Febrero

Requena
The second week in February, there was an expo for cured meats and wine (Muestra de embutido) in Requena. I went with a group of friends with an organized tour group from Valencia. It was nice to get out of the city for a day. The train ride was lovely with lots of mountains and trees to see. We met at 9am and were in Requena by 11am. We then walked to the city center and went to see some caves that date back to the middle ages that are under the city. The caves were discovered when a construction truck fell through the ground. They were used as shelter from war and was a place where wine was made and stored. The majority of the people in our tour group were foreigners and some did speak Spanish well. Our tour guide for the caves spoke really quickly and she was asked to slow down. Every time someone asked, she said okay and then didn't slow down.

After the tour of the caves, we walked to the tents where the expo was. Each of us got 10 tickets, a cardboard "plate" that came with a glass wine glass and a plastic bowl. There were lots of people and long lines. We waited in one line and they filled our bowls with at least 8 different types of sausage. We tried all of them, some were spicer than others, some were chewy and some were rather dry, but they were better with a sip of red wine. Our train didn't leave until 4pm so we walked around the two tents, tried all the cured meat and wine we could handle.

Badajoz
The following Friday, I went to Badajoz for Carnaval with Morgan and two of her friends. I had to take the 2:45am bus from Valencia to Albacete. I got to the bus station around 2:30 and sat down to wait for the bus. Around 2:40 I didn't see it, so I asked a bus driver who told me I was waiting on the wrong side of the station. That explained so much. I had to run with all my things and barely caught the bus. It was about to pull out from the platform, luckily the bus driver was nice and helped me put my backpack away. He told me I was lucky and I believed him. At 5am, we arrived in Albacete where Morgan and Harmon were waiting for me. From there it was another 5 hours until we reached Badajoz. Morgan and I went to visit at the high schools we worked at last year. It was really nice to visit with some of the teachers and to see my students from last year.

We stayed with our friend, Alonso, who had an extra seven people staying in his house. It felt good to be back in Badajoz, to walk around the familiar streets and to visit with friends. Some of the friends I had made last year who were doing their Erasmus year came back to visit for Carnaval. It was great to see them and catch up. Though it did feel a bit weird to have the feeling like I wanted to go home to my apartment from last year, even though my home was no longer in Badajoz. We dressed up on Saturday night and ran into friends who were out and about. On Sunday we saw part of the parade with the different comparsas. We also stumbled upon a concert that was given by a group of guys who were in a murga. The murgas are musical theater groups that are usually composed of men. They create songs with commentary about events that happened in the past year. Here's a video of what they performed at the club. It wasn't as elaborate as this show, but they were all in costume. They were semifinalists this year and were really entertaining.




Vicky and Harmon had never been to Lisbon, so we took a day trip there on Monday. The weather was fantastic and we really enjoyed the four hours or so we spent there. We even made a friend from Brazil who joined us for lunch.

We had plans to have dinner with Granada, a friend from last year, on Monday night. So we had to rush to find items for a costume and then walk to Lo Nuestro to meet her. Harmon and I bought colorful wigs and Morgan and Vicky bought colorful boas. When we got to the restaurant it was really crowded because a murga was performing at 9pm. We had no idea there was going to be a performance there when we decided on having dinner there. After the performance, which took place behind the bar, we were able to sit at a table and eat all the tapas we possibly could. Dinner went by too quickly and before we knew it, it was time to go back to Alonso's house and pack our bags. We were leaving bright and early the next morning. So we got dressed in our brightly colored wigs and boas and ventured out to join the crowds of people. We danced a lot, saw lots of clever costumes and even got to enjoy the music of the comparsas one last time.

Oh Valenciaaaaaaaaaaa!

These last six months have flown by. Sorry I haven't blogged during my stay here in Valencia, I feel like I'm always running around from one place to another.

Quick update (October - January)

Playa de la Malvarrosa

I was lucky enough to find an apartment with two Spaniards, one guy and one girl. I'm not living near the city center, but I really like my living situation. I'm 20 minutes from the beach by bus, close to the Rio and La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. The river Turia used to flow through the city, but after floods in the '50s they converted the space into a park and everyone still refers to it as "el rio."

Also, there is a bike route from my house to the school I work at, which is really convenient.
It's in the city and is a good 45 minute walk/25 minute bike ride/bus ride away from my house.

Oh! And there is another English assistant at my school, though we are not in the same program. She is from Turkey and is one of the kindest people I've ever met. We have a lot of fun working together, teaching each other things about our different cultures and learning a lot about Spanish and Valencian culture. The majority of the children are interested in learning English and they are always ready to share random stories, even if they may tell me in Castellano or Valenciano.

I have a great group of friends here. Most of us are in our second year as auxiliares, but there are two who are in their third year of being in Spain. We get together on the weekends for potlucks and even go to trivia at an American bar on Sunday evenings. We're known as "The Americans," and we're not very good, but we're not too bad either. With out powers combined, we win lots of spot prizes, things like free canas and 2 for 1 lunch coupons, though we never seem to get more than 30/40 points. The questions are aimed for people who are at least 5 years older than we are. It's fun though, we learn lots of random facts and get to test our knowledge.

Though the winter here was mild, it was very humid. The apartment buildings are built to let hot air out and keep the apartments cool. This is not a nice thing in the winter.

For Christmas, I went to Zielitz on the 20th and missed the Christmas concert at school. Each class from first through sixth grade sang at least one song in English. Songs were also sung in French, Italian, Turkish and Greek. The theme for the school year is "The Mediterranean," so classes sang songs from various countries that border the Mediterranean. The nice thing about arriving to Germany on the 21st was that I was able to be there for Tobias' birthday and Bastian's class party! Both celebrations were really nice. There was no snow this year, but it was still lovely.

Renato, Sally, Lia and me on NYE

 I spent New Year's Eve in Madrid with friends I had made last year in Badajoz. We went to Puerta del Sol with a bag full of grapes around 11:40. When the first bell rang 12 seconds before midnight, we began the Spanish tradition of eating one grape every second for the 12 seconds before midnight. This is supposed to bring you good luck. However, it didn't go very smoothly. We panicked when we heard the first bell so Lia, Sally and I began laughing because we realized we had put too many grapes in our mouths but in the end, we somehow managed to eat all 12.



Lia and I stayed in Madrid for about week with our friend Inma, who is from Badajoz but is studying in Madrid. We all ate the "Roscon de Reyes" or King's cake and Inma found the figurine of one of the Three Kings. She got to wear a crown and is supposed to have good luck this year.

We went to Toledo for a day. It is only an hour's bus ride away from Madrid and buses leave every 30 minutes from 9am to 10pm. Toledo is beautiful, the buildings are well preserved, it has a mosque, cathedral and synagogues and is filled with history. It is known for steel, jewelry and being the capital of the Spanish Empire. There is even a tv show called "Toledo" that is on tv now.



At the end of the month, my Mom visited me! That was a real treat. We went to a couple of museums, el mercado central, ate Paella Valenciana, had coffee with some of my coworkers and enjoyed spending time with each other. She met all my friends and even made amazing chili and cornbread that was taken to a friend's house for a potluck dinner.