Spain Part 46 – Feliz Cumpleaños Rachel

Sunday was Rachel’s 21st birthday, so when we got up in the morning the living room and dining room were decorated with globos (balloons) and ribbons. There were presents for Rachel, some towels in her favorite colors, which are of course green and white since she is a diehard Michigan State fan. We had a wonderful, very tasty breakfast, and then Rae-Rae and I got our things together to prepare to leave for the airport.

We all, John, Carole, Rachel and I, drove to the airport together and exchanged goodbyes. It was hard especially to say goodbye to Rachel. It’s hard to believe how long it is since I’ve seen everyone from home. John and Carole (did I mention that they are the nicest people I’ve met thus far in my travels?) invited me to come back and see more of Belgium before I return to the states! I would definitely love to take them up on that because I would love to see Brugge and Brussels. I gave Carole my email address and promised I would email to tell her I got back to Valencia safely.

It was an overall uneventful plane ride. I will repeat that I WILL NOT fly Ryanair again, and anyone reading this that is thinking of taking them, I don’t recommend it. I did arrive at the airport in Valencia, which is tiny to say the least, and I found the metro fairly quickly and began my ride back. It was really fun to people watch on the metro, or people-listen rather, because I had gone a few days without hearing Spanish and it was nice to know that I could still understand the language.

When I got off the metro and climbed up the stairs to the corner by my casa, I was greeted by a rush of sunshine. It was really nice to know that it had warmed up the same day I left, as Lucía told me later, and by the next day they were already predicting colder temperatures. Thank you Mother Nature.

My next pleasant surprise was even better than the first, I had a package waiting for me! It was a valentine-candy filled package from my dad, and also included some from G&G West. It was nice to have a bit of a surprise from home, a letter from my Dad, and PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES! I really miss peanut butter, though that’s about the only food that I miss. There were also some chocolates for Lucía and a mono con dulces (monkey with candy) and some pastellina (play dough) for Claudia. Luckily Claudia was there and was very excited to receive not just the gift from my dad, but also a gift from Alicia’s family. If Claudia wasn’t una niña mimada (a spoiled girl) before this, she is now.

I started working on tarea after Claudia left, and didn’t finish until well after la cena. It was an amazing fin de semana (weekend), but as usual, light on sleep. Traveling is exhausting.

La Casa de Valencia

Get excited...these are real photographs (as opposed to fake ones) of my home in Valencia!  Bienvenidos a la Casa de Lucía Esteban, vamos a tomar un tur de la casa. (Welcome to Lucía Esteban's Home, we are going to take a tour.)



This is what you see when you first walk in the door.  We're on the eighth floor, (really the ninth, the bottom floor is floor 0) which is the very top, of the building.  Luckily there is an elevator so we don't have to climb nine flights of stairs.  The door that you see leads to...



Mónica's bedroom.  Mónica is Lucía's daughter (in her late 20s) who visits from time to time.



Returning to the entryway, this amario (dresser) is what you see if you look to your right, and the other photo is if you look to your left in the entryway.  The open door that you see leads to...



Lucía's summer bedroom



Continuing inside, we turn to the right and look down the enormous hallway, and immediately to our left is the meseta (little table) with the teléfono.



The first doorway to the right leads to MINE AND ALICIA'S ROOM! YAY!  This is looking at the feet of our beds.  The heater that you see was VERY nice to have during the colder months.  The third photo is our amario.



This is Alicia's bed/area of the room.                                              And this is mine!



Siguiendo (continuing) down the hallway, the next door on your right is Lucía's bathroom.  This is a forbidden area.  Therefore, we will go instead to the room directly across from it on your left, which is the sala de estudios (study room).  There is a sofá, and an escritorio (desk) for us to use in there.



The next door in the hallway to your right is our bathroom.  These pictures are quite boring, so pass them by if you would like to see something more interesting.



And the next door in the hallway to your right is Lucía's winter bedroom.



Across the hall from the last photo is the cocina (kitchen).



These are some objects of interest in the cocina.  First is la máquina de café (coffee maker) then the place where we sit to eat la cena (dinner)...



Then there's the plantas right behind us under the window, and looking at the other side of the room, the fridge, the microhorno (microwave) and the washer.  Almost no one in Valencia has a dryer because it's easier when the weather is very nice and it rarely rains to hang clothes on a clothesline outside.



Finally, if we continue down the hall we go right into the room at the end, which is the beautiful comedor (dining room/living room).  The small table by the ventana (window) with the three huge chairs around it is where we usually sit for la comida (lunch) when we all (Alicia, Lucía and I) eat together.  Lucía sits in the biggest chair facing the televisor (tv) and we sit in the other chairs.  The other bigger table is for company.

The best part of the tour is yet to come...however, the photos for the best part have not been transfered from my camera, so we'll have to wait for them another day!