Magic Fountains, Gaudi, and the Right Decision

I traveled to Barcelona last weekend and Madrid the weekend before. I can confidently say, with 100% certainty that I made the right decision to study in Valencia and I chose the right program. While those two cities are incredible in their own rights, Valencia is absolutely the best fit for me. I love the size of Valencia, that I'm constantly exploring new parts of the city but that it still feels small enough to not be overwhelming. I'm glad I don't have to switch trains on the metro or be worried about my safety/my stuff.

Barcelona was an incredible city. I can see how Gaudi and Picasso were inspired by it. The buildings (just regular apartment buildings and hotels) were more ornate than Valencia. It would be incredible to live in the apartments that overlook the Sagrada Familia but you would have to deal with the tourists as well.

I hardly ever spoke Spanish in Barcelona. It is a very tourist friendly city, but as play pretend Spaniard, I want it (the city) to force me to speak Spanish, as Valencia does. I would speak Spanish to the locals and they would speak English back. As I would continue to speak Spanish, they would continue to speak English. It was very frustrating. So if you are thinking about studying abroad and are serious about learning Spanish, Valencia is the way to go.

Some of my favorite things about Barca:

-I found dried apricots!! My favorite snack!

-They had tons of fresh fruit and vegetable stores.

-Gaudi Architecture- You could visit the Sagrada Familia every day and see something new about it every day.

-Ornate buildings with awesome wooden doorways.

-I think my appreciation for ornate wooden doorways comes from our house and church in Charlotte.

I hope everyone has a fantastic week! I know I will (no midterms!!)!

Love,

Lizzy

First Bad Day (Comparatively, pretty awesome)

So today was the first day that could be classified as a "bad day" but comparatively, it's still a good day.

-The hot water heater is a complicated 3 sometimes 4 step process. So today, I didn't have hot water or even warm water for my shower.

-I lost my bus card. I think it fell out of my coat pocket but I don't know for sure. Bummer.

-My teacher was sick today so we talked about the story and answered the questions as a class with no teacher. It was hard because the story was very metaphorical. And we were assigned an essay to do as well because he wasn't there.

-It's midterms week.

-I wrote down the wrong date for my midterm today so I didn't study. I still did okay but I was mad at myself because it would have been easy had I studied.

But some really great things happened. I played soccer (el futbol) with some kids from school, about 20, which was so fun. There was all different types of players from people who play for school to people who have never played before. Generally, soccer is so competitive but it was great to see people so respectful of each other. It was obvious that seasoned players were playing easy against new players while challenging other seasoned players. I felt like everyone was there to have fun and not prove anything. It was SO FUN.

Then it started to rain, and I had my laptop as did most people, so we stopped playing. We went into a building and it stopped raining about 2 minutes later. Unfortunately as soon as we started getting on the field, it started down pouring. It was one of those raining so hard, smelled like rain, rains that you just have to love, no matter if you're carrying a laptop in your backpack that could get ruined.

I finally made it to the bus but my wallet was buried beneath my 5 books, laptop, boots, and clothes. I was carrying my winter coat and a water bottle. So I had to stand at the door of the bus digging through my life in a bag to find my wallet. As I'm doing that the bus driver kindly asks, "So did you take a shower?". I was soaked. I answered "A little". Finally I found my money, but there was no where to sit or stand really on the bus (people who would have walked had it not been raining were on the usually empty bus). So then I just stopped in the middle of the aisle and stuffed my wallet back in my bag, my water bottle in a side pocket.

At this point, I have NO idea if my mascara is halfway down my face. I'm wearing black leggings and a black tshirt and super American tennis shoes. Everyone is looking at me like I'm a drowned American rat, which is exactly what I looked like.

Although that all sounds like the rain would have dampened my good mood from soccer, it didn't. I loved it. I wish I didn't have my backpack and I would have heavily considered walking home in it.

When I got home, Cristina and Madre were cooking dinner. Madre asked me if I got wet. I told her I took a shower in the rain, no problem.

Love,

Lizzy

Oranges, Cars, and Street Numbers

-My madre buys oranges by the crate. So I eat oranges by the crate. And my hands permanently smell like oranges now.

-Parking on the street here is ridiculous. There are no official rules and a ton of unofficial ones. If you car fits parked on a corner, you can park on the corner. If the street is full, it's ok, park on the sidewalk. If the street is full closest to the sidewalk, again it's ok, just park in neutral beside the cars to have two lanes of parking. If someone needs to get out, they just push the car forward or backward. I've seen it happen.

-The one rule cars ALWAYS abide by is stop for pedestrians, even if it means they are about to get rear ended.

-Businesses don't have street numbers, they adopt the closest number of an apartment building. I live in building 9. Azalea, the shop next to my building, is also number 9. When I went to go get fingerprinted the street address was 40. Except building 40 was on the next block with a few buildings inbetween.

Being Open and Close

If you would like to see this post, just ask me.

Love,

Lizzy

Spanish Culture

Yesterday was a really interesting day. We had a presentation in Spanish Culture and Civilization about the Culture of Wine. It was really interesting to hear an entirely different perspective on Wine. My professor said it's perfectly normal to have a glass of wine during lunch, that no one thinks anything of it. People here aren't drinking to get drunk, instead they are drinking to enjoy one another's company. As he said, and I agree, people here respect alcohol. Of course, as in every country, there are alcoholics but in general, no one drinks to get drunk. People here drink wine to enjoy wine, friends, and life in general. They do not care about the side effects of drinking wine, that's just something that happens as an afterthought, not the motive.

It was really interesting to hear such a nonchalant attitude about alcohol and drinking after being in a college culture in which that is not the case. In the United States, college kids drink to drunk and then more. The drink solely for the side effects. Anyone drinking at 12 pm is most likely an alcoholic and 21 is the most important birthday.

I have never seen a Spaniard stumble out of club or fall off a stool. They just don't do that because they respect the alcohol. That being said, I'm trying to write this as objectively as possible. Writing about drinking can be tricky as I don't want to come across as something I am not (a heavy drinker who needs alcohol) nor do I want to seem as if I don't understand a large aspect of Spanish culture. It's a fine line I hope I've stayed on.

Yesterday was more interesting than just the discussion of wine and culture. I took a walk to the U.S. Consulate (I have to be fingerprinted for my job this summer). On Tuesday, I walked there as well but I got a little lost. In the Old Quarter, there is no grid, all of the roads curve and diagonal and criss cross and run-on just like this sentence. It's confusing and I skipped a step in my directions which did not help.

So I walked around the Old Quarter of Valencia which was incredible. I felt such a sense of contentment walking, I was amazed. I saw a lot of interesting things yesterday. I saw a shop called "Bizi Wizi" which, if this summer doesn't work out, I can go work there because it already has my name. I saw an orange tree next to a school, kind of in the cement playground area. Then I saw policemen on horseback walking through the Rio/park. I wanted to ask if I could ride it but I figured they would say no/arrest me. On the way home from the US Consulate, I walked through the Rio again. Again, I felt the sense of contentment, like everything was just peachy or orangey (haha bad joke).

Unfortunately, once I got home I had a lot of work to do. I've had 4 papers due this week, a 15 minute presentation on Monday, 2 more papers due Monday and Tuesday, and a 4 page paper due Tuesday. The workload is intense but it gets easier to write each paper and I can tell it'll really help my Spanish.

Overall, my life is fantastic and I hope yours is too.

Love,

Lizzy

Reminders of Home

Palau de la Musica

Palace of Music

La Ciudad de Las Ciencias y Las Artes

The City of Science and Art

Harrison: I saw a big brother and little sister by the bus station today. The brother kept bugging the little sister. She kept hitting his hands away and screaming at him. Some things are universal.

Friends: J-stuff. JEverywhere. Jeverything. Jclothes. Jsuspenders. Jbags. Jstuff. Jlove for yall.

Simmons: Maria Angeles made fun of me eating my orange today. I was picking off the white stuff and she asked me why I didn't just eat it. If I knew "get over it" in Spanish, I'm sure she said it.

Dad: I saw a guy that looked exactly like you (mustache and glasses especially) except he was wearing a leather jacket. It was weird.

Mom: Madre acts just like you. She always asks how my day is and calls me "Carina" which is Darling.

Linda: My Madre tries to feed me a lot, although it's not pimento cheese, it reminds me of you.

Mar: There is Disney Channel here. And a lot of Disney merchandise. So when I see Hannah Montana, I think of you.

South Carolina: There are a lot of palmetto trees here. It's like being on campus!

It was a beautiful day outside today so I walked home from school through El Rio. El Rio (The River) is a dried river bed that Valencia has made into a park. It's gorgeous! Palau de La Musica and La Ciudad de Las Ciencias y La Artes are both in the park. They are about 3 blocks to the right and 3 blocks to the left of my house. It's great!!

ps. I didn't take those pictures, they're from Google.

Love,

Lizzy

Also, if I didn't include you, that doesn't mean something doesn't remind me of you daily!