Valencia

Erin and I skipped town this weekend and headed to Spain's third largest city, Valencia. Our three day weekend was filled with lots of walking, sight seeing, picture taking, shopping, and the first rain I've seen fall since arriving in Spain. I also took the opportunity this weekend to rediscover my love for Spanish candy. (hello again sour strawberries and licorice wheels, I've missed you)

Plaza Ayuntamiento: Centrally located in Valencia's historical district, the plaza boasts impressive government buildings alongside quaint florist stands and was a common throughway for Erin and me this weekend.

Mercat Central: We strolled through the market on Saturday morning and it was crawling with people. It is definitely a foodie and photographer paradise.

La ciudad de las artes y las ciencias: Located outside of the center, nearer the beach, this complex is a beautiful display of modern architecture. It is composed of five structures, each housing a different exhibit pertaining to the arts or sciences. The Oceanografic was hands-down my favorite and I took an embarrassing number of pictures of fish, sharks, seals, birds, more fish...

One month

It's official I've been in Spain for one month now and in honor of this milestone I've made a list: 31 things I've done in 31 days...

1. Spoken a lot of Spanish

2. Been told I speak Spanish well

3. Been told I speak Spanish like a cave-woman

4. Resolved not to speak Spanish anymore

5. Realized that was stupid, if not impossible, so decided to just practice, practice, practice

6. Asked for the bus wall instead of the bus stop. Why do the words parada and pared have to be so similar?

7. Got lost the first time I took the bus and ended up in Salteras

8. Finally figured out how to take the bus to and from my pueblo, Castilleja de Guzman

9. Taught PE, science and English classes

10. Got lost walking around Sevilla more times than I can count

11. Spent 11 euros on taxis one night when I was lost

12. Developed several gnarly blisters from walking so much

13. Haven’t learned that I should just carry a map

14. Eaten no less than three dozen Principe cookies and four dozen baguettes

15. Ate sangre encebollada (look it up)

16. Surprisingly liked sangre encebollada

17. Swapped my daily americano for a daily café con leche

18. Drank lots of sangria

19. Drank countless Cruz Campos

20. Drank a few gigantic mojitos from Rebotica

21. Waited for three hours at the foreign office to get my numero identidad de extranjero

22. Got to watch the sunrise over Plaza de Espana while waiting outside the foreign office

23. Found a cockroach in our bathroom

24. Trapped the cockroach and threw it out the window

25. Found another cockroach in our bathroom

26. Started jogging by the river at least three times a week

27. Amassed several dozen bug bites from jogging by the river

28. Celebrated my 25^th birthday

29. Watched a flamenco show

30. Visited Ronda

31. Purchased a ticket to visit Valencia this weekend...

Ronda

Ronda is located southeast of Sevilla and takes about two and half hours to reach by bus. Set among mountain tops and divided in two by the Tajo Gorge, it is one of the most picturesque towns I have ever visited. We went just for the day and I have already decided it was not enough time. In fact I think I could be very happy living in one of the white houses, sipping coffee on my terraza overlooking the gorge and Puente Nuevo, but for now an over-night trip will suffice.

Laid back Sunday

My roommate, Kelsey, has a few friends visiting this weekend, so we decided to play tourist for the day. We started off with a visit to Plaza de Espana; built for the 1929 World's Fair, it consists of a semi-circle structure surrounding a large court yard, moat and fountain. Tiled murals representing each province in Spain run the length of the structure and of course I had to stop and take a photo in front of Granada.

We then took a walk through Parque de María Luisa, a "Central Park-esque" local full of bikers, joggers, strollers, vendors and horse drawn carriages. The primary goal of our visit was to feed the pigeons that normally flock in one of the plazas, but the park was busy today and the birds were sadly seeking refuge amongst the tree tops. The birds might not have been hungry, but the same couldn't be said for us, so we left the park and headed across town to the Plaza de la Alfalfa for some pizza

Welcome to teaching

Taking photos of the sunrise over Castilleja de Guzman this morning was a great way to start the last day of my first week of teaching. It's been a week full of questions. Questions from me about what time the bus comes, how to use the coffee machine and where the classrooms are. Questions from the kids about how old I am, what my favorite color is, what my favorite animal is, and if I have a boyfriend. The last question always being the final one and always asked between uncontrollable giggles. It's also been a week of adaptation. Me adapting to communicating in Spanish again (because while I'm not supposed to speak Spanish with the kids, I still use it to talk with the teachers outside of the classroom) and the kids adapting to my American accent. Most of their exposure to spoken English has come from their teachers, who speak it as a second language and therefore with a Spanish accent or from audiotapes recorded by British English speakers...in other words I might as well be speaking Russian to them. I've just been trying to speak very slowly and repeat myself often; they'll pick up on my accent in time. I've had an amazing experience so far and I think the kids have been excited to have me at their school. They're always waving in the halls and are eager to introduce themselves and ask "how are you?" I look forward to next week and can't wait to see what else is in store for me this year.

Lover's Lane

It took me a few walks down the bridge to notice them; the shiny padlocks hooked onto railings, onto chains, onto one another. They're everywhere and I couldn't help but wonder why. As it turns out, the locks are tokens of love. Couples will write their names or a date on the lock, fasten it to the bridge and then toss the key into the Guadalquivir. According to some sources the government will periodically come through and remove the locks, claiming that the weight of the iron causes structural damage. I for one can't get enough of them and hope this continues to be a tradition in Sevilla for a long time to come.