La Tomatina!

8/29   Today was the day. It had finally arrived. The day I had been nervously looking forward to slash dreading for a few weeks. Today was the day of the internationally famous Spanish festival known as… “LA TOMATINA!” Now, in case you never took Spanish in middle-school and don’t realize the gravity of this phrase, I’ll fill you in on what it is and how it all goes down:

Crowded Plaza of Bunol

La Tomatina is a festival held in the Valencian town of Buñol, a 30 minute drive away from the city. Participants gather to throw tomatoes at each other, and get involved in a huge food fight purely for the fun of it. Roughly 50,000 people attended  in 2011, and it is the largest recorded food fight in the world. Held on the last Wednesday of August each year, the activities commence around 10am. Now, here is a rundown of the day’s schedule- First is the ‘palo jabón’, or “greasy pole”. The goal is for people (usually drunk young guys) to climb and the reach the top of a greased pole with a large ham on top. As this happens, the crowd works into a frenzy of singing and dancing while being showered in water from the hoses of residents with balconies. Once that lucky someone is able to drop the ham off the pole, the “start signal” for the day is given by firing a shot in the air, and trucks loaded down with tomatoes make their entry. The signal for the onset of the “fight” is at about 11am when a loud shot rings out, and the chaos begins. Several trucks throw tomatoes in abundance in the Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from the region of Extremadura, where they are less expensive and are grown specifically for the holiday, being of inferior taste. For the participants the use of goggles is recommended (tomato juice in the eyes? ouch!). According to the “official rules” the tomatoes must be crushed before being thrown so as to reduce the risk of injury. The estimated number of tomatoes used is around 150,000, and after exactly one hour of insanity, the fight ends with the second shot. The whole town square is colored red and rivers of tomato juice flow freely. Fire trucks hose down the streets and participants use hoses that locals provide to remove the tomato paste from their bodies. Some participants go to the pool of “los peñones” to wash as well. After the cleaning, the village cobblestone streets are made pristine by the residents, due to the acidity of the tomatoes.

As you can see, it might sound super fun, but I’d heard about its drawbacks from experienced friends. Luckily, I prepared myself for these by wielding goggles, and wearing close toed shoes with clothing that could be thrown in the trash after. Being that I am a tidy and non-aggressive person, the only things convincing me that I should partake in this this were that #1 I’m near the city at the right time of year (destiny) and #2 YOLO (you only live once) so I might as well do it, and #3 “It’s all about the story”- This quote applies to many things in my life that I don’t want to do but end up doing, because it makes for a good story!

So, for my Tomatina experience, I had made plans to ride to the pueblo of Buñol with Whitney in her boyfriend Raúl’s car. They picked me up from my piso early that morning, and we made the drive to the small industrial town. With its narrow cobblestone streets and unassuming location, it was surprising that such a small place was able to hold so many extra people for the fight (over half of which are foreign tourists- primarily Australian and Japanese). Miraculously, Raúl found us a parking spot and we headed into the depths of the town. People were selling food, t-shirts, goggles, and plenty of alcohol to commemorate and prepare for the event, and it was definitely fun to people-watch. Many participants even had “teams” with matching shirts, how cute! Also, it is an unofficial rule to wear white as well, so that you can see how far from white your shirt will be at the end. While walking around in the hot morning sun and taking this all in, I noticed that my camera did not have its memory card in it. Huge error! I was the designated camera person of the day, equipped with a plastic bag and waterproof carrying case from Raúl.  I felt so bad upon realizing this, but before I knew what to do Raúl had already offered to run back to the car and get Whitney’s camera. I felt terrible about that, but while he was gone Whitney and I discussed how sweet of a guy he was for doing that. We also watched several drunk people make fools of themselves :)

As it was now close to the time for the fight to start, we decided to make our way over to the main square. The city is much more compact than I realized, and somehow we found ourselves trapped in a crowded alleyway full of sweaty, drunk people. I felt really claustrophobic at that moment, and to make it worse the locals of Buñol who have balconies just hang out and pour buckets of water on us poor people below. Somehow, we finally managed to escape this torture alley, and that ,was when I was separated from the group. Raúl and Whitney somehow made it into the “thick of things” and I stayed more near the outskirts so I could try to take some photos without ruining my camera. As I have been told though, there is really no “going to the Tomatina just to watch” option. I learned this the hard way.

Raul and Myself : Post Tomatina

In sum, it is a crazy alcohol fueled event but something that everyone who has the chance to do should do- if only for the heck of it. Whitney and Raúl may have been a little bruised up from the obnoxious people who didn’t squish their tomatoes before throwing, but overall we had a lot of fun. We finished up the day by rinsing off in a nearby creek. Because of the messiness and abundant buckets of water everywhere, I was only able to take 1 photo during the actual event. But don’t worry- the internet has plenty more to fill your curiosity.  Upon reaching the car, clothes that would forever reek of tomato juices were thrown into a dumpster, and we pulled out of the lot ready to leave. Suddenly, Whitney realized that when she had thrown away her pants, she had accidentally thrown my money she'd been holding onto along with it! Before we could decide what to do, poor Raúl had turned the car around and against our protests, went dumpster-diving to find the pants and my money. His valiant act was not unappreciated! See, chivalry does still exist! With my money safely returned to me we headed back to Valencia- Mission accomplished!

Cullera- "Top 3 Favorite Beaches Ever"

It’s a new hot week of summertime in Spain, and to pass the time this week here’s what I was up to! On 8/27 I started another week of conversation class with Don Quijote. Monday afternoon’s class was actually a very good one, and I was a diligent little student and took lots of notes. That night, Bárbara had her friends Patri, Sandra and Marian come over to the piso for dinner and drinks. Before they came over though, Bárbara decided to test out an eye-makeup style she found on Pinterest. I was the lucky recipient of this. It really wasn’t so bad though, and she did my hair too! The rest of the night we spent chatting on the balcony, and I came inside to Skype with John for a bit. Almost everyone our age in Spain smokes, and it’s no different with these ladies (except Bárbara), so honestly the smoke was irritating my contacts. That’s partially why I went inside to escape for a bit- I am definitely more intolerant to cigarette smoke than most people.

We Heart Cullera!

 Anyways, on Tuesday 8/28 I decided to be a bad student and skipped my class so that Lorena, Bárbara and I could go back to Cullera since the weather was nice. This time Patri came to join us too, and the drive out there went really fast. Once there, we met with Díana again in her parent’s absolutely beautiful condo overlooking the Mediterranean. Honestly every photo I took in Cullera looks like it should be on a magazine cover, I felt so lucky that I was able to be there! We started the day off with lunch under an umbrella on the beach. The water there is extremely clear and calm, and you can see mountains off in the distance. It’s an absolutely gorgeous view! I am the type of person who loves the beach not only for tanning, but for exploring and swimming, so Cullera was perfect for me. The water felt great so I could swim around for a while, and it was a really relaxing and refreshing feeling.

Patri, Lorena, Diana, Barbara y Michelle

Eventually Bárbara and I rounded up the other girls to start hunting for sea shells (for me to make a craft with later on), and that was a fun way to occupy our time. I also loved the fact that I could learn Spanish from talking to Diana and Lorena, but at the same time be enjoying a nice swim in the Mediterranean- It’s a win win situation J. Once we were all a little sunburned we headed back to the chalet/condo. It was still gorgeous outside so we spent the rest of the day swimming in the pool enjoying the spectacular overlook and view that it had. We took a lot of fun photos and basically I had a blast! Today was definitely my favorite beach day thus far. In fact, I’d rate the beach in Cullera as my #3 favorite beach in the world, and that says a lot because I am picky about my beaches! <<And... if you were curious, my number one favorite beach ever is in Culpe, Spain (Penon de Ifach) and my #2 is the beach of Singer Island, Florida. This is based on scenery, sand quality, amount of seashells, clarity of water, and how warm the water is for good swimming :) >>

The luxurious pool with amazing view

View of the ocean and mountains from pool

Girl's Nights and Rainy Day in Cullera

Spanish Dryer

8/20 The week in review: On Monday night Bárbara invited me out to dinner with her old school friend Sandra in the Benimaclet neighborhood of Valencia. We had some beers and some girl talk, and I made use of my Spanish fan- it’s still SO HOT all the time! Then on Tuesday 8/21 I really did nothing except go to class, read on the beach, and do my laundry. In Spain, because utility bills are so high, nobody ever uses a dryer. It’s something us spoiled Americans have to adapt to when we come live in Europe- but I will say at this point, I think I have mastered the art of pinning my clothes to the drying rack on our balcony. If nothing else, I will now truly appreciate the fact that at home, I can always use a dryer and that doing laundry isn’t weather-dependent! On 8/22 I had class again, and then that evening went to dinner with Bárbara and her Valencian friends Patri and Paula at this “all you can eat” Chinese buffet place. It was delicious!  The next two days 8/23 & 8/24 I had my final two conversation classes at the Don Quijote building. I treated Bárbara to tapas one night near our apartment as a "treat myself for going to class and not skipping to go the beach" present. Then on Friday night Bárbara, Patri and I met up with Whitney to have dinner at this super cute place called “Miss Sushi”. I don’t like sushi, but the decorations are so adorable inside the restaurant that it made up for it- and they served chicken fried rice. So, we had a good night again of drinking sangria and having girl talk- in Spanish mind you!

At Miss Sushi for Dinner!

The New Couch!

On 8/25 Bárbara and I had a lazy Saturday of lounging around, until the new couch for our piso arrived.  In Spain, almost all apartments come fully furnished, and if you want new furniture you have to request it of the landlord. So, Bárbara had requested a new couch to replace our janky old one about a month ago, and finally it had arrived! The worker crew set it up, but then we were left with the old couch and not sure how to get rid of it. Luckily, her Dad come over and with a hammer slowly broke it down into little pieces which we then took out to the dumpster via the elevator bit-by-bit. On the way down I sustained a battle wound- a large scratch on my shin. I’m just getting beat up these days! On the plus side, with the new couch our little piso looks cuter than ever. We cleaned up and did a little photo shoot of it, being the girls that we are. Now to top off the weekend, on Sunday (8/26) Bárbara and I met up with a girl named Lorena, and we had plans for her to drive us to the family beach house of another friend named Díana. I got to sit up front in the car for the hour drive to the small beachside town of Cullera. Lorena doesn’t speak much English, but she is trying to learn, so we took turns alternating languages. Luckily for me, the majority of our chats were in Spanish. I am typically excited about every opportunity to get to speak and practice lately, although sometimes I really do get a bit self-conscious. Unfortunately, that’s part of the process though. If you can’t laugh at yourself and your mistakes, then don’t even bother- because mistakes WILL happen!

View of the Ocean from Diana's Pool

Anyways, once we got all situated and introduced to each other, we grabbed our bocadillos and headed down to the beach. I had technically been to Cullera before when I was studying abroad, but I didn’t get to see much of it, so I was excited to have a second chance. It’s a quaint little Spanish pueblo on the mountains next to the beach, and it is definitely very scenic. There is even a cave there where an infamous Spanish pirate used to port to hide his treasures in! Yes, it’s a nerd fact, but in my opinion it’s awesome and I was excited about it. So, we all laid out our blankets and ate our food, and before we knew it a huge rainstorm had blown in! This was very unfortunate because it rarely rains in the Valencia area, so it was just bad luck that it would rain on our beach day. Not knowing what else to do we ran back to Díana’s parent’s condo, and hung out in there to finish up our food. Since the condo facility also has a pool, we spent some time down there, lying on lounge chairs under a balcony while it was raining. At one point I braved a dip in the pool but it was pretty chilly. Despite that, I was happy to get to practice my Spanish with Lorena and Díana- they are both really nice, sweet girls who made me feel comfortable, and for that I was grateful! I also found a bunch of snails and took some stalker photos of them of course. That evening, the rain finally stopped and so we went into town for some dessert. We walked the scenic little beach walk of Cullera, and got to see the old castle on the hill from a distance. We got ice-cream at a little place by the water, and before I knew it we had to part ways and head back to Valencia. The one positive thing about the rain though was that we decided we’d have to come back and do it all again on a nicer day!

Me, Diana and Lorena!

Montanejos & New Friends

Our little set-up at the beach!

8/16- Today I was invited to go with Bárbara and her parents to the beach near Port Saplaya. The main difference about this beach is that dogs are allowed- so that added a bit of fun for sure. The weather was perfect all day and we spent the entire morning, afternoon, and evening laying out and soaking up the hot August sun. I finished an entire book and got a nice tan too, can’t complain! Also Bárbara’s parents brought along all of the typical “beach supplies” that I’d been deprived of thus far like a chair, umbrella, floaties, etc. so I was pumped about that. We had a pretty decent set-up going, our own little chiringuito on the beach. Plus her Dad also made us his famous tortilla de patata for lunch, which was delicious. Despite a sand coated puppy attacking our towel, I had a great day and was excited to be welcomed as “part of the family”. Can’t complain about another awesome day swimming in the Mediterranean!  The only potential downfall of the day was that while I was swimming, I felt something bite me near my collarbone. There was just some redness, but I’m still not sure if it was a jellyfish or what.

They were everywhere!

8/17- To celebrate the fact that it was a Friday in August, today we had the perfect getaway planned! Bárbara and I were picked up that morning by Marissa and her Spanish friend named Marta. Also in the car with us was Marta’s former study-abroad roommate named Tamara. To add to the “what a small world” feeling I always get, Tamara is from Lucerne, Switzerland- where I just was last month with my mom and sister. Crazy! Anyways, we all piled into Marta’s car and began the two hour drive to the hot springs in the city of Montanejos. I know I just went there a few weeks ago, but trust me I was not upset about getting the chance to go again! All of us had been before except Marissa and Tamara, but everyone was still excited for the chance to swim in the extremely refreshing natural springs/former Arab baths. It was much more crowded today than the last time I came, but we could still swim around to our heart’s content. This time I brought goggles to look at the fish, and we also explored the little cave. We also swam back to the waterfall, and then we saw these little boys jumping off a super tall rock into the water. I’m honestly amazed it was deep enough that they didn’t die- but apparently it was, so Marissa decided to be a daredevil and she did “the jump” into the springs. After the mandatory girl-talk, we spent some time lying out in the sun and reading, and then our stomachs drove us to pack up and find some food. 

Marta, Me, Marissa, Tamara & Barbara

Since Bárbara and I had both been on the same “hot springs tour” before, we decided to go back to the same restaurant they took us to. In the central plaza of the small pueblo of Montanejos, it was easy to find. Surprisingly though, the service this time around was not quite so friendly and hospitable- probably because the owner Sebastian didn’t view us as “tourists” and figured he wasn’t going to get a tip no matter what. So, the service was slow, but we girls still had a great time. We shared several tapas and sandwiches, and of course a pitcher of sangria (and water, it was SO hot again). We were speaking in English at the table since Tamara doesn’t speak Spanish (just English, French, German and Italian- what a slacker!), and when the server heard us he asked where we were from. It was a bit funny because when we said “America” he said, “oh wow there has been so many Americans here lately, I just met some a few weeks ago!” I tried to hide behind my sunglasses so there wouldn’t be an awkward moment of recognition, haha.  The drive back to Valencia was a windy road, but the time passed quickly. This group of girls is a very fun and hilarious mix, I will say. Highlights included Bárbara revealing to us her hidden talent of being able to sing opera very well, but in a man’s voice- and we all were laughing so hard that Marissa and I started crying.

The ladies + Whitney at Dinner!

That evening the ladies made plans to meet up at a restaurant near the Aqua shopping center in the new part of town. Marta’s Uncle owned the restaurant, so we had a nice little table outside waiting for us. It was the same group as yesterday, but Whitney was able to come this time too! We had a pretty tasty meal, a few of us got mini burgers, and of course had some hilarious conversations and wine as well. After dinner, we split up in two groups and wereall  headed over to Marta’s apartment to “pre-game” or “botellon”. When Tamara and Bárbara got to Marta’s car they noticed that it smelled very strongly of gas. She called her Uncle over and basically, her car was out for the night. While this was going on, Marissa, Whitney and I had already hailed a cab and were waiting outside Marta’s apartment. We didn’t have a key obviously, so once we heard that we had to wait a half hour for the other girls to get there, we decided to find someplace to hang out. Standing on a very dark street corner in a questionable part of town late at night didn’t seem like the best idea, so we sought shelter at the first “public” location we could find. This ended up being a random karaoke bar with Bolivian flags everywhere and filled with Bolivians.  We ordered some drinks, listened to a girl sing a Selena song, and before the drinks were done the other girls we back.

My new friend from Switzerland :)

Nua the Puppy!

 We all headed into Marta’s adorable apartment, and got to spend quality time with one of the world’s cutest dogs. She just got a mini-chihuahua puppy named Nua. It is white and one of the tiniest and cutest things in the world. After we got the oohing an aahing out of our systems, we made a few mixed drinks and gathered around the family room couch. We were debating on whether to go out to the bars or not, but while trying to decide this Marissa and I decided to teach the ladies how to play the drinking game called “Kings”. It was a lot of fun, and definitely a good time. This group of girls just meshed very well. We were listening to Britney Spears and Spice Girls the whole night, and then around 3am Whitney, Barbara and I decided to head home. The other ladies ended up meeting Josep and his friends at the bars, but I just couldn’t stay up that late. Overall, this was an amazing fun filled day, and I am so glad I got to meet Marta and Tamara- and of course Nua the puppy! The rest of our weekend  (8/18 and 8/19) was definitely low key- us roomies relaxed, got lots of sleep, ate junk food, and spent far too much time on Pinterest. We may have been a bit sunburned, but it was totally worth it. Oh, and on a final note, the bite I got at the beach was slowly getting worse, and by Sunday it was bad enough that we decided to go to the pharmacy. He took a look at it and I got a roll-on medicine for it- we’ll see if it works. I hope so, because it’s itchy and super gross. 

Mystery Bite

La Cucaracha (& Port Saplaya)

Bull Statue on my walk to Class

8/13- Today I had my Spanish Conversation class in the afternoon at the Don Quijote school building. It went really well, and I actually enjoyed it more than my “intensive” classes from last week because in my opinion, speaking the language is what I need to work on the most. My teacher is really cool and we have a good mix of nationalities in the class group this week again. Now, the next day 8/14 I went to class once again, and after a quick stop at the beach Bárbara and I decided to order Domino’s pizza to our apartment for dinner. It was delicious, and all was well, but THEN came the DRAMA! Here is the story:

Our Apartment Building- Site of Attack

I was sitting on our little couch doing something, and Bárbara was in the bathroom. Suddenly, I hear her screaming- the first thought that popped into my head was “Oh my God, the pizza guy is attacking her”, even though that was clearly impossible since he never came into the apartment- but anyways… I ran over to see what was wrong. She flung open the door and bolted to the other side of the room, jumping up and down like crazy screaming “Cucaracha!!! A huge, giant Cockroach!!” These words sent chills through my body, and before I knew it Bárbara was yelling at me to “KILL IT!! KILL IT MICHELLE!!” First instinct, I say “we need a shoe, but not mine because this cockroach is huge and it will ruin my shoe”, Bárbara suggests we use her boyfriend Nathan’s shoe, but we can’t find it. In the hysteria and panic of the moment, I run into the kitchen and grab a big aluminum can of bug spray.  I initially think I will squish it, but then realize that honestly, this cockroach- hairy legs and all- is definitely too big to be squished without grossing me out beyond all reason. Then, the idea dawns upon me- we can asphyxiate it! I approach the evil creature crawling around our bathroom floor, and start spraying it with the can. I held the nozzle down for a good 20 seconds, and stopped. Then, like a ninja, the cockroach disappeared and re-appeared like 2 feet away within a matter of seconds. It was terrifying. We both let out a blood-curdling scream, and Bárbara was yelling at me “KEEP SPRAYING!! KEEP GOING!!!!”

Reaction to the Roach

 So, I spray it again, and then the smell of the spray was starting to get to me and give me a headache (the label says do not spray in small spaces without ventilation, oops), and the damn thing was still alive! I shut the door and despite our panic, we tried to have a logical conversation. Bárbara suggests, “I can call my Dad to come over and kill it?” Since he is a 15 minute drive away, I felt bad, so I said “no, no don’t do that. Umm, do you have any neighbors that you know? Like any boys?” Initially she said no, but then the light bulb went off and she said “Yes, I do actually- I met him yesterday, he is in the apartment next door!” So I say, "well, let’s ask him to kill it"! Even though it was 11:30pm on a work night, we hopped over and knocked on his door. After a few minutes, he finally answered, not looking the most thrilled. Bárbara frantically explained to him our situation, and somehow convinced him to come into our apartment. He brought his broom and dustpan, and then we led him to the crime scene. To our shock, the stupid cockroach was laying on his back, apparently dead. All he had to do was sweep it up. Then he asked us where he should put it- of course the toilet or trash would not be okay, so we demanded him to dump it over our 9^th floor balcony. Thank God, that thing was horrible. Once the dust settled and we were alone again, Bárbara and I realized how pathetic and embarrassing the scene in the apartment was. At the same time though, it was absolutely hilarious. This is one of those stories that we will add flair to and repeatedly tell to our friends for a good laugh now. The only bad part about the story is that I was looking up information on cockroaches online later, and apparently they always play dead. Since they can survive nuclear holocaust, I now don’t think it was actually dead when we thought it was, so THANK GOD we threw it outside.

8/15- Now that we had calmed down from the insanity of the “cockroach event”, Bárbara and I were ready for another fun, relaxing summer day. Because in the month of August almost all Spaniards are off work, I was planning to skip my class today to spend time with Bárbara while she’s not working. Luckily though, today was a Spanish national holiday- the feast of the Assumption, so I didn’t have class anyways! To celebrate our freedom, we had plans with Marissa and Josep. They picked us up and we drove to a beach about 20 minutes outside of the city. This little place is called Port Saplaya, but it’s also known as the “mini Venice of Valencia”. It’s a gigantic apartment complex, but it looks like a postcard from Portofino Italy. We started the day off at the beach, which was beautiful and not as crowded as the one closer to the city. We spent our time swimming, chatting, and eating our bocadillos. The only problem with the day was the crazy wind. It was intense, and all of our belongings and towels kept blowing away, plus the sand was attacking us and it was a bit painful. Sooner than we wanted, we called it quits. That didn’t stop us from walking around and exploring the beautiful interior part of Port Saplaya though. It is definitely very scenic, and I was glad they showed me around. We finished up the day with some frozen yogurt at this cute little place on the beach. It was a great day, a refreshing way to beat the heat, and I had a blast with my new friends. All this, and I’m learning Spanish! J

The Venice of Valencia: Port Saplaya

Pools, Botellons, & Discotecas

The pool at Marissa's Apartment

8/11 Today was more or less a perfect day- and this is why: To start, Bárbara, Whitney and I were invited to go swimming at Marissa & Josep’s apartment! We packed our bocadillos (in true Spaniard fashion), and Bárbara’s Dad drove us over to their place! After preparing some snacks and alcoholic beverages (complete with the little umbrellas) we went down to the luxurious pool at her apartment complex. We spent the afternoon tanning, girl talking, swimming, and sipping on mixed drinks- and it was perfect! I love the beach, but there is something extra refreshing about a pool. Anyways, after that we went back up to Marissa’s apartment and had some more food, and I got to spend time with her super precious puppy named Coco. I was hogging up all of Coco’s attention because I already feel “deprived” of cuddling with my dog on a daily basis. Once we’d had enough sun, we ladies parted ways.

Marissa, Whitney, Myself & Barbara

Coco the Puppy - My Love

Our next event of the day was dinner reservations at an Italian restaurant on the beach- in Spain it’s normal to eat dinner between 9pm – 11pm, and so we had dinner reservations for 11pm (which in the states is unheard of, haha). I went with Marissa, Josep and Bárbara, and there we met Bárbara’s childhood/school friend, an adorable and fashionable Valencian girl named Patri (short for the Spanish named Patricia, but you pronounce it Pa-Tree-See-Uh). We were later joined by two of Josep’s friends named Miguel & Ruben, and then our little group was complete. We had a huge dinner, full of tapas and cerveza of course, but then I started feeling miserable from the heat. August in Valencia is notorious for having almost unbearable heat and humidity, and since no places have AC, it really does get bad quick. I was sweating so much, and the heat was making me have a headache. Unusual for me, I had no appetite because of the heat. There was a moment when I thought I’d have to leave and go home, but luckily Patri got me some water and then when we went outside there was more of a breeze.

Patri, Vicente, Barbara y Yo!

The next step to our great day was to partake in the Spanish activity fondly called Botellon. It’s a bit hard to describe what a botellon is perfectly, but it can be summed up as Spanish Pre-Gaming. Basically, it’s common for young Spaniards to get together before going out to the bars and dance clubs, and mix their own drinks. Because in Valencia it’s much more of an “outdoor culture” (meaning it’s very uncommon to party or drink at a friend’s house, or invite people over to hang out) and almost all socializing happens at a restaurant, café, or park, it’s now common to buy drinks and mixers at a local supermarket to save money, and then mix and make the drinks at some outdoor location. In this case, we began our botellon in the parking lot near the beach. We mixed our drinks in the trunk of the car, and had a great time laughing and chatting. Vicki joined us at that point, and also one of Bárbara’s childhood friends named Vicente. Vicki brought an American along who was visiting her (a Cornell student from New York), and I was just really happy that I was there, in Spain, at a beautiful beach at night, having the chance to relax and talk to all of these different people and hear their varying life stories.  When the police drove by, our group and all the other nearby botellon groups, hid our drinks in the bushes. It’s technically illegal to drink outside, but everyone still does it J Somehow, our group eventually moved down closer to the beach, and we were sitting on a ledge near the sand surrounded by tons of other botellon groups too. It’s just a very fun, free atmosphere and it’s hard to describe how cool it is without actually having been to the beach in Valencia on a Saturday night. As the sangria and other drinks were flowing, my Spanish speaking abilities were getting better, haha. That’s how it always works though right? More drinks, less inhibition, more confidence, better foreign language skills!

?, Patri, Vicki, Vicente, Michelle, Barbara, Jarad - BOTELLON!

Once the botellon times ended (around 2am) our group was headed off to a discoteca! This place is called Las Animas, and I went there a few times with my friends back in 2007- it's pretty "posh" and has all these sofas and beds spread out on the terrace and dance area. Needless to say, I was so excited to be going there again because I know it’s an extremely fun, awesome dance club. It’s located near the port on the beach, and the dance floor is on a huge rooftop. They play all Spanish/reggaeton music, and everyone is always dancing like crazy- which is great because I love the Spanish “style” of dancing so much more than the “American style”! Somehow one of the guys in our group got us on some VIP list, so we got a free drink and didn’t have to pay the cover- awesome! Somehow, we were there drinking, dancing, laughing and having an amazing time until 6:30am!! Highlights of the evening include walking around with Marissa and Bárbara, talking to random guys in hopes of getting free drinks (we never succeeded), and Bárbara lying to these guys saying she was American, and then speaking Spanish with a horrible American accent- it was hysterical.  When we watched the sunrise from the roof of the club, we decided it was probably time to go home. In Spain though, this is the norm. Most clubs aren’t crowded until about 2 or 3am, and they don’t close early like at home. So, with my first late night botellon-discoteca experience this year complete, we headed back to the piso happy, but tired! By the time we went to sleep, it was 7:30am, and we slept in until about 3pm on Sunday (8/12). To top off a fabulous weekend, my roomie and I walked to a nearby “American” restaurant called Tony Roma’s that night on a little "date", and I indulged in a typical American cheeseburger. Sometimes you just really crave a good, fattening American meal after a tough weekend of pools and dancing!

Tony Roma's Valencia- Mmm

Classes, New Friends, and Beach Time

New Roomies 

8/4 After unpacking and settling in, I was ready to officially start my new “life” here in Valencia! Because I’ve been doing so many random little things on a daily basis, I’ve decided to just do a “multi-day” update for my first few days here in lovely Spain. So, today I mainly hung out and caught up on life with Bárbara. Then we went to her office to get myself set up with an international phone and internet plan. She is the Coordinator of Student Services for ISA (International Studies Abroad), which coincidentally is the program I came to Spain in 2007 with- Small world! So, once that was all set up I felt relieved and ready to be connected with my friends and family back home.  

The following Sunday morning 8/5, Bárbara invited me to go with her to breakfast near our piso (apartment). She had met an American girl on a Facebook group called “Americans living in Valencia” and this girl just wanted to meet some local people to hang out with since she hadn’t met many girl friends in Spain. They decided to meet up for a “blind-date” type breakfast, and of course I tagged along. During our meal of pan tostada con tomate, we got to know the lovely Whitney and her story. Whitney is from Virginia and studied abroad in Valencia in 2009. She came back last year to do an auxiliary program, and that was when she met her Spanish boyfriend Raúl. Since then, she has more or less moved here permanently, and the two of them now share an apartment. She was very excited to meet some girls her age to hang out with, and I was happy too because upping my number of friends in Spain from 1 to 2 couldn’t hurt! Since our first meeting with Whitney went so well we invited her back to our piso for dinner that night. Bárbara cooked us some food and invited her friend Spanish friend Vicki over as well. Vicki is a really sweet girl, and she is also dating an American boy like Bárbara is too. Everyone there has an international relationship except for me, haha. We all had a nice dinner on the balcony though, and I got to practice conversing in my super rusty Spanish even more!

Don Quijote Classroom Building

Now, it was Monday 8/6 – I had my first Spanish class with the program called Don Quijote Language Institute. This program gives their classes in a building that is part of the University of Valencia’s campus. Because I’m hopeless with directions, Bárbara offered to walk with me to my first class at 8am that morning. It’s about a 25 minute walk from our apartment to the school, and she helped me memorize the route I’d have to take to get there each day- isn’t she sweet? My first day at class was okay, there were tons of international students there and it was a bit hectic. We had to take our placement tests and then they gave us a tour of the campus. I quickly realized I was the only American there, which was a cool feeling but also makes you feel a little distant too. Most of my fellow students were either Italian or Russian, and once I got placed into my class level (“Advanced”, be proud) they dismissed us for the day. The big accomplishment of the evening was that Bárbara and I set up a new floor fan that her dad bought her. We assembled it all on our own- it took lots of effort but we finally did it! We named it “Dory” la ventiladora, and believe me Dory’s cool breeze have been a lifesaver during the hot as hell days in Valencia.

We set up a fan!!

Tuesday 8/7- Since my first week of class was going to begin in the afternoons, Bárbara and I decided to meet our new friend Whitney at the beach that morning before I had to leave. We brought some bocadillos (sandwiches) with us for lunch, and we ladies had a great time relaxing in the soft Valencian sand. Around 2pm, they left the beach with me and I went to my second class. This week I’m taking “Intensive” courses, so I have 4 hours of class a day. My first full day of class went pretty well- it made me realize how rusty my Spanish is. Also all the other students in my class were really young, and mainly interested in partying, so sadly I didn’t think I’d end up making any lasting friendships from my class. They were all really funny and nice though, and it was a good mix. We have Kim and Song from South Korea, Ksenia and Vladimir from Russia, Vera from Austria, Tibor from Switzerland, and Ursula and Marcel from Germany. Definitely an interesting mix!

Barbara, Myself & Whitney at the Beach!

The next two days 8/8 and 8/9, I basically got situated into my routine. I was getting accustomed to the intense heat of Spain in August, and the fact that no homes or buildings here ever have air-conditioning because power is so expensive (makes you realized how spoiled you are as an American)! However lame, I was proud of myself that I could walk to class and go to the grocery store and live in my little apartment and do all of this independently, while living in a foreign country J. My classes were challenging, which was good, and we had some hilarious conversations. Considering I was in a room filled with Russians, Germans, Austrians and Koreans and my teacher asked what my opinion on Communism was (AWKWARD), I think I handled myself pretty well! Hopefully they have a decent opinion on Americans now, because at first they all thought that Americans were just obese, ignorant people who eat burgers and fries every day. So to my fellow Americans I appeal, please stop giving off that vibe!! After my class on Thursday, I met Bárbara and her longtime school friend Sandra at the beach. We had a good time, and I realized how bad I am at understanding colloquial Spanish. I could more or less follow what Sandra was saying, but since she used a lot of slang I realized I had lots of learning to do!

Mexican Fajitas in Spain!

Friday’s here! 8/10- After my classes ended at 7pm, I was supposed to meet Bárbara at Whitney’s apartment because she had made us dinner that night! Being great with direction as I am, I of course struggled a bit trying to find the place. Luckily, I finally did. When we arrived, we got to meet Whitney’s super sweet boyfriend Raúl, and she had made us a Mexican themed meal of fajitas, yum!  That same night, I was also introduced to another of Bárbara’s American friends, a very fun and outgoing girl named Marissa! Being the small world that it is, I found out she is from Ohio and went to Miami University. She met her current husband Josep while she studied abroad here in 2009, and they got married this summer and she now lives in Spain permanently. The other crazy thing is, she used to work in Blue Ash about 2 blocks away from where I worked for two years. And, even more crazy, she is also a Kappa Delta Sorority alum! Needless to say, we hit it off right away J ! After dinner, Whitney took us up on the roof of the apartment complex, and we got to enjoy the view of a beautiful Valencian sunset with the ocean off in the distance. After this meal, I realized how lucky it is that I now have so many new friends to make me feel more at home during my time here!

Valencian Sunset

Me and Marissa, Kappa Delta's meeting in Spain

La Playa & A New Apartment!

Last day together in Spain

(8/2) We slept in late after our eventful day in Montanejos yesterday, and decided to dedicate this day solely to one important purpose: Beach time! We walked across the street from our hostel, and instantly we were at the area of the beach in Valencia known as Las Arenas. This is the part of the beach right next to the America’s Cup Port. It’s usually a bit crowded but is still a great beach regardless. Christina & Greaham immediately commented “wow, the sand is so soft!” and we set down our towels. We had a great day just laying out, and enjoying swimming in the Mediterranean. Sadly though, our vacation together had reached its end, and so for our last night together we decided to have a farewell dinner at a cute little restaurant along the beach walkway. The place we chose had a good deal going on where you could get three courses for 10 euros- one of the courses being the locally famous paella. Greaham took up this offer, and got to enjoy patatas bravas, paella (with chicken and rabbit), raw fish, and some helado. Of course the three of us shared some sangria too- and we said adios to our time together in Valencia!

Paella and Bravas YUM

(8/3) At about 4am, Christina & Greaham woke up in the hostel and left in the darkness to go find a taxi to el aeropuerto. I slept for about 8 more hours and then finally had to check out. Now that my friends were gone, it meant it was officially time for me to begin my “new life” here in Spain, and get settled into my new place. I sent a text to my Spanish friend Bárbara, and took a cab to meet her near her apartment (or piso as we like to call it in Spain). I was a bit nervous because I had literally not seen or verbally talked to Barbara once in the past 5 years. I knew she was friendly and we had kept in touch on the Internet over the years, but I was still a bit shy and anxious. Once I arrived though, she gave me a big hug and I knew everything would be fine!

When we first met in May 2007 :)

Bárbara and I met in the summer of 2007 when I was studying abroad in Valencia as a little college student. We were chatting on Facebook in a University group and decided to meet up at a restaurant so we could meet in person and have an “intercambio”. An intercambio is basically when people get together to do an inter-exchange of languages. So in this case, she wanted to practice English with me and I wanted to speak Spanish with her. She brought along her two friends Raúl and Jose as well, and the three of them along with me and my “American group” of friends spent the whole summer together in Valencia, hanging out and having an awesome and memorable time! Since I left there in August 2007, I kept in touch with Bárbara a little on Facebook, and when I decided I wanted to move to Spain I sent her a message, and she told me she was looking for a room-mate to share her piso with her. The cost of apartments is super high here in the city, so even though we’d share one room and one bathroom, the rent was still a normal price for a large single apartment in Kentucky. However, this whole scenario fell into place perfectly, and I was so happy to have at least one friend in this big city. Anyways, once we reunited after our 5 year separation, she took me up to our piso. I was pleasantly surprised to walk in and find that she had decorated it all cute to welcome me, and she also got me some welcoming presents! I got a sweet card, new jar of peanut butter (since mine had been confiscated by the Swiss police), a bracelet, and a clock she made for me full of photos of my friends, family, and Pokie! She knew I had been homesick and wanted to help make it go away :) She also had baked a lot of chocolatey desserts for me- it was delicious! I was feeling emotional that day, so I seriously almost cried when I saw all of this since I just thought it was so touching and cute! It was a super sweet gesture and it definitely made me feel welcome!

Welcome to your new home!

The dessert set up for me :)

The rest of the day, I unpacked my giant backpack and suitcase, and got my clothes situated into their appropriate places. Althought I had been feeling very homesick and anxious about the months to come, the warm welcome made me a feel a lot more optimistic about everything. For dinner, Barbara cooked me some pasta, and we had some drinks out on the balcony. Great start to a new “life” in Spain! 

My "Don't Get Homesick" Clock!

Waterfalls and Hot Springs in Montanejos

The canyon-like surroundings

Today, it was time to begin our “day-trip” out of Valencia with the tour company Do-Valencia. I hoped this tour would give us a chance to see a different aspect of the region of Valencia, and that it would be something a little off the beaten track. We waited outside the hostel bright and early, and after some confusion about where our hostel was located (join the club), we were finally picked up by our French-Canadian expat guide Mike (but really his name was Michele) and our driver, Diego. We were introduced to the two other girls who would be in our group that day, Yasmin & Ana from Cologne, Germany. We then drove about an hour out of the city, past a lot of interesting Grand-Canyon reminiscent landscape, until we arrived to our first stop. We walked about 10 minutes down a trail to a waterfall known as the Bridal Veil. Several locals were already there for the afternoon swimming in the pools at the bottom, and so we joined them! There was a natural “water slide”, and at one point we braved the super slippery rocks to take a photo standing underneath the falls. After a refreshing swim, our group headed off to the next destination!

Bridal Veil Waterfalls

Swimming and Exploring

We arrived next at the Fuente de Los Baños, in the pueblo of Montanejos. This place is home to natural hot springs that have minerals in them that rejuvenate and cleanse the skin. In the 13^th century, an Arabic King named Abu-Ceit constructed the bathing springs on this site for his favorite wives so that they could “forever maintain their youth and beauty” from the nutrients in the waters. Some of the original stone structures still remain, so while it’s a beautiful place to visit and swim in, the history surrounding it is pretty cool too. Our group sat down for some lunch on a patio overlooking the springs, and we enjoyed some bocadillos.  Then, we got into the water! Since it’s called “hot springs”, I figured it would be warm, but the water was actually pretty chilly. Considering it is late summer in Valencia though, the water felt extremely refreshing. We started swimming around the clear waters and looking at the fish, and then we swam inside a little cave. It was so much fun, just having the chance to swim around and explore, I love things like that! After that, we got to see a hidden cove with a waterfall, and then we had the chance to do some cliff-diving, but no one in our group was brave enough to do it except Diego (not even Greaham!). Once we had our fill of swimming in this paradise location, we took the van to the central plaza of the pueblo.

Some Tapas and Sangria!

We went into a local restaurant owned by a very personable guy named Sebastian, and quickly sat down and started eating and drinking. Mike ordered us all a delicious mix of tapas (Spanish style appetizers) and some sangria. Before we knew it, the drinks were flowing all around and there was a lot more conversation in the group. While eating the bravas, calamari, pan tomate, and tortilla, Sebastian started explaining a “local tradition” of how they put wine in a goat-skin container, and taught us all how to drink from it without touching it to our mouths. This was slightly awkward, and Christina and I both spilled red wine all over our clothes. All in the spirit of fun though! Next up, the owner decided that we needed to partake in another “local tradition” (I say this in quotes because I feel like he maybe made it up) of dipping our finger in alcohol, lighting it on fire, putting it out in a cup of water, and then immediately taking a shot of this light-green alcohol. He made Greaham do it first since he was the only guy, but then eventually all of us were peer-pressured into doing it. The fire actually hurt my finger, though I felt lame thinking that. Later, we realized that the light-green shot he made everyone take was actually absinthe. That could explain why we all felt to giddy and light headed when we left the restaurant.

Finger being lit on fire, then Absinthe

Back in the van, we drove to our final destination of the day. A gigantic dam built into the side of a cliff. The water was coming out so fast and with so much force, it was insane. I have never seen anything like it! We climbed up a gravel pile (which was somewhat of a struggle given that everyone was tipsy) to get closer, and then our guide took a cool jumping photo of everyone in the group. That was our last stop of the day, and we all had so much fun. The drive back to Valencia went quickly, lots of chatting, and we were sad the day had come to an end. Another nice thing about this tour was that the guides took photos for you, so you don’t have to worry about getting your camera ruined- all in all, it was a great day and an awesome tour! 

Jumping in front of the huge dam

Interested in going on this same daytrip? : http://www.do-valencia.com/hot-spring/hot-spring-tour.html