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!