so i'm starting to pick up on habits of the city, for instance: it's very common to hear firework noises but see no fireworks anywhere. it kind of sounds like a wild west shootout circa the 1890's. today, kara and andrea said they were walking to a cafetería and a little kid set off a bunch of fireworks right in front of them as a joke, really funny.

also common: intense kissing in the calles, coches , restaurantes, you name it. apparently, it's normal to live with your parents here until you get married and move out. the Spanish are

also very private about their homes, so it's not appropriate to bring guests back to your home often unless invited for a meal or something. the result is a TON of PDA. it's usually not

so bad but on the beaches it gets real. especially since the girls are typically topless.

another fun fact: there's rarely ever toilet paper in public bathrooms and they have a strange sense of humor about the signs they use for the bathroom. very calvin and hobbes

i ended up in the centro historico last night and met up with people at pub corona, a little bar in the carmen area. inside, there were these big metal tree things with little tables sticking off of branches and they had string lights on the limbs that changed colors, and little ornaments hanging off the ends of the branches. reminded me of bonnaroo

the carmen area has lots of bar/discos that are smaller than the discotecas and don't charge a cover, but are fun for talking to locals and practicing my spanish. ran into a bunch of australians in a place called the music box last n

ight and i had the hardest time understanding them because i was expecting to hear spanish and their accents kept throwing me off. the best part though is they play spanish mashups of popular american songs from like 2 or 3 years ago so it was fun listening to throwbacks with a little salsa flair

made myself get up this morning and spent the day on the beach for like 7 hours. it was packed today, i guess sundays are muy popular for going to the beach. me quemé un poco, but only on one side of my face because i fell asleep on my stomach with my face turned to the side. i look a little ridiculous, might wear a turtleneck to class tomorrow

tonight for dinner we had deviled egg

s with a twist, they were in a pan made with tuna (made me think of cami) but then just covered with shredded lettuce. so i guess that's considered a salad? and we had baked potatoes and pasta salad. not just any old pasta salad though, the only ingredient in it that i was accustomed to was the pasta and oil part. there were also: raisins, crab meat, pineapple, cheese, apples, and corn. but it's all delicious here, especially those french fries; she fries them in oil with garlic and salt, eat your heart out mcdonalds.

i'm going to rest up tonight for my second first-day-of-classes, deséenme suerte!

primer día de clases

this morning came a little early, but i actually woke up around 7 and couldn't go back to sleep. there's no air conditioning in the apartment so it's warm at night after a day of sunny windows and i've never been the type to sleep without covers. there isn't even summer heat yet...

so i got up and had breakfast and talked with mi madre. that is really helpful, talking with mi madre a lot. she just listens and corrects a little. her accent is pretty strong. that's the thing that gets me a lot, the accents. I can understand a lot of what people are saying if they slow down and once i get used to their accent, i'm golden. but they talk SO FAST here. i keep talking to people in the street if i need to find something or if we're at the bus stop together and they realize pretty quickly usually that i'm not from around here. they talk to you slowly at first and make sure you understand, but it seems like the more i understand and can respond, the more they think i know what i'm doing, so the faster they start to talk. then i lose them usually and do a lot of empty head nodding.

yesterday was the first day of classes at the center and long story short, my classes weren't what i wanted but i went anyway. i was in intermediate classes that i took last semester so everything was really easy but on monday i'm switching into classes that are more challenging and so they'll be more interesting but they're also at 8:30 in the morning instead of 10:35 so we'll see if i can stay awake. we only get 1 late day before they add up to absenses and take points off our grade. todos los profesores were sure to tell us that classes were going to be hard and fast and a big deal so we shouldn't miss anything if we want to keep up since the classes are only a month long.

i went to meet my friend buehler at the bus stop in the morning and let three buses go by while i waited for him to get un-lost and find me. i talked with a woman at the bus stop for a while about which buses go where and found out that since the university age kids here are still in classes, there aren't a lot of buses that go to the beach and back yet. they start running june 12th. so i gave up on beuhler and gave him directions and went to class. Classes were good, most of them have about 12 kids and my two teachers seemed great. I'm switching into two different classes though, so I'll be that girl on monday and have to explain to everybody what's going on. I'm hoping there's no homework due monday... I should probably check on that.

After class I went with some guys to figure out which bus would take us to the beach, and we took number 32 all the way there and walked along this boarwalk type place past lots of cute restaurants on the beach. The beach was really cool, it's not a short little beach area like most of the beaches I've been to, the distance from the start of the sand to the water was probably at least 100 yards so there's tons of room for things like volleyball courts and mini soccer goals, which were plentiful. I've already been asking around trying to get people who will play volleyball with me a couple times a week and a couple girls with the program actually said they used to play in high school and stuff so it might be solid. There are also these little exercise machine things that are painted as if they're supposed to be on a playground but they're just scattered down the boardwalk. There's a Tony Little-esque gazelle kind of thing and a little squat machine and some arm machines, not sure how difficult they are to do but they're really fun to play on. Why not enjoy your exercise, right??

One of the first people I saw was a pregnant woman, tanning topless. At first I was surprised but i've always heard that about european beaches, being cool with toplessness. But not everybody was doing it so i guess it's just a tops optional beach. there were also lots of thong swimsuits. and lots of really buff guys playing soccer or paddle ball or whatever. and there were people walking around trying to sell us massages or henna tatoos. I think it'll be insanely packed once summer officially starts for the schools in mid june cause it was pretty crowded yesterday afternoon on a weekday. So we stayed on the beach for a few hours until storm clouds came in around 7. The sun really doesn't set until around 10 here so there's tons of daylight. I got some drinks with two guys and we chatted up the barista a little about which verbs to use for which situations. When we tried to find a bus to take us back home, there wasn't one. The bus system here is strange. In the mornings, they're pretty regular and they come every 5 or 10 minutes and you can get where you need to go. but as the day goes on it seems like the bus drivers just start doing whatever they want. there are little bathrooms on some of the bus stops so they'll just get out and take a break and sit on the bench for a few minutes, have a cigarette or a snack while we all just hang out on the bus waiting. and they become more and more sparse in the afternoons, just kind of stop when they want and you have to flag them down or they won't stop for you, as we found out the hard way. so we walked around the town by the beach for about an hour trying to catch a bus and finally flagged one down and rode home.

There are tiendas littered around my neighborhood where you can buy kind of anything, clothes and food and gadgets, so i went and bought these soda-looking mixed drinks in bottles. they're .99 euros for a liter and a half and they taste kind of like carbonated sangria. they're also called don simon con limon which i find hilarious. but i think they may be my drink of choice so that i don't run out of money too quickly.

I met up with the same two guys and they were getting coffee at a little place around the corner where there was an especially rambunctious group of teenagers singing as loud as they could, really funny. we walked through the rio to meet some friends at feria de los naciones, which is a little festival area that goes until mid june and it has a bunch of different booths from different countries. by day it's a market place type thing where you can buy jewelry or trinkets from that specific area (already bought two pairs of ecuadorian earrings) and by night it's for drinks and foods from that country. so we hung out there for about an hour or two and ran into a ton of people from our program. we all headed down toward the bar we went to the night before and it was a pretty long walk. we all decided to only speak in spanish to eachother though so i got a ton of practice. we stopped to use the bathroom in a small bar filled with people who all seemed to know eachother and just be hanging out and they got one guy we were with to chug a beer and they thought it was hilarious and all yelled and cheered for him afterward.

So we got to the bar area and heard there was a discoteca under one of the museums near the aquarium but couldn't find it to save our lives, so we got a taxi and headed toward the centro historico where i've heard a lot of stuff goes on. we kind of ended up getting lost and never really made it anywhere in particular but we just walked around and ended up walking back pretty late but still had a great time making jokes with eachother in spanish. i went to ask a group of people where the discoteca was but accidently said "dondé están las bibliotecas" instead and my friends made fun of me all night for it.

i skyped with haley when i got back and it actually felt wierd to speak english after a night of pure spanish, so that's a great sign

woke up this morning around 10 and had some breakfast (typically toasted bread with strawberry jam) and headed off to meet the bus to Xativa. at the bus stop (new word, parada) i met two little girls wearing volleyball jerseys and they were going to the beach for un torneo. They said they'd only been playing a year and usually play inside but today they had an outdoor tournament.

It was about an hour busride from where we met at the futbol stadium near the school and a really long walk up to the top of the city where the fortress was. We stopped in the town in a cute little plaza with tiendas con frutas y verduras and a carnería that had jamónes de serrano in the window. Also went to the Museo del Almudín and saw lots of paintings, one of a king who they didn't like so their solution was to turn his picture upside down in the museum. Insane views of

of Xativa from the top of the hill that the fortress was on. I didn't know Spain was so mountainous but it's a really gorgeous landscape. It was really hot and a little bit of a workout to get up to the top but so worth it for the views and the breeze. We ate lunch (packed bocadillas from my madre) on the steps of the fortress overlooking the city. I had a sandwich with tuna and cucumber and some leftover tortilla de patata from last night's dinner. We walked up into the towers and got even better views and a little bit of a feel for what it'd be like as the guys who kept guard in the towers peeking out of little windows over the city.

We all rode back around 4 pm and I missed my bus stop and had to walk about a mile back to my apartment but it was a gorgeous day so i didn't mind. also found out that i live very near to a burger king and three asian clothing stores with really cute shoes for sale, i'll have to go back there soon.

i'm about to nap and eat dinner in a few hours and then head to meet some students and professors at a bar en el centro near the carmen area which cami told me to look out for so it should be a fun night. we're celebrating the beginning of the experience and getting to try "agua de valencia" which i'm told is NOT water and it's kind of a mimosa type thing. should be a fun time, i love the atmosphere of being able to go out with adults and teachers and get to know them as people instead of just teachers.

primera noche

well i just got back from my first night out at bars and stuff. it's a little after 3 and we left when the bar was just starting to fill up. the night life here is going to take some getting used to. you can't buy alcohol in stores past 10pm pero the bars and clubs don't really get going until after midnight. we went to a place called on the rocks which is on a street parallel to av. de los artes y ciencias, which is pretty close to my apartment. i went with two guy friends there and met up with some more people from the program (once we found out the street name from some locals). I had a big drink in a fishbowl looking glass, which was what everyone seemed to be drinking. our first drinks were bottled beers and seemed to be subpar. at first it was kind of an older crowd, maybe people getting off work, blowing off some steam after dinner? and then a younger crowd came in around 1 am. i talked with three hombres who were from a town northwest of barcelona for a long time, usando espanol porque no entendeís ingles. so that was really cool to be able to use spanish with people who really spoke spanish. i told them my name was maggie and they said "like the simpsons!??" and thought it was absolutely hilarious.

so i came away with a little confidence in my ability to get around and some brand new friends, i'll chalk that one up to a success.

Hola!

After writing several responses to questions about how my trip is so far, I figure it's best to go for it and just become a blogger. I hope nobody takes offense to my lack of skills in the creative writing department, just enjoy my experiences vicariously!

SOO my mom and dad took me to New York a day early to putz around and enjoy a little time in the big city before my flight across the Atlantic. We got to eat dinner with Megan and Philip, Cami, Alicia and her dad the night before the flight, which was awesome because i got to pick cami's brain about the program and talk to Alicia and Philip a little about life in general in Spain. The best advice i got was probably from cami, "It's not mars, you'll be fine." So after playing around in Times Square, seeing Neil Patrick Harris doing some scene for a tv show, walking through the ENTIRE Natural History Museum I headed off for JFK airport to fly to Spain. I couldn't really look at my mom while she was tearing up as i walked toward security, but not gonna lie, my stomach was flipping inside out and i was all kinds of anxious.

So i don't know a soul, and I'm carrying two bags that probably weigh way too much for regulation, but i just grab a seat and start talking with some girls who are reading UVA in Valencia handbooks. A few minutes later my housemate, Katrina, comes and introduces herself to me. She's absurdly cool and down to earth, reminds me a good bit of Megan Pierce. I of course kick things off with a hurricane joke, but she's cool about it and says "yea i get a lot of hurricane jokes, but the hurricane was a 5 and i'm a 10". how clever

So anyway, I get on the plane and sit next to a guy named Michael, who's also very cool. Everyone i've met so far has basically said they're not fluent in spanish but feel pretty confident in getting around so I'm not sure if i'm behind or kind of with everybody on that front.

The flight was as good as you can expect an 8 hour flight to be i guess, we got two meals and very uncomfortable sleep. We arrived in Madrid and went through customs and baggage claim with very few problems and got on a big bus to Valencia. It took about 4 hours by bus to Valencia (good to know for when I have to catch a bus to Madrid to meet my family when they visit). We stopped for snacks (meriendas) and a potty break and watched the Spanish dubbed version of Van Helsing on the way. I was more interested in the views out of the window though, the drive was beautiful. There were rows of trees planted everywhere, not sure if they were for olives or oranges or what, but they definitely gave off a rustic Spanish feel. And i never knew the Madrid area had so many pretty hills and plateaus, a nice sight for tired eyes.

So we get to Valencia around 5 pm and against all international travel advice, I took a nap. I couldn't help it; what can i say, i love naps (siestas TOTALLY suit my lifestyle). I was woken up by my madre saying dinner was ready and we had a yummy dinner of noodle soup and homemade french fries and chicken (she makes kickin fries). My madre is exactly how i imagined her: mid50's, always wearing a cute scarf tied around her neck, super sweet and patient, always offering us treats and more food and listening to my somewhat meager attempts to talk to her in spanish. So far I've understood most of what she says on the first or second try, so that's a good start in my book.

Last night Katrina and I walked around the city after dinner a little. Our plan was to walk up to the school building but we ditched the map after a while and ended up in the Rio, a former riverbed which is now a huge parque that kind of splits the city in half and has lots of quirky areas. We saw two guys working on their breakdancing and tons of people riding bikes, running, and walking dogs. It didn't get dark until like 10:15, at which time we ended up at the museums near the aquarium. There's a reflecting pool there and the moon was pretty full, making it so beautiful and serene there. All the museums are white with this awesome architecture that make them look like they belong together but they're all unique. the one closest to us looks like a white darth vader helmet. So we realize we're about two blocks away from our apartment and walk back to find out that WE LIVE NEXT TO AN ICE CREAM STORE (which i have sadly yet to try).

So this morning I thought orientation started at 11 so I took my time and fell back asleep after my madre knocked on the door to wake me up, thinking i had plenty of time for a shower and breakfast but i was alarmed to find that i had approximately 3 minutes to shower, eat, and leave. (Thank goodness for all of freshman year's quick shower practice Kasey). So i showered, threw on a sundress, and grabbed a piece of pan con marmelada de fresa and ran out to catch the bus. We went to orientation and learned A LOT. and then signed away our right to speak english in the building, solo español. So that was exciting and kind of nerve-wracking. It was easy to tell that some students were far more adept than others (myself definitely included), but I could do ok with what I know.

I was able to introduce myself to Eliseo Valle who was enthralled to call Uncle Nandi later to tell him he met me, but I couldn't quite carry a conversation in spanish with him yet. However, I need to talk to him about changing my classes tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.

I then had my first legal beer at a little restaurant around the corner with some new friends and felt for the first time that I was truly in spain. we talked about all our big plans to go to different places on the weekends, like Ibiza which is rumored to be like mardis gras in new orleans every day.

I met up with some girls from the program and we walked all around valencia. past the soccer stadium and some gorgeous buildings, got a little lost, and ended up on the Rio and walked back toward the arts and sciences district where I live. Saw lots of fun things and stopped at a street fair and bought some cute earrings from Ecuador. Also ran into some kids on a playground and tried to be nice but got responses of "Estaís locas" y "son muy feas" meaning "you're crazy" and "you're very ugly." so we literally got laughed off the playground by a bunch of 5 year olds, talk about embarrassing. Oh well, one girl we were with came to Valencia with the program two summers ago and was very insistent that no body knew us so it didn't matter if we did something embarrassing.

My feet ended up getting really achey after about 2 hours of walking around the city, so I went back and took a nap, again to be woken up with dinner. We had pizza and french fries and something that seemed like fried mashed potatoes, which was all delicious. There are various people that come and go around the apartment, not really sure who lives here and who's related to who yet, but they're all extremely sweet. And my room is really comfy with a bed and desk and cabinet with plenty of room for all my tons of clothes and stuff. But you can kind of hear everything that's happening on every floor of every one of the 7 floors in the building at all times of day and night. But it's really cute, the apartment is built with a hole in the middle so each window faces out toward the opposite side of the apartment and there are flower pots and laundry hanging to dry and everything, very idyllic.

Well, I'm about to go meet some friends to try and go to my first Spanish bar, wish me luck : )