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!