This one isn't really a chapter, just a reflection

My favorite part of the day is my 40 minute walk to school.  I know that sounds strange, but it really is a refreshing time, and a great way to start my morning.  I get to exercise, as well as pass through some beautiful gardens.  Since the street that I take is seperated in the middle by the large garden they call the rio, I can take the same path in the same amount of time, but I see something new almost every day.  Today for instance, I passed through the Jardín de Turia, which is a part of the rio, right before the futbol (soccer) fields.  There's some construction on the bridges above the fields, but in Turia it's pretty peaceful.  There are little indents in the walls, which I'm sure at some point were used for torches to help light the way at night, but now they're usually inhabited by cats.  There are a TON of cats around that are obviously strays, and there are people that come and feed them and bring them water and such.  This morning some of the cats were waiting by the bathroom building in between the futbol fields for this lady to come and feed them as she usually does in the mornings.  

The rio is such an interesting place.  If you're ever curious, take a look at a map of Valencia, and you'll see the large patch of green space that runs along the north end of the city.  There used to be a river that ran through the middle of it, but that was a LONG time ago, which gives you an idea of how old the walls are that run around its perimeter, and the bridges that run over it.  There are sports fields in it, a lot of park space, and every now and again you run across playground equipment.  It's pretty typical to have playground equipment in the medians between the streets as well, which is something I don't think I've seen in the US.

Anyway, I'm so happy to be able to live here for a little while.  There are so many cool things like this, I'll try to think of more and write about them as well as my daily entries.

Spain Part 11 - Misa, Tarea, y Clases

There is a church near school called the International Church of Valencia, with a misa (mass) in English, at 10,30 which attracts people of Valencia who are from Britain, Australia, the USA, Canada, etc.

And so since Alicia's friend had liked it there when she was studying abroad we went to check it out this domingo.  We met a lot of very friendly people, an Aussie named Matt who greeted us at the door, two French-speaking British girls, one of whom taught French in England for years and is now teaching English to Spanish speakers, the other of whom is going to France this week to begin teaching English, among other students from the US, some of whom had graduated from the University of Valencia, others who were still attending, and so on.  As much as I loved the people there, the message that the preacher gave was not really my style at all.  I don't think I'll go back, and it's a shame, because it was a lot of fun meeting people from all over the world.

So we walked back home and remembered when we got there that Lucia would not be eating almuerzo with us today because she was at a cumpleaños celebration for Claudia.  No worries, she left us a tapa and some of Claudia's cake.  As I was taking the tapa, which was a nice seafood pasta dish out of the container, I realized that there was something VERY different about this dish.

Me: Hey Alicia?
Alicia: Yeah?
Me: How are you about trying new foods?
Alicia: Um, what is it?
Me: I think it has tentacles.

Yes my friends, there were octopus tentacles in our tapa.  A traditional mariscos tapa, suction cups and all.

Well, it wasn't bad.  The flavor, in fact, was just fine, but it was a chewy, tough sort of meat.  Not my favorite, but I would try it again.  The CAKE on the other hand, was just as different, but far more delicious.  It had two very small layers of actual cake, the rest being that creamy filling sort of stuff that they put in costco cakes, except that there were 3 layers of cream.  It wasn't extremely sweet, but it was very light and creamy and just about melted in your mouth.  I've never had cake like that before.

It was time to start homework after that, so Alicia and I plugged away at it.  When she had finished, she went out to the internet café to talk to her family.  Lucia came home shortly after, and told me all about Claudia's party.  Apparently, Claudia is a bit spoiled, and continued to ask for more gifts for hours after they were done opening presents.  I suppose it's inevitable to be a little spoiled not only being an only child, but an only grandchild, which goes to say only niece as well.

Lucia was not feeling very well and had a sore throat, so we had ensalada and pizza and she went to bed right after.  Alicia and I were also pretty tired, so we went to bed pretty early as well.

I woke up on Monday with...a sore throat.  I was not happy.  However, I attended classes regardless, all of which were very interesting, and it's even becoming easier to understand what the professors are saying.  Throughout my first two classes, I understood close to 98% of what was said, and probably 80% of the next two.  The last one was about 70%, which is an improvement, though I obviously have a long way to go.

On the way home I stopped and bought a pair of black shoes (finally!) flats, easy to walk in, and stopped by the farmacy for some cough drops.  It took me a minute to find them because they're packaged like pills, and they don't have halls or other sorts of similar brands here.

I got home just in time for pasapalabra and la cena, which was a potato carrot and onion soup, very delicious, and very nice to my throat.  I went to bed right after, and slept right through until about 8am this morning.  the rest was nice, and my throat feels better today, but Lucia is worse, and she's going to the doctor.  I sincerely hope that I don't have to do that.

I had a chorizo and turkey sandwich today for almuerzo, which is an interesting combination.  Lucia makes sandwiches with a layer of bread in between, so that it's more filling.  Now I have a little more tarea to finish, and then I'm heading home for la cena.  

I think that's all I have to report, hasta luego.