One awesome week.

Last week was definitely been the best week so far, hands down. Lots of touristy-picture taking and lots of laughs.

The week actually started out pretty tough for me and i really just wanted to be able to hang out with my best friends (Amy and Bethany). But after Wednesday night it completely turned around. Wednesday night after dinner me and Holly just sat at the table talking with Rosa, our host mom. We just chatted and had coffee, but it was so nice to sit there and talk with her.

Thursday afternoon me, Holly, Bri, and Skylar visited el Museo Fallero. Some background: here in Valencia they have a 5 day festival called Las Fallas where artists compete by making nearly life-sized statues/scenes made of paper mache that are called fallas. They usually satirize a current event or something in the culture. The fallas are in all the streets and the people vote on their favorite and then at the end of the week the winner goes in this museum (Museo Fallero) while the rest get burned in a huge fire. So Thursday we went to the museum to see all the winners from previous years, since about 1935. They're so entertaining and interesting to look at! Here's one of my favorites:

Friday morning our small group of American students from the institute visited the Cathedral of Valencia. It was so amazing to experience being in a place with so much history and had endured so much through hundreds of years. After we had got the tour of the cathedral we climbed the Tower of Miguelete, which had a lot more stairs than we thought. But when we finally got to the top the beautiful view of Valencia was definitely worth it! You could see so far we could almost say "I can see my house from here!" I circled the tower a few times looking at all the buildings and enjoying being there. It was wonderful. 

Friday night was just one of those perfect nights that nothing can ruin. Holly, Skylar, and me went to one of our favorite discotecas to dance and have a good time and we ended up meeting some really fun guys. One of them actually really liked me and he was really sweet! We ended up staying later than we thought we would because we were all having such a great time! One of my favorite memories so far.

Since then not much of importance has happened, but in a couple hours we leave for a weekend in Barcelona! There will be lots of sight-seeing, pictures, and fun. All the Spainiards keep telling us the Barcelona is a really great city and I can't wait to explore it!

Week 3 in Spain

I can't believe we've already been here for three weeks! It's crazy how fast it's gone. The weeks go by so fast here because we only have classes Monday through Thursday and then it's the weekend already!

I'm getting more settled into the daily and weekly routines by now, which is a good feeling knowing what to expect. Our classes here don't have very much outside homework so it feels like I'm in school so much less time than at home, which means we have a lot of free time here. It's pretty awesome because we have plenty of time to explore and get to know the city. I'm really enjoying how here you walk everywhere. No wonder the Spanish are so in shape! One thing I really love about Valencia are the bikes here! They have this system of public bikes, that you can pay for and use them whenever you want. Today me and Holly took them for the first time to the beach, which is just 20 minutes on bike, and explored some of the pier.

Here in Spain they love to go have a coffee and leisurely chat with their friends. Me and Holly went out one afternoon before our afternoon class to just walk around and we ran into Rosa, our host mom, who was sitting outside at a cafe waiting for her friend. She invited us to sit with them as they were enjoying the wonderful sunlight. The friend Rosa was waiting for was Begonia, who is actually the host mom of our friend Bri. It's so much fun because both of our moms love it when we call each others houses and hang out together. Last Sunday when Rosa and her family were out of town Begonia called and invited me and Holly to come over for lunch with her family. It was so cool to have a nice lunch with them and hang out.

The night life here in Valencia is very big. Because we live in the university area of the city all the students go out at night on the weekends. Usually around 11-1 they go out and hang out with their friends somewhere and  drink something and by 3 everyone fills up the clubs to go dancing. I was told that the girls like to dance and the guys like to drink. I've definitely experienced things I never would have at home!

I'm really excited because in a couple weeks our group from ORU is planning a weekend trip to Barcelona. Everyone says it's an awesome city and I can't wait to visit it! I love how living here you can just go travel somewhere if you want to! It's so much cheaper to travel within Europe than in the states, I love it!

For the most part I'm doing really well here, but sometimes it's pretty hard not having my best friends to talk to all the time or when I'm having a hard time. Sometimes I just feel out of place and kind of uncomfortable, so pray that I'll be able to feel at home and speak up when I need to. Also, pray that I'll be able to speak in Spanish more, because it's been pretty hard for me. If there's anything you're interested in hearing about just comment on here and let me know!

First impressions of Spain

Hey there friends! Many of you know that this semester I am studying abroad in Valencia, Spain. I'm here through Oral Roberts University and studying at a small institute for students from abroad to study Spanish here. There are 5 other students here from ORU and I'm rooming with my friend Holly. We live with a Spanish family in their apartment, so we get the full Spanish culture experience!

I've been in Spain for a week and a half now and so far I love the culture here! I was expecting to have some culture shock, but the only thing I've really had to adjust to is the meal schedule, which then affects the rest of the day. The Spanish don't have very big breakfasts, usually just a coffee and a piece of toast or something small. Lunch is their most important meal of the day which is around 2 PM. In the home the mom prepares food for every lunch and dinner and the family eats together. Dinner is also much later, around 9 PM, where they eat bocadillo often times. A bocadillo is sort of like a sub sandwich with fresh bread usually with some sort of meat or something. Rosa, my host mom, is a great cook! She doesn't like to follow recipes, but tries new things, and invents her own delicious desserts! It's pretty great eating here (and not in saga!! haha). Also, between meals they like to have "meriendas," pastry snacks, and coffee. The coffee portions here are tiny, but they cost less like 1.50 euros, which is less than $2!

The night life for the young people here is also very different! On the weekends (Thursday-Saturday) everyone goes out to bars and clubs. Clubs and discotecas are open all night until the morning and they don't fill up until about 3 AM! Last Friday night was our first real night out and we went to a popular club around 2:40 am. We get in and there were people there and music playing, but it didn't seem very lively. But by 3:15 it was full and everyone there was dancing and having fun. We've been told that it's very normal to stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning! I'm getting to experience things that I would never have done in the states. haha

It's been very cool living here so far because you can pretty much walk anywhere you want to go in the city. In Valencia there used to be a river that ran through the city, but after it dried up they turned it into a long park. We live withing good walking distance from a couple really good parks and I can't wait for it to get warmer and for the plants to bloom so that I can go and just sit in the park.

So far things are going pretty well and I can't wait for them to get better : )

(us 5 girls from ORU in the park Los Jardines Real)