A Busy Week in Valencia

Girls by the aquarium and museums on Sunday.

It’s been an eventful week here in Valencia. I am basically operating by the idea that if I am going to be traveling outside of the city I live in on weekends, I really ought to be exploring my own city more during the week. So, this week we kept ourselves busy seeing older parts of the city, spending time on the Mediterranean, etc.

Churros and Chocolate! 

Sunday: After seeing an Imax movie about sea monsters in ancient times (“seeing” is a bit of a stretch considering my glasses were broken…), four friends and myself explored the largest aquarium in Europe for a few hours. How lucky for us that it is right here in Valencia!

Our walk to the bus stop from the beach.

Monday: Brynn, Maddy, Katie and I spent the afternoon and evening in the Plaza del Torros shopping, eating, and chatting. I finally got to try churros and chocolate, which of course was delicious.

Pitstop on our Valencia walk. GREATEST treat of all time.

 Tuesday: Katie and I struggled to get to the beach. Sat at a bus stop for 30 minutes, then walked 20 minutes to a different stop, and then spent 20 minutes on the bus… The heat made it a little more unbearable, but when we got there it was worth it. Such a beautiful evening on the Mediterranean.

The top of the city gates. 

 Wednesday: After class we tagged along on another class’s field trip around the older part of the city. We were able to climb to the top of the city gates, see some ancient ruins that have been pretty well preserved, and explore what was once a prison for rich merchants. Lots of stairs and walking, but EXCELLENT views of the city!

View of Valencia from the tower of the prison.

Thursday: Katie and I had our first class cancelled, so we took the opportunity to explore Valencia’s famous central market. Aisles and aisles of fresh meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, pastries, etc. were fun to see. We both enjoyed fresh squeezed juice – Katie picked watermelon and I had kiwi strawberry. I also bought a container of sliced mango and ate the whole thing for lunch. Mmmmm. After class, we spent another afternoon at the beach and came home to the best meal ever (that I requested): PLAIN NOODLES, BUTTER, GARLIC, and PARMESAN CHEESE. I literally had never been so happy! That night we went to a well known discoteca in the Artes y Ciencias area that was very fun.  

Fresh fruit in the Valencia's Central Mercado. 

 Friday: In a few hours I’ll be in another plane heading to Brussels in Belgium. Stay tuned! :)  

FRESH juice!!!

Cute old men checking out the meat selection.

Hopping Continents

I just want to remind you that we’re leaving for Africa today.

Oh, you cannot go to Africa.

Yes (sigh), they can. We haven’t forbidden it yet. We will be soon.

That was the last thing I heard from one of our program directors at school on Thursday, besides her safety warnings, which we had heard through everyone’s voices all week. Katie and I were going to do Africa and my God, we did it well.

New food with new friends!

 When we picked our unassigned seats on our RyanAir flight, we were startled when two brunettes a few rows back stood and up and yelled, “Hey! Are you from Virginia?” When we said no they decided to move their seats to right in front of ours and trust us anyways. Let me just say, when you live in a foreign country, it is so undeniably obvious when someone is American - even if they’re trying to blend in. These two beauties, Ashley and Jordon, soon became our partners in crime and we were never apart for the rest of the weekend.

Full hand henna tattoos! Ours were SUPER quality compared to other tourists...

When we walked off the plane in Marrakech with our money belts strapped around us under our clothes, I was in a state of shock that I was truly standing in Africa (and that feeling stuck with me the whole time we were there). After converting euros to Moroccan currency, durhams, the four of us exchanged numbers and headed off to our hostels. Katie and I found a gorgeous taxi driver who overcharged us by over 50% and dropped us off at the main square in Marrakech.

The giant screen in the Main Square when we arrived.  

 Culture shock would be the best way to describe how we felt. There was African music playing loudly, Muslim people in traditional dress everywhere, clay buildings, motorbikes speeding around us (with no marked street), horses and donkeys and monkeys and snakes (with charmers), and booths with food/juice/merchandise surrounding us. The only comfort was a giant movie screen showing old Charlie Chaplin clips. It was reassuring because everyone understands a silent movie. We were lost. After ducking into a random hotel, we were picked up by a man from our hostel and told not to worry.

The owner of our hostel (who made everything OK). :)

We followed this man through the square, down a smaller road, down a much smaller secluded road that had us holding each other’s arms tightly, and finally down a dark tiny dead end road in front of an unmarked door. It was at this point that we wholeheartedly believed we would be taken. (Watch Taken, the movie.) After protesting going in, the man opened the door and walked in ahead of us, which allowed me to see the main area inside that looked just like the picture online. Basically trembling, we were served tea in tiny little glasses (which we rejected), then water (which we rejected because the bottle was previously opened), and then the man who clearly was in charge sent a man out to the square to buy us our own bottle. At that point, I realized we would live. :)

Heaven in a tiny oversized shot glass!

 That night we settled into our private room at our beautiful hostel. The place was incredible and we soon realized the customer service was as well. After we were offered tea a third time, we drank it and I have to tell you… I don’t like any kind of tea and this was delicious. Turns out, Muslims don’t drink alcohol so everyone in Marrakech constantly drinks little glasses of this black tea with mint and sugar. They call it their “whiskey,” but I don’t casually drink whiskey like they drink that tea..?

Myself and camels....IN AFRICA.

On Friday, we woke up and ate a delicious breakfast at the hostel. A worker guided us through the winding, clay wall enclosed streets to our friends’ hostel and we were served another glass of fresh orange juice by them (to die for). We started our day off by getting full hand henna tattoos on the roof overlooking all of Marrakech. After that, we held our purses close and ventured out into the city where we ate yummy spiced tortilla-type things with onions for lunch. After, we headed off in a taxi to the outskirts of town where we rode camels!!!!!!!!!

Dresses and camels. What a beautiful combination. UNREAL.

After an hour and a half of camel riding, we headed to Jardin Majorelle, a famous private garden that both of our hostels had spoken so highly of. It was gorgeous and full of tourists, which was a comfort. After finding a taxi that would take four riders (they’re rare), we were dropped back off at the main square and we navigated our way back to our hostels to rest.

Girls at the Gardens!

When we met back up, we ate at Booth #100 for dinner (suggested by their hostel), and enjoyed tea that was even better than our hostel’s. Mmmmmm. Our meal was pretty tasty (couscous) and so were the potato patties, fresh salsa, and orange juice we got with it. After dinner, we ignored a million different men screaming at us… “You so skinny! Eat here! Maybe later.”

“NICE. Wow, nice. Seksy.”

“You marry me? One kiss! Just one kiss!”

or they would simply yell out Lady Gaga, Sex and the City, or Shakira. Interesting.

Lamp shop in the beginning of the Souks. (I bought a tiny one!)

It was that night we realized that I can bargain and drive down prices very well. When you are rude, suggest half the price, say there is better elsewhere, and then walk away…that tends to be the case. We had a close call on the fourth floor of a blanket/rug shop (safety-wise) that we easily got out of, but that was our biggest scare. We ended the night dancing with a drunk old man in his jewelry shop and chatting on the rooftop of their hostel.

Spices in the market. So pretty!

On Saturday, we spent our final bit of time in Marrakech in the Souks, which is their famous enormous market filled with people both buying and selling. We shopped all morning and early afternoon and got insanely good prices the majority of our purchases. When we finally figured out how to get out of the Souks and back to the main square, we used our final durhams to purchase fresh grapefruit juice. It had so much pulp in it that it was as if you were actually eating the grapefruit. So tasty!

FRESH pulpy grapefruit juice with my last few coins!

Marrakech Fun Facts:

Marrakech Fun Facts:

The city has four million people living in it.

Loudspeakers at the mosques sing out prayers for the Muslim people five times a day that are heard loudly all around the city. (Similar to Hunger Games…)

People there speak Arabic, as well as French and some Spanish/English.

One durham is the equivalent of about 11 euros or over 8 dollars.

There are cats running around EVERYWHERE. Even kittens run around the streets trying to find food. (I never touched one, don’t worry...)

Marrakech Hostel Suggestions:

Trip and Friends

Layla Rouge

Monday FunDay.

MY WOUND IS MUCHO MEJOR (much better). :)

Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias in Valencia.

That being said, the rest of my weekend was very calm while I rested and tried to encourage my darn foot to heal. Miguel has kept a careful watch over its progress and cleans and wraps it everyday. I also had to wear a bag over it when I showered the last two days, which has left me reminiscing on when it didn’t hurt for me to hold my leg above my head that long…. Oh how I miss you dance and cheer.

Fillin' her up!

Today was busy and wonderful because a group of six of us from ISU headed to Valencia’s science museum after classes. It was a fun walk for Katie, Matt, Christian and I from school to the museum area because we walked in the 9 km strip of parks which was once a main river through the city. Although every bakery in town was closed for siesta, we happily waited for our other two friends at the outdoor café in the beautiful Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias.

Doing the impossible - standing/walking.

After around three hours in the 3-level museum, we were worn out from acting like the 11-year-olds running around with their tour guides ahead of us. We spent a solid 15 minutes if not more watching a baby chick hatch out of its shell and learn to stand (How did I never see this as a kid!?). Another bulk of our time was spent in the “chromosome forest” doing a million different interactive activities.

Resting in my little bubble of fun.  

Leaving the museum was great because of the most exciting activity of all…WaterBalls. In the middle of the area, four of us paid our 5€ apiece for 10 minutes of playing in giant bubbles. I have got to tell you, it gets very hot in there, but I advise you to never pass up a cool experience like those waterballs. As my mom says, “When else will you ever get the chance to do that?!” So. Much. Fun.

Up for 2 seconds then right back down. 

Lastly, I just want to get everyone excited about this weekend when Katie and I will be heading to Marrakech in Morroco, Africa! Be thinking of us with our money belts and pepper spray in a city that speaks Arabic…(we don’t) Hope your week has started off with a bang and thanks for reading! :)

Falling in our bubbles. Crazy fun!

Highs and Lows

It’s been an interesting past 1.5 days for me here in Valencia. On Friday, Katie and I’s 9:00AM class was cancelled, so we were able to sleep in. However, at 8:30AM Miguel (host dad) jolted us out of our sleep by loudly knocking and announcing our breakfast. Yikes.

Katie and I near the museums in Valencia.

We headed toward school for our film class and stopped to enjoy some café con leche. (Seriously, why hasn’t America caught on to the whole using milk instead of water thing for coffee? AMAZING.) At school, the only thing we did was finish the movie “Pa Negre,” about terrorists in Spain… I didn’t understand the terrorism part so much, but it was good! Easy day.

Our fancy meal.

After class, we rushed home for a big meal. Miguel was very excited about us being there because their two friends and a little 5-year-old girl were coming. I was pretty nervous about the meal purely because it is very difficult to understand a crowd of chatting Spaniards sometimes, but Katie and I kept up the whole time! I even contributed to conversation!!! It was so great and we ate a Valencian dish, paella, that was muy bien. We also got wine, the most delicious watermelon for dessert, and café con leche with chocolate. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to finish my coffee because Miguel poured his brandy into it and I nearly died… Not fun.

Our host mom and dad (both in stripes) and Katie at our meal.

Last night, after an American meal of hamburgers and fries, Katie and I went out with a CROWD of people from our program. It was fun until I wanted to come home early and has to spend all my money of the multiple taxi fees. I was alone and sobbing. My poor mom got the most dramatic phone call of all time, but sometimes you just want to go home to Iowa and not be holding pepper spray alone in a dark and massive city at 2:00AM. Rough moment.

Picture taken by Lorenza BEFORE going
out and ending up crying.

Today, I slept in incredibly late and woke up to both Miguel and Lorenza outside my door rattling off Spanish. I showed them my alarmingly large blister on my foot (I will not being wearing my wedges for walking again) and they sprung into action. Lorenza ran to the market for more supplies and Miguel became a doctor for my painful wound. For the next 20 minutes I sat in my pajamas in the kitchen crying as he put what I believe was hydrogen peroxide on my foot and trying to distract myself by eating the Oreo treats my mom sent with me. I was also given a juice box to focus on instead of the screaming pain. Good morning.

An American bar!! FULL of study abroad kids.

Instead of going to the beach (you can’t walk on sand with an open wound on the bottom of your foot), Katie and I went to a plaza to shop for the first time. Unfortunately, we live at least 20 minutes from anything in this city and to say it was a struggle to walk that far would be an extreme understatement. It was worth it, though, because I bought the most beautiful dress of all time at Zara!!!! Score!

Don’t worry, everyone, I’m still enjoying life here in Spain, but I am having a bit of a hard time without having constant access to my mom, because we have no internet at our apartment. Healing prayers for my right foot are welcome! And more adventures to come!