A Meta Note

So on a meta level, I have found something very interesting about writing this blog that is... unexpected to say the least.

If you have been reading my blog thus far, you may have noticed that as a pretentious lit major, I have a tendency to... ramble, digress, philosophize, expound, and generally go off on random tangents about whatever I was thinking too much about on the day I wrote my post. If you haven't noticed this tendency, then... yeah, I don't know what to say. I do this all the time.

I've done this since my first post. Well, maybe my second, but it's definitely been a trend. But that's not surprising, I do that all the time in real life. What's surprising is you, my reader's, reactions.

Because here is how I sort of anticipated those digressions to go over:

But strangely, it's turned out more like this:

                           

So I've found that kind of odd, if very kind of you all. And I guess I just wanted to mention this, since I've noticed it and been so surprised by it, and thank you all for listening to my crazy ramblings. I've had a great time writing this blog, and am quite surprising myself with actually keeping up with it for so long, so hopefully I will have the persistence to continue, and fill the next 6 months with lots of funny stories, hopefully no more illnesses, cool photos, and meditations on life, the universe, and everything on this space. 

And then when I get back I can read it. 

Lope de Vega and the IMAX

Thursday morning I woke up tired but it wasn't as bad as Wednesday. I went to lit class and we talked about Lope de Vega, who apparently was way cooler than I gave him credit for. He's kind of the Shakespeare of Spain (Well, Cervantes gets the name, Lope gets... basically everything else, the plays, the new genres, the prolificness) BUT FEMINIST! Probably not really, since it was 17th century Spain, but there were some surprising girl power moments in the play we talked about today. We read parts of this play Fuenteovejuna which is based on a true story of this town who came under the control of this really terrible commander during the wars in the mid-1400s and then somebody killed him. So, like good kings, the Catholic- ya know, I actually don't know how to refer to this in English. In Spanish Ferdinand and Isabel are the "reyes católicos" which literally translates to "Catholic Kings" but rey is gender neutral in Spanish in a way king isn't. Huh. So anyway, the reyes católicos, who were in power at the time send a judge to this town to find out who killed the commander, and everybody answers "Fuenteovejuna, señor." Everybody. Even under pain of torture, nobody gives any other answer. They basically put the blame equally on the whole town, and when the reyes católicos hear what the guy was doing, they pardon the town. So Lope took this story and retold it and added a love story and a fool, and actually had the women of the town murder the commander because he raped and tortured one of them. Basically the men wouldn't do anything, so the women did, which I thought was really progressive. He also gave these peasants the right to honor in his play, which was also pretty progressive, because not only did peasants not HAVE honor under the eyes of the law, they didn't even have the right to it, but Lope gave them both, and that was fascinating. I might have to read more Lope de Vega.

So then I came home and took another nap and did homework and wrote a blog post and rested and ate dinner, and sleep. It's kind of quiet around here, lots of people going out of town, but we're doing a day trip tomorrow, so not bad.

Today I woke up at like 10:40 and heard the maid down the hall. Now, I have been sick, but am feeling much more human today, so I really wanted to get the room cleaned to excise some of the germs, so I roll out of bed and in my pjs go ask the maid if she will still clean my room if I leave now, and she says yes, so I go put on jeans and a jacket over my pj top and glasses, and I run out the door. At this point, having nothing better to do for about half an hour, I decide to go have breakfast at the pasteleria around the corner, because by this time the dining hall is closed for breakfast. But on my way, I notice that the central market is just as close, and since I didn't go with the group last weekend (I slept in. Sue me), I decided to check it out. They said that they had a lot of food in there, so I figured I might be able to get breakfast there too.

It was incredible. It's this massive modernist building with steel and tiles and concrete and inside it is absolutely amazing. It's this massive market that has everything you could possibly want. Mostly food. There were butchers and bakers and (I didn't actually see any candlestick makers) fruit stands and a whole AREA for fresh fish, and it was overwhelming. There was so much. It's things like the central market that make me feel like I could live somewhere like Spain, more than even the Mediterranean climate and the beautiful architecture. I love being able to walk in there and shop and browse and find everything fresh and quality, and I loved even more to watch the Valencianos do the same. Because they clearly knew people. They seemed to be going to the stores they knew, because there are multiple stores for everything, but the Valencianos seemed to know the shop owners or the worker, and that's nice, and I liked being able to see my food, and it was a much better atmosphere to me than a grocery store. I've never liked grocery stores, but this I liked.

So after browsing a bit I got hungry and I bought a pastry, some strawberries, and dried banana and apricots. I've actually been looking for dried banana, so I'm really glad that I got some. But everything I ate was really delicious. The pastry was some kind of apple thing, and it was nice and flaky and just full of flavor. And the strawberries were divine. They were fairly large and bright red and perfectly sweet and juicy. I haven't tried the dried fruit yet, I really got that as a snack, but I hope it'll be good as well.

So then I came back and sat on the roof and read for a while and chilled and worked a little on homework, and then went down to lunch. After lunch we met up in the lobby and headed down to the IMAX theatre at the City of Arts and Sciences.

I really like going to the Ciudad because 1) It's a supercool place 2) it's a really lovely walk.
Like, you go down through the río and past gulliver and all these orange trees and fountains, and everybody is out enjoying the day and walking their dogs, and then up ahead there are these big white and blue modern buildings that look like a '60s sic-fic author's vision of the future. It's lovely.

Unfortunately, today we were in a bit of a hurry, because it is a bit of a walk and we started later than we meant to, and the entrance to the IMAX was kind of hard to find, but we got there and got in before the movie started. When we gave them our tickets we got these weird headgear things that, again, kind of had a Star Trek vibe about them, but it turns out that they were so you could change the language and listen to it in Spanish or French or Italian or English or Catalan. At least theoretically that's what it does, but I only could get mine to go to Spanish or if I tried REALLY HARD TO GET IT TO ENGLISH it might switch to French. But fortunately, I speak Spanish, and therefore was able to enjoy the documentary about the team that navigated the Nile from its source to the Mediterranean. It was pretty intense.

Actually, the theatre itself was pretty intense. It is this massive dome, with the screen extending from the floor to right above your head, and the screen is curved, and so you sit in seats that basically make you feel like you're on your back and look at what seems like straight up at this MASSIVE screen. Actually, just walking into the theatre made me a bit dizzy, and walking to my seat felt like it required a lot of balance. Some of the people actually got seasick. Yeah. Mom, you'd hate it. It was really overwhelming, but pretty awesome.

Then we walked back through the río without the teachers and found some exercise equipment. It's kind of like a playground, but with stuff to help you work out instead of stuff for kids to climb on, and had a good time looking like idiots trying to figure out how it all worked. And then we saw Elena and Gary on the street above us taking pictures. We really don't want anyone to see those pictures. Ourselves included. So yeah, then we came back, I showered and did laundry, a bit of homework, and blogged! I just got back from dinner and I am planning on going out tonight, so we'll see how that goes. It just feels like a good night. I feel more up for socializing than I normally do in the evening. SO yeah, tomorrow or the day after you'll get to hear about that and our excursion to Xativa tomorrow.

Oh yeah, I also bought a mug at the theatre, because it was on sale and I knew it would make mother feel better about me drinking out of plastic cups. I love you, Mutti.

aaight. ciao!

Roots

So this week has been kind of uneventful, but academically very satisfying.
Monday my first class was canceled and we just had film class, which was pretty nice. Sleeping in is always a good thing.
So in film class we prepared to watch this film called "El Espíritu de la Colmena" or "The Spirit of the Beehive", which was both filmed and set during Spain under Franco. My Spanish classes have sort of left me unable to know who knows what about the Spanish Civil War, but after it ended the country was run by a fascist dictator named Fransisco Franco from 1939 (the end of the Spanish Civil War) to 1975 (when he died). So to prepare to watch this movie we talked about the stages of franquismo (which I'm pretty sure doesn't translate to English, but it's like franco-ism, the ideology and the country that he ran) and where this movie is set and when it was filmed. Which was fascinating. Because people here talk a lot about the war, and a lot about the general misery of the  dictatorship, but they don't talk a lot about specifics of it and how it changed over time. The US also doesn't talk about its support of Franco, but that's another story. One of the things that our teacher said in our very first class when he mentioned we would be studying Spain under Franco is that the hardest thing for Americans when learning about this topic is to understand what a dictatorship is. Now, obviously we can give you a definition and some good examples, but he's also kind of right. Unlike a lot of the world, we have no recent cultural memory of something like Franco or Hitler, and that does make it a little bit more difficult to teach us that.
We also talked about the Spanish penal system, which was fascinating. A lot of modern Spanish social policy is based on a rejection of franquismo, and, while there is never a 1-1 correlation, I get the feeling that the same is true for the penal system. Franco used the garrote vil to strangle people as a method of execution. Spain's MAXIMUM prison sentence is 30 years, and most people don't serve that long. Film class is really interesting, because the professor gives us time to talk about stuff like this. We did it a couple weeks ago with the idea of state-funded cinema. There are some things like this that are just so outside of the American perspective that it is nice to have some sanctioned time to just figure them out, talk them out, see how we see them.

So then I came home and took a nap and ate lunch. I also got my phone. I am so happy to have my phone. But after that, I left my phone in my room and went to Elena's class. We talked a lot about Cuba. Elena's family is from Cuba and the EU (side note. I really hate translating acronyms, it totally throws me off. For example: everyone (except the French, what is it with the French?) think that United States of America is just too long to say all the time, so we get an acronym. The Germans are like, "screw it, we don't want to use a V, and just call us "die USA", but the Spanish use (for some reason!) EE.UU. No. I don't get it either.) Right. SO we talked about these trade relations and a little bit of her family's story and that is very interesting. We're a little removed from the situation in Cuba in this generation and getting a perspective from Europe and America and Cuba was very cool. Also, I learned that the Cocktail War was a thing, so there's some great useless trivia. Not as cool as the Great Emu War (it's an actual thing. The emus won.), but I digress.

haha. I digress. Has this email/post been anything else?

Right, so then I come back, do some reading for class Tuesday, chill, read, and go to dinner.
At dinner, I was sitting there by myself, chillin', reading Lord of the Rings, and Dr. Baker noticed that I was by myself and came by to check if everything was OK, which it was, I like reading. He then asked me what I was reading and I told him, and as it turns out (and I mean this as the highest of compliments) Dr. Baker is a total LOTR nerd. So we had a great 15-20 minute talk about the books and the movies and the comparative merits of each book and movie and the actors and the Council of Elrond, and it was a lot of fun. But then I came back to my room and went to bed.

Tuesday I got up and after breakfast went to my lit class. That class is a LOT of fun when I'm not sick and/or tired. We talked about Don Quijote and Miguel de Cervantes. It turns out that Cervantes had a pretty tough life, and that actually kind of saddens me. Like, he's famous for this hilarious work, the first modern novel, this totally postmodernist voltareian satire of life, and he wasn't very happy. He wound up in prison for a long time, lost his hand in battle, had an unhappy marriage. It's always especially sad to me when funny people have horrible lives. On the other hand, it's probably because of his miserable life that he was disillusioned enough to write this wonderful hilarious satire.
And in the same way, I kind of both agree with and disagree with Don Quijote. So, brief recap, because despite it being hugely influential, nobody has read it. Don Quijote (apparently spelled with an x in English. That's weird) is a satire of the tales about knights (Like King Arthur) that were really popular in Spain at the time. Don Quijote is this incompetent, poor minor nobleman who has read a bunch of these books and decides that he IS a knight errant and he goes off on a question, which is, of course quixotic because he's not a knight errant, and the Spain he lives in is not the fictional, magical land of all these stories.
But here's where I both agree and disagree: Don Quijote believes it. He totally believes it. Like, when he is tilting at windmills, he genuinely sees giants. And that's kind of... admirable in its own way. Because fiction can be a great escape, and sometimes it is worth looking like Quijote if your life is just a little bit better thinking that you can beat the giants and save the princess. And that's also why Cervantes' life is so sad, because I find it tragic that he became so cynical that he couldn't find solace in the stories and therefore felt the need to mock them, to tell the public that they were impossible and foolish.

So after class I went and ate lunch and chilled and then went to dance class. This was a make-up from the one we had last friday that only I showed up to. Everybody showed up and we were in the little gym in our building, and it was a lot of fun. We learned a bit of salsa and merengue, and some other dances whose names I don't know, but I like dancing, and it was good fun. When it came time for us to learn the choreographed dance, I was the only one who knew it (having learned it from Alexz and Elena Friday) and so Alexz and I performed it for the class so they knew what they were going to do. This was slightly awkward, but kind of fun, and I wound up with people telling me that I could dance well (which I don't really agree with) and that I should come out with them sometime and actually go dancing. That I probably will do, sometime. But then Alexz and I couldn't remember what we were doing and had to call Elena, who came down and totally rocked out with us for the rest of the class. She can actually dance. But it was a lot of fun, and even some good exercise. My favorite part, though, was when a Spanish guy living in the Rector Peset came in to try to work out and was met with 16 awkward Americans (and Elena) putting our "manos arriba". It was priceless.

So the rest of the day was chill. Homework, reading, dinner. The usual.

And now we come to the reason (well the excuse) my post is so... convoluted and tangent-y. I woke up yesterday morning un poco constipada (most awkward false cognate ever, it means "congested"). So yeah, I got sick again. the downside to this is that I slept horribly Tuesday night and could barely stay awake in class Wednesday morning. Which is a shame, because it was very interesting. We talked about Valencia's history and the river, but also about abortion in Spain, which is REALLY interesting, considering the politics, religion, and history of the country, and then people who studied Spain, including Hemmingway, and I think I have to give a presentation about him Monday. Fun times.
So in-between classes I took a nap. I actually lay down and slept for like 10-20 minutes, which was good since we were watching a movie that I have to present on Monday, and my nap made me awake enough to actually watch it. It was fairly interesting. Our teacher said at one point that American films are about extraordinary events, but European films are about ordinary events. And this is generally true. Or, as one of my favorite comedians put it, British films tend to be "A Room with a View with A Staircase and A Pond" and then if it makes any money Hollywood remakes it into "A Room with a View of HELL and Staircase of SATAN and Pond of DEATH". This is also generally true.  But this movie we watched was definitely a European one, very understated. Except that I kept making entirely inappropriate Disney references for the whole movie (not out loud. mostly) but I was just happy to be awake. And I did appreciate the movie. I don't mind the sort of slow European movies. They definitely have their own value and this one made some really interesting points.

So then I went back to my room and took a deep deep sleep for 2 hours.

Then in lieu of Elena's class and to make up for Monday's missed class we went on a field trip. We visited two different museums in Valencia to learn about the origins of the city. Our teacher kept referencing things that were 200 years old as "modern" and things 50 years old as "new" and after that field trip I understood why. Valencia was founded in 138BCE by the Romans. The city was then destroyed and refounded before we got to CE. That's a LOT of history. We went into this museum and went down all the way to the literal metaphorical roots of the city. The old Forum is underneath the cathedral and the street I walk down to get to class follows the old east-west road from the Roman era exactly. What the Romans accomplished was amazing. They found and reconstructed some pillars from the forum and they were huge, for a town of only 2000 people. They had a forum and baths and a temple and a circus, and it was incredible to go down and see the remains of this old city. And then we sort of wound our way up through the history of the city. I have never quite understood how cities seem to sink over time, but they do, and Valencia is no exception.
After we left the museum, our professor made a fascinating observation. Valencia was founded over 2000 years ago, and they put the forum and the temple and the senate on one spot, and then the Visigths came and built their cathedral on that same spot, and then the Arabs came and built their castle on the same spot, and then the Christians came again and today there is a cathedral, the archbishop's house and the town hall all over the old Roman forum. That's incredible. Especially considering, that not all of them knew what they were doing. The city has been razed, and yet some things never quite managed to change. It seems that the sacrifices (not human sacrifices, don't make it weird) the Romans made in 138 BCE for the protection and prosperity of the city did their job.
And then we went to a museum and saw an old villa that had been found when they were working on the train line and moved to Valencia. It was pretty incredible. The mosaics and the tiles were really amazing. We also saw a statue that had sunk on a Roman ship that was then found a few years ago and restored and brought to the museum. It was in INCREDIBLE condition.

Then we came home  and I was very tired and not feeling well so I hid in my room until dinner and then went to bed early.

 Alright, now I am going to bed, because I am very sleepy. I apologize for way too much history and tangents. I'll fill you in on what happened today with my next post. It's mostly more ranting about Spanish lit and history anyway.

A lazy weekend

So I am sorry that I haven't written in the last few days, but there really hasn't been a lot to write. I've had a really chill and uneventful weekend, which can be kind of nice.
So Thursday I went to class and we learned about Lazarillo de Tormes and the social structure of Spain in the Golden Age and how this book critiqued the way things were. We also started to talk about Don Quijote and the kind of literature that made Don Quijote possible. Because we were having class at a weird time we also got out 15 minutes early, which was nice. We had a leisurely walk back to the dorm and I ate and took a nap. Around 3:30 we went to the Botanical Gardens.
This was a really cool experience since they look pretty much like a building from the outside, and then you go in and find all these plants. There were also a bunch of cats running around, which was fun. My favorite part was probably this section of cacti and other similar plants. It felt like going back in time to all these kind of primitive-looking plants that were bigger than I am. It was crazy. I sat there in the sun for a while after I looked around (it was a pretty small botanical garden) and read Lord of the Rings. It was really nice and really chill. I then came home and read some more and relaxed and ate dinner, and then went to bed. Most people on the trip left Thursday for a trip to either London or Amsterdam, so it was really quiet, which was nice.

Friday I woke up just before breakfast ended and ate something before going out to read some more in the rio. This was unquestionably the most eventful part of my weekend. There was a protest of some kind going on in some of the streets and the plazas that I take to get to the rio, so I had an.... opportunity to find some new ways to get places to avoid the protesters. The protest didn't seem to be getting violent, and I think that it involved a lot of disabled people, but there was a lot of noise and a high concentration of police around, so it was a bit nerve-wracking. I sat in the park and read for a while, watched people play with dogs, saw a bit of what it looked like up river, and then I headed back to the dorm. I relaxed for a little and ate lunch. Around 3:30 I went to go do that day's activity, which was a salsa lesson.
When I got there, however, I learned that everybody but me was somewhere else. Elena and Alexz and I all went up to the roof anyway and they taught me the dance, which was really fun. It actually looked really cool since the sun was behind us, and you could see our shadows dancing. Very striking image. And then we sort of  just wound up telling stories and discussing movies and chilling. Then I went back to my room and chilled some more. Did some reading, some writing, talked to people. Dinner, shower, bed.

I woke up Saturday and started to do some research into places I want to travel in the next month and a half. I think I'm going to go back to Segovia for a day trip, Ronda for a weekend, and then do a ski weekend, all of which I'm pretty excited about! I then had lunch and went and read on the roof for a while. I hung out some more and then in the evening I went to a pastry/coffee shop thing and wrote, which was lovely. The food and tea was delicious, and the whole place smelled like fresh bread, which was just wonderful. I got back and went to dinner with some people and then I chilled for a while longer and we went out for tapas around 11.
It was a really nice night out, and we sat outside and actually most of us had tea, and I got some bread and cold cuts, and we just sat and talked. It was really nice. A very Spanish sort of evening.
Then I came home and watched Enchanted, which is a thoroughly underrated movie, and had a long conversation with my friend Sage about cynicism.

This morning I was planning on sleeping way in, but something was happening in Valencia today. We aren't actually sure what it is, but it involved the bells at the church across the street ringing. A lot. Normally they ring at random times for 15-30 seconds and it makes you feel good and then you proceed with your life. It also doesn't wake you up. This morning, however, they were ringing for a good 2-5 minutes straight every 15-20 minutes, making it pretty impossible for me to sleep. It was ridiculous. I felt like my city was under siege and I was being called to arms.        
But I got up and read for a while before heading down to go to Mexican for our sunday adventure in food. We passed some people playing music and dancing in old-fashioned outfits. The whole downtown area was absolutely packed. It was crazy. But we went to this Mexican restaurant, which was pretty good. I didn't realize how much I missed Mexican. Now I just need Indian food. But it was a nice lunch and then we got ice cream and had a nice walk back to the dorm.
It was a lovely day, so we went up to the roof to read and write postcards and we chatted a bit, but then it got cloudy and a little cool, so I came back inside and read some more and talked to people. After that I had dinner and showered and now I'm headed to bed. I have class later tomorrow than normal for a Monday, but I still need my sleep since the bells woke me up this morning.

So it's been a pretty normal, beautiful, relaxing weekend here in Valencia. Next weekend, though we are going to Xativa, so there might be a bit more adventure!

Masses, Archbishops, and Parades, OH MY!

So today was, without a doubt one of the most incredible experiences of this trip and possibly my life to this point. Yeah. That cool.
So I woke up this morning and went to eat breakfast with Elena, who had kindly agreed to go to mass with me before the parade. No one else had wanted to go, especially not since it meant getting up even earlier than we already had to. I really wanted to go, because I thought it would be a cool opportunity to actually go to a mass for the feast day of the city's patron saint, and I've been meaning to go to mass at the cathedral, and today seemed like it would be fun.
SO we went and Elena helped me  out with some of the Catholic-isms that I wan't quite familiar with, having never been to a Catholic mass. We read a little pamphlet about San Valero who is connected to Saint Vincent, and chatted while waiting for the mass to start.
The mass was, admittedly, pretty long. About an hour and a half, and I was very confused and a little tired. They didn't have hymnals or prayerbooks and so I was trying to follow along with people who know the script in a foreign language. It was a little overwhelming, but I'm glad I went. It was kind of amazing to see high church in such a massive space. There really isn't anything like it in the US, at least not outside of big cities, and even then, it's just got a different feel to it. It was all so choreographed. The standing and the kneeling, and the archbishop putting his hat on and taking it off, and sitting down and uncovering the bread. There was so much ritual, in a way we don't have in Protestant churches.
 The archbishop preached a sermon, which to be honest I didn't understand much of. The microphone was not great and he wasn't young and his speaking was not as clear as it could have been. But it was still cool to have been there. I mean, he talked about Vincent and I am pretty sure encouraged us to be like that "brave young martyr" probably.

And then the insanity started. So by the time it was time for communion the church was pretty packed. And since they had like 20 priests up there (you think I'm joking. I'm not. There will soon be videographic evidence of the number of priests at the front of that church. I didn't think the catholic church had that many priests in the entirety of Spain.) they sent a couple to the middle of the church where we were sitting to administer communion to the poor people who were seated towards the back of the church. And these priests that came to give communion stopped like, ON OUR ROW directly perpendicular (parallel? perpendicular? right next to?) us, but it was horribly disorganized. Like, in a normal church, at least the churches I've been in, people do the communion by calmly lining up and waiting for their row's turn to come so that they can get in line. Maybe that's just the protestants, because the Catholics all try to rush the priests en masse. And Elena and I decide, well we should try to get in, because people are going to be blocking the entrance to our row trying to get to the priests to receive communion. So I finally get up to the priest and, like a good religion student, cross my arms over my chest, because I'm not Catholic, and therefore can't take communion, but felt like it would be nice to participate, and hey, I will never say no to a blessing. Can't hurt. And I'm standing there, arms crossed over my chest and the priest... turns and gives communion to the people behind him. and to his right. and behind him again, and I'm just awkwardly standing there doing a really great confused mummy impersonation when FINALLY the priest turns back to me and holds out the communion wafer, which confused me slightly more. But I assumed he was just gonna cross me with it and be all like, "bless you my child." Instead, he shoves it in my mouth. So I've got half a mouthful of illicit communion wafer and about 100 people behind me wanting to get communion, and I just kind of get the rest of the wafer into my mouth as quickly as possible without moving my hands from my shoulders and get out of the way. So that's two Googes who have gotten Catholic communion in the past couple months. Dad, Nicole, you're up next.

Elena and I decided to make our way to the back of the church and watch the service finish from there so that we could get out of the church once it was over and meet up with the rest of the group that was there to watch the parade. But after communion, the service stopped. The archbishop (should I be capitalizing that? Eh, too late now!) left the chapel and another priest got up to speak. He informed us that the archbishop was going to change (I have a secret theory that the catholic clergy are really Victorian socialites based on how often they change and how elaborate their clothes are) before the parade started, and that the benediction would happen after the parade.

Apparently all of our research had neglected to mention that the people who attend the mass are part of the parade. And that's how I wound up in the Saint Vincent Day parade today. Elena and I walked out of the church right behind the archbishop, but then the band came and we wound up right behind them. It was absolutely amazing. The bells were ringing in churches all over the city and there was a full band with drums and the path that the parade took was strewn with rosemary and cyprus branches, in addition to the incense they were waving in front of the statue, so it smelled amazing. There were people on the balconies of their buildings throwing laurel leaves down on the statue of Saint Vincent that was leading the parade. It was a little rainy, so everyone had their umbrella's out, but you could see this beautiful silver and gold statue and the priests in all their red through this sea of umbrellas.

We walked past the others of our group coming out of the cathedral and waved at their happy, but hilariously surprised faces. A couple of them joined us in the parade and we followed the statue and the archbishop around a couple of squares in Valencia to important places in the life of Saint Vincent before coming back into the cathedral through a different door. We stood at the front of the church as the archbishop gave the benediction and the big celebration ended. There were other smaller celebrations throughout the day, but I'm so glad I got to be there for that one. We hung around the cathedral for a little bit, took a couple pictures in front of the statue and looked around the altar a little bit.

Probably my favorite part of that time after the service and the parade ended was walking up to the altar with Jess. The altar in the cathedral in Valencia is big and gothic and impressive. There are statues and gold and paintings and lots of dark wood. It's big and ornate, and Jess just looks at it, and looks at us, and says, "There's nothing like this in the US. I come from a Southern Baptist background, and... we just don't have this." It's something I've commented on before, but, while there is a lot about Protestantism that I respect intellectually, I feel like it lost a lot when it took the big, grand, mysticism out of church.  The Old World religion here in Spain is so different, and it's absolutely beautiful. You don't have to be religious to recognize and respect and be moved by the faith that caused somebody to build a cathedral, or the devotion of the men and women who rubbed their medals on the feet of the statue of Saint Vincent. I'm not religious, but there's something to being over here, being in these spaces that are so sacred, if not because of some actual divine presence, but just because of the overwhelming and awe inspiring faith of the people who created them and inhabit them. When I'm in those places I understand religion in a way I never quite do back home.

There were other aspects of today, of course. We saw some people dressed in 13th century clothes in honor of another Saint Vincent that is important here, because he was named for the Saint Vincent that we celebrate today. I don't quite know, but we almost got caught up in a mass for him too. Instead, though, we went outside, took pictures of horses and ate ice cream. We also walked around and found various places in the city. We wound up in the old University of Valencia, which was pretty cool, and then found a church and some statues. Again, not quite sure, but it was all old and pretty. Then we came home and ate lunch, which was actually really excellent. I think that they try to go a little further for the holiday.

The rest of the day was pretty chill. Homework, laundry, a nap, talking to people, getting things sorted out, listening to the bells ring for all the other services and processions today. It was nice.

All in all, today was really amazing, and I'm even feeling better!
All my love.

Of Saints and Sickness

Hello, all.
Before we commence with our normal blogging, there are two things that will inform both this post and probably the next one as well, so let's get those out of the way.

First: I'm kind of sick.
So far on this trip I have spared you, for the most part, the lurid details of the burns, blisters, bruises, cuts, scrapes, cramps, nicks, general soreness and tiredness, and the other inexplicable maladies that are sort of part of life. But now it's actually a part of the story, so I should probably tell you that we're all kind of sick over here. There are 18 people, including adults, on the trip, and MAYBE 4 of us are not sick, getting sick, or getting over being sick. It's not too bad; for the most part people are just congested and have sore throats and a cough. Personally, this bug is manifesting as a persistent, but painful sore throat that makes eating unfun. Which is sad, because I like food. But I'm on the mend, and hopefully the others will get well soon.

Second: Tomorrow is the Feast Day of Saint Vincent the Martyr.
And now for a bit of hagiography. Saint Vincent the Martyr is the patron saint of Valencia, Lisbon, some city in Italy, vintners, makers of vinegar, and tailors and fashion designers (?!?!), among other things.
So back in like 300AD the Romans controlled Spain and they were not terribly fond of Christianity at the time. This guy, Vincent, who lived in a town sort of northwest of Valencia, was, however, pretty fond of the Christianity thing. So when the Romans figured this out, they brought him and some of his friends to Valencia where he was tortured and killed. Then a lot of things happened, but his body (or at least part of it) wound up in Lisbon. Also I think Paris. For some reason. So they're big fans of him there too (Lisbon. I haven't heard about Paris). Everything after Lisbon on that list I don't quite understand.
But suffice to say, that Vincent is a big deal around here right now, and he's part of the story too.

And now onto the story:
Wait, where was I?
Right. Monday.
So Monday morning was painful, and I mean that literally. I hadn't gotten enough sleep and my throat hurt so much that I abandoned breakfast halfway through. But I had enjoyable conversations on the way to class, and it really was a nice morning, and, as always, a lovely walk. So I get to class in plenty of time and we learned about... Spain. I was really tired. No, we *gets up, checks notes* Oh, yeah. We talked about the definition of "Spanishness" and the different ways people defined it, and how they express that definition. We also did a little bit of Spanish history and talked some about... San Vicente! If only because we don't have class tomorrow because the university closes.

Then in cinema class I was still tired, but my throat hurt less because one of the other sick people gave me this absolutely horrendous powder to put in my water that helped my throat. *shudders* It was almost as bad as licorice tea. So in cinema class we always start by talking about culture and the stuff that we are going to misunderstand or mess up as non-native Spanish speakers, which is cool, and actually really helpful.
Then we watched an abstract/surrealist film. And we are all scarred for life. It was so weird. Like, I can respect it for not following filmic conventions and the coded messages about morality and the Catholic Church, but I did not enjoy it. Because it was weird. Like, Dali wrote the script weird. (not actually an exaggeration. Dali did write the script). It was very artistic, but not very enjoyable. But luckily it was only 15 minutes, so that was that. And talking about it was fun.
Then we talked about the history of cinema, and the history of Spain, and learned some very useful words. Also, more about Saint Vincent. I enjoyed that class, and was slightly more awake for it.

On the way back from class, I stopped at a "farmacia". Now, this word translates directly into English as "pharmacy", but I'm going to keep using the Spanish, because it is kind of not what you think of as a pharmacy in English. It is its own entity, so "farmacia".
So, being that most of us are currently sick, and the rest of us have had some ailment or injury, pretty much the entire group has had to go to the farmacia at some point or another, and so far, everybody likes the Spanish healthcare system better. Except, it's kind of not like that. Like, we can debate about healthcare all day, but what I'm learning is that it isn't just the bureaucracy that's different over here, it's the entire mentality and way you deal with being sick, and THAT'S what's better. No one here has actually gotten sick enough to use the Health Care system, but that's really an example of how it's different.
So, for example, here's what happened to me on Monday.
I walk into the farmacia on my way back from class. It isn't hard to find a farmacia, because I probably pass half a dozen on the mile and a half walk from class. They're everywhere. Way more common than drugstores in the US, and they don't sell half as much stuff as drugstores. In a typical drugstore in the US, you can find snacks, candy, hair ties, fake blood (true story), makeup, AND MORE! In a farmacia, you find a small selection of lotions, shampoos and the like, and then you find medicine and medical supplies. Maybe some gum. And that's it. So how, you might ask, does the economy support a Starbucks-like concentration of farmacias, if they have such a limited inventory? The answer, is because pharmacists here are who you go to for minor aches and pains and colds and such, not the doctor. That's the first response. You go, talk to the pharmacist and they can, without a prescription give you a much wider variety of treatments.
I, for example, went in to get some more cough drops, since I was running out. I just wanted normal cough drops to refill my supply, but when I told the pharmacist what my problem was, she gave me antibiotic cough drops. And they worked. And the thing is, that everybody who has had to go to the farmacia on this trip could repeat a variation on this story. It's a totally different, but highly effective culture. It also explains why I've met more pharmacy students in 3 weeks in Spain than in my entire life in the US.
It's actually a great system. Because most of the time when you're sick with a cold or sore throat or whatever, you don't need to go to the doctor and get a full diagnosis, you just need something that will help you get over the sickness or pain, but a lot of time you don't know exactly what that is. And that's where farmacias come in.
So I had a GREAT walk back luxuriating in being able to talk without pain again. But being kind of sick I also wanted to take a nap, which is exactly what I did after lunch. And there was lentil soup for lunch, so it was even better, because I was really hungry.

So I did the nap and then woke up and went to Elena's class. We talked about some riots going on in various parts of Spain and then... about Saint Vincent. That's where I learned most of the stuff in the paragraph about him.
Then we had a meeting and found out about this week's activities and heard a presentation by a person about volunteer activities.

Then I came back to my room and did homework for my literature class. Then I went to dinner really early and actually wound up eating with one of the Spanish girls that I first sat with. We had a really interesting conversation and I like her a lot. We just sort of chatted. It was nice.

Then I came back to my room, showered and did more homework. When I finally finished reading stuff from the Spanish Golden Age I watched some TV and went to sleep.

This morning I woke up and got dressed and ready and all that good stuff. I used my magical cough drops to be able to eat breakfast and also discovered that the water fountain has a tap for hot water that I continued to use for the rest of the day. Then we went to class. I talked to my friend Jess about going out of town this weekend since everyone else is going to Amsterdam, so we'll see if that happens.

Class was pretty fun, but I was still kind of tired. We talked about the poems we'd read and the different types of literature in the Spanish Golden Age and who wrote them and why and what was going on socially at the time. It was pretty interesting, but I think I enjoy that class better when I'm feeling better.

So I came back to the dorms. Another lovely walk on a beautiful day. I mean, today was gorgeous. Just the right temperature and not a cloud in the sky. So I went back to my room and took a nap. I had a quick lunch and then we went to see- Ok this is confusing. We went to a crypt. That used to be a chapel. That used to be a baths (like Roman-style). That used to be a chapel. That used to be a jail where Saint Vincent was probably kept. I think. It was all in Spanish and like 15 different cultures had their hands on it (naw, just like 4). But it was really cool. I mean, this place had a lot of history and seeing the crypt (We're calling it a crypt) was a great way to hear about a lot of that history and to learn about Saint Vincent and the whole history of Valencia.

Then I came back to the dorm and tried not to take a nap. I read for a while and watched some videos and wrote some and attempted to do laundry and drank tea and generally passed time. Then I took a shower and went to another early dinner. I sat with the same girl from last night and we continued to have a good time. Some other people from our program joined us and it was a little awkward since they were speaking English and she doesn't, but I still had a good time and hopefully once I get my phone I can get her number and talk to her more.

SO yeah, I'm going to finish my blog and get some rest. I'm really excited for tomorrow. There are a whole bunch of celebrations and it's going to be crazy, so I want to make sure I'm rested and (hopefully!) feeling better.

Sorry for such a downer blog guys, I'm really having a great time, even if these last few days have been kind of off. Eh. Some days are diamonds... btut I'll be back tomorrow or the day after with some cool stuff about the patron saint of Valencia!

Hasta luego!

Unironic Enthusiasm

So it's been a really cool day and a half for me here in Valencia. Weekends are going to be really awesome, I think.

So, yesterday we went to the aquarium, which was INCREDIBLE. It's the biggest aquarium in Europe and I loved it.

We all met at noon to get our sandwiches and walk to the aquarium, which was probably a 45  minute walk. This would not have been a problem had it not started to rain halfway there. I mean, I had a good time. The walk was through the rio and therefore really nice, plus, I like rain, but some people were less happy, and NOBODY'S hair looked good at the end of it! But we got to the aquarium, and it turned out to be a wonderful day.

See?

Here we are, looking' super fly in front of the aquarium. Still a bit cloudy. 

The aquarium was really beautiful. 

Unlike the Georgia aquarium, a lot of the exhibits are outside, 

which is especially cool since the aquarium is part of the "city of arts and sciences", this complex that the city of Valencia built. It's got an opera house and an interactive science museum and an imax theatre, and it looks something like this:

So then we all sort of split up and everybody goes everywhere. I somehow stumble into the tropical fish exhibit by myself. About halfway through, I run into Alexz, our beautiful TA. 

Looks something like this when it's been raining. Likes purple.

So she and I decide to go around the aquarium together, because she too is alone. How she wound up in the tropical fish exhibit by herself I REALLY don't know. But it worked. 

So we saw the tropical fish.

Took a picture by an anglerfish made of trash

And generally had a lovely time. We saw a lot of stuff. Cool fish. Marine mammals. Usual aquarium stuff. 

We spent some time with other people, but we kind of took our own rout around the aquarium. 

We went to this really cool aviary they have at the museum 

It's in that big white circle thing. Note that there are now no more clouds. 

And you can go inside

Which we did

And we saw the birds. Which I thought was super cool. 

We then went to see the sea lions. 

This guy was out sunning himself. It was really funny. 

We then ate a snack by the sea lion exhibit and met up with Elena and went to the arctic exhibit. There were penguins and walruses and beluga whales oh my. 

After a while in that exhibit, we went to see...

DOLPHINS! There was a dolphin show and it was awesome. 

The arena was outside, and a bit chilly. It looked something like this

It was a super cool show. We had a really awesome time. The whole group was together for this one, because nobody wanted to miss the dolphins. 

Side note. We had to wait a little while for the dolphin show to start so.... 

I got some reading in.

The dolphin show was really cool. It was all in Spanish and I understood quite a bit of it. I always go to the dolphin shows and come out wanting to be a dolphin trainer. They just look like they're having such a good time. Trainers and dolphins both. 

After the show a lot of people left the aquarium. They'd seen all they wanted to, and there was a big department store nearby that they wanted to go to. Unfortunately, Alexz and I hadn't quite made it to see the sharks yet, and there was no way that I was going to miss that, so I wound up with all the teachers in the shark exhibit. 

Good times. 

Actually, it was a lot of fun. We just sort of chilled and took our time.  We took silly pictures

And tried to get lined up with the sharks

Success!

We took pictures of odd fish. 

I swear this is something out of Doctor Who. 

And after the sharks we passed this really cool exhibit where they had made art out of trash and we took silly pictures with that

All of us

It was hilarious. 

Then we had a leisurely walk back

It was a lot of fun. We chatted and laughed and managed to not get lost. It was a great time. 

So then I came back, sore, tired, but really happy, and just chilled for a few hours. I then went to dinner and sat with some Spanish girls. They were all either med or pharmacy students, which seems to be the norm here. We had a great conversation about college costs and cultural differences. It was a lot of fun. They nearly had a heart attack when I told them how much a school like Harvard would cost in a year. Apparently 1000 or 2000 euros a year is pretty normal for college here. Doesn't that sound nice!?! Also, they seemed surprised that our best schools, the Harvards, Yales, and MITs were private. In Spain, apparently, you only go to a private university if you didn't get the scores to one of the superior public ones. 

Also, I know you all know that the Spaniards eat dinner much later than we do, and this conversation was happening at like 9:30 at night, but their reactions when I told them that I often eat lunch at 11:30 and dinner at 5:30 might have been the highlight of my evening. They actually had to check and make sure we were talking about the same meal! 

I'm actually surprisingly used to this schedule now. I haven't eaten dinner before 8 since I got here, and I'm just fine with that. Waiting until 9-9:30 isn't bad at all. 

Afterwards, around 11:30 I went out to the plaza de la virgen (the one with the cathedral) with 3 other of the people from my group. It was really nice. We had a drink and a tapa (can you have just one?). It was nice. Much more my speed of going out. They had wine, I had water, and the focus was on the conversation. 

We honestly didn't stay out very long. We were all pretty tired, and by 1am I was back in my room. I took a shower and went to bed by 2. 

This morning I woke up and met a bunch of others in the lobby to go to an American diner for brunch at 11:30. We were all craving just a taste of something from home. We walked to the diner, but we had neglected to check the time, so it wouldn't open for another hour. Strangely, but fortunately, we seemed to be in the American section of town and found a Starbucks across the street where we had a snack and a drink while we waited. It was cool and pretty chill. I read some, chatted some, and then the diner opened. 

It was this horribly tacky, wonderful 1950's diner, in the most stereotypical way possible. The waitresses wore pink dresses and they had neon lights all around, and sea foam green booths and the floor was black and white checkers. There was a jukebox when you came in, but they were playing classic music from the 50's from the speakers in the restaurant whether or not you selected a song. I mean, it was a parody of Americana the way that some Mexican restaurants are a parody of Mexican culture. Seeing it from the other side was kind of strange.

So we all got seated in the big round booth in the back and ordered our food. Most of us got hamburgers, and I have to say, they were pretty quality. I mean, not the best burger ever, but definitely not McDonald's. It was fun. The table was too crowded, and there were elbows and confused drinks and trouble communicating with the waitress, but it was nice. We decided that this was a thing we should do every Sunday: go try somewhere new. We eat in the dining hall normally, but it was cool to try a restaurant in Valencia. Next Sunday is Mexican.

The restaurant was pretty empty when we got there, since it was only 1, but it was almost 3 by the time we left, so it was full of Valencianos there to enjoy some American Food. The waitress gave us 1 check for 9 people who were all paying separately, so we had a great time (ha. haha.) doing the math to figure out who got what and how much they should put towards the pot. Sometimes I really like the French idea "on partage" which roughly translates to "screw this, we'll just split it evenly and assume that if we go out together often enough this will all even out". But I am actually kind of glad that we had to do the math, because while we were counting euro coins, the best part of the morning happened. 

We are just sitting there, when the song "Greased Lightning" comes on. I, of course, start to dance and sing along, as I do whenever I hear that song, but when I look up, there are people who work for the restaurant in leather jackets (guys) and pink '50's tops and hair (girls) dancing to the song with this fun little choreographed routine. It was really dorky, of course, and they were bopping around while people laughed and filmed, and (in the case of the girl next to me and I) danced and sang along. They even got a little girl to come up and dance with them during the instrumental break. It was precious. Of course, less than half of the restaurant had any clue what the song they were dancing to actually meant, but it was fun and cheesy and gimmicky, but I loved it.

We then walked back, just Alexz and I, because everyone else had to go to the pharmacy, and I came back to the dorm and tried to nap, but wound up writing blogs and choosing photos and starting my homework. 

At 6 we then went out for horchata, which I'm not actually sure what it is. It's this sweet, white drink that is served chilled and tastes kind of like almond milk (or so I'm told). It's made from some sort of plant that I don't think has a name in English. It is apparently a very traditional Valencian drink, and once you get past the strangeness of it, it's pretty tasty, if really sweet. 

Then we came back, and HOMEWORK! Which I'm still sort of doing. It's a partner project and I have finished my part and am waiting for her to finish hers. This blog has been a very piecemeal sort of thing. 

But anyway, back to the whole point of the title. 

So a couple days ago, Dad and I were talking about the concept of adulthood. The closer I get to being an adult (I'm sort of convinced that I have an asymptotic relationship to adulthood (parenthesis within parenthesis, it's parentheception!!! sorry. Somebody get Nicole! I'm going to use math to explain something!). Like, the more I grow up, the closer to adulthood I get, but I never quite feel like I'm there, I just keep getting infinitely closer. I look more like an adult and act more like an and at some point, I get so close to zero (adulthood) that I might as well be there, but I still just haven't totally gotten there yet.) Anyway, the closer I get to being an adult, the more I have these sort of introspective conversations about what being an adult means and how one goes about doing it. And this conversation was interesting because the way I feel about being an adult is different over here. I am the youngest one on the trip, but a lot of the times I feel like a middle-aged lady. Everyone else likes to go out and party and drink and talk about boys and I like to... sit at home and read and drink tea and think about what literature means. And that's weird sometimes. I don't mind too much, especially not when everyone else went out the night before we had to do something in the morning and I am well-rested and mildly caffeinated, when they are sleep-deprived and hungover, but it can be a little difficult, and I sometimes feel like I'm missing out. 

But one of the points Dad and I talked about, was that adulthood is all about balance. Sometimes you need to know when to stay in for the night, but at the same time you enjoy adulthood a lot more if you know when to stop being adult-y. That being an adult shouldn't have to mean giving up joy and wonder and laughter and all those great nouns that we often modify with "childlike". And I've been thinking about that a lot recently, because I have done a lot of really fun stuff in the past few days, from Gulliver, to the aquarium, to jamming out to Greased Lightning this morning, and I wouldn't have enjoyed any of it if I was too worried about whether it was appropriately adultlike for my age. 

I mean, look at these faces, 

do we look like we are trying in any way to be dignified?

No. Because we weren't. Which is good. Because we totally failed if that was the goal. But the goal was to have fun, and THAT we managed. 

I guess what I'm saying is that these past few days have reminded me of this John Green quote that I really love, and totally overused on my college applications, it's about how the fun of life comes when you let yourself be "unironically enthusiastic" about things you love, and I think that's sort of the secret to enjoying life, but especially study abroad. You just have to give yourself permission to be unironic, and yes, sometimes even childlike, in your enthusiasm

 Even if you look like an idiot.

Torre Micalet and Gulliver, once more with photos!

So, after some more Facebook stalking, I have more photos for you!

So this is the Cathedral in Valencia. The tower we climbed is the one with the pointy thing on top to the very right of the picture behind the palm tree.

I know it's not me, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what the stairs we climbed were like.

Valencia.

It's big

Me looking pensive and artsy.

Me looking at the camera.

Obligatory group photo under the bell tower.

Valencia's  central market.

Artsy bell tower picture

Random church. Lots of those in Spain.

That's the city of arts and sciences. More on that later. Also, the Mediterranean is behind it.

The cool, blue-tiled roof of the cathedral from the stairs of the tower.

So European.

We had a bit of a wait before the bell rang.

So what was I doing?

Reading, of course!

Finally ringing!
It was chilly up there.

And windy.

But chocolate and churros make everything better.

So then the next day we went to Gulliver.

Group photo in front of a fountain in the park.

And here's the playground.

To give you an idea of size. That girl is talker than me.

Ok. More to come later!