Girl's Nights, Shopping, and Paella

10/8 Today I went to my much-visited Mercadona, where I bought my usual items of frozen bravas, fruit, and bread. That afternoon, my friend Rachel was nearby so she stopped and visited me at the piso. We ended up going online and looked at our options for plane tickets to take a long weekend trip to Porto, Portugal! I am so excited! I’d always wanted to go visit Portugal, it’s so close and yet it never seemed to work out. I was really happy that my chance had finally arrived! The good thing about it too, is that we plan on ordering them with Ryanair- a super cheap European airline (that America really needs to pick up on), and it would only cost us around 30 euros for a roundtrip flight. We talked a little about hostel options, and planned to meet later this week to officially buy them. She then left and went to her class at the University. That evening, Bárbara’s dad drove she and I over to Marissa’s apartment, where we reunited with Rachel and the four of us had a “girl’s night”. She graciously made us some delicious tortillas for dinner, and we started drinking some wine right away of course! It came up that Rachel, although she grew up in America, had never seen the Little Mermaid (La Sirenita). We were all appalled, and so naturally we started the evening out by watching it. Then, just because we wanted to mix it up I guess, we watched another movie that was the polar opposite… “The Strangers”. It was really scary, and we kept freaking out at any noise we heard of course. Coco the dog kept us company, and we stayed up talking and laughing til about 3am. We spent the night in their guest room, and the fact that they have air conditioning at their apartment, combined with the super comfy bed, meant that I slept like a baby.

Struggle to open the Skyline Can

The following day (10/9) was a Spanish national “fiesta” or holiday, so everyone was off work and every single store was closed for the day. I believe it was “Día de España”, and everyone celebrated by relaxing and not working. America really needs to pick up on that too- that when it’s a holiday everything shuts down, not just a few places… everything. After sleeping in super late and then taking the long metro ride back home from Benifer to Facultats, Bárbara and I spent the rest of the day hanging out and being girly. I talked to a bunch of people on Skype, and then we discovered that our one and only toilet was broken. Bárbara’s poor Dad had to come over and fix it for us. He is such a sweet guy, seriously. He constantly drives us places and he is always very willing to help us with whatever random problem we have- it is nice to have a “Dad away from home” :) Gracias Salva! For dinner that night, Bárbara and I tried to make my much-missed Cincinnati Skyline Chili Three-Way. We cooked pasta, poured the chili on it, and sprinkled some cheese. Not exactly the same as back home, but it was still delicious. My Mom had mailed me two cans of the chili as a gift, and in that moment I was so happy. The step where we "poured the chili" was actually very difficult. Bárbara doesn't have a can opener, and it took us about 45 minutes to get the thing open. We tried a knife, a match, a screwdriver, throwing it, watching youTube videos on how to open it, etc. and finally after stabbing it multiple times with a knife we were able to pry it open with a spoon. It was hilarious but well worth it!

Homemade Tortilla + Bravas con Aioli

10/10 Today was a normal day, this meant Bárbara was back to work, but lucky me had plans to hang out with Whitney. Around 2 I walked over to her and Raúl’s apartment to meet them for lunch (served at 3, remember, we’re on Spain time). She cooked us some tasty paella and I finally got to meet their friend Ferran. He introduced the two of them a few years ago when he was Whitney’s intercambio during her study abroad. I guess now he can say he is a successful matchmaker! Their other friend Ricardo joined us too, and I got in some good Spanish speaking practice for sure. I found out Ricardo’s Dad is apparently a famous Spanish racecar driver, and that the gigantic local race track is named in honor of him. Small world (El mundo es un pañuelo!) We all hung out there for a while, just chatting. By the time I headed back to my piso it was almost time for dinner. Since Bárbara’s dad had to come back again to fix our toilet, he decided to bring us dinner. We had the honor of eating his specialty “tortilla de patatas”. Nobody makes it as good as him- it’s really true. It was so delicious. I made the two of us some bravas with aioli to go along with it, and we had a very delicious Spanish meal!

Yogurt after a rough day of shopping in Valencia

10/11 I spent my morning being a good little student and studying Spanish notes that I have, and then that afternoon I took the bus over to the other side of town where Rachel and Ruben live. I met Rachel at her apartment. She has two cats and I am always so happy to play with them- what can I say, I’m a cat person. So anyways, she was on a break between classes and we sat down and OFFICIALLY ordered our Ryanair plane tickets for a roundtrip flight to Porto (or Oporto) Portugal in a few weeks! I AM SO EXCITED!!  After that, I took the bus downtown to the city center. I walked around for a little while by myself just taking in the sights and being happy because I was there, because simply being in Valencia makes me happy. Especially the old part of town, it is beautiful. Around 5 I met up with Bárbara and we went shopping at some discount stores, and then we got some frozen yogurt together. We took the bus back home together, and then Whitney came over around 9 for my Spanish class. We did our hour long class on the couch, and then after that she stayed and hung out for a while. It may just seem like another “average” day, but it’s the little things like going downtown and having good friends that make it exciting. The two of us stayed up pretty late, she was waiting for Raúl to pick her up on his way home from work around 4 in the morning. We didn’t make it past 3 and then we both fell asleep. That (early) morning 10/12 Whitney left, and then around 6am Bárbara left with her suitcase for the airport, for her weekend of visiting her boyfriend Nathan in Santander. I spent my day giving the piso a thorough cleaning, since my friends from America were arriving the next day!! At 6 that evening Lorena came over for a bit, and we had an intercambio (language exchange). It lasted about two hours, and after our conversations I felt really confident in my Spanish, and I think I gave her some pretty good English material to learn and work on too. I went to bed “early” that night in anticipation of the big weekend ahead of me!

Downtown Valencia- Shopping District

Relaxation, Intercambios... and Magic Mike

Olivia making us AUTHENTIC crepes!

 10/4 My day started out better than ever because this morning, Olivia made Bárbara and I a traditional meal from her home country: CREPES! YUM. She was flipping them on our tiny little stove and she even made some caramel from scratch. It was delicious! I could definitely get used to this whole hosting a couch-surfer thing if they are all as awesome as her! So, we spent the rest of the morning just hanging out in the piso, and then she headed out to visit some museums. I stayed behind since I had already been to the ones she was visiting. I just did some chores and studied my Spanish class notes from Whitney, and then Olivia was back again. I don’t really remember what all we did, but I know that we had some good chats! At 7, when the sun was just beginning to set, I met up with my intercambio Sandra- this time she just came to my piso. We sat out on the balcony with some cerveza so she could enjoy a cigarette, and we chatted in Spanish and then English for about two hours. I really am a firm believer that simply talking with someone while taking notes and asking questions is truly the best way to learn a language! Bárbara got home from work and Olivia rejoined us, so after Sandra left we ended up having some tinto de verano to drink and had a Spanglish girl talk night. The next morning 10/5 we introduced Olivia to the world of typical Spanish breakfast. It’s nothing too complicated- basically coffee or fruit juice and then bread with tomato paste on it, but it’s still very tasty somehow. Bárbara went off to work, and then Olivia headed downtown to some more museums while I ran some errands and looked for stamps. We had initially planned on meeting up for lunch and then I was going to take her around the City of Arts and Sciences, but when I hadn’t heard from her by 5pm, I figured she was probably either distracted, wrapped up in something else, or simply forgot. The problem was that she didn’t have a cell phone. Man, what did we do in the days before cell phones??!

Breakfast by our Piso!

Alone in the Theatre... Loser! ;)

 I wasn’t sure what to do at that point, because then Marissa invited us out to see the film Magic Mike in English.  I hadn’t seen a movie in the theatre in forever, so of course I wanted to go! Plus it’s a movie about hot guys. How can you say no? So, since I had no way to get in touch with Olivia, I did things the old fashioned way. I wrote her a post-it note with my Spanish cell # on it, and stuck it to the doorbell of the apartment. Bárbara and I shared a taxi to the theatre, and met up with Marissa there. We got a huge tub of popcorn, and plopped down in the theatre to enjoy our show. Since American movies played in original version aren’t hugely popular in Valencia, we were literally the only three people in the whole theatre. It was more fun that way though! During the movie Olivia called Bárbara- she had got our message and wanted to know if it was too late to meet up, which unfortunately by then it was. After that we went back to the piso, Olivia packed up for her night train to Granada, and we said au’revoir, goodbye, and adios to our lovely French visitor!  Since it was a Friday night and all, Marissa, Bárbara and I went down and had some alcoholic beverages at a little place near our piso. Then we walked over to the hopping bar street of Polo y Peyrolon (the one I used to live on in 2007). We got some coupons from the promotions people as always, and got some free drinks and good deals at the random little bars along the way. My favorite one was this cute little place called Aguacates, right across from my old apartment. We had a good time, as always! Oh, and how could I forget to mention that on the way there I mailed in my presidential election absentee ballot: One firm vote for Romney!! Anyways... the night ended with us running into Josep, Pablo and Ruben. I love that Valencia is a big city but that sometimes it has that small town vibe! I also love the fact that you can walk everywhere, and that the weather is always awesome, and that nobody cares if you sneak and drink in the middle of the street, and basically… I just love Valencia. 

Ladies ready to see "Magic Mike" in Valencia

Mailing my Absentee Ballot- U.S.A.!

Intercambios and Historical Valencia

Flag of Valencia

9/10 I didn’t have class this week, so I was “just passing the time”. Honestly, I can’t complain! I spent the day planning our trip to Morocco and what to do about day trips. Independent traveling takes a lot more time and effort than people think, so that took up most of my day. For dinner Bárbara and I ordered in pizza, and that was my great Monday! The next day 9/11, I decided to take the tram to spend the day at the lovely beach of Valencia. Because it’s not August and people are back to work, it was far less crowded than usual. I stretched out on my towel with my coca-cola-light and a book, and had a grand old time. That evening, I had plans for an intercambio with a Spanish girl. In case you don’t remember, an intercambio is when you meet with someone who wants to learn your native language and you take turns conversing in the two languages. It’s one of the best ways to become comfortable speaking, and plus you get to meet locals! We met at the little restaurant near my piso “Sal y Pimienta” and then I got to meet the lovely Sandra Gonzalez for the first time. Intercambios are a little like a blind date at first honestly. I’d never met her before, but our mutual friend Lorena set us up on this “date” because we’re the same age and she knew we’d get along, haha. So, after the initial awkwardness was over, all was good. We had some cerveza and just got to know each other. I really enjoyed getting to talk to her and I think it boosted my confidence a lot. On 9/12 after a trip to Mercadona, it was time for my first ever “class” taught by my lovely bilingual friend Whitney. I asked her if she was interested in tutoring me for 8 euros an hour in the coming weeks, and luckily she was interested! We met up on the main street Blasco Ibañez and then walked to the nearby park together. We hung out on a bench in the shade and spent an hour doing our Spanish class. She prepared a little lesson for me, and I was taking notes- so cute. It was really great actually, and I think I learned more in this one class than I did in a week with the Don Quijote program. Not that there’s anything wrong with that program, but having one-on-one individualized attention from a tutor is extremely helpful!

Plaza de La Virgen

 So, that night, the study-abroad company that Bárbara works for (ISA) was hosting an event for their students at a bar/restaurant on the street I used to live on, Polo y Peyrolón. The event was basically a big intercambio so that the American students could meet Spaniards and vice-versa. Free drinks and tapas were provided, and it was a good opportunity for me to meet people to practice with! So, I met up with Bárbara at the office and walked there with her. It was kind of funny, a few of the students thought I was working with ISA, and at one point one of the kids told me he was shocked that I was American. The whole time I was talking in Spanish in front of him, he thought I was actually Spanish. That’s probably the best compliment I could ever receive! Seriously. So anyways, the night went by fast. I talked to a bunch of locals and the students too, and had a fun time chatting the night away. By the end of the event, my voice was lost and I had contact information for 3 different promising intercambio contacts- Go me! Thursday 9/13 I spent another day alone at the beach, it’s a rough life. That evening, I met up with Marissa and Rachel downtown at the Plaza de La Virgen. We had some drinks in the square by the fountain, and then we went into the Carmen district to find dinner. We ended up splitting some delicious Spanish food, and got in some good girl talk.

Sights on the walking tour of Valencia

9/14 Today, Bárbara was giving a walking tour of the downtown part of the city to the ISA students, and she invited me along. We took the bus to the center, and I followed our tour guide around like a good little student would. I actually learned a lot of new information about the historical details, which for me was really cool. Of course I’d seen all the sights before, but it was nice to learn more about the stories behind them. Plus it was a gorgeous day and I just love walking around the beautiful old city center. I also got to bond with some of the students. It’s still so weird to me that I was in their shoes, but that it was 5 years ago. It just doesn’t feel like it was that long ago, but it was. Crazy. We began the tour that morning by having some horchata (the typical Valencian drink made from nuts) at the oldest horchatería in the city, and then we explored the Cathedral area.  Something new I saw was the old Roman ruins underneath the ground of the plaza. I never realized that was there before, so that was neat to learn. Next we went to the Torres de Serrano, and then on to the Llonja and the Mercado Central. The tour finished up in the big Plaza de La Ayuntamiento, and once the students left at about 4pm, Bárbara and I had some tapas together in the center. That evening, Bárbara was invited to dinner at her boss Manuel’s house for his birthday, and she invited me along too. The funny thing about this is, Manuel was the program director for me when I studied abroad in ’07. One of those weird life coincidences- who would’ve thought one day I’d end up going to his birthday dinner at his house? Anyways, they grilled out burgers and I got to meet his very sweet American wife and two adorable bilingual children. We hung out on their nice patio for a few hours and just socialized. I also talked a lot with Bárbara’s co-worker Raquel. She is such a sweet girl. Overall, it was a good night with good food! I heart España!