Okay so last time really wasn't about Portugal. This time it is. And since it's getting late here I'll probably make it a part I and part II of Portugal, which means it will be just as epic as Harry Potter 7 or The Hobbit...okay maybe not that epic, but still!
Soooo we got to the airport at 6:30 a.m. in Valencia to leave for Porto. Well to make a long story short, RyanAir raped us for our money. Josh and I hadn't printed off our boarding passes online because usually you can check-in when you get to the airport. This is not the case with RyanAir I guess...It costed us 60 Euros extra to print off our boarding pass there in the airport. ARE YOU JOKING?!!!!?!???!(*!? Yeah, that was no fun, but in the end we figured we might as well just go. Plus we didn't want to leave Carol (my German friend) all alone in Portugal! So we got there around 8:30 a.m. the flight was only about an hour long. We met a nice Spanish girl named Sofia in the plane. She even invited us to her home to eat authentic paella that her mom makes! It's only about a 20 minutes train ride to her house from Valencia. :) She was cool. We got to our hostel (coolest hostel ever!!) and they let us leave our stuff locked up until check in time (2 pm) Even though we hadn't even checked in yet, the receptionist let us help ourselves to some breakfast, delicious! Bakery rolls, cereal, milk, apples, and some sort of chocolate cake they make every morning! So good. Then we decided to wander around since everything was closed since it was Sunday.
We walked through the tiny cobble-stone streets and made our way down the huge hill plateau that the city is on down to the river that runs through it. They have a cool steel bridge that looks kinda like the Eiffel Tower. We went on a boat ride up and down the river going out to the sea even. We then took a wine cellar tour just because it was free and was just about the only thing that was open. It was boring. hahaha but at least it was in Spanish and not Portuguese! The people seemed to not like it if we tried to speak Spanish with them. They were most often more willing to speak with you in English.
We then went on a tram sort of thing up the huge plateau on the other side of the river and crossed the cool steel bridge then up above the main part of the bridge. There were so many locks locked onto the rods of iron on the bridge. Ones like the brass locks you put on a locker in the gym with the little keys to get in? Is that something that they do on many bridges or just the one in Porto?? After that, we went and looked through the beautiful cathedral they have here. The interior used over 400 kg of gold to make it. Amazing. So elegant. We then decided to go eat something, so we picked a small cafe near our hostel right in the middle of the city and had a plate that consisted of a small salad, a fried egg, a sausage, and french fries. Very tasty! we then went to the hostel and hung out there. There were some girls from Canada watching a movie with a girl from Brasil and her boyfriend from France as well, so we ended up watching that movie with them. We then decided to go to bed since we wanted to do so much the next day, (Monday).
Ok. when I wake up tomorrow I will try and write about Monday! Cause I am running on 2 hours of sleep right now. You are probably already guess that by the way I bet my grammar looks like. I think my grammar is getting worse. No good! I'll write more lates mates!!!
"If adventures do not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad" — Jane Austen
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
PORTUGAL!!!
SORRY! This weekend has been crazy. I started writing a blog on Saturday, but then I didn't have time. haha So! Friday. I was a bad student and didn't go to the class I had that day. I woke up and hung out around the flat for a few hours. My friend Shanon invited me to go to lunch with her, since we've been dying to try and find some sort of Thai or Indian restaurant to try. So Shannon, Clare, and I met in the city center and walked around. Well we had no such luck finding the kind of restaurant we wanted so we went to a little place in the Plaza de la Reina where they served mini open faced sandwiches. So you picked out what types you wanted and paid by however many you ended up taking. I had one that had some sort of cream cheese, honey, walnuts, and a strawberry on it. This is a must try people. Make your own version. :) I then had a guy coming to deliver groceries to my house at 6 p.m. from Mercadona, 30 6L jugs of water!!! Plus lots more. I didn't do much that night, hung out at home and chatted with friends. Saturday, I woke up and did some more hanging around the house, then Juan and I decided to go chill at the beach. We took the tram to the beach and laid out in the sun for a few hours and I got to try out my water color set that Mom got me for this trip. :) THANK YOU MOMMY!. My anklet got eaten by the sand for a little while. That was sad, but Juan found it! Yay. We then decided to look to see if any of the Chinese stores would have stuff we could use for the next time we went to the beach, like cards and frisbees and randomly ran into a parade of people??! They had a little band, people dressed as smurfs, and beds? (cardboard strapped to their backs with pillows on it and a blanket around them) and some guy as goldie locks? Also one float with some people dressed in traditional Spanish clothes and some little kids. They were throwing out bags of chips and balloons and shirts to the passers by, which were little kids that were just walking with the float, catching anything they could. I had my first chocolate con churros which was super delicious and walked home. I then went and met my friends Kilding, from France but you wouldn't be able to tell by her awesome English, and Orla, from Ireland, at the Ayuntamiento building for dinner. I had met them the first night me and Josh were here, so we wanted to meet again since we hadn't seen each other since then! They took me to a Mediterranean buffet. Oh gosh. It was good. Salads, pasta, paella, seafood, patatas bravas, everything. Even dessert. I had pudding, cake, arroz con leche, and ice cream! I was so excited about having dessert. Until then I really hadn't had dessert. Delicious. We then went and sat at a cafe in the barrio del Carmen and just chatted. We also had some weird people come up and talk to us. hahaha. I then decided it best I go home and pack since I hadn't for my trip to Portugal yet!!! I went to bed at 2.30 and had to be up again by 5.00. Crazy.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Graph paper.
BEAUTIFUL sunny day in Valencia!! This is the kind of weather I signed up for! :) I went to class at 12 until 2 and I almost regretted wearing my peacoat! It was about 65 or 70 today! So nice. Only a slight breeze. So wonderful. I went and hung out with my Polish friend Anna at a cafe next to our class afterwards. She's going to Morocco for a week this upcoming week! I'm so jealous. So so jealous. I bought some stuff at Mercadona for lunch. (mmm the generic brand of Nutella and cream with bread...yes I know I am a horrible person!) I decided to walk home instead of take the bus since it was so beautiful out. I walked through the Jardin Real where I snacked on my bread and enjoyed the warm sun. Yes Idaho, be jealous. ;) Tomorrow is suppose to be even better so hopefully I can convince someone to go to the beach with me!! I leisurely took my time to get back to my flat. I took a nap and then went on a run before it got dark out on the Turia again. I already love that place for jogging! Except I feel like no matter what path I take I am running the opposite direction of all the rest of the joggers out jogging! Oh well. I then came home and watched Spongebob Squarepants (Bob Esponja) in Spanish figuring even if I am not totally watching the cartoon, it should help me with my Spanish comprehension. I also chatted with a guy on Facebook who is thinking of studying at ISU for the 2012/2013 year...What do you guys think about that?! Should I talk Pocatello up? Or let him know that most of the time we seem to be pretty bored in our little city?
They don't have regular lined notebook paper here really..All of their notebooks are graph paper. And their measurements are different too, the papers here are much longer.
So many people snack on these weird, hard breadstick looking things that come in packages. I got some that had chocolate chips in them to see what all the hype was about today. They tasted like a less sweet version of a chocolate chip cookie I suppose. Definitely no comparison to delicious cookies, but whatever. I really want to get up early tomorrow...do you guys think I can do it??!!! Cause I kind of doubt it. I have class at 10, getting up before 9 is slim to none. We shall see!
They don't have regular lined notebook paper here really..All of their notebooks are graph paper. And their measurements are different too, the papers here are much longer.
So many people snack on these weird, hard breadstick looking things that come in packages. I got some that had chocolate chips in them to see what all the hype was about today. They tasted like a less sweet version of a chocolate chip cookie I suppose. Definitely no comparison to delicious cookies, but whatever. I really want to get up early tomorrow...do you guys think I can do it??!!! Cause I kind of doubt it. I have class at 10, getting up before 9 is slim to none. We shall see!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
P.S.
I kept putting off showering at my new flat until this past week. It was heavenly, the water was super hot, just the way I like it and it felt so good after walking all day. I put conditioner in my hair and started shaving my legs, and right as I did that, the water got colder and so I turned it to a little hotter, and it kept progressively getting colder until I had turned the knob the whole way and had no more hot water!!! Needless to say I got that conditioner out of my hair as fast as possible. The beginning of that shower fooled me!! It's been like that every time I've showered now...well, I guess it's training me on limiting my shower time, it now takes less than 10 minutes for me to shower. Yes family. Be proud. You never thought it would happen, but it is happening! Anyways. Buenas!!
¡¿Confianza?! ¿¿¡Yo la tengo?!!
TODAY. Today was great. Everyday is great. So for the first few weeks I was in my flat, my flat mate Ana spoke English with me to make it a little easier of a transition from the U.S. to Spain, but Nathalia my other flat mate came home for a few days so we started speaking solely Spanish. If I have trouble knowing what a word means then Ana can explain something to me, but we try to speak Spanish. It's only been a few days since we've been doing this, but can I just say, I already feel better about my Spanish?! I don't know what it is, but I feel like I have more confidence speaking already. Of course I'm making mistakes, but that's okay! It's ALL part of the learning process. :) I am embracing the imperfectness that is my Spanish. And it feels GOOD! Of course I'm still not able to express myself that well so sometimes it's definitely a challenge getting my point across. Like when me and my friend Juan were trying to explain to this lady who worked at the Chinese store that we were looking for a cookie sheet. We didn't know the word for cookie sheet in Spanish so we explained it is a dish you put cookies on to bake them in the oven. She for some reason thought that we were talking about baking pasta? Whaaat? I don't know. We didn't find one like I said in my post earlier. Oh well. It may be for the better haha. So. I felt like superwoman the other day when I went on a run right? Well today. I feel like freaking old woman. I could hardly walk down the stairs after class! It was quite an event going up and down those today... I rode the bus to class with Ana until my stop in front of the filología hispánica facultat and went to my U.S./English history class. Man I'm such a cheater. The professor was trying to explain that Queen Elizabeth had no kids, therefore when she died, she died heirless; but. she ended up pronouncing it that Queen Elizabeth had no kids, therefore when she died, she died HAIRLESS. OH MAN. We couldn't help but laugh at that one. hahaha After class, Juan and I went and ate lunch for cheap at a cafe, a tortilla (no not the Mexican variety of a pita, this is like an omelet) and sausage sandwich. Delicious with some Coca-Cola of course. After that, Juan and I hung out at his apartment until class again at 3. We talked about PHONETICS in my Español en America class today, I enjoyed it a little too much!!! =D I knew what she was talking about the whole time. Liquids, velarization, dipthongs, etc... Now that's the kind of Spanish I could get used to learning about. Hopefully we spend a few more class periods on the phonetics of the different accents of Spanish!!
I went to my flat and Skyped with Mom for a little while. After that, I decided to head to a tea shop my friend Joan had suggested to me. It was amazing. Hundreds of different types of teas!!! I didn't know how to even pick out just one. I'll have to go back to try just a few! I sampled a mint raspberry floral tea that was very refreshing and I enjoyed a lot. The people were really nice and were waiting patiently for me to decide which flavors I wanted. I even got a free sample of chai tea since I didn't get any normal chai :) I noticed on my way out, that there's an antique book store across the alleyway from the tea shop. I will be checking this out for sure sometime in the near future. It seemed pretty busy when I was leaving the tea shop or I would have stopped tonight.
I got back to my flat and Ana and I went to dinner! There's a restaurant where on every Wednesday they have all their tapas for 1 Euro, so you go and order 4 or 5 different types of sandwiches since they are mini for 5 euros. They were PACKED though, so she led us to a different little cafe to eat. It was tasty! We had brie and marmalade with toasted bread, and baguette pieces of bread with a sort of paste on one slice, and smoked salmon on the other... look at how awesome Emily has become. Trying Salmon??!! Salmon is not a type of food I usually like, but the smoked Salmon I had tonight was absolutely delicious. I should have taken a picture. We got home and ordered all of the essential things for the house like laundry soap, milk, water, etc. for the next few months online before going to bed! Ana and I talked the whole night in Spanish. I am so proud of myself for just diving in. My first few weeks I avoided Spanish like the plague, but I have this new desire to just immerse myself. I love the Spanish people and their culture, I want to embrace Spanish and be able to call it my second language. It's crazy how fast you can get hooked on a place!!!!! Ah Valencia. :)
Time for bed now though! I have early class at 12 tomorrow =P
I went to my flat and Skyped with Mom for a little while. After that, I decided to head to a tea shop my friend Joan had suggested to me. It was amazing. Hundreds of different types of teas!!! I didn't know how to even pick out just one. I'll have to go back to try just a few! I sampled a mint raspberry floral tea that was very refreshing and I enjoyed a lot. The people were really nice and were waiting patiently for me to decide which flavors I wanted. I even got a free sample of chai tea since I didn't get any normal chai :) I noticed on my way out, that there's an antique book store across the alleyway from the tea shop. I will be checking this out for sure sometime in the near future. It seemed pretty busy when I was leaving the tea shop or I would have stopped tonight.
I got back to my flat and Ana and I went to dinner! There's a restaurant where on every Wednesday they have all their tapas for 1 Euro, so you go and order 4 or 5 different types of sandwiches since they are mini for 5 euros. They were PACKED though, so she led us to a different little cafe to eat. It was tasty! We had brie and marmalade with toasted bread, and baguette pieces of bread with a sort of paste on one slice, and smoked salmon on the other... look at how awesome Emily has become. Trying Salmon??!! Salmon is not a type of food I usually like, but the smoked Salmon I had tonight was absolutely delicious. I should have taken a picture. We got home and ordered all of the essential things for the house like laundry soap, milk, water, etc. for the next few months online before going to bed! Ana and I talked the whole night in Spanish. I am so proud of myself for just diving in. My first few weeks I avoided Spanish like the plague, but I have this new desire to just immerse myself. I love the Spanish people and their culture, I want to embrace Spanish and be able to call it my second language. It's crazy how fast you can get hooked on a place!!!!! Ah Valencia. :)
Time for bed now though! I have early class at 12 tomorrow =P
Rewind back to Prague.
Alright folks,
here's an update on mi vida en Valencia. Yesterday I had class at 12. After class I decided to walk over and buy a yoga mat!! Yay, it was pretty cheap and I tried looking for a cookie sheet, but seriously, they don't know what a cookie sheet is here!!! Seriously. I searched more today and only found one place that sold them. Anyways, I walked to my dorm to explain to the secretary that someone stole my key to my dorm room and that I needed a new one. Well I guess to get a new one I needed my roommate there with me. So usually she is there most of the time. Thinking that she may be there, I went up to my room and knocked on the door. Of course, of all times to be gone, she was gone right now. I waited in the lobby for about a half hour or so, but she wasn't coming, so I took the tram back to my flat. It was nice though, I had 4 hours until my next class, so I decided to take a nap....which turned into a 3 hour nap! Hahaha I thought I heard my roommate come in and knock on my door, but I was in such deep sleep I don't know if that was part of a dream or if it actually happened?? Weird. I woke up and went to class, which I still have no freaking clue what the teacher is saying half of the time, so I sit there patiently just trying to understand what he is saying. Nothing much more I can do. After class, I met up with my friends Natacha and Juan to meet some more of Juan's friends to eat dinner. Juan has some Czech roommates that we hung out with and also some guys from Poland. One of the Czech guys named Alan actually knew Idaho and how it was famous for potatoes!!! I asked how he knew this kind of stuff and he said he actually lived in Utah for 3 months...working at LAGOON!!!!! hahahaha no wonder he looked familiar ;) But seriously, what a small world. We ate at a kebab place near my dorm and the guys tried teaching us some phrases in Czech. We asked how you say I love you in Czech and they said they NEVER say that ever. They said it just sounds strange to even say I love you. Crazy. I wonder why that is that it is so rare to say that to even family in the Czech Republic. The guys from Poland said the same also about the phrase 'I love you.' I wish I had had my key last night! I would've just stayed at my dorm last night, but I didn't want to risk going all the way there and my roommate not being there, but, Alan let me use one of his freebies on his Valenbici account. Valenbici is a bicycle organization where they have stations situated all over the town and with an account you are able to take a bike from a slot and ride it to another station at the location you are going to for free for the first half hour. If you are nearing your free half hour end, you are able to just switch your bike out for a new one at any station to refresh your free half hour. Very cool system. I hear Barcelona's similar bike system is better though because there are always spots to park them. So i got to ride a bike instead of walk the entire way to my flat. Perfect!! I'll write about today later tonight :) I'm going to dinner with Ana! Chao!!
here's an update on mi vida en Valencia. Yesterday I had class at 12. After class I decided to walk over and buy a yoga mat!! Yay, it was pretty cheap and I tried looking for a cookie sheet, but seriously, they don't know what a cookie sheet is here!!! Seriously. I searched more today and only found one place that sold them. Anyways, I walked to my dorm to explain to the secretary that someone stole my key to my dorm room and that I needed a new one. Well I guess to get a new one I needed my roommate there with me. So usually she is there most of the time. Thinking that she may be there, I went up to my room and knocked on the door. Of course, of all times to be gone, she was gone right now. I waited in the lobby for about a half hour or so, but she wasn't coming, so I took the tram back to my flat. It was nice though, I had 4 hours until my next class, so I decided to take a nap....which turned into a 3 hour nap! Hahaha I thought I heard my roommate come in and knock on my door, but I was in such deep sleep I don't know if that was part of a dream or if it actually happened?? Weird. I woke up and went to class, which I still have no freaking clue what the teacher is saying half of the time, so I sit there patiently just trying to understand what he is saying. Nothing much more I can do. After class, I met up with my friends Natacha and Juan to meet some more of Juan's friends to eat dinner. Juan has some Czech roommates that we hung out with and also some guys from Poland. One of the Czech guys named Alan actually knew Idaho and how it was famous for potatoes!!! I asked how he knew this kind of stuff and he said he actually lived in Utah for 3 months...working at LAGOON!!!!! hahahaha no wonder he looked familiar ;) But seriously, what a small world. We ate at a kebab place near my dorm and the guys tried teaching us some phrases in Czech. We asked how you say I love you in Czech and they said they NEVER say that ever. They said it just sounds strange to even say I love you. Crazy. I wonder why that is that it is so rare to say that to even family in the Czech Republic. The guys from Poland said the same also about the phrase 'I love you.' I wish I had had my key last night! I would've just stayed at my dorm last night, but I didn't want to risk going all the way there and my roommate not being there, but, Alan let me use one of his freebies on his Valenbici account. Valenbici is a bicycle organization where they have stations situated all over the town and with an account you are able to take a bike from a slot and ride it to another station at the location you are going to for free for the first half hour. If you are nearing your free half hour end, you are able to just switch your bike out for a new one at any station to refresh your free half hour. Very cool system. I hear Barcelona's similar bike system is better though because there are always spots to park them. So i got to ride a bike instead of walk the entire way to my flat. Perfect!! I'll write about today later tonight :) I'm going to dinner with Ana! Chao!!
Monday, February 20, 2012
I AM INVINCIBLE.
tomorrow i will write about today. although it wasn't filled with too much stuff! I went on my first run through the Turia!!! Oh man it felt so good to get out of the flat and see the city!!! The Turia is an old river bed they converted into a greenway where you'll find people riding bikes, running, walking their dogs, lounging around, playing futbol (soccer for us 'mericans). Very neat. And they have 4 different routes you can walk/run on, so it's not like you're getting trampled by people passing the opposite direction. It's so awesome, growing up at such a high altitude in Pocatello made it seem so easy to run here without getting tired! I felt so powerful and I had so much energy! I haven't gone on a jog in...a long.....time....before this haha so I was super impressed with how long I could go without feeling tired! Looks like I'm finishing this blog about today, today instead of tomorrow! Sweet!! So after my wonderful run, which is making me look forward to more runs in the future, I hung out at my flat with Josh belting out songs on the guitar ( poor neighbors ) and then I went to class! I changed classes so it was the first time I went there. The guy was super hard to understand for some reason? I don't know but I was being bombarded with so much info. that I just sat there and tried to soak in what he was saying rather than trying to do that plus take notes. It will definitely take some getting used to. But. I need to have patience with myself. It's only been 3 weeks since I got here and it will take a little while to get used to everything. One day at a time. Well that's about all I have, I got to Skype with Kim tonight and that was fun, it felt like old times just chatting with her. :)
Tomorrow! New day. New adventures.
Tomorrow! New day. New adventures.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
El fin de semana
Alrighty! Let's see I left off on Friday. Well we went out to the discoteca La3 after hanging out at my friend Shanon's house. Natacha and I walked there after trying to search for the "Carnaval" going on around the Benimaclet neighborhood, but alas, we could not find it. La3 was cool, they didn't play hip hop and stuff, they played more electronica and techno and alternative music. Cort, I even heard some songs by Phoenix!! Though you'd like to know that :) I heard some songs by The Postal Service as well, which I know Kimberly likes. yay. We went with some French guys that we had met at Shanon's flat who seemed pretty chill!
Saturday, I hung around the house most of the day and then decided that I would have some friends over for dinner so I went to the store and bought the ingredients needed for Lasagna soup! I made that with pasta and after dinner we had crepes for dessert with strawberries, Nocilla, and whipped cream! :) Gotta have dessert man. I think all in all it was a success. I had Josh, Natacha, and Jonas over to my flat. yay. Josh brought his guitar and we enjoyed music by both him and Jonas. We also did some free style song making with empty water bottles and the table as percussion. We then decided to go to the discoteca Las Animas. It's next to the port which is about 5 or 6 km away so we had to grab a taxi. Las Animas was awesome!!! It was so cool inside and it was crowded enough to make it fun, but not so crowded that it was annoying. That has happened a few times before. They played a good mixture of Spanish and American songs too. It made me feel like we were in Spain a little more haha. But. I had put my coat on a couch when we first got there because I didn't want to hold it. I had done that before, and nothing had happened. But when I went to put it on when we were about to leave, I realized that someone had cleaned out my pockets. I had some Euros in there and my DORM AND FLAT KEYS!!!! I was freaking out. Without both my flat or dorm keys, I had no where to go. I mean I bet Natacha or Josh would have let me stay at their place, but still. I need to be able to get into my own room. Thank heaven whoever cleaned out my pockets realized that there was no need for keys so they chucked them on the ground. But they thought my dorm key must have been a credit card and took that anyways. I'm glad I at least had my flat keys. So very glad. I think I have to go replace my key for my dorm, hopefully it doesn't cost too much, but what can ya do? Lesson learned. The hard way. But definitely learned. Jonas had one of his jackets stolen completely, so at least they didn't see the need to take my jacket! I would've been very cold. Natacha and I shared a taxi back to our flats since we live close to each other.
Today! I didn't do much. I made myself some crepes for breakfast. (They don't have any types of mixes for pancakes or waffles, but they do have instant mixes for crepes which I used! You just add milk and shake the jar up! :)) I did get to Skype with the family!! That was good :) Aneka and her cute kids, Priscila and the kids, and Mom and Dad. That made the beginning of my week so much better already. Thanks for chatting guys!!! :) My flat mate Ana came back from visiting her family over the weekend in her hometown of Pego which is about an hour or so south of Valencia. She came back with her sister, who is spending the night since she has to catch a flight to Madrid tomorrow morning for work. She is really nice. We watched some of "Las Goyas" which is like the Spanish version of the Oscars and I got to practice some Spanish with her. Now it's off to bed!!
Goals for tomorrow:
Buy a straightener, I'm dying without mine!
Register for the bike system here in Valencia (Valenbici, it is actually a very nice system!)
Go to class!
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Thanks for reading :) This is what I look like when I'm trying to think of a word in Spanish when I'm talking to someone....haaaaaa
Saturday, I hung around the house most of the day and then decided that I would have some friends over for dinner so I went to the store and bought the ingredients needed for Lasagna soup! I made that with pasta and after dinner we had crepes for dessert with strawberries, Nocilla, and whipped cream! :) Gotta have dessert man. I think all in all it was a success. I had Josh, Natacha, and Jonas over to my flat. yay. Josh brought his guitar and we enjoyed music by both him and Jonas. We also did some free style song making with empty water bottles and the table as percussion. We then decided to go to the discoteca Las Animas. It's next to the port which is about 5 or 6 km away so we had to grab a taxi. Las Animas was awesome!!! It was so cool inside and it was crowded enough to make it fun, but not so crowded that it was annoying. That has happened a few times before. They played a good mixture of Spanish and American songs too. It made me feel like we were in Spain a little more haha. But. I had put my coat on a couch when we first got there because I didn't want to hold it. I had done that before, and nothing had happened. But when I went to put it on when we were about to leave, I realized that someone had cleaned out my pockets. I had some Euros in there and my DORM AND FLAT KEYS!!!! I was freaking out. Without both my flat or dorm keys, I had no where to go. I mean I bet Natacha or Josh would have let me stay at their place, but still. I need to be able to get into my own room. Thank heaven whoever cleaned out my pockets realized that there was no need for keys so they chucked them on the ground. But they thought my dorm key must have been a credit card and took that anyways. I'm glad I at least had my flat keys. So very glad. I think I have to go replace my key for my dorm, hopefully it doesn't cost too much, but what can ya do? Lesson learned. The hard way. But definitely learned. Jonas had one of his jackets stolen completely, so at least they didn't see the need to take my jacket! I would've been very cold. Natacha and I shared a taxi back to our flats since we live close to each other.
Today! I didn't do much. I made myself some crepes for breakfast. (They don't have any types of mixes for pancakes or waffles, but they do have instant mixes for crepes which I used! You just add milk and shake the jar up! :)) I did get to Skype with the family!! That was good :) Aneka and her cute kids, Priscila and the kids, and Mom and Dad. That made the beginning of my week so much better already. Thanks for chatting guys!!! :) My flat mate Ana came back from visiting her family over the weekend in her hometown of Pego which is about an hour or so south of Valencia. She came back with her sister, who is spending the night since she has to catch a flight to Madrid tomorrow morning for work. She is really nice. We watched some of "Las Goyas" which is like the Spanish version of the Oscars and I got to practice some Spanish with her. Now it's off to bed!!
Goals for tomorrow:
Buy a straightener, I'm dying without mine!
Register for the bike system here in Valencia (Valenbici, it is actually a very nice system!)
Go to class!
Mine and Jonas's creepy faces.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
Catching up
I've been slacking!! Sorryyyyy.
SO. Let's see. Tuesday was Valentine's day. I went to my class which is only an hour long on Tuesdays which is nice and didn't do much. I went and bought myself some Kinder bueno chocolate and hung out at my flat. That night, my friend Natacha and I decided to go out and eat! We had been invited to go to dinner with my dorm mate Marci and Josh and some of her friends, but thought the price they were going to pay was too much...So we headed out around 9:30 to find a good restaurant! We had planned at first to eat at an Indian restaurant close to my flat, but I forgot to check the street, and after walking around trying to find it, we went back to my house with internet to find the place! Well after all that trouble, it was closed. Go figure. So we wandered down the street looking for a place to eat that seemed nice. Well after much searching and browsing, we decided to eat at a place where you could split 5 tapas, a main dish, and tea for 13 Euros each. Not bad considering everywhere else was at least 20 Euros for much less. Delicious. It was so good and I was already full from the tapas before our main course got there. We had salad with goat cheese, cheese and cured ham, some sort of bean dish, sausage, patatas bravas, and our main dish consisted of potatoes, ham, and fried eggs. :) We were hoping our meal came with dessert, but it didn't so we decided not to order it. It's interesting, I don't know if I have mentioned it or not, but solicitors and street vendors I guess you would call them are able to come into restaurants and clubs and ask people if they want to buy things. Usually it's flowers or sunglasses or watches. That would not fly in the U.S. That and the restaurants usually have someone outside the restaurant at night asking people if they would like to eat there and they let them know what the special is that night. We then went to a dance club because Natacha hadn't gone to one yet, but no one was there since it was a Tuesday night and as the minutes passed, the DJ got worse. haha So we went back to our apartments.
Wednesday...I slept in. haha I missed class in which I heard we learned about early English history. Not much else went on on Wednesday. We went to a cafe and hung out there by Josh's apartment and then went over to Josh's and jammed out on his guitar, practicing the song I am learning and Natacha came with. We hung out there then once their next class started, I headed over to my flat and hung out there. I finally bought a card for the bus! yay, cheaper transportation. I was nervous to use it on Thursday though, worrying that it wouldn't work. haha
Thursday, yesterday, I didn't have class because it had been canceled! I slept in late....1.....haha and then got up and cleaned my room and went to get some things over at my dorm. I then met up with Josh at his apartment when he told me he was going to a movie with a French girl and her friends that we had met on the excursion to Sagunto last Saturday, so I decided to join. By the time we got to the cinema, it was about right as the movie they wanted to see started. Josh called them to make sure we were at the right cinema, but the one they were at was full, so Josh and I decided to still go see a movie since we were there already! We went and saw Katmandu, a Spanish film! It's about a Catalan teacher who moves to Nepal to start a school there. I understood all of it too!! Oh man I was so excited about that. I was worried when we decided to go see a movie that I wouldn't understand anything and that it would be really difficult, but I was wrong. I am happy I was wrong! It did have some parts in English with Spanish subtitles and some Nepalese? as well. So that was the only part that would throw you off for a sec, deciding which language they were speaking. haha. The movie theatre was HUGE. It had like 6 floors and one whole floor was solely for bathrooms haha. We bought 2 large drinks and a large popcorn for 7 Euros, better than the U.S. at least! The popcorn didn't have butter on it, but we were happily surprised that there was plenty of salt on it :) When the movie was over, we walked around and sat outside a cafe to listen to a guy with some awesome dred locks play the guitar. I got to take my cameras out and that made me happy. I haven't been able to use them enough yet. Then I went home and hung out with my flat mate.
Today! I woke up early to go pay for this 7 Euro bill from the school at a bank. I got there and they wouldn't let me pay! They told me to come back on Tuesday? Weird. Oh well it was nice not to be rushing for the bus. Then I went to my English/American culture class with my friend Jonas and Juan in it. Jonas is freaking hilarious! That kid's awesome. Then Juan and I went to lunch which was super good for the 3 Euros we paid for a sandwich, coke, and tea! Their sandwiches are much different than the ones in the U.S.... They don't put lettuce and stuff on them, the one I got today had "bacon" which is like ham here, and fried potatoes on it. I would have never thought to put fried potatoes on a sandwich! and they always use hoagie like bread instead of sliced bread for sandwiches. I had Pu Erh tea, which I had never tried before, not bad! I then went to my friend Carol's house to decide when we were going to go on a trip to Portugal!!! I'm super excited. My first trip! I was really bummed when there was no room to go on this group trip to Andalucia for a weekend, so Portugal it is instead! Cool. After that, I went to my other class and we learned about how to tell where someone is from depending on the way they speak Spanish. the [s] and [j] really give it away. Interesting. The professor is crazy. She cracks me up. Then I got out an hour earlier than I thought I would, so I walked to the Jardin Real (gardens with statues and such) to sit and draw. It was so nice. :) Then I walked home to my flat and here I am! Great day. Great week! Here in Valencia. I love this city so much already. It's weird to think that I've almost already been here a whole month! It's been fantastic.
Long blog, but it was worth writing the stuff down so I can remember details! Until next time :)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
woooooooooow
Well I'm a genius. I figured out that if i use my 3 prong adaptor on my blow dryer, it works! retarded thing?...I forgot it at my dorm, sooooooo I have no way to charge my computer! I guess tomorrow I'll have some catching up to do! Sneak peak, I went out with my friend Natacha for Valentine's day, It was great! Talk to you when I have battery!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Instrumental
Today I thought I would get some stuff done...Well kind of. I went to a bakery finally and got myself a delicious chocolate croissant. I've been wanting to do that for weeks, but talk myself out of it. It was worth it. I headed out on the bus over to the campus to talk with my coordinator about switching classes, but that didn't happen, since he is NEVER there. He has about an hour each day for his office hours...So I went to Josh's flat to deliver a croissant for him, and we jammed out with his guitar. Pretty awesome. Then we headed out to find something to eat, and maybe get him a haircut. We had a marvelous burger with fries and chocolate cake at a cafe on Blasco Ibañez. The hamburger was a turkey burger with a fried egg on it! Nice. After that, we went to Mercadona to get some shopping done for the week. I have food again!!! I'm so excited. I always seem to never have food. We dropped my groceries off at my dorm and then headed to Josh's apartment again. We then jammed out again on his guitar, and I'm learning a song on the guitar :) I'm excited to be able to play a song on the guitar. I've been wanting to learn for years!! Short blog today. But hey, at least it's not clumped with another day which I have been doing lately. Josh didn't get a haircut, what a pansy. That's about it folks. Off to my dorm to get some shut eye. Class tomorrow at 12 :)
¡Buenas!
¡Buenas!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
¡¡Sagunto!!
Alright! So yesterday, Saturday, 11 Feb., I went on an excursion with the Happy Erasmus agency to a place called Sagunto. It is a town about 25 km away from Valencia with an old fortress on a hill above the city. It was really nice getting out of the city for a while to be able to see that there is still some nature around me! I got to see mountains again. As an Idaho girl, that made me very excited. We took a private bus there and started our journey with a lady as our tour guide. When you are going through museums and places it can be nice to have a tour guide. They give you lots of information and are extremely useful, but can also be extremely dull, especially when you are in the back of the huge group you are in and can't hear half of the things she is saying anyway. So the first half of the trip was kind of dragging on. Once we walked up to the fortress, there was a large amphitheater where there were some people practicing for a play. It was interesting to watch them and their mediocre acting. I met some Americans from North Carolina, the same ones plus a few from the other day when I went to sign up for the trip at the Happy Erasmus Office, and some students from Canada as well. We met 2 German girls, Clara and Caroline, that we got to know as well! One of the guys from Canada came up and talked to me and we explored the fortress together. I found out he actually was from Morocco originally, but had moved to Canada a few years back to study. Now he is in Valencia for a year and will go back to finish school in Canada. Interesting because we hung out for quite a while and we got along really well, then he told me his girlfriend was here and he should probably find her... well duh! Wow I felt bad for his girlfriend! hahaha whatever. A new friend indeed!
I bought some souvenirs at a little shop that Mom would have loved!! After that, we went and hung out at a cafe waiting for the time to pass until we got on the bus back to Valencia. We had some tapas and I had a chocolate cake thing that was DIVINE. I said Spain doesn't do dessert, but this cake made up for it. My gosh, had it not been so rich I would have eaten a whole cake and not just a tiny little piece!! It was still warm and gooey with chocolate in the middle...My mouth is watering just thinking about it again!
We got back on the bus after waiting for forever outside for them to pick us up, and Natacha, Josh, and I tried to get the people on the back of the bus with us to sing songs the whole way back. :) It was quite the success with some girls! The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Mika, you name it, we probably sang it!
I went back to my dorm and slept some, I was tired, and then went back to my flat and slept!
Today I slept through church again.... :( I feel bad because I really want to go but I get so tired from all the activities I do before so then I am way too tired on weekends! Next week I'll break the cycle though for sure. I did wake up around 1.... and met up around 3 with Natacha, the German girls, and their Spanish friend Gabriel. We walked around the towers next to my house and then went and hung out at a little cafe near the mercado central. Josh was then at the towers so Gabriel came with me to find him since he obviously knows his way around this city. We found Josh, walked back to the cafe, and then decided to head to the Museo de Bellas Artes. It's free and there were TONS of beautiful paintings!!! Cortney would have loved going with us!! The others weren't very into the art, but Natacha and I loved it. I like that no matter where painters are from, many of them paint the same things or paint things revolving around the same theme. There is a section where you go outside in a little courtyard that is so amazing. The courtyard is beautiful!
We then walked to a cafe a ways away to watch the Valencia soccer game. (Valencia won 4-0) We ate some patatas bravas which I absolutely love!! I decided they are kind of Valencia's equivalent to french fries with fry sauce, but the mayonnaise is garlicy and it's not ketchup but a tangy, spicy kind of sauce they put on top of the cut potatoes. In a sense they are the classy fries of Spain! haha. I love them.
After the game, I walked home and decided tonight would be my movie night! I only brought a few movies with me, so I have to decide when to watch them wisely so I don't have to watch them all too many times repeatedly. Until tomorrow! :) Luego!
I bought some souvenirs at a little shop that Mom would have loved!! After that, we went and hung out at a cafe waiting for the time to pass until we got on the bus back to Valencia. We had some tapas and I had a chocolate cake thing that was DIVINE. I said Spain doesn't do dessert, but this cake made up for it. My gosh, had it not been so rich I would have eaten a whole cake and not just a tiny little piece!! It was still warm and gooey with chocolate in the middle...My mouth is watering just thinking about it again!
We got back on the bus after waiting for forever outside for them to pick us up, and Natacha, Josh, and I tried to get the people on the back of the bus with us to sing songs the whole way back. :) It was quite the success with some girls! The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Mika, you name it, we probably sang it!
I went back to my dorm and slept some, I was tired, and then went back to my flat and slept!
Today I slept through church again.... :( I feel bad because I really want to go but I get so tired from all the activities I do before so then I am way too tired on weekends! Next week I'll break the cycle though for sure. I did wake up around 1.... and met up around 3 with Natacha, the German girls, and their Spanish friend Gabriel. We walked around the towers next to my house and then went and hung out at a little cafe near the mercado central. Josh was then at the towers so Gabriel came with me to find him since he obviously knows his way around this city. We found Josh, walked back to the cafe, and then decided to head to the Museo de Bellas Artes. It's free and there were TONS of beautiful paintings!!! Cortney would have loved going with us!! The others weren't very into the art, but Natacha and I loved it. I like that no matter where painters are from, many of them paint the same things or paint things revolving around the same theme. There is a section where you go outside in a little courtyard that is so amazing. The courtyard is beautiful!
We then walked to a cafe a ways away to watch the Valencia soccer game. (Valencia won 4-0) We ate some patatas bravas which I absolutely love!! I decided they are kind of Valencia's equivalent to french fries with fry sauce, but the mayonnaise is garlicy and it's not ketchup but a tangy, spicy kind of sauce they put on top of the cut potatoes. In a sense they are the classy fries of Spain! haha. I love them.
After the game, I walked home and decided tonight would be my movie night! I only brought a few movies with me, so I have to decide when to watch them wisely so I don't have to watch them all too many times repeatedly. Until tomorrow! :) Luego!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Cool beans...
Long day today!
It started out awesome. How? I will tell you. I had class at 10 a.m. and got on a bus heading to class at 10. I was still on time and arrived earlier than my teacher. So awesome. After class, my friend Juan and I decided to do a little exploring during our 3 hour break between classes. So we wandered over to the Mercat Central, the central market. It's a huge open air market that is open everyday from 7 to 3. They sell everything there from fruits to vegetables, pastries, candies, sausages, cheeses, fish, squid, eels, and goat heads....yes I saw all of those things there. We then ate at a cafe near there which was delicious. I had a hearty salad, chicken and potatoes, a chocolate crepe, and coca cola. Yum. We also passed a cool street with a bunch of small shops selling shoes, furniture, spices, and jewelry. I am definitely going back there to do some shopping sometime soon. It was crazy. When we walked down it the first time it was alive and bustling with a ton of people, but when we were walking back to the university it was during siesta so everything was shut down. So crazy. I went to class and learned about the locations of all the countries in south and central America. Josh and I then went to meet up with our friend Joan to a photography inauguration. It turned out to be long because they had each photographer present their stuff which would have been fine, but for the amount of photographers there, they should have talked for less time. hahaha I still enjoyed myself :) I did learn I super suck at Spanish. Oh wait, I already knew that. But for some reason, speaking it is so hard for me. During the day I think in Spanish, I talk to myself in Spanish, but when someone asks me a question, I end up just saying one word or just nodding. I know exactly what they are saying, but I get nervous and shy whenever I try saying anything more than the basics. Hopefully I'll overcome this nervousness. We left the photography thing a little early and talked in a cafe. Joan told me about a store downtown that sells all different types of tea, I'll have to go check it out! After Joan left, Josh and I went shopping for some food for tomorrow's day trip to Sagunto, only about a half hour north of Valencia.
My roommate Ana had a dinner tonight and made a traditional Valencian rice dish. I will post pictures tomorrow of course!! It was superb. A very good homemade meal. :) Now I'm off to bed because I have to get up early and leave to catch my bus! talk to you later!
It started out awesome. How? I will tell you. I had class at 10 a.m. and got on a bus heading to class at 10. I was still on time and arrived earlier than my teacher. So awesome. After class, my friend Juan and I decided to do a little exploring during our 3 hour break between classes. So we wandered over to the Mercat Central, the central market. It's a huge open air market that is open everyday from 7 to 3. They sell everything there from fruits to vegetables, pastries, candies, sausages, cheeses, fish, squid, eels, and goat heads....yes I saw all of those things there. We then ate at a cafe near there which was delicious. I had a hearty salad, chicken and potatoes, a chocolate crepe, and coca cola. Yum. We also passed a cool street with a bunch of small shops selling shoes, furniture, spices, and jewelry. I am definitely going back there to do some shopping sometime soon. It was crazy. When we walked down it the first time it was alive and bustling with a ton of people, but when we were walking back to the university it was during siesta so everything was shut down. So crazy. I went to class and learned about the locations of all the countries in south and central America. Josh and I then went to meet up with our friend Joan to a photography inauguration. It turned out to be long because they had each photographer present their stuff which would have been fine, but for the amount of photographers there, they should have talked for less time. hahaha I still enjoyed myself :) I did learn I super suck at Spanish. Oh wait, I already knew that. But for some reason, speaking it is so hard for me. During the day I think in Spanish, I talk to myself in Spanish, but when someone asks me a question, I end up just saying one word or just nodding. I know exactly what they are saying, but I get nervous and shy whenever I try saying anything more than the basics. Hopefully I'll overcome this nervousness. We left the photography thing a little early and talked in a cafe. Joan told me about a store downtown that sells all different types of tea, I'll have to go check it out! After Joan left, Josh and I went shopping for some food for tomorrow's day trip to Sagunto, only about a half hour north of Valencia.
My roommate Ana had a dinner tonight and made a traditional Valencian rice dish. I will post pictures tomorrow of course!! It was superb. A very good homemade meal. :) Now I'm off to bed because I have to get up early and leave to catch my bus! talk to you later!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
School. ha. what a joke.
Well! I had 3 of my 4 classes Wednesday, very interesting... the first one was my "history and culture of countries that speak English" class which is in English. We learned about the 50 states and their geography :) I felt like I was in 5th grade geography again! Sweet. We learned about their names and the capital city and everything of the U.S. I then had my Español en America class which is taught in Spanish and the majority of the class is made up of erasmus students from outside Spain. There were only a handful of people from Spain in the class. The professor was and old lady. She was funny, but her laugh was extremely creepy. I then had a Iberoamerican theatre class..that was a real treat. The guy talked 50 million miles an hour on a topic I have never even talked about in English before!! I knew the words he was saying, but had no idea what to write down for notes since my mind couldn't comprehend all this jargon coming at me while writing it as well. The class was 2 hours long and the teacher talked the whole entire time at that speed. Wow. Hopefully past foreign exchange students are right when they say that after a few weeks you get used to how fast they talk. Hopefully if I can't take notes, I'll at least absorb it and remember later? haha. After classes were over, I walked home to my flat and hung out there for a little while. The Valencia vs. Barcelona game was going down last night so I met up with Josh and some of our Danish friends at a cafe and watched the game on a tiny little t.v. that was in black and white that kept cutting out. Barcelona won 2-0. Lame. We sat out on the sidewalk next to the cafe in a little kind of wind blocker tent, which they have everywhere at cafes. We then went to my friend Shannon's flat and hung out with her friends there. Her roommate was DJing at a dance club, so he gave us free tickets and we then went over there for a little while. I met a cool guy named Ken from France and a couple more German people. I slept at my dorm since the dance club was really close to it. I woke up and didn't get too much done. I went to my flat because the plan was to go and get my classes changed, but I knew that in the afternoon it would be useless to think that my coordinator would be there to sign my "petition" to change classes. We went to the Happy Erasmus building to pay for the trip to Andalucia at the end of February, but when Shannon and I met Josh there, they said that they were out of seats available but if we wanted to pay the money and see if spots opened up, then we could go, if not, they would give us a refund. I don't like doing things like that, so Josh had signed up for a similar trip at a different Erasmus group so we are thinking about doing that one instead. It is only 2 or 3 nights instead of 4, but we wouldn't be missing as much school. We'll see. Our Danish friend Jonas actually showed up to pick something up at the one erasmus building so we all went and hung out at a cafe for a little while. After we finished our drinks, the waiter brought us chips and nuts to eat. Good tactic. It made us thirsty and want to buy another drink, but we resisted. haha We also bought some gum from a lady that came in that and is jobless at the moment, so Josh paid her 5 euros for us to get some gum. It is really strange, in Spain no matter if you are in a restaurant or on the street, there are solicitors trying to sell you flowers, bracelets, or little trinkets. That would not fly in America, but it happens here at least 5 to 10 times in one night. At least. We then left and Josh and I went to my dorm and hung out with Marci. We got to know her a lot better. She is really cool. She's from Montana. I also like using the shower at the dorm better because there is hot water automatically. haha. so I showered there. Then I left and took a taxi to my flat. No one knows where my street it when I tell them. It's probably because it is so small. Good thing I live super close to the Serrano Towers, which everyone knows.
The rest of tonight I spent the drinking tea to keep me toasty warm and laying in my comfy bed. The nice thing about my transition over to my flat from my dorm is that the bed is huge and extremely comfortable at my flat. I absolutely love it. and my little space heater keeps me warm. What a trusty little guy :) Time for bed though! I have class at 10 and it's 2:30! I am also going to a photography exhibit inauguration of some sort and my flat mate is making dinner!! Excited for some traditional Spanish cooking!! :) Buenas! :)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Slacker
I have been slacking! I now have to write about 2 days in one post. Sorryyyyyy.
The last few days I have been trying to get all of my schooling figured out...Hasn't turned out so well. But I can't say that so far it has been as hard as it could be, so hopefully my positive attitude will help keep it going smoothly!
Yesterday, I woke up early, early for me...10 a.m.... and went to the philology building, (my building) I thought by taking the tram near my flat and then the metro at a stop on the tram to Josh's apartment would be the easiest route....No way. hahaha I had to wait forever for both the tram and the metro. It probably would have been easier to walk the 2. whatever kilometeres there and faster! So I told Josh to meet me at the philology faculty instead. We needed to speak with out coordinator here in Valencia to sign the sheet of classes we had decided on, but alas, the hours these professors are available in their office is ridiculously low, and even then you are never promised that they will even be in their office at that time! So as you can already guess he wasn't there. I had an appointment to register at the secretary's office at 1:30 and that was not happening since I couldn't get the signature I needed. The people we asked said it was this long process to change the appointment and stuff, but we went down to the secretary's office to talk with a lady named Chela and she instantly just let me come today (Tuesday) instead.
After our interesting morning at the university, I went and raided Josh's food stash. I ended up making some pasta for me and some for him for later so he didn't have to cook any :) I then went and took a nap at my dorm, and then we went to meet up with a girl who is an exchange student from Canada that I met through Facebook. Long story short, I thought she could help me with the problems I was having finding classes online, but then we got to talking and decided to meet up! She gave us her street number, but I forgot to ask her apartment number! So we took the tram to her complex and Josh asked a guy if he knew of any exchange students living in the place. The guy said he thought there was an exchange student on like the 5th floor but wasn't sure about the apartment number! So we went up there and knocked on one and it ended up being her apartment! Awesome luck. She lives with a German friend who seems like a cool guy, he's been studying at Valencia for 4 years now. So we went and bought me a sweater since it's freezing here! and I bought some tights. EVERYONE here wears tights and shorts. It's all the rage obviously. And really big knitted scarves. I'm talking BIG. haha Men also wear scarves a lot. I don't know if I mentioned this but the bishop of the ward here was wearing a scarf last Sunday while welcoming everyone to church. Europe is so cool.
Our Danish friend told us of an Erasmus dinner party at an Italian restaurant at 21h so we stopped at my flat for a little bit and left for that around 21:20. When we got there, the place was packed and we had to pay 5 Euros to get in since we don't have an Erasmus card yet. Not worth 5 Euros. It was so crowded and everyone was shoving their way to the far end of the little restaurant to the food. I got a piece of pizza and a few bites of pasta. The pizza tasted good though! It tasted a lot like what Mom's homemade pizza tastes like.
The bouncer guy there though was so nice, around 12 a.m. we still hadn't eaten very much but he somehow got us some pizza slices from the back and made sure we got them :) Nice guy. We then took a cab back to our apartments!
Today. I went back to the school this morning, and the guy was there to sign my registration paper. I then went to my class at 12 where the teacher still showed up 20 minutes late. Haha. Then I went and got registered at the secretary's office. While waiting, I talked to a sweet German girl who studied in Boston for a year. She seemed really cool. The lady who was registering me for my classes registered me for the ones I wrote down, but then went on to say that the one class was a year long class and that I would be coming in the middle of it. Well I didn't want to do that so I told her I would just choose a different one and she said she already registered me and if I want to change that class I have to fill out a form she handed me and come back another time. Oi. So hopefully that wont be too hard to do and I'll be able to feel okay. Once my registration is done and I'm in my classes, hopefully I can just coast a little and feel better that those things are out of the way! My next class was the one I wanted to change, so I just walked to my dorm and took a nap. I woke up, took a shower, and then decided I better get back to my flat since Ana had told me she was going to pay the rent today. I needed to go buy some groceries, so I grabbed a few things from the grocery store and headed the general direction towards my flat. I had taken the bus earlier today to the school because it's the cheapest way and fastest way, so I figured if I took the same bus back I would be okay. Well the bus went past the Serrano Towers that are the marker for where my flat is and kept driving past on the other side of the bridge. So when I got off on the next bus stop, I still ended up walking a ways to my apartment. haha
Well, that's all the adventures I have had in the past few days! Um. on my agenda of things to do is buy some notebooks to take notes on...I've been using scrap paper for all of my classes so far...go to a bakery one of these mornings, I need to take advantage of the delicious baked goods I can get in there while I have the chance since there are none in Idaho!....and get my registration done.
Yay! Hope all is well in the States! It's cold here! I am very grateful for the heating we have in our homes back in Pocatello. They don't have heating in the houses here! They all use space heaters which aren't as fun since they don't heat the whole place!! Glad they invented blankets :) Love you all!
The last few days I have been trying to get all of my schooling figured out...Hasn't turned out so well. But I can't say that so far it has been as hard as it could be, so hopefully my positive attitude will help keep it going smoothly!
Yesterday, I woke up early, early for me...10 a.m.... and went to the philology building, (my building) I thought by taking the tram near my flat and then the metro at a stop on the tram to Josh's apartment would be the easiest route....No way. hahaha I had to wait forever for both the tram and the metro. It probably would have been easier to walk the 2. whatever kilometeres there and faster! So I told Josh to meet me at the philology faculty instead. We needed to speak with out coordinator here in Valencia to sign the sheet of classes we had decided on, but alas, the hours these professors are available in their office is ridiculously low, and even then you are never promised that they will even be in their office at that time! So as you can already guess he wasn't there. I had an appointment to register at the secretary's office at 1:30 and that was not happening since I couldn't get the signature I needed. The people we asked said it was this long process to change the appointment and stuff, but we went down to the secretary's office to talk with a lady named Chela and she instantly just let me come today (Tuesday) instead.
After our interesting morning at the university, I went and raided Josh's food stash. I ended up making some pasta for me and some for him for later so he didn't have to cook any :) I then went and took a nap at my dorm, and then we went to meet up with a girl who is an exchange student from Canada that I met through Facebook. Long story short, I thought she could help me with the problems I was having finding classes online, but then we got to talking and decided to meet up! She gave us her street number, but I forgot to ask her apartment number! So we took the tram to her complex and Josh asked a guy if he knew of any exchange students living in the place. The guy said he thought there was an exchange student on like the 5th floor but wasn't sure about the apartment number! So we went up there and knocked on one and it ended up being her apartment! Awesome luck. She lives with a German friend who seems like a cool guy, he's been studying at Valencia for 4 years now. So we went and bought me a sweater since it's freezing here! and I bought some tights. EVERYONE here wears tights and shorts. It's all the rage obviously. And really big knitted scarves. I'm talking BIG. haha Men also wear scarves a lot. I don't know if I mentioned this but the bishop of the ward here was wearing a scarf last Sunday while welcoming everyone to church. Europe is so cool.
Our Danish friend told us of an Erasmus dinner party at an Italian restaurant at 21h so we stopped at my flat for a little bit and left for that around 21:20. When we got there, the place was packed and we had to pay 5 Euros to get in since we don't have an Erasmus card yet. Not worth 5 Euros. It was so crowded and everyone was shoving their way to the far end of the little restaurant to the food. I got a piece of pizza and a few bites of pasta. The pizza tasted good though! It tasted a lot like what Mom's homemade pizza tastes like.
The bouncer guy there though was so nice, around 12 a.m. we still hadn't eaten very much but he somehow got us some pizza slices from the back and made sure we got them :) Nice guy. We then took a cab back to our apartments!
Today. I went back to the school this morning, and the guy was there to sign my registration paper. I then went to my class at 12 where the teacher still showed up 20 minutes late. Haha. Then I went and got registered at the secretary's office. While waiting, I talked to a sweet German girl who studied in Boston for a year. She seemed really cool. The lady who was registering me for my classes registered me for the ones I wrote down, but then went on to say that the one class was a year long class and that I would be coming in the middle of it. Well I didn't want to do that so I told her I would just choose a different one and she said she already registered me and if I want to change that class I have to fill out a form she handed me and come back another time. Oi. So hopefully that wont be too hard to do and I'll be able to feel okay. Once my registration is done and I'm in my classes, hopefully I can just coast a little and feel better that those things are out of the way! My next class was the one I wanted to change, so I just walked to my dorm and took a nap. I woke up, took a shower, and then decided I better get back to my flat since Ana had told me she was going to pay the rent today. I needed to go buy some groceries, so I grabbed a few things from the grocery store and headed the general direction towards my flat. I had taken the bus earlier today to the school because it's the cheapest way and fastest way, so I figured if I took the same bus back I would be okay. Well the bus went past the Serrano Towers that are the marker for where my flat is and kept driving past on the other side of the bridge. So when I got off on the next bus stop, I still ended up walking a ways to my apartment. haha
Well, that's all the adventures I have had in the past few days! Um. on my agenda of things to do is buy some notebooks to take notes on...I've been using scrap paper for all of my classes so far...go to a bakery one of these mornings, I need to take advantage of the delicious baked goods I can get in there while I have the chance since there are none in Idaho!....and get my registration done.
Yay! Hope all is well in the States! It's cold here! I am very grateful for the heating we have in our homes back in Pocatello. They don't have heating in the houses here! They all use space heaters which aren't as fun since they don't heat the whole place!! Glad they invented blankets :) Love you all!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Nada
Well, I'm starting to be a slacker on my blog. But not for long! This weekend was extremely lazy and I didn't end up doing much. Saturday I slept for most of the day, waking up periodically do do other things, and then later Saturday night I went over and hung out with Josh at his extremely cold apartment. Seriously. The flats over here don't have heating so they are usually just as cold as outside. These past few nights in Valencia they say have been the coldest they have had in years. Sucks to be us! I didn't bring enough warm clothes so I have to wear everything I own! haha We had heard of an Erasmus party thing about a mile away from Josh's apartment so we walked there to see if we could find it. Every place we went to that we thought was the right place kept telling us a different address, so we finally gave up and walked another mile to the Science and fine arts museum, just to see how pretty it looked at night! Super gorgeous. It has such a cool modern feel to it. Then we realized how cold it was and got a taxi back to the street inbetween our apartments.
The next day, Sunday, I overslept and didn't get to church. There's always next Sunday! I woke up and decided to take a few more things over to my new apartment which I have been slowly doing. I always feel too cheap to get a taxi just to take all of my stuff over and it's kinda nice having 2 homes I can go to depending on my location :) So I Skyped with Mom and Dad and then headed over by tram to my new flat. It was freeeeeezing in here! And our electricity kept going out so my space heater wouldn't work. My flat mate Ana and I had dinner together, a delicious hearty salad, and got to know each other a little better. I think they'll make sure I don't pack on the pounds over here either. ;) Ana has a big exam on Tuesday though so she has to study hard until then.
Today I have to head over to the school right now to see about my schedule for school.....wish me luck, I hear it is quite the wait to get things done there. Tonight I will be writing again for sure!
The next day, Sunday, I overslept and didn't get to church. There's always next Sunday! I woke up and decided to take a few more things over to my new apartment which I have been slowly doing. I always feel too cheap to get a taxi just to take all of my stuff over and it's kinda nice having 2 homes I can go to depending on my location :) So I Skyped with Mom and Dad and then headed over by tram to my new flat. It was freeeeeezing in here! And our electricity kept going out so my space heater wouldn't work. My flat mate Ana and I had dinner together, a delicious hearty salad, and got to know each other a little better. I think they'll make sure I don't pack on the pounds over here either. ;) Ana has a big exam on Tuesday though so she has to study hard until then.
Today I have to head over to the school right now to see about my schedule for school.....wish me luck, I hear it is quite the wait to get things done there. Tonight I will be writing again for sure!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
New apartment!
So I moved! Well kind of. My living situation is pretty messed up right now. I had to pay rent for both my new flat and for the dorms I started out at. These people are nuts. So I guess I can just switch up what place I stay at every night haha. So my new flat is near the city center, near the Plaza de la Virgen. All around here is sooo beautiful!! Wow. I am living with 2 girls from Valencia now so I hope this will help me a lot with my Spanish. I thought for a while that I was understanding all of the people and what they were saying, but man, sometimes that is far from the point! hahaha I know it will take some time to get used to though, you need to just keep it up! So that's what I tell myself everyday.
So I hung out at my new flat today and got to Skype my beautiful best friend Cortney!!! It was wonderful to talk with her. She's the absolute best and I'm really glad she's always there to talk :) Josh and I then went out around 8 to find something to eat. We saw our new German friend Georg at a restaurant so we went to say hello and he made sure to tell us the food was horrible. So we bid our goodbyes and went wandering a little more until we found a place called the London Cafe? It was super delicious, they had cheap bocadillos (sandwiches) and they even had a chocolate pie for dessert so of course I ordered one!!! It's like the first dessert I've seen on a menu. Seriously. We even acted like Spanish people and took 2 hours just sitting and eating and talking. It's really nice having Josh around. His outlook on this whole thing is quite different than mine and we can be open about things with each other. This whole experience so far has been a roller coaster of emotions. One minute you are living it up in Spain! And the next minute you miss home so much or you feel frustrated. It's crazy. I am really glad we ended up coming to Spain at the same time to have some sort of connection to home.
We met some more people last night again! We hung out at one of Georg's friend's apartments who were mostly German. We did meet a girl from the Phillipines and England as well. I also met a Spanish guy who told me that the headband I was wearing around my head made me look like Andre Agassi....I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not? It's really neat how easy it is to meet people here. I meet 3 or 4 new people almost every single day. So many international people and local people. It's awesome.
Well blog, I'll be writing again here pretty soon since this post about yesterday is a bit late! See ya :)
So I hung out at my new flat today and got to Skype my beautiful best friend Cortney!!! It was wonderful to talk with her. She's the absolute best and I'm really glad she's always there to talk :) Josh and I then went out around 8 to find something to eat. We saw our new German friend Georg at a restaurant so we went to say hello and he made sure to tell us the food was horrible. So we bid our goodbyes and went wandering a little more until we found a place called the London Cafe? It was super delicious, they had cheap bocadillos (sandwiches) and they even had a chocolate pie for dessert so of course I ordered one!!! It's like the first dessert I've seen on a menu. Seriously. We even acted like Spanish people and took 2 hours just sitting and eating and talking. It's really nice having Josh around. His outlook on this whole thing is quite different than mine and we can be open about things with each other. This whole experience so far has been a roller coaster of emotions. One minute you are living it up in Spain! And the next minute you miss home so much or you feel frustrated. It's crazy. I am really glad we ended up coming to Spain at the same time to have some sort of connection to home.
We met some more people last night again! We hung out at one of Georg's friend's apartments who were mostly German. We did meet a girl from the Phillipines and England as well. I also met a Spanish guy who told me that the headband I was wearing around my head made me look like Andre Agassi....I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not? It's really neat how easy it is to meet people here. I meet 3 or 4 new people almost every single day. So many international people and local people. It's awesome.
Well blog, I'll be writing again here pretty soon since this post about yesterday is a bit late! See ya :)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Erasmus
Well. To tell you guys the truth, today was pretty uneventful... I didn't end up doing much but sleeping! I woke up and walked to my second first class! (my first class as a foreign student in Spain was cancelled) But the one I got to go to today was in English. :) It was suppose to start at 12, but as I got there 10 minutes early, I realized the professor wasn't going to be on time. At Idaho State, if a professor doesn't show up after 15 minutes, we are able to leave. Well 15 minutes had gone by and no one was even questioning the time. HE WAS 27 MINUTES LATE!!!! I had told myself if he was 30 minutes late I would have left. And when he came in he didn't act like he had done anything wrong. Oh man how awesome are the Spanish?! They act like they own the place no matter what. No wait, they DO own the place! It seemed like a pretty cool class. If you go to class, there are 3 tests and 1 group project that we are tested on, if you are a student that doesn't go to class, you are tested on 1 final exam and 1 individual project. Awesome they have 2 routes you can take! I met a girl from Poland that's in my class, and she seems like she'll be really nice :)
Well after my first class experience, I went and bought a little bit of real food at Mercadona since I seem to not eat anything ever here! I couldn't find peanut butter!!! What is this place?!! My foot has been in pain, so much pain the past few days. I am hoping that it will heal soon for sure, cause this game it's playing with me is no fun. I got home and it hurt so much. I decided to take a nap since that doesn't have much to do with walking on my foot. So I slept for most of the afternoon. haha
Marci, Josh, and I headed to an Erasmus language exchange over in the city center. You go and practice whatever language you want to learn with people while they will practice a language you can speak. It was really neat, we met a lot of people from all over! Spain, Germany, India, and Denmark!! I was really excited to meet some guys from Denmark! It was a very cool exchange :) I loved it! We talked, we danced, we all had a ton of fun!
Well I should finally get to bed I have class in the morning!
What kind of a word is Erasmus anyways?
Well after my first class experience, I went and bought a little bit of real food at Mercadona since I seem to not eat anything ever here! I couldn't find peanut butter!!! What is this place?!! My foot has been in pain, so much pain the past few days. I am hoping that it will heal soon for sure, cause this game it's playing with me is no fun. I got home and it hurt so much. I decided to take a nap since that doesn't have much to do with walking on my foot. So I slept for most of the afternoon. haha
Marci, Josh, and I headed to an Erasmus language exchange over in the city center. You go and practice whatever language you want to learn with people while they will practice a language you can speak. It was really neat, we met a lot of people from all over! Spain, Germany, India, and Denmark!! I was really excited to meet some guys from Denmark! It was a very cool exchange :) I loved it! We talked, we danced, we all had a ton of fun!
Well I should finally get to bed I have class in the morning!
What kind of a word is Erasmus anyways?
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Class is already canceled?!
Well I got all worried wondering how my first class in Valencia was going to be....to see that it got canceled. hahaha Why you say? Because the whole Hispanic philology faculty decided to take a vacation because of some holiday or something linguistic. hahahaha. Oh man. I love these people already. Hopefully that happens a few times throughout the semester! So my first class is tomorrow at 12! It's one in English. Yay! I decided to give myself a break and take 2 classes in English and 2 in Spanish. I'll be living with 2 Spanish roommates too so I figured it'll be nice to speak some English somewhere.
What else did I do today....I met a guy from NY studying here for this semester, and a girl from Italy, we walked around with them a bit after our orientation for Erasmus students (that's us!) and ate a yummy sandwich! It kind of reminded me of a gyro with ham or beef inside a tortilla with some delicious sauces and tomatoes and lettuce! So I got home, and talked to Mom about what I'm going to do about my living situation because this whole situation is crap. I guess if you look at the bright side, which isn't very bright at all, I will definitely be able to teach people based on my stupid decisions. But that's about it haha and by changing my mind, I will be able to have a better time I believe. I think it's going to be hard living with Spanish people instead of American ones, but at the same time I am going to learn so much from them. SO MUCH. They love cooking so I'll get to learn how to cook some Spanish dishes, they'll be able to help me with my Spanish, and they'll know some local secrets that I definitely will not know. :)
After that I met up with an awesome Spanish girl who helped me with some questions I had about the classes over here! She was so much help. The credit system over here is weird. full time is 15 to 30 credits, and most classes are worth 6 credits or 10. But they seem to even out to 3 credit classes no matter what. So I have to pick 4 classes and I'll be good. She is the sister of one of Arlyn's friends that lives in Valencia, and I was super happy he hooked me up with some contacts here now. It has helped me out a lot!! Thanks Arlyn :) I have to give you a little shout out for being awesome, so you better read this post!!!!! I also ordered a glass of orange juice....oh man. DELICIOUS. It's not that concentrated crap we always get in the U.S.! cool beans.
So tomorrow is a big day! finally some classes are starting and that will give me more stuff to do during the day. I'll let you know how it all turns out. =D
What else did I do today....I met a guy from NY studying here for this semester, and a girl from Italy, we walked around with them a bit after our orientation for Erasmus students (that's us!) and ate a yummy sandwich! It kind of reminded me of a gyro with ham or beef inside a tortilla with some delicious sauces and tomatoes and lettuce! So I got home, and talked to Mom about what I'm going to do about my living situation because this whole situation is crap. I guess if you look at the bright side, which isn't very bright at all, I will definitely be able to teach people based on my stupid decisions. But that's about it haha and by changing my mind, I will be able to have a better time I believe. I think it's going to be hard living with Spanish people instead of American ones, but at the same time I am going to learn so much from them. SO MUCH. They love cooking so I'll get to learn how to cook some Spanish dishes, they'll be able to help me with my Spanish, and they'll know some local secrets that I definitely will not know. :)
After that I met up with an awesome Spanish girl who helped me with some questions I had about the classes over here! She was so much help. The credit system over here is weird. full time is 15 to 30 credits, and most classes are worth 6 credits or 10. But they seem to even out to 3 credit classes no matter what. So I have to pick 4 classes and I'll be good. She is the sister of one of Arlyn's friends that lives in Valencia, and I was super happy he hooked me up with some contacts here now. It has helped me out a lot!! Thanks Arlyn :) I have to give you a little shout out for being awesome, so you better read this post!!!!! I also ordered a glass of orange juice....oh man. DELICIOUS. It's not that concentrated crap we always get in the U.S.! cool beans.
So tomorrow is a big day! finally some classes are starting and that will give me more stuff to do during the day. I'll let you know how it all turns out. =D
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