Day Eleven

My friend Dara and I walked to an "English speaking church" about 30 minutes from our apartments. It was not very 'churchy.' I think Dara enjoyed it though. It was two hours long, with English and Spanish translations. It definitely isn't what I would define as a church, but more as a prayer service...kinda. Mr. Karl would have enjoyed himself if it was a Tuesday night after church. People stood up and told their stories about The Holy Spirit and how they have seen God's works. It was interesting. At one point the translator started preaching about his favorite Bible verse and half the place (of about 60, it was slightly impressive), Dara included, pulled out their pocket sized Bibles and journals to write things in. I felt very unprepared. People were there from all over though. England, Hungary, Americans working for the UN or NATO in Valencia, someone is studying at Berklee here so that was cool. They have a youth group that meets on Wednesdays, which is something Dara has been looking for, so she might end up becoming a part of that, I however will stick to my Catholic roots. They were nice people, but it was not enough for me. The Cathedral in Valencia felt much more like home than the service earlier.

I walked to the 'third center of town' today to get lunch. (There's the Plaza de Virgin, and if you walk around that to go straight, think roundabout, then you reach another, and after that you come to the last one where the post office and tourist foods, Subway, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, etc. are located.) Anyways, I got paella to go, I don't know if it's a Valencian thing to do or not, but I assumed it was like getting pizza for take-out in America. Paella has grown on me. It's only been a week and a half or so and I've already had it 3 times.

This is the back door to The Cathedral

My view

I went to the 7pm mass at The Cathedral and we were out of there by 7:30. There was no singing, the Spaniards speak very, very fast, and the only words of the sermon I could understand were: let's go, Sabbath, welcome, and for what...? But I have since printed off a cheat sheet! So I'm prepared for next time!  Another group of FSU students were there, they told me I should come with them next time, so I may tag along. However, I much prefer morning masses, because then I go out out to breakfast. I can't go out to dinner by myself after church because Mom is terrified.




Also, tickets to the bus station for our trip to Paris has been ordered and we're moving forward in full force!

Day Ten

Today was a do absolutely nothing day. Just about everyone went out last night so everyone was sleeping in super late. I did some homework, went out for lunch, came back and did just about nothing, went out to walk along the beach before the sun disappeared, got some chocolate bars (which were dinner :) ) and then came back to read. It was a super eventful day. Super eventful.

Currently my flatmates are getting drunk in the kitchen and I am in my bedroom reading, because I'm that person. It's 2:30 am and I am not tired at all. It must be the Spanish vibe...

Oh, and there's a football viewing party going on in one of our classrooms now, because it's 2am and the game is on.

Day Nine

This morning began with a bus trip to The City of Arts and Sciences and the Aquarium here in Valencia. We only had an hour inside the science museum, but it was all interactive and we only made it through two exhibits and only on one floor of three. I'll be here all year though, so I can find my way back.

The aquarium was amazing though. It is a little generic at first, but then I walked through the tunnel and the fish were swimming around and above us.

Later we met up to buy tickets for our Paris trip later in September. It was super stressful because we all had to be on the same page, prices kept changing and for a while we couldn't agree on what time to return home. It's done and over with now. All that's left to do is get our bus tickets to the airport, but we can't do that until we're at the bus station...

Around 1am a group of 9 of us went to a club it was exciting, then as the night/morning dragged on it got more and more packed.

Day Eight

Nothing too exciting to report. I had spanish class, finished my math homework, and ate some cake. I ran into Lia on my way out of the building and was invited up for dinner, more of her birthday cake. It's good stuff. From there we went to plan our Paris trip with the girls, but nothing really got planned. It was super fun regardless.

Day Seven

Today started with a 7 am alarm and a nice 4 mile run or so in the riverbed. I feel great! I went the route with tons of hills, so I'll see what tomorrow brings for my legs. Then I came home, showered, ordered myself breakfast to go (in Spanish!) and ate it at the park. It was a wonderful morning, it wasn't too hot or too windy and I began my run with moon still in the sky and I ended it as the sun came out from behind the clouds. It was beautiful and I did all of this before my roommate even woke up...

Spanish class was easier today. She gave us 20 minutes to take a quiz so she'd know how much Spanish we all knew. I finished mine in 2 minutes and wrote, 'I took 4 years of french,' at the top of mine. She then made everyone else write how many years of Spanish, if any they had taken. Once she realized many of us were clueless she started to integrate a little more English into her lesson. She'd repeat what she was saying several times in Spanish, then once in English so we could catch on. It was much, much better.

I also walked to the supermarket and bought items I did not think I would be wanting or needing anytime soon. For example, I now have a dozen eggs and a liter of milk sitting on my shelf. Yes, my shelf, not the fridge, a shelf, weird, right? I was a little skeptic the first time we went to the store, but I sucked it up once I researched why Americans and everywhere else differ in their egg storage. I think I'll be set on food for a while now.

Later tonight we had another party for Lia (she is very special to us) because her mom ordered her a surprise birthday cake. We had some delicious chocolate cake and decided to go to this cultural exchange at a bar called Portland. Here, English speakers and Spanish speakers group together to practice their language skills on one another. Brittany, Lia, and I sat outside with two gentlemen who both spoke Spanish, French, and some English. I got to practice some French in Spain! We weren't doing so well with the Spanish portion, but they were very patient. It was a great experience.

I am having a great time here and I love walking through the city at night. The friends I have made so far are wonderful people and we've made so many memories together in just this short time. I can't wait to see what else the future holds for us.

Buenas Noches!

Day Six

Today seemed like my first "real" day of college. I know this is not the normal college experience, but I think today is the closest I'll be getting. I woke up at 8 to catch an 8:30 bus to my first class at 9. We got a quick tour of the UPV, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, where FSU sends us for our math and science classes. We took the bus so we had enough time to find the classrooms for the first time. For the rest of the semester we will be taking a tram between FSU and UPV.

College algebra...we graphed and found the midpoint and distance today. My friends and I were talking about how it's been about 4/5 years for each of us since we last had algebra. It's no problem though, the professor kept making mistakes, and his English is covered by a thick Spanish accent. I have decided if I know what's going on I won't have a problem figuring out what he's saying or writing, but if for some reason if we come to something I can't understand I am going to have problems.

At 12 we took the bus back and had about 10 minutes until the Spanish classes started. My teacher speaks only in Spanish. I know she think that's helpful, but I don't think she realizes there are a few of us that know, no Spanish whatsoever. It was awful. She had us fill in the sounds for the alphabet which I did pretty well at by putting in the french alphabet or similar sounds to the french alphabet. I guess that was alright. At the end of the day, however, it was awful.

I came back and made lunch then sat down and knocked out two assignments for my online global class and a pre-test for my economics course. It's been an eventful Tuesday, but I've yet to walk nearly as much as I have been, so, that's a problem.

We went on a tour of Valencia to see the historical landmarks. It wasn't super entertaining, but I got more walking in! Then mis amigas and I went to dinner at this nicer Italian restaurant that took our cheques (prepaid dinner vouchers). And of course actual birthday gelato for Lia.

Day Five

Monday started the first day of classes. I had one. My writing class was my first and only class from 14:30-17:30 today and I think she is my only teacher whose first language is English. She was born in London and moved to Valencia when she was about 10. She's great, she hops around a lot subject wise, but I am going to have fun in that class. 

After class we had a mandatory FYA/FSA meeting and then I made myself a chicken salad, Dad style. Then I walked to the Chino store and got some snack, ran into Dara there (it's right across from the Gold Apartments) and I went back to chill with the Gold people for a while. 

I made it back to my apartment and read through my syllabus for my online class then I received a message from the girls and I ended up running back to the other apartments at 10pm. They were planning long-weekend/fall break trips and we had to discuss everything at that very moment. We've decided after our FSU mandatory 4 day Pyrenees trip we'll be flying to Paris for 3 days and after our 4 day FSU Madrid trip we'll be heading to Lisbon. For Fall Break everyone was in agreement that Italy was the place to be for 9 days. We're thinking of hitting Rome, Venice, and Florence in those days. Greece was suggested but it seems like that will be more of a Spring Break trip. I am SUPER excited! It was a fantastic night. I was so tired the next morning, but it was totally worth it!