Thursday July 12, 2007
Classes were ok. I had a test in grammar. I felt like some of the answers could have gone either way. I went to say hi to Caleb in the library and he looked stressed as he was writing a long e-mail to his parents. I got to go to the beach and it was nice to sit out and enjoy the sun and the warm ocean. I came home to shower, use the baday (sp?) for the first time and eat early (tortilla and salad) before heading off to Lisa’s house to watch the office and hangout. I did not have any pressing work to get done, just an essay for grammar. We came to my house because she had never seen it, but unfortunately when we walked in the dog had pooped and thrown up in the house (probably from all of the human food madre feeds it.) We met up with Danny and then met up with Tara and Ashley to go to a tapas (spanish for appetizer) bar. I took Lisa home then I came home. I decided to call my parents for the first time since I have been here and it was good to talk to them. They are at the beach and having a great time. I went to sleep after that because it was 1:30am.
Friday July 13, 2007
Class, then most people let for Barcelona and Madrid. I came home for comida with Madre and Jordan. We had a good rice and egg dish. I took a nap then Lisa called to go to the beach. Jordan, Lisa and I took a bus to the beach and chilled there for a while. When we were walking home Jordan’s friend Glen called saying that he was here. We gave him directions where to meet us. I went home and got a shower then met up with Lisa to celebrate here ½ birthday. We got ice cream and went back to her house to watch the office. I came home for dinner and Jordan told me that his friend had to get a hotel for 100.00 euros a night because all of the hostals were booked. I took a nap then Lisa called me to go out. We went to meet up with my intercambio Merten and two of her friends, one of which was a guy from Greece. We all met at St. Patrick and then Jordan and Glen joined us. I just had a fanta because I did not feel like drinking. I was tired so I went home and went to bed.
Saturday July 14, 2007
I woke up at 10am and walked to Mercado Central. I had a small pastry and walked through all of the market. I was looking through my guidebook and as I looked up I saw another guy looking at a guide book in English and wearing Rainbows- I thought he had to be American. I would never do this in America, but I went to say hi. It ended up that he was from California and just graduated from University of California at Santa Barbra. He majored in Economics and got a job in California. We stopped at a café to chat and it ended up that he will probably be in Rome when Caleb, Lisa and I are there next week. He was able to give me some advice on finding a job with an economics degree and it was cool. It also ended up that he dated a girl who went to UVA. It sure is a small world. We parted ways and I went to a book store to look at some travel books. I found a really good Valencia Calendar for only 8 euros, but decided to buy it later. Next door was a cloth store and I went in to see if they had any orange cloth I could buy for Rachel. A nice little old Spanish man helped me and after I was finally able to communicate what I wanted he got me some orange fabric. When I asked how much it was, he told me it was free. I love Spain! As I walked home I passed a really cool wine and fresh food store that I stopped to check out I didn’t buy anything, but it was fun to window-shop. I had lunch with Jordan and madre. We had chicken soup. It was ok. Madre is really cute- she now likes to joke with us at meals and occasionally asks us what we want for lunch and dinner. I went to go get tickets for the City of Arts and Sciences. I got admission tickets to 4 buildings for 31.00 euros. First I went to the L’Hemisferic to see a move in a cool domed room. The chairs were tilted back and we viewed the imax movie on the domed ceiling. The movie was ok- Secrets of the Titanic in Spanish. Then I went to the Titanic exhibit. I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. I had an audio guided tour in English, but a majority of the tour consisted of only pictures and stories of people and I expected remains of the ship. There was a really cool model of the ship both before and after it sank as well as a few other ship remains. Most of the other stuff was simply a replica of the real thing. They did have a cool replica of the 3rd class and then 1st class areas. I went to the mall, but was not impressed enough to buy anything. Spanish stores are very different. I went home to shower and got dressed up for dinner. Lisa came over and went to the port at 7. We wanted to eat around 7:30, but when we got to the restaurant we found out that it did not open until 8:30. We made a reservation at La Pepica and walked along the beach. There were several games of soccer and rugby in the beach to watch and several vendors selling things along the board walk. Police came to run into the water as well, but we never figured out why. It was finally 8:30 so we went to the restaurant and we were starving. We were there for almost 3 hours (from 8:30 until after 11) because Spanish food service sucks. The problem is that they are not tipped and only on salary. On top of that Spanish people like to have long meals to socialize. I am used to quick meals and good service in the states. We would have a course and then wait up to half an hour to order another course. We had a Valencian salad (lettuce, ham, tuna, tomatoes, oil and mustard), Valencian Paella (rice, chicken and rabbit in saffron spices), as well as creps and flan for dessert. After waiting a while more we got a bill (50.00euros for the two of us) and left. We took a taxi to a bar where we had two great drinks. Lisa had sex on the beach and I had a Flaming Lamborghini. My drink was awesome. They light it on fire and you drink it at the bar. My first drink on fire and it was cool. I also liked how the bar was nice. I do not like cheap crappy bars. We were tired so we went home after 1 drink. I got online and went to bed.
Sunday July 15, 2007
What a relaxing day. I slept in until 10:30 and went to the Museo de las Ciencias (science museum) de Principe Felipe. They had a lot of cool stuff there to see and I spent about 2 hours there looking at everything. I got to ride a machine that made me feel weightless and it was cool. Then I went to L’Oceanografic (aquarium). It was really cool as well. They had a dolphin show that was the best I have seen as well as animals from around the world. I had some great lemon lime granisado. The best aquarium was the one that had a tunnel going through it. There was a lot to see and I got a lot of pictures to share later. I ran into Jordan and Glen who were also there. I went home because by this time it was 4pm and I was starving. I had my bocadillo and enjoyed having the house to myself. I watched Hitch and then relaxed on the balcony and got online. I did some homework and then we had dinner early- 9:30 (not so early for the states, but early for us). We had meat, French fries, a fried egg, bread and fruit. It was good. Conversation with madre is getting much easier. It helps the relationship when we can understand each other a little better as well. I updated my blog, sent some e-mails, read and went to bed.
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