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 : )