Practica Fallas

Well this blog has kinda become my study break so here is another quick blog. I find it amazing how quickly I can type on page in English but how it takes me like 2 times as long to do it in Spanish… anyway this blog is going to be about my Practica which is kinda like a service learning internship with the fallas.

The Fallas are a huge celebration March 15-19th in Valencia. I really wish I could be here to see them so someday I will just have to come back! Anyway the celebrations started because the carpenters of Valencia all would burn there winter light holders on March 19th the feast of St. Joseph patron St. of carpenters. The celebration has since evolved into the burning of ninots which are life size figures made out of paper mache. The some of the fallas are huge. Think of a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade floats and now imagine like one of those placed on every street corner and these things are ornate. The process that goes into making one is incredible. They design them on the computer, make molds for them then put wood strips to make the basic shape then they cover it with paper or other burnable materials then they sand them so they are smooth and then finally they paint and assemble them. The commission I was working with doesn’t make the huge fallas but they were working on smaller ones for children right now. Most of the time the fallas criticize current events in Spain and globally, when I visited the museum fallero there were ones of George Bush, Luis Zapatero (president of Spain), Juan Carlos (king of Spain) and many other people and things. Last year the commission I worked with did one that criticized the lack of parking in Valencia. The super small scale model looked really cool but the real one was all burnt up.

So basically the festival goes like this… March 15th all the different fallas (floats) are planted on street corners, in plazas and all over Valencia and the surrounding communities. On the 16th prizes are awarded for the best fallas in each category (determined by the amount of $$ spent) and there is a judging to determine which one ninot (doll) out of all the dolls will be saved from burning and put in the museum fallero, on the 17th there is a procession from all the different fallas commissions bringing flowers to put in front of the virgin in the plaza de la virgin by the Cathedral. The 18th is the “night of flame” and this means a huge fireworks display (my professor said it is like Disney fireworks quality if not better) which I would LOVE to see. During this whole time the entire city is just one huge fiesta and on the 19th St. Joseph’s day, is the burning when every falla and ninot (except the one chosen to be saved) are burnt. I can’t imagine what that has to look like, probably like the city is burning. In my practica I helped out with making some of the ninots for this year’s float which I would love to see painted but unfortunately won’t be able to unless I get some pictures sent to me. We’ll see.

This really wasn’t much of a study break since this is all stuff I have to know for my final. Oh well it was good review! See you all soon!

Rome Day 2

Today, we headed out for our hop on hop off tour of Rome. Just a brief explanation for anyone who doesn’t get it basically we were able to get on and off a bus at 17 different places throughout the city and while riding the bus you could listen to a tour about some of the stuff you were seeing and such. My speakers never really worked so I just took pictures.

Well we started the day at a Church Santa Maria Maggori or something like that and after that it was go go go! So much to see in Rome and only 2 days, not enough time at all but I was glad we had this tour because we really did get to see a lot. After we explored the church and plaza back to the bus. Next stop that I remember was the Coliseum complete with people dressed up like gladiators. We didn’t go in but It was still cool to just see from the outside and we did peek in and saw some of the inside. Also the area around the Coliseum contained other ruins like columns and I think some super old houses in the caves nearby but we didn’t wander all the way over that way.

Back on the bus again we drove past Nero’s circus. Which was another stop but we didn’t get off this time. Next stop that we did disembark on was a small Island with Basilica on it. It was great because the bridge and island were great scenery to get a picture and the church was cool too… lots of photo opportunities today! :) Back to the bus again and the next stop was a archeological dig site where they had uncovered what they were pretty sure were the remains of 5 different temples each built at different time periods. That was one of my favorite parts of the day. I don’t know why but seeing things so old is just not something that I see every day so it is pretty cool at least to me. The site was also a local adopt a cat site.
They seriously were all over!

After that next stop was St. Peter’s which we didn’t get off at (well I did just to get a picture of the bus) so we waited while the driver took his break. Next stop was the castle Sant Angelo. Again we didn’t enter in it but it was cool just to walk up to the bridge leading to it had 12 different angels on it each with some object of sin I think. Not quite 100% sure on that anymore… anyway back to the bus.
Next stop I remember was the Pantheon but before that we went and explored plaza navona which was a cool plaza with and Egyptian obelisk that was somehow related to Ramses. Yeah I don’t remember much more than that about it. Pantheon was great though so cool just to see. The inside was all redone by the Christians when they took over so it wasn’t a place for pagan worship and sacrifice. The floor sloped slightly so that liquids would run off. The inside and outside were both pretty impressive, and hard to describe. A picture is worth a thousand words so ask me to see pictures sometime!

Next stop I remember was the font de trevi or fountain of trevi. It was a pretty cool looking fountain again with an Obelisk in a plaza with some tents and such for shopping which we didn’t even stop at! We were on a mission to finish out tour before time ran out! Next and last stop I remember was plaza republica. Which had a fountain a church to go into which we did that was interesting because it had a bunch of stuff up about Galileo only problem was it was getting dark so picture taking got kinda hard. After that stop we went back to where we started and actually went to mass in the Basilica Maria Maggiore. We didn’t really understand a word but Alleluia and Amen but it was still cool to hear a mass in Italian. There was a lot more singing in the Italian mass than the Spanish but maybe that was just the church. After that more delicious Italian food and then bedtime because the day was exhausting! And tomorrow I was leaving to go back to Valencia. It was great to see my parents and Grandma and I can’t wait to see everyone in a week or so when I get home!

Sorry that the descriptions are so bad. Should have wrote when things were fresher in my memory. I do have about 450 pictures of just this day though so hopefully that will make up for the bad descriptions.

Vatican City

Rome!!! Italy!!! So much to say, too bad I am writing this like a month late. I probably won’t even remember half of the stuff we saw… but in my defense there was so much to see I honestly don’t even know if I knew what I was looking at half the time!

Well as I said in my last blog we left for Rome Thursday late afternoon and arrived Thursday in the evening with plenty of time to find our hotel, which was really close to the bus station luckily and someplace close by to eat. The first Italian food I had had in a long time! It was delicious. First night was pizzas mmm… so good. Anyway then it was to bed for us because we were getting up early to be the first in line to get into the Vatican tomorrow.

We weren’t the first in line but we only had to wait a little while. I was kinda chilly just because I have gotten used to the warmer temperatures of Valencia. (Bad news since I will be in snow covered WI in a week.) Anyway, soon we were entering into the Vatican museum which was amazing. So much history there it was amazing. It started with Egyptians and such and just kept getting more and more recent. It was really amazing! Anyone traveling to Rome I recommend it highly it wasn’t interactive and fun like other museums I have visited but there was just so much cool historical ancient stuff there. There was so much to see and walk through I can’t even remember it all. Raphael’s room was great and of course the Sistine Chapel was INDESCRIBABLE! I have a couple illegal photos from in there but really you have to see it in person to get the full feeling of awe! Everything about the room is ornate the painting and everything. That is where the cardinals elect new popes, it was crazy to be standing in a place like that and just looking around thinking of it.

Well after a full morning and most of the early afternoon in the museum we decided it was time to eat and then head outside to St. Peter’s Square and visit St. Peter’s Basilica. The queue for that was also rather long but as they are accustomed to massive amounts of tourist it was moving pretty quickly. We actually met and chatted with another American couple waiting in the line that had just finished a biking trip in Northern Italy (I think). They said it was beautiful which I don’t doubt.
Before we knew it we were through the line and walking up and into St. Peter’s Basilica. The inside was HUGE with so much to see. We walked around looking at all the art, crypts, statues, and just everything. The structure itself is also amazing. Gigantic columns, huge domes, everything so ornate… yeah… really indescribable. Anyway, we admired and everything for quite awhile it was really a cool experience. Later we visited the mausoleum where many popes and such were buried also some cardinals and a queen I believe. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of that but it was amazing just to see. And lastly for the day we climbed the cupola to get a great view of all of Rome. Dad and I took the stairs all the way and mom and Grandma took the elevator halfway and the stairs the rest. The stairs were interesting because the walls we sloping in since it was a cupola so I was leaning to one side the entire time with my upper body and then trying to walk straight… not a great idea and I didn’t even fall! The view from the top was absolutely spectacular! Which made the climb well worth it; we were also lucky because it was just about time for sunset so yeah just the icing on the cake!

After we met up again at the bottom we headed back to the Hotel and then to eat. More yummy Italian food tonight was pasta! Buenísimo! And then off to bed to be ready for another day of sightseeing!

Grandma mom and dad in Valencia

A shorter blog about my family visiting me in Valencia…

It was my midterms week so they kinda had to entertain themselves and I think that they did. The language barrier of course brought them a couple of adventures in restaurants and such but at least they got a great experience ;) Mondays and Wednesdays I have 3 classes so on those days they were really on their own until night.

On Tuesday we visited the beach yes the beach in October… for me it was kinda chilly but really it wasn’t bad at all and the water wasn’t quite as warm as I had remembered but it also wasn’t freezing cold like when I jumped into the Gilman’s pool to help get the stairs out last year in October or when we went swimming after cleaning up the beach front at the Emerging Leaders retreat in a lake last year in October. So I guess I can’t complain.

Grandma also really wanted to pick a wonderful Valencia orange and try it but she never got a chance. I have since tried now that they are in season and they are delicious and huge... bigger than my fist!

We also went to a Flamenco show that night which was my first Flamenco and it was really interesting but not quite what any of us were expecting. I think it is safe to safe we were expecting a girl in a pretty dress to be the dancer but that wasn’t what we got. We actually had a super sweaty man as the dancer. He was super good though, I couldn’t believe how quickly he was moving his feet! The music was really great too. The singer was amazing (I have been another show since and can compare) and the guitar… I just wanted to listen to it forever! So wonderful!!! Also completely indescribable, so I am not even going to try I have a video (I think) so just ask when I get back.

Wednesday night my host parents had invited them over to our apartment for a meal and just so they could meet. It was a super fun night and a delicious dinner. My host mom knows what I like so well that instead of a seafood dish she made a dish with cerdo (pig) just so I would eat it. It was delicious I still have to get the recipe (time is running out!) Most of the night I was translating back and forth between English and Spanish so that my family and padres could talk to each other. The fun thing about translating is you don’t actually have to be 100% sure about ever word because really the people you are translating don’t know what was said so you can just fill in the blanks of what you don’t know! My host padre recently told me that he can understand written English pretty well and I am sure some spoken too but he seemed satisfied with my translations. :)

Thursday was our last day in Valencia. Class in the morning for me and then we were on a flight to Rome! The next adventure!!!

Barcelona

Hello readers of my blog… if there are any of you left out there. I apologize for being so terrible at keeping up. I am about a month behind or more! But better late than never, hopefully you agree.

So first a quick update, things are crazy here. I can’t believe the time has gone so quickly it feels like the time has been going twice what it normally would. I have been engulfed in projects, papers, presentation and my soon to come finals! Plus some traveling and other fun experiences :)

Anyway, so I left off in Barcelona when my parents and grandma came to visit me. I think I can speak safely for all of us when I say that we had a great time even though we were only there for a day and a half. Friday night was a chill night because by the time we all met at the hotel it was basically time for supper and bed, especially for the grandma, mom and dad who had been traveling all day in planes and car. I will share though whether my parents like it or not, that they were more or less driving around Barcelona lost for I think nearly 5 hours trying to find out hotel. To illustrate my point we basically arrived at the hotel at about the same time but my flight didn’t get in until at least 5 hours later. So now I think we all know that it is genetics that gave me my bad sense of direction! Back to Friday night though, I can’t express in words how great it was to see some familiar faces which makes me really excited to come back home and see so many familiar faces! As I mentioned we basically just went to eat which was great because the family got to experience Sangria, a Spanish specialty that is delicious. For those who may not know it is wine that is mixed with some different fruit juices. Sounds simple and maybe it is I don’t know but it is really delicious! After dinner it was back to the hotel for a good night’s rest for all of us because we had an early morning.

Saturday, our only full day in Barcelona was busy one. We started the day with a tour to Montserrat, a pilgrimage sight in the mountains just outside of Barcelona. We had a great tour guide who spoke at least 3 different languages but for us only Spanish and English. Montserrat was about an hour bus drive away but for the entire hour there and back we were listening and learning while watching out the window as Barcelona passed us by. When we got there we were guided to the Monastery where it is tradition to touch the hand of the virgin of Montserrat. There also was a museum that we didn’t have time to enter and other things to see like statues and art. The view was also amazing seeing as we were in the mountains. One funny thing happened that I recall… I asked a lady to take a picture of the four of us and she complimented me on my English. So I guess I haven’t forgotten all my English yet!
After our tour we had lunch and then hit the town. We walked down the Rambla which is a street of small touristy shops and people standing all dressed and painted to the statue of Christopher Columbus because that was more or less my parents focal point as they attempted to navigate the streets of Barcelona and then we took the metro to the Palacio which is next to the Olympic grounds from 1992. We walked around the Olympic grounds; saw the different building where event were held and the spire that was the Olympic flame. Oh and I have to mention because it was beautiful that we were there at sunset so I think the pictures are pretty awesome! Then we headed to the Magic Fountain show, which was impressive. The water pressure and light of the fountain were programmed to change and such to with music and stuff. It is hard to explain. Hopefully the picture will help. After that we went back to the hotel for bed.

Sunday morning we woke up and packed and then left for church at the Catedral de la Sagrada Familia (the Cathedral of the Sacred Family). I could understand most of what was going on but I am sure everyone else was a little lost. (The mass was in Spanish).It is a really an impressive building. The outside depicts scenes from the bible and the inside which is still under construction and has been for like years and years and years. It is a must see for anyone who want to do some traveling! After that we had to check out of our hotel and we commenced our drive to Valencia. Which was actually quite easy... just one highway. Even I didn’t get us lost!
Hope you enjoyed this one. Hopefully I will be able to get a few more blogs up before I come home!

Hope you all are well and I am excited to see you soon!
p.s. sorry for all the rambling I am kinda tired…

Wales

I am almost done blogging about my fall break which was actually a month ago. Wow October was a super busy month! Anyway…

After visiting Maren I was heading to Wales to visit Kevin and Brit in Swansea for a few days. I arrived after a 5ish hour, completely uneventful train ride into Swansea station where I waited for a couple minutes for Brit and Kevin to come get me. First thing to do was to get rid of all my stuff so we went to the student village where they were living and dropped of my stuff in Kevin’s room. Then we headed right back into town to get something to eat and figure out something to do. We went to a Chinese place where we met up with 4 other friends. Kevin, Brit, Gilly and I then headed off to see a movie, UP which had just come out in theaters. Wednesdays at that theater are 2 for 1 night so that means cheaper! YAY!! It was great just to sit in a theater and watch a wonderful, funny movie without having to constantly concentrate on what they are saying so you understand. Wednesday was our low key night so after the movie we headed back to the student village where Brit went to her flat and Kevin and I to ours.

Thursday Brit and Kevin had some classes to go to and I had to do my laundry. I only had one small bag with me and there was no way to fit 10 days worth of clothes into it so I spent the morning doing laundry, and just kinda taking it easy which was really good for me because I was catching a cold. I have to say too that English tea is really good… although it really doesn’t seem that different. In the afternoon I went to the University to look around while Brit and Kevin were in class. I checkout out the garden and some of the cooler looking buildings and also talked to the student services to figure out my train to London and trip for the next day. When Brit finished with class we met up and went into town to do a little sightseeing/shopping and we met Kevin at Tesco the grocery store. I just have to say here that now I really appreciate having my host family because I don’t have to buy or prepare my own food! After shopping we went back to Kevin’s to make dinner (pasta bake) while watching the TV show GLEE.

Thursday night we were hitting the town! One of Brit’s flat mates Izzy came with too. Swansea for being a kinda small town has a surprising amount of night life and it was lots of fun too. Tonight we were headed for the dance club Oceana. We didn’t make it to Oceana but we still had a great time dancing in the other club that we stopped at. Since I am writing this blog like a month after it happened I obviously don’t recall everything but I don’t think we got home until almost 2:30am. It was a great night out!

For our next day we had made plans to visit Oystermouth Castle in Mumbles (yes that is the town name). We got to see the outside of the Castle but when we walked to the entrance we found out it was closed. Oh well so we walked a little of Mumbles and tried some fish and chips. I just had the chips which actually were unusually terrible. Kevin, Brit and Izzy all agreed that these were the worst chips they had ever had.

We also had planned to visit the Gower Peninsula, specifically Rhossili Bay and Worm’s Head. We took a bus out there which was lucky because they had extended their service to Rhossili until Christmas for just this year. I was super glad because it was beautiful and so much fun. We walked all the way out to the ocean but on the way we stopped to take shadow pictures, pretend like we were mountain climbers (or mountain goats), walk right to the edge of a cliff, and take some crazy pictures like handstands and such from far away (see posted pic with blog). And we stayed long enough that we were there for sunset which was absolutely STUNNING!

Then since it was my last night in Swansea we again went out for a night on the town; Brit, Kevin, Izzy and I. This time our mission was to tackle Wine Street, a pedestrian street with lots of restaurants, bars and general nightlife. Personally, I think we tackled it! I have no idea what time we got home (simply because it was a month ago) but I would guess around 3am but I do know that we all had a great time dancing in some of the different bars and singing in the street. (I did not participate in the singing, I was too cold). When we got back to the student village Kevin and I went our way and Brit and Izzy theirs. Kevin and I stayed up for another hour, we talked with his flat mates for awhile (apparently they liked me but I really don’t remember what I said) and then skyped with Bethany (Kevin’s girlfriend) and then I went to bed because I had a 9am train to catch and it was already 4:30.

Well I caught my train. Figured out the Tube in London (with the added bonus of construction on the route I wanted to take) and made it to the airport on time to find out my flight was delayed for over an hour. So I got to back to Madrid (an hour and a half late) and took the Metro to the bus station to get on my bus back home to Valencia and then got a cab to take me home since it was 5am and I had been traveling for almost 24 hours.

And thus ends my amazing fall break 2009! Thanks to everyone for letting me stay with you and showing me such a good time!

Manchester

My day trip to Manchester was fantastic. It was easy to get to and easy to find my way around. I stopped in the tourist information and told them I had a day to spend in Manchester and like 10 minutes later I was on my way with a map with the top attractions marked on the map.

First stop was the Manchester Art Gallery it was one of the more fun art galleries I have been to. It had a floor dedicated to more interactive displays of art and such. I of course checked out mainly that floor. I made my own stained glass art with a light display and pieces of plastic so the colors would shine through. I don’t think that I would make it as an artist... but it was fun nonetheless. Some of the displays were also musical which makes them super fun of course. There was one that looked like waves with fish jumping out that played music kinda like a music box. It was much more fun to be able to touch and move and play with all the displays.
Next stop and a must see was the John Ryland Library. This library was filled with old books of all sorts and other great stuff, like hieroglyphics, and a super old fragment from a bible, old printing presses, and lots of great books like a 1st edition of Darwin’s Origin of a Species. The building architecture was also amazing and something to be admired. I wouldn’t mind spending time just sitting and reading in that library! There was also history about how and why it was built which was all super interesting to me but I won’t bore you with the details 

After that the next closest building was the Manchester Cathedral. I am pretty sure I have seen more Cathedrals in Europe than ever before but they are always such amazing buildings with great art and architecture! This one was also wonderful because when I walked in there was a piano recital that I was able to listen to while I began exploring. I also met a man that told me where to find all sorts of info about the Cathedral. There was a really cool stained glass window that kinda looked like fire and also the angel stone. Which is just what is says a stone with an angel kinda sketched into it… I can’t remember the history of the stone but it was cool.

Nearby the Cathedral was the Chetham’s School of Music. Which I walked past and then happened to run into the same man from the Cathedral who started telling me how wonderful it was and that I should go in and check out the library and that it was free etc… He was really friendly and helpful but it was kinda funny that I ran into him twice (at least I think so). So I went in to see the library which is actually the only thing you are allowed to see which kinda made me sad cause I would have loved to just explore and hear all the music! I was slightly depressed for like 2 minutes when I saw like 10 year olds getting ready for a rehearsal, cause the school only accepts like 200 amazing musicians and these kids seriously could not have been older than 10. Anyway, the library was cool but nothing amazing. I was expecting a huge music library but actually the library is known for its collection of books of Jonah. Basically just more super old books!

Next stop was the Chinese Arts and Culture Center which was slightly disappointing. But on the way I passed Urbis which is actually I think a huge shopping mall but I didn’t stop to find out. There also was some cool modern art in just outside that I took a picture of. Anyway, the Chinese Arts and Culture Center seemed to be in the middle of a remodeling so the art was covered and it was small anyway so I didn’t really spend too much time there.

Next and last stop was the Manchester United Football stadium (p.s. football=soccer), which is actually a little outside of the city so I had to get on the metro to get there which was no problem because by now I am practically a pro at public transportation. The stadium was AMAZING and HUGE! I love how in Europe soccer is such a big thing. I took a tour of the stadium and got to sit in the seats where the players sit and I got to see the dressing rooms which all the jerseys and the family/interview/relaxation room. Then we got to walk out to the stadium the same way the players do with the music and everything which was fun. We couldn’t actually go on the field which was slightly disappointing but understandable since they had just planted new grass. I also toured the museum and saw all the trophies etc that they had won. They also had a plaque and wall dedicated to the tragedy that struck the team years earlier. A plane that was carrying the team crashed and about half of the team and many of the other passengers were killed. It was really devastating and sad. Overall, the visit was cheerful and really cool. I can’t wait to see the Valencia stadium, sometime this month I am pretty sure I get a tour and such! It’s going to be great!