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| Plaza de la Virgen |
My time in Valencia was the most memorable and exciting experience I've ever had. I'm so thankful for everything I got the chance to do, the people I met, and for the way the entire abroad experience shaped my personality and outlook on life. I miss Valencia almost everyday. For the first few weeks it was hard. It may have been different for others, some had the chance to immediately move on to new things, others had summer school to think about. I, however, was in limbo, waiting for a summer job and spending time alone at home. This was not conducive with how much I was used to being surrounded by people and friends that I loved. The excitement was gone. The feeling was gone. I had returned, and Valencia was honestly like a dream to me.
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| Plaza de la Virgen |
To name a few things I probably pointed out: the egg sandwiches from Cafe Serranos, or Pan de Queso in general. Shopping at the Central Market was definitely one of the my favorite things, their potato chips were the best I've ever had. LAVIN with their café con leche, I'm sure everyone on our trip can contest to that. Finding an ensaimada (best pastry in the world) at any panedería and always buying it. Wednesdays were my favorite day. We played soccer all together in the riverbed, and then I had Food and Society class, where most of the time we cooked together in groups and then voted on the best meal. Thursdays meant volunteering at the local school in the morning. I had the nicest teacher, Paloma, helping me out. She asked me everyday about my school at home, my travels around Europe, and helped me learn more about the children and the way they learn English. I miss those kids so much. Walking around Valencia in general is something to miss. By the end we could all navigate so well throughout the city...with the occasional speed-bump. The beach was fun whenever we all gathered there, even though most of the time it was freezing cold. I'll never forget the giant system of escalators in El Corte Inglés, the shopping mall. ZARA, and other clothing stores that I fell in love with. Cristina went to 4 in one day at one point. That was a group record. The riverbed in general was something to miss. It was like a giant, extensive park with hundreds of trees, fountains, playgrounds, and people everywhere. Dogs running around freely without a leash, people playing soccer, others laying the grass. Paul and I sat and read there a lot, so did everyone else. The study center. My Valencia bed, and how happy I was to come back to it after traveling. Apartment 8 was great. We were never clean and we knew it. Somehow our common room was always a mess, and now I think it's hilarious. I miss the people in the apartment too. For awhile it was odd to wake up and not see them everyday. I even miss the sound of the Super Smash brothers theme that was constantly playing, although Hannah might not! The buzzer on the door to let you inside the center. The elevator that nearly always shut itself with your arm or leg still in the door. The 75 euro cent water bottles that were HUGE. It was the worst when the vending machine was out...those things were necessary to live. Oddly enough I miss the computer lab too, I spent many nights cramming and finishing projects in there. Procrastination at it's finest.
I think it's obvious I could go on forever...
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| Spanish couple in Plaza de la Virgen |
The memories are still there, no matter how sporadically they come back to me. The people I shared them with are here too. The rough transition back to real life was softened by the fact that I wasn't alone. There are 70 other kids that I lived with who are experiencing the same thing, along with the hundreds that have come and gone throughout the FSU Valencia program over the years. Some days it's hard to picture the streets I used to walk on, but other days it's easier. A memory can come and go so quickly, real life is better...I'm sure everyone would agree. Sadly, I've had to learn to move on and focus on the new year ahead, back in the real world.
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| Sunrise over the Mediterranean in Valencia |
I've learned that the spark of excitement I was so used to feeling every single day could be translated to my life back home, I just need to make it happen. While in Europe, we all tried to treat each day as our last. We lived in the moment and said yes without hesitation. I was spontaneous and confident, living out my days and nights there knowing they were going to be some of the best in my life. I think that's the only way one can tackle something like study abroad. We all took on new adventures together, and it's for that reason we'll never forget them. I can remember randomly hopping on a train with my friends to Xátiva, Spain, to go climb a castle, and then stumbling upon a city-wide protest on the way back to Valencia. Or walking from pub to pub in Galway, Ireland to find the best Irish folk music and hearing the song "Galway Girl" for the first time. Or just choosing to sit by myself reading and writing in front of the Torres. Or randomly stepping into an underground tour of the London Bridge, which doubled as a haunted house. The list goes on....
I wanted to end by showing my final diary entry for my Regional Cultural Studies class, a class devoted to the history of Valencia. This was probably my favorite class while in Spain, I learned so much from my teacher, B.J., and really understood and felt his passion for the city by the end of it. The diary entry is a little rushed and varies in topic (I wish I had time to smooth it out) but it's nice nonetheless!
Diario 5
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| Torres de Serranos during Fallas |
I wanted to end by showing my final diary entry for my Regional Cultural Studies class, a class devoted to the history of Valencia. This was probably my favorite class while in Spain, I learned so much from my teacher, B.J., and really understood and felt his passion for the city by the end of it. The diary entry is a little rushed and varies in topic (I wish I had time to smooth it out) but it's nice nonetheless!
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| Fountain in Plaza de Ayuntamiento |
Diario 5
Ahora, me quedan nueve días más en mi segundo hogar de Valencia,
España. Mis sentimientos son mezclados, porque echo de menos mi casa y familia
en Jacksonville, Florida, pero siento que Valencia es mi ciudad natal también.
He aprendido mucho en estos tres meses, como las calles y direcciones para
encontrar mis restaurantes, parques y lugares favoritos. Yo sé las plazas de la
Virgen, Reina, y Ayuntamiento como la palma de mi mano. Puedo decirte dónde
está la mejor paella en la ciudad, la mejor comida italiana, el lugar para
mirar el amanecer, el restaurante para comprar mi café con leche favorito, y
mucho más. Puedo andar por todas las calles y ahora puedo encontrar la manera
correcta para ir dondequiera. En el mismo tiempo, continúo pensando sobre las
cosas que nunca participé en o lugares a los que no viajé. Cuando yo estoy
pensando en estas cosas, empiezo a sentirme y emocionada. Sin embargo, algunos
de mis profesores y amigos hicieron darme cuenta que necesito recordar lo
positivo y las cosas que me alegraron. Valencia debe ser un recuerdo enorme de
felicidad, diversión y amistad con todas las personas que compartieron este
viaje.
Para hablar de un lugar que recordaré por siempre y tendré un lugar
especial en mi corazón, el parque en el cauce del río es el lugar que me
fascina y lleno de cosas divertidas para hacer. Tengo muchos recuerdos allí.
Algunos días yo corrí con mi amiga Hannah a la Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias, monté en bicicleta
de Valenbisi, me senté en la hierba con un libro y mucho más. A veces disfruté
de ir por el cauce del río para tomar fotos con mi cámara que usa carrete y mi
cámara digital. Me senté con mi mochila y siempre miré las personas que fueron
al río también. A veces hay parejas en los bancos, padres que están enseñando a
sus hijos en las maneras correctas para jugar fútbol, y grupos que se sientan
en los árboles grandes e intrincados. Siempre hay algo en lo que concentrarse.
Durante Fallas, fui al cauce del río para ver los fuegos artificiales por
cuatro días. Cada noche, mis amigos y yo nos sentábamos en el cauce a mirar el
espectáculo en el cielo por encima de la fuente. Luego, cuando los fuegos
artificiales terminaban, personas en el río empezaban a encender los fuegos que
se llaman “borrachos”. Estos fuegos artificiales son irregulares en sus
movimientos y son muy peligrosos. Cuando los borrachos empezaban, todo el cauce
se encendía con luz y todas las personas corrían a los Torres para escapar.
Fueran cuatro noches que nosotros corrimos de los borrachos y hubo alboroto. El
cauce del río fue un lugar muy emocionante e importante para mí.
Otro aspecto de mi experiencia en Valencia fue cuando nosotros jugamos
fútbol cada miércoles, con nuestro líder del programa, Ignacio. No había jugado
fútbol en tres años porque cuando estoy en mi universidad en los Estados
Unidos, estoy en un equipo de volibol. Jugué fútbol en mi colegio, y nunca me
di cuenta que echo de menos este deporte. Pues, cada miércoles, nuestro grupo
de estudiantes que jugaron fútbol ahora y en el pasado durante el colegio,
encontraría con Ignacio y viajaría al campo de fútbol para jugar. Las mismas
personas vendrían cada semana, y miércoles convierte en un día para el club de
fútbol. Una cosa que me gusta sobre fútbol aquí en Valencia es que con la excepción de tres o quatro chicas, todos los jugadores eran
chicos. Por eso, el partido era más intenso y divertido para jugar. Realmente,
olvido que este deporte era tan divertido como volibol, y ahora cuando regresé
a los Estados Unidos quiero continuar jugando.
Asimismo,
los amigos que he encontrado aquí, siempre recordaré. Pienso que conoceré estas
personas por muchos años, si no mi vida entera. En el inicio del programa,
pensaba que mis amigos en Jacksonville serían mejor que quien encontraría aquí
en Valencia. Pero la experiencia de estudiar en un país diferente o una cultura
diferente es algo inimaginable. Hay personas en mi vida que si no estudio en
Valencia, nunca habría encontrado. Es un pensamiento muy extraño pero estoy
agradecida de que tuve la oportunidad para encontrar amigos con personalidades
que son el opuesto de mí. Para terminar, yo miré a mi tiempo estudiando aquí en
Valencia, y no tengo penas. Espero que tenga más tiempo para explorar la
ciudad, pero este capítulo en mi vida ha terminado.
I would also like to thank my friend David, one of the receptionists at the FSU Valencia study center, for his helpful corrections that he made on my diary entry, after he proofread it for me. Gracias David! Te extraño mucho!
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| Spring 2012 group in Sevilla, España |
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| Woman walking in an alley |
The last excursion we took was a rather big one. I never expected to travel to Africa while I was studying abroad, but once one of our friends mentioned it, the idea caught like wildfire. Suddenly ten of us decided we all wanted to go, and we booked our tickets on the spot! We headed to Morocco on March 29th, right after our group trip to Barcelona. We arrived and were immediately picked up at the airport by a van that took us straight to our riad that we would be staying in for the weekend. After we rolled our suitcases down endless alleys, we finally were shown to our home. We walked inside and were amazed. The riad didn't look like much on the outside but the interior had two floors and an accessible rooftop, an indoor pool, 5 bedrooms that were intricately and beautifully decorated, tons of Moroccan lamps hanging from the ceilings, and SO much more. I was blown away. We also were told that we had a personal assistant, Rashid, and a cook while we were there, who was able to make us mint tea or coffee whenever we would like. Also, breakfast would be cooked for us in the mornings. I was amazed. After we chose our bedrooms we decided to venture out onto the streets of Morocco at night and look for a place to eat. It was dark and quiet and not too many people were walking about. We found a great restaurant and I had chicken, green beans, and potatoes. When we returned to our riad some of us started to play cards and had fun learning new games and laughing together.
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| Town square in Marrakech with the minaret in the background |
The next morning we set out to take on the streets of Morocco in the daylight and to try to bargain and barter in the marketplace. Being out in the daylight for the first time was a wake up call. Africa gave me the most profound culture shock, more than any other place I had experienced. It was something entirely different than my normal. We were immediately whisked into African life by popping into shop after shop, bargaining with the locals constantly. I have to give Hannah credit, she was by far the best at bargaining, and nearly always got exactly what she wanted, for the price she wanted. She had a knack for it. I had to work at it but eventually I came through! My most proud purchase was probably an antique Kodak film camera that I fought to have. I got the price down from 1000 dirham to 400 dirham, and I was pretty pleased with myself. The vendors that you were most likely to see around the town were selling lamps, jewelry, leather shoes and bags, scarves, candles, and bowls. We also saw vendors selling swords, knives, soaps, spices, teas, and much more. The shops seemed endless. In the middle of the town square food vendors were set up, selling fresh squeezed orange juice and other foods. There aren't really street signs or lines on the road, it's more of a free for all. Donkeys, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians all travel along the same road in one giant conglomeration. It was one of the most hectic sights I'd ever seen. There were also men who had pet monkeys and snakes that were randomly positioned around the square, eager to catch tourists into taking a picture with their animals, and then demanding money. We got caught in this snare multiple times, and I had a snake and two monkeys thrown on me without my permission. Thankfully I steered clear of the cobras...there was no way I was getting near those things. The monkeys were brutal too, Hannah tried to get a close up of one and was bruised in the process.
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| One of the many street vendors |
The next day we had one thing on our minds: camels. But the day actually started with all of the girls somehow waking up 2 hours early by accident...whoops. We had a laugh about it and then just hung around/napped while we passed the time until breakfast. A wonderful rooftop breakfast was laid out for us, I was so thankful to our cook. There was endless bread, jam, butter, coffee, orange juice and more. So good! Afterwards, we walked around determined to find somewhere to ride camels. After going in circles a bit and having some confusion with a taxi driver, we eventually made it to a remote desert area a few miles away from the city center of Marrakech. Here we hopped out and bargained for our camel riding price. They tried to immediately up the price right when we got there, which was typical. I can't remember if we gave in or if we got the price back down again, but we ended up paying something like 90 durham for this riding session. I immediately fell in love with my camel, Jomina. As soon as everyone got a camel, we were off! We all rode in a line for about 20 minutes or so, and we were snapping pics and filming the entire time. I got some interesting video....
After camel riding we took a few detours to get some last minute shopping done, and then it was time to head back to the airport. Our time in Morocco was eye opening and exciting. I was thrust into a completely unique and new lifestyle and it was so interesting to experience. We hopped into our van, and after some delay in the departure (the driver was arguing with people on the phone about whether or not we had paid him yet) we were off to Valencia yet again.
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| Alley near our rihad |
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| Light show at Calle Sueca |
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| More of the light show |
FALLAS. That is the one thing anyone in the spring semester hears about before they travel to have their Valencian experience. That's why when March rolled around, we were all super excited. Valencia does a great job on building up the anticipation to the festival and getting everybody in the city ready for the main week. Advertisements and flyers go up around the city, shops you've never seen open before suddenly are in business at every corner, and you hear the occasional burst of fireworks now and again. For some background into the event, the festival celebrates the patron saint of Valencia, Saint Joseph, the carpenter. Basically, all year round people in Valencia work to build massive monuments, each called a "falla", for the festival. They are made out of papier-mache, styrofoam, and wood. Each neighborhood (which in the city of Valencia was around 350 or more) has their own falla and it can portray something historical, political, satirical, or comical, anything really. They are cartoon-like, colorful, intricate, playful, and some are simply breathtaking to look at. The neighborhoods that have more money to fund their building process usually have the most spectacular fallas. The first day of Fallas, the 15th of March, La Plantá occurs, and the builders go place the specific fallas in their neighborhoods. Our neighborhood had an interesting falla, it was a princess or young woman sleeping in a bed that was tilted upward, with a moon and sheep above her head and some other random and provocative scenes on the side. There are also usually "ninots" included with the neighborhood falla. They are smaller versions of a falla.
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| Our neighborhood Falla |
Eventually, about a week before Las Fallas actually begins, something called La Mascletá starts to happen everyday at 2 pm. This event is almost indescribable. You have to experience it yourself to truly understand. Basically, everybody crowds into the Plaza de Ayuntamiento, the largest of the three main plazas and the one that contains city hall. Here, people count down the minutes 2 o'clock and then the show begins. The fallera mayor and fallera mayor infantil (sort of like the queen and princess of the festival) introduce themselves and officially start la mascletá. It was especially cool for me because the fallera mayor infantil for this year's festival was actually a student in the class I helped teach at the local school! Her name is Rocio and I remember meeting her the first day I went to go volunteer. She asked me if I was excited for Fallas, because she would be on tv and that I should look for her. The teacher then started explaining her role and position in the festival. It sounded so intricate and time consuming, most days she was not even present. Anyways, once they speak to the entire crowd, they count down and then the fireworks begin! They erupt from the central square and last for 5 mintues. The fireworks are loud, rhythmic, and spectacular. You can feel the vibrations, hear the sound, and see the smoke from miles away. If you are standing close enough, your body shakes a bit from the explosions. During these afternoon mascletás, we would grab churros and chocolate, a 1 euro cerveza from vendors on the street, and pick a spot that we could squeeze into. Then we simply enjoyed the show with the rest of the crowd of Valencians, all of us so excited for Fallas.
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| Young girls dressed in the traditional attire and hairstyle of a fallera |
The main days of Fallas were from March 15th to 19th, and we started the festival off right by attending a bull fight on the 15th. They have them all throughout the week during Fallas. I sat next to one of my teachers, B.J., who was telling me the details about the bullfighting process the entire time. Some people didn't want to attend, but I felt like I really wanted to commit to this particular cultural experience, no matter how gruesome or off-putting I found it. Toward the end, I felt weird admitting that I rather enjoyed it, but not because of the killing of the bulls, but the overall feeling that I was a part of Spanish culture for a moment in time. I could go on for days about the details of the fight, but I'll highlight some main ones. Trumpets signal the start of the fight. The three matadors that were performing were Corro Díaz, Matías Tejela, and Alberto Aguilar. They always wear gold. Their goal is to wear the bull down and test his strengths until the matador finally kills him by unfortunately stabbing him in the area behind the neck, above his head. Six bulls were killed in total during the fight. The matadors do use a red cape during their fight, but the color actually does not matter, bulls are colorblind. Other players besides the matadors are "picadores", who are on horseback and whose job is to stab the bull to weaken it, aiming high. The matador's goal is to clean the bull cleanly and quickly, and for it not to be drawn out. The crowd gets angry if this happens, and I saw this a few times. Ultimately, the fight was entertaining and informative to me, I'm glad I went.
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| The bullring in Valencia |
In addition to being the first true night of Las Fallas, the 15th of March was also the first night that we all experienced the firework show from the riverbed. Honestly, it was the best display of fireworks that I've ever seen in my entire life, and that's not an exaggeration, they were phenomenal. Each night from the 15th to 18th we all walked outside and in front of the Torres to join the massive groups of people heading to watch the show. We walked a bit down the street, passing two or three bridges and then took the walkway down into the river bed to watch the show there. We always positioned ourselves to watch from behind one of the more modern looking bridges. When the fireworks began, we all were quiet, because they were magnificent. I think someone may have told me that they test out fireworks that they eventually use during the Olympics at the Fallas firework shows. That says something. Each week the firework show progressively got better, finally ending on the 18th, or "la nit del foc" ("the night of fire" in Valencian).
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| A bombero (fireman) watching our neighborhood's ninot burn |
After the first day and night of Fallas, we were tired as anything. We knew we would have to sustain ourselves the rest of the week though, nothing was stopping. More people progressively arrived to the city, and the fireworks that explode every 2 seconds made everything louder. Each morning La Despertá would happen, which is basically an 8 am wake-up call of fireworks. They were wonderfully joyful, especially when we all went to sleep at 6 or 7 am.......
Each day during the festival we would get up and go outside to see what was going on in the streets. For example, we attended a few block parties with music and drink vendors, watched groups women and young girls dressed in the traditional outfits parading throughout the streets, traveled to buy fireworks from the stores and then set them off in the riverbed (one of my favorite things to do), went to different neighborhoods to check out everybody's falla and how it compared to our own, or we shopped! The street immediately to the left of our study center became a block party itself, and so did the plaza to the right of us. You turned to the left and saw multiple vendors selling anything from waffles, fries, meat sandwiches, cotton candy, candy apples, and baked potatoes. There were also drink huts, jewelry stands, and souvenirs everywhere. It was insane and always packed with people. There was always music playing as well. We heard Enrique Iglesias' song "I Like It" probably a hundred times, and it became a joke between all of us at the study center. We went here almost every day and night to go get a drink, see what people were selling, or to try the random games they had set up too. Each time Hannah passed this soccer game on the side of the street she always had to try. The object was to kick the ball into the moving net without hitting the obstacle in the middle. Sadly, she never won, but we always had fun trying to convince the guys working at the stand to give us more tries than we paid for.
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| Torres de Serranos and our yellow FSU Valencia building during Las Fallas |
At night, we would always go to dinner and then wait for the firework show. After the marvelous show we ended up hanging out in our Fallas tent. Each neighborhood that celebrates Fallas generally has a tent or a meeting area where members of the community come together to have fun and celebrate during the week. Ours had a D.J. inside and people serving drinks. At the very start of Fallas we attended a dinner in our tent, which was pirate themed, and we all dressed up and had fun meeting new people and dancing in our pirate outfits all night. This tent ended up being so convenient and fun, everyone generally gathered there and had a blast while inside. There were also "verbanas" at night, which are outdoor concerts, and some of our friends went to those as well. One of the most memorable nights was when we went to see the light displays over near Calle Sueca. All week long I had heard people talking about this light show and how grand and spectacular it was. I saw pictures on someone's phone and knew we had to find that street. I ended up visiting twice, and the first time I saw it, I was in awe. Streets in this neighborhood were filled with lights, streaming up and down the buildings and hanging from side to side. The lights were different colors and in multiple patterns and shapes. One of the most memorable light structures was a giant Eiffel Tower, sitting in the middle of one of the streets. It was absolutely beautiful.
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| Light show near Calle Sueca |
So finally on the last day of Fallas, the 19th of March, La Cremá occurs, where the neighborhoods burn their own falla, except of course the one that wins! The winner is spared from the flames and put on display in a museum. We watched our neighborhood ninot burn but decided that we wanted to watch a giant falla which looked like Leonardo da Vinci burn instead of our own. We walked a few blocks down the street and stood for about 2 hours with a giant crowd waiting for this falla to burn. There were thousands of people too, it was a very popular falla in the area, big enough that people could walk inside of it! Finally around 2 or 1:3o am we heard the crack of the firework that starts the fuse and watched as the massive falla burnt to the ground. We were so close that as the flames grew bigger, we all had to back up due to the immense amount of heat that erupted from the area. I felt like I was sticking my head in a campfire. Eventually the face of Leonardo fell off and everyone cheered! It was amazing to watch such a huge structure burn to the ground. Bomberos (firemen) were there to occasionally spray the surrounding trees and buildings with water so nothing else caught on fire. I really felt for those guys...they work overtime during this festival. After most were done marveling at the flames, people filed out of the neighborhood and back down the street. My friend Michael and I stayed to watch the rest of the structure burn to see if all of it would come down. We stayed with a few other Valencians until all that was left were two wooden poles in the middle. Then as if on cue, it started raining, the second time it ever rained during my time in Spain. I thought it was interesting how once 350 or more fallas burned around the city of Valencia, the rain came in to take care of business and help the bomberos with extinguishing the flames at the very end.
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| Leonardo falla before |
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| Leonardo falla after |
This festival was so wonderful to learn about but even better to experience and live in at the same time. I was so thankful for my Regional Cultural Studies class, because it was so very focused on the basics of Las Fallas and everything that goes into putting it together year round. Some of the pictures I used are average, but I really wanted to show the festival as best I could. I know one thing for sure, I'm positive I'll return to Valencia one day to see all these sights again. Everyone was right, Fallas was something I'll never forget.
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