a woman with a small portable charcoal grill. Now one of the things I've missed most about the USA this summer has been food grilled on a barbeque. The woman was grilling corn on the cob until it was blackened by the charcoal and then shaking salt on top, and even though I'm not the biggest fan of corn on the cob (its good, but I've always found it hard to eat) I really wanted something, anything, grilled, so I bought the corn. Basically, now I'm hooked and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this is actually a very common thing to sell in Valencia, especially by the beach.

Thursday started out much the same as Tuesday-- work in the morning and class from six to eight at night, but Thursday had an extra element. After class I had intercambio. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with intercambio. I knew it was set in a bar and both locals and foreigners came to practice Spanish and English, but I didn't know how formal it would be, or whether or not I would enjoy it. As it turned out, it was very informal, with people coming and going as they pleased, and I enjoyed it a lot. Valencia is a big city and I don't have too many people here to hang out with (although I've started meeting a few more recently), so it was a bit lonely during the first few days. The intercambio session was refreshing because it gave me the chance to just talk with people. Different people. A greater variety of people. People from not just Spain or the USA, but from all over the world. And even though the conversations weren't all the most interesting and were often repetitive when you started talking to someone new (at least one person in the conversation was practicing a language they weren't too strong in though, so what can you expect?) it was nice to have that kind of interaction for a short time Thursday night. Overall, it was a good experience.

Friday was by far the best day of the week. Work in the morning, free time in the afternoon, which KC and I took advantage of by going to the beach... FINALLY!!!! After five days in Valencia with no sighting of the Mediterranean, I was ecstatic to finally see it! And it definitely did not disappoint. First of all, the sand is probably the finest, softest sand I have ever felt. It wasn't grainy at all. In fact it was almost too fine because it made it infinitely more difficult to wipe the sand off when we left the beach. The water was warm and great for swimming. There were mild waves when we were there, but in general the water was pretty calm. We spent most of the time just laying out relaxing, though not really tanning because we got to the beach around five when the sun was becoming less intense. After, we walked down the beach and came across a play of sorts being preformed on the beach. We only stayed to watch that for about five minutes though, because behind the show there was a little market with food venders and other random venders. I bought a chorizo bocadilla for dinner, which was delicious. A bocadilla is just a Spanish sandwich, so I had a chorizo sandwich for dinner.

After a long first week, the chance to finally see a little bit of Valencia was a welcome opportunity. We're planning on returning to the beach on Sunday, and I can't wait!



First dinner

First day of the Internship

View of the Carnival for Feria de Julio from a bridge

BEACH!

The Mediterranean!!!



A little street market by the beach were I got dinner

Hasta Luego!
Aubrey