Family & Fallas

Well it has been a couple of weeks since I've updated this - a lot has happened, and yet not much has changed here. I cannot believe we are at the end of March already! The weather certainly does not feel like normal March weather - 70's and gorgeous :o) Although, it is supposed to get colder next week, which is sad. I have 1.5 weeks of classes before Spring break and I am SOO excited. I am leaving April 9 to embark on my whirlwind tour of parts of Europe. Lauren and I are going to Barcelona - Spain, Florence, Rome, and Naples - Italy, Athens - Greece, and Paris - France. It is going to be absolutely insane and probably super rushed, but totally incredible at the same time! We're doing it all in 11 days & the best part is we're going to be in Rome on Easter Sunday! The goal is to see the Pope give mass! When I return from that, I have less than 2 weeks and then home! I am excited to get back! Don't get me wrong, Spain has been an incredible experience & it is so cool to be able to travel and see Europe like this, but I miss my family & friends, and I'm ready to get back to "normal" life!

So let's see what has been happening lately... Last week we had vacation for the entire week due to the festival here in Valencia they call Fallas - hence part of my title. Fallas is a celebration of Saint Joseph. It originated because the carpenters back in the day wanted to give tribute to their patron saint, so that's where all the elaborate statues come into play. The artists spend ALL year long building these statues which are made of wood & paper mache. They are absolutely incredible & intricate. Then the last day of the celebration they burn them all to signify the coming of spring & purifying the city. It really is sad to see all that work go up in flames - literally. Another huge aspect is the fireworks. They have want the call Mescletas at 2 PM everyday from March 1 - 19. They are basically fireworks for the noise. We went to one & unfortunately due to the number of people couldn't get close enough to actually see, but we heard them & they are loud! They have the firework display at night during Fallas - 2 AM & it puts our 4th of July fireworks display to shame. They have invented these new fireworks like anything you have ever seen before. They also have ofertas - which are parades in which girls offer flowers up to the Virgin Mary & they all become part of her Fallas (see my picture). The number of people who show up for this festival is unbelievable! The population grows from about 1 million to 3 million - it's nuts!

So because I had this week off - part of my family came to visit, my mom, grandma & Spencer. I was SOO excited to see them! It had been 2.5 months - that's the longest I've ever been away! We traded my grandma's timeshare for a condo in Oropesa del Mar - which is about an hour on the train, north of Valencia. On the beach! It was a great week! We didn't do anything too exciting, but just hung out with each other. When we got off the train, we didn't know how to get to the condo, so I had to call the condo & they gave us a taxi service number - luckily there was a nice man at the train station that just gave us a ride there. Then once we checked in, we had the hardest time finding how to get up to our condo. We wandered around for a good 20 minutes before we finally figured it out.

They are VERY big on ratings there. We were right next to a hotel - which they made sure you knew was the 5 star, not the 4 or 3. It became a big joke by the end of the week... haha. We had to stop in there the first night because we needed matches to start the stove & they informed us they were the 5 star hotel. La de da! We also did not have internet in our condo, so we went to ask if there was some place we could get it - the man told us the lobby of the 5 star. So we went over there & the woman was like nooo - it's only for clients. But come back later & I asked how much later - she said, just later. So we came back & she gave us the password. Every night from then on we snuck back in after 9 PM to use the internet, we were always afraid we were going to get caught - but nope!

We rode the bus into town one day to go to the library because they had free internet. So we get to this library - which is like a hole in the wall & we sat in the children's area because the rest was silent. And after awhile all these kids started coming in & mom thought there was going to be story time or something. So we left - she didn't like it there much, so we never went back... haha.

The whole time we had been planning a trip back to Valencia to see Fallas, originally it was for Thursday, the last day, but then we changed our minds and decided Wednesday. So we looked up bus/train times and got up early. We walked out and caught the bus into town and then walked to the train station. When we got there - the train we were supposed to take wasn't on the departure board, so I had to ask what was up? Come to find out that train only ran on Saturdays & 1 weekday like every 2 months. The next train wasn't for 4 hours, so we decided to postpone the trip to the next day. So the next morning we get up early and go to catch the bus & we sit there & sit there - the bus never comes. So we start walking into town - now the train leaves in 40 minutes & we didn't know if we would make it because it was a long walk. We started booking it & grandma was even running - mom says she hopes she can walk like that when she is 69...lol We made it! But barely! Luckily the trip was a success & we made it back safely - decided not to walk, but called a cab. Mom & grandma were excited about that.

The people at the condo told us there were services we could use - such as the indoor & outdoor pool & miniature golf course. The outdoor pool was empty - as in no water. And the indoor was so deep - Spencer would have not done well in there. There was this HUGE grand outdoor swimming pool - that would have been so much fun, but of course we were not allowed to use it because it belonged to the 5 star hotel. So we settled for the miniature golf, which of course Spencer was excited about because it was golf. So we went to rent clubs one day & the guy was like we are closing for siesta in 10 mins. come back in 2 hours. Spencer was not happy about this. So we cam back & the guy gave us clubs (after we put down a deposit of 10 euro for each club - ridiculous) and went over. Well the gate was locked. So we walked back and told him - he said he was sending someone over to unlock it. So we went back and waited. and waited and waited. After close to a half hour of no one showing up - we went back. The guy then explained the key had been lost! But they found it, so someone was unlocking it now. So an hour after all this started we finally got in. Now, I'm no golf buff - but I've learned enough from living with 3 golf obsessed boys, and this course was definitely lame. It was made of concrete for greens & there were 8 holes (8?? where's the 9th?) Some of the holes were impossible too - especially because the ball would just bounce right off the concrete instead of rolling. I'd had enough after one round, but Spencer loved it & we had to go back another time!

We also had to make many trips out to the grocery store. Spencer lost his hat there one trip. Now who in Spain would want a little kids Cubs hat?? I guess there are fans! We didn't really know what we were looking for food wise, but we found enough to make good American food for a week. It wasn't quite the same as home, but a good substitute until I get back. It was nice to have grandma's cooking for a week ;o)

After our week in Oropesa was over, we came back to Valencia for one night. On their last day we went to the Oceanografico - which is the largest aquarium in Europe. It is really - most of the animals are underground, so it's a lot bigger than it looks from the outside. Spencer had a great time & I learned he was this fascination with sharks. He kept wanting to go find them & see what they do. He loved the dolphins and their show. And the penguins. He just wanted to see more and more animals. And then eventually the day was over, and it was time to go home. We came back to the apartment and got their bags & I took them to the airport. It was very hard to say goodbye, but I'm soooo glad they came to visit! It was a great week!

So now you know what I've been up to. It's just been back to classes & counting down until spring break! I've posted my pictures if you'd like to take a look! Ciao for now.

Kristin