Aventuras de Katie en España

En mi casa

2008-01-03T05:30:00.000+01:00

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...

Well, they say there is no place like home.

Over the past few months in Spain, and these couple weeks back here in Maryland I'm just beginning to learn and understand what home is. For some it is where you make your family or where you grew up. For others it is where you are happy.

For me, right now home is where I can always find my dad stretched out on the lazyboy with a laptop in his lap, my mom would be nearby working on a puzzle with a big cup of Diet Coke sitting next to her. Maggie, my dog, will be snoozing under the coffee table with her feet sticking out at funny angles. Jenny would be in her room blasting her music while Kelly's relaxing watching something on MTV. We're far from the perfect family, but I'm lucky to have one that is so wonderful.

And with less than a year before I leave the nest for good, I'm wondering how I will make my future 'home,' wherever it may be.

So anywho, I'm now plotting my next travel adventure. Hopefully a little trip to Japan is in my immediate future. A little farther down the line I'd like to return to Europe and live in Budapest, Hungary as a teacher. I want be in that constant state of learning that I felt in Valencia and Paris. It was so completely inspiring, energizing and challenging to observe and then try to become a part of these places. To be frank, I'm hungry and I crave more of that feeling, that state and I refuse to let anything stop me from reaching it.

Look out World, cause I'm makin' my way!

Love, Katie

Week 15: Werk, werk, werk!

2007-12-15T23:00:00.000+01:00

So this has been a fun filled week of double-checking that I understand exactly what the heck is going on with my finals and such. Otherwise doing my best to balance play with schoolwork with packing with eating all my food with finding more gifts. So far, good progress is being made as all my projects enter the polishing stages and the studying is going fairly decent.

I have one week left here in Valencia. All the fantastic people I've met are slowly leaving, hopping on those RyanAir planes and getting ready for their own twists on Christmas. We had a dinner and a movie this week at Tal's (pictures soon once I snag them from people!). Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers was absolutely brilliant, the food was delish (Dutch zucchini cookies anyone?), the Sangria was sweet and the conversation was, "international," I suppose you could say. It's incredibly intriguing, the little traditions and quirks that survive the ages and help to define a culture in another's eyes.

Even if I've been moaning and groaning with homesickness for the past few weeks, it's really hitting me now how much I'll miss this place. Even more so the chances I'll be able to return here at all as it's time to head back to my Not-So-Real-World of UMBC before really stepping out into the Real World.

Well, my next Sunday post will probably be from the USA. Until then, thanks for reading everyone :)

Love, Katie

Week 13 & 14: Gay Paris!

2007-12-09T20:51:00.000+01:00

Well well well, what can I say? Paris, Paris, Paris!

An incredible trip and just the break I needed before I begin working on my finals for Politecnica. 5 projects, 3 exams and one portfolio to do. Weeee...

Some of my stops included The Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triomphe, Notre Dame, the American Cathedral of Paris, the Pantheon, Luxembourg Gardens, Montparnasse Cemetary, the Louvre, Musee d'Orsee, Musee d'Branly, the Centre Pompidou and I probably passed a bunch of amazing things as I wandered my way through this fantastic city.

I'm going to be updating this post more but as you can probably guess, catching up with work is going to be a pain. Over 600 photos were taken on this trip, so be patient while i find the best ones! More words and picture captions soon!

Taken from near the Musee d'Branly...

Lookin' up the Tower's skirt! Woo woo!

From across the river, I think.

I think this was near the Princess Diana memorial. Either way super neat clouds!

At nighttime when it was all sparkle-sparkle-sparkle! Very pretty!

Main hallway of the Musee d'Orsee, absolutely littered with delicious sculpture.

Posing with my hero, Paul Gauguin! This painting was my computer's wallpaper for over a year too.

Manet, I love you! If the bartender painting had been here too I would have flipped.

Fun story with this. I can now say I've visited two of the few copies of Honore Daumier's Ratapoil sculpture! Absolutely fantastic!

As well as another collection of clay reference sculptures he used for his caricatures!

Rodin's Gates of Hell. Quite terrifying up close, the detail was something one cannot fully understand just by looking at slides or pictures.

Mayan motifs on the glass of the Musee d'Branly.

Now I didn't fully understand what was going on here, but by the time I came out of the museum the previously clear plastic rod-lookin' things sticking out of the ground exploded into color as night fell.

Pastry! Omnomnom!

Mugs, ?, Judy and myself at the American Military Cemetary. This is the one Mugs used to work at.
The graves here are from both WWI and WWII.

There are also a few nurses buried here as well.

Me and the Arc du Triomph! Aren't we cute?

Door knocker. If I remember correctly, the lion represents good or the French people and the snake represents evil or something. Need to brush up on that, but anyway, this motif was in all nooks and crannies around the city. Also on the doors of the American Military Cemetery.

The Princess Diana Memorial.

Senate building, I think? Gold dome!
A street! Busy busy!
Kind of amusing how the first church I enter in France is the American Cathedral of Paris.

At this point I was feeling incredibly homesick. As soon as I caught sight of the Maryland flag I broke down in tears. I didn't see it as something weak for once.

Craaaaazy building!

Luxemborg Gardens.

Giant raven on the statue's head. Ho ho!

Flowers!

Fountain at Luxembourg Gardens. Was totally diggin' the reflections.

Montparnasse Cemetary.

The angel in the middle of the grounds. There were also gigantic ravens that were stalking me as I browsed the tombstones.

The Louvre and it's pyramids. Check out the videos at the bottom of the page to get an idea of how incredibly huge this courtyard was.
Say "Queso!" Er..."Fromage!"

Inside the glass pyramid.

A tiny glimpse at maybe what the old salons really looked like?

Waah waaaah. I love Easter Island Heads.

Ooo a peek into their statue stash!

Welcome to the Louvre

Delacroix Gallery

Mona Lisa

No Better Feeling

Week 12: Mi viaje a el museo!

2007-11-25T22:43:00.000+01:00

Yum yum!

Oranges are in season here in Valencia's parks! I'm glad to know the homeless can get their vitamin C here.

Hey Mom!

Entrance garden was littered with old stone sculptures and broken pillars. Probably my favorite thing ever!

Entrance to the Museo de Belles Artes.

Steph really liked that sculpture...

The dome of the museum from the little garden.

Plaza for the older sculpture art. I was really impressed with all the old, old Valencian artwork. They put that bat crest everywhere.

This coffin was special since it looked like the guy had melted into it.

Oooh I really want to make a copy of this... Wish I knew what the Arabic says.

Hall of Baby Jesus being breastfed and people being eaten by demons. Christian art rocks.

This was gigantic.

Dome ceiling with stars.

How could I not take a picture of these ladies. Too bad the glare from the window forced me to have to take it from a weird angle.

Classy Spanish gentleman.

Om nom nom.

The guards were like hawks in this room, but I snagged a picture of a matador outfit that wasn't horrible without a flash. Crazy to think these intricate costumes are probably always ruined during the bullfights...Poor toros :(

We decided to explore centro historico some more and found some pretty buildings while searching for foodums.

Pretty pink buildings are always good in my book.

Stay out you heretics!

Column detail on church's back door.

Pretty window on church near Plaza de La Reina and the Plaza de La Virgen.

Carrer del Miracle.

I thought his nose was the knocker, but turns out you can look inside his mouth to see to the other side, hehe.

School
Museo de Belles Artes
Foodums

Week 10 & 11: Oh snaps.

2007-11-18T23:07:00.000+01:00

Plaza de Ayuntamiento with its pretty fountain and palm trees.

I ate about 4 ½ out of the 5 of these guys.
Yeah buddy! Good tapas night!

Sorry for no blog last week, but since nothing spectacular had happened I opted to combine it with this week, which was much better (and because I'm lazy). Hopefully Blogger will be nice and upload the images without having a brainfart.

Rocio's amazing dress.

Rocio y yo.

School is dumping a lot of crap on me, but luckily my professors are being swell about helping me get stuff in order before leaving. The workload is going to be hell and I get to waste money on even more supplies I will probably only use once. Boooo! I wish I had told a white lie and said I was leaving a bit earlier just so I'd have a few days to recover from exams and projects before hopping on a plane for a 15+ hour flight homeward. Dumb dumb. So yeah, 5 weeks to go.

The fruits of my labors in Clay conservation/restoration.
Amazing aren't they??

Some dude and Biotza pose with a beautiful sculpture.

So we have some birthdays coming up! Jen-Jen's is tomorrow, Katya's on Tuesday and mine this Thursday. Sweeeet! My flatmates threw a very awesome fiesta last night for Rocio and I, complete with cute presents, lots of food and, as you can see, literally a bucket of this wine, grape juice and canned peaches mixture. They even made an "American" dessert, chocolate brownies! How sweet is that? :)

The gang!

The flatmates and the booze bucket.

Vane poses with me as I show off my sweet Bday gifts! A tote, and apron and some cute pencils!

Saturday was also the day I sliced the end of my pinky on a razor and discovered my room *does* have heating. It was a nice, cozy schnooze after walking back from the dance club in the 4oC weather. (That's about 39oF, haha.)

This is where I mail stuff. It's a lot prettier than Pville's post office...

Otherwise, mailed out some postcards and my UMBC housing contract this past Wednesday so keep an eye out, one may just appear in yours!

Love, Katie

Week 9: Wild and Crazy Spain

2007-11-04T16:27:00.001+01:00

So this week we had some birthdays, Halloween, Mercado Medieval and a Biker Rally. Yes, you heard me correctly, I went to a biker rally. It was loud, smelly, packed with people and not what I expected at all. The cups they served booze in were bigger than cereal bowls. It wasn't exactly my favorite event this weekend, but at least I can say I've been to one.

The Mercado Medieval was a nice treat on Saturday after missing a train to Gandia with some German ladies I'd met in September. So much food and the most delish sausage I've eaten in a long, long time.

Countdowns:
8 days to register for classes.
18 days to my birthday.
25 days to my first test.
27 days to Paris trip.

Week 8: A Normal Week

2007-10-28T20:09:00.000+01:00

I apologize as this blog may get a bit more boring as I focus more on school stuffs.

So a funny thing happened in Conservation/Restoration of Paper this week! We're moving on from the history of papermaking and onto the materials and such used on paper, their properties and their effects (types of ink, paint, etc). This shift means a new professor comes in. The lady was nice and I could keep up with her lecture more or less (thank God for Powerpoint presentations) and to my happy surprise, she speaks English as well. So we start to chat about my stay here and it eventually shifts to where I am from. And guess where she was living over the past two summers? Chevy Chase! That's right! Snuggled right into MoCo. She said she recognized my Merlin accent from my mangled Spanish. Go figure! Ok, ok now if that isn't exciting enough, guess where she was working? The Smithsonian Institute. Holy crap!

And that was about it. Had a birthday/Halloween fiesta for Angeles and Vir this past Saturday. When I get some photos from it I'll post em, but for now let's just say my tortilla de patata making skills will improve drastically after seeing the proper way to kick them out.

In other news, the class list for UMBC came out this weekend! Here's what I'm looking at for my very last semester at UMBC:

ART 489: (MW 2:00pm- 3:50pm) Senior Projects
ART 447: (TuTh 9:00am-10:50am) Special Effects and Motion Graphics
ART 429: (M 4:30pm- 7:00pm) Seminar in Art History and Theory: Museum Curatorship
MCS 222: (MWF 11:00am-11:50am) Introduction to Media and Communication Studies
AMST 320: (Tu 2:30pm- 3:45pm) Television in American Culture
AMST 322: (Th 7:10pm- 9:40pm) American Society and Culture in Film

Still not sure if would be wise to take the Art History course, as interesting and helpful it may be for that career path. :( (Plus senior projects conflicts with Preminda's Museum Theory class boo!) With my senior film in production for a big chunk of the semester, it may be an overload with 18 credits. The game plan will be to sign up for it and see what the courseload will be for the TV and Film studies class (which I expect to be a lot of writing and couch-potato action). Thoughts?

Love, Katie

Week 7: Deep-Fried and Delicious

2007-10-21T17:33:00.000+02:00

The Space Invaders are taking over Valencia!

Wowie it really doesn't feel like I was in Barcelona just last week. Or that I'm about to reach the 2-month mark in Spain soon. Or that the Month of Amazing Births (Me, Jenny, Katya, Mandy, etc.) aka "November" is about to begin! How time flies!

This week was a sad reminder that I am, in fact, in school. It was a bit of a punch in the gut getting used to speaking and understanding Spanish again, but by Friday I was more or less back into the swing of things.

Pretty! Plaza Porta de La Mar.

The Conservation/Restoration of Sculpture class has more or less split into two sections, one of clay and one of stone. In clay, we are making all sorts of pots and stuff all sorts of ways, some old and some still used today. Like sticking your thumb into a sphere of mud, using a stone to shape a bowl or using a mold that sucks up the water. (Forgive my extreme ignorance when it comes to sculpture, I've never taken anything like a ceramics course in my life.) Stone's professor is much easier to understand then the clay class (who mumbles and speaks very softly, argh!), so I am relieved there. Plus he puts a lot of his materials online, allowing me to translate them directly instead of translating the notes I take in half-Spanish, half-English. Fun times I say, fun times.

(Angeles, Vir, Jordan, Miguel, Liis, Alice.)

Vir, all smiles as always!

So enough of that academic junk, I know you're only reading this to hear about the PARTIES! I threw a wee fiesta for my flatmates and some amigos from UPV. Half as a get together for friends, half as a way to connect with the flatmates after being antisocial for a little over a week. The beer-battered tempura went over a lot better then I expected (even though it could have been way better) and the BLTs gave my tummy a bit of a nostalgic turn, but with Alice's pesto dip, Liis' apple pie and the tons of booze donated by Jordan, Miguel, Angeles and Vir it was a very fun and chatty night. A downpour of rain and a very full belly put a halt to any post-dinner dancing though.

Mmmm...apple cake...

The rest of the week is looking to be much more academic, but hopefully I will get some artworks done as well. My goal this week is to make some more visual concepts and finish cleaning up SOOT's script so I can send it on to Eric Dyer to approve. The story/scriptwriting process takes me so loooong, and the characters don't even say anything! Argh!

Anywho, until next time!

Love, Katie

Week 6: To Barcelona and Back

2007-10-16T20:15:00.000+02:00

I have a ton of things to talk about, but in the meantime, here are some photos from my Barcelona trip last week! Overall is was an awesome trip, the city was much, much more touristy, but Liis, Alice and I still walked, partied and explored the heck out of it. The architecture alone is enough to make you faint from awesomeness.

It is very good to be back in Valencia though! :)

Would you like some crap stics?
(Well the pic sucks, but I still think it's funny...)

Oh Gaudi, you so crazy with your houses!

Las Ramblas.

Crazy mimes on Las Rambles! When they
peddle their bikes, the skeletons dance!

Freaking awesome sphinx. Liis was terrified of him.

You can also buy any kind of pet you could imagine.
Chickens, parrots, doves, roosters, bunnies, guinea pigs...

Heck! You can even get a chipmunk to
pester your Mama! ;)

Getting lost on our way to the Contemporary Art
Museum. Very fun and colorful though.

The view from Park Güell.

Mommy, can we put this in the garden?

More of Gaudi's famous park.

He designed all the buildings too. It's like
a fairy land...or even a candy land!
(Mmmm...candy.)

Most everything was built with these stacked stones,
or broken ceramics. Created a great atmosphere
with lots of different textures all around you.

La Sagrada Família. Beautacious, breath-taking and so
many different styles too.

Tapas night!
(Me, Liis, Alice.)

So much yummy food...

Tapatapatapatapatapatapatapa!

Omnomnom snails!

Tastes like chicken!

Take care, and until next time!

Love, Katie

Week 5: The Travel Bug

2007-10-07T15:54:00.000+02:00

Plaza de La Virgen at night.

So initially the thought of coming here to Europe has had me extra excited because of the chance to visit other countries. Some of these include Hungary, France, Italy, Germany, etc. Now trying to find a cheap flight it another story. Not so much to, saaaay Paris. But more so to Budapest since it is pretty darn far. I can put just enough money away for a rainy day that will hopefully come the first week or so of December. In Paris I can visit with both Krissy, Mike's older sister and one of Fran's sisters :) I'd like to go for a week since that would make flying cheaper and also give me a nice break before my exams start up from these classes. Knock on wood though, since I have yet to make these reservations!

Lately I have been thinking much more about how I am shaping my experience abroad. I am making more of an effort to interact with people and getting over a fear of practicing the language with people I do not know. My pants have gotten pretty baggy from walking more and more, trying to get a better feel (and I'm sure you'd be amazed with how much better my sense of direction has gotten!) for the area around me. It is the little triumphs of the day that make me feel more like an adult. Something as simple as 'saying what you mean' has never carried with it such a weight of personal experience. It bothers me sometimes thinking too much into it, but this ridiculous anxiety has developed that when I return home, these responsibilities I have been taking for myself will fade away. With graduation on the horizon it is unlikely, especially when financial responsibility will hit me like a brick wall, but regardless being the worrywart that I am, it is still here.

In odd times I have found myself viciously searching for career and job opportunities for Americans abroad. I have learned the value of knowing multiple languages here. Knowing English is a sharp sword to have in one's arsenal, but it means little when there is nothing to go along with it. One girl I have met is fascinated by my "American" accent and by the everyday expressions and slang from home. I taught her a bit of Balmerian and fun things like "warsh." It catches me off guard most times, but it is a fun way to entertain and teach someone at the same time. So yes, I do enjoy being in this constant state of learning. I do enjoy having to be on my linguistic toes for just about every word that escapes my mouth.

Who needs to worry when there is all
this fresh food available!

So enough of that "thinking" crap! Now onto the happenings...

With the day of Saint Donis (aka the founding day of the city of Valencia) coming up there will be even more Valencian culture to be in, not to mention a hella ton of fireworks. When I say "hella ton" I do mean, "in greater quantities and addition to the fireworks that people are setting off at all times and all places in the city anyway." I'm still not sure what to expect, but I have been told it is a must. Just now I am getting used to the eating times. Breakfast of a pastry and coffee, lunch from 1-3pm, and a gigantic dinner from 10-12am. The dinners are so big though I don't mind the wait as much, haha.

Hayley, Me (looking extra dorky), Liis, Alice.

Liis, Alice (both classmates from animation class) and I were all feeling the similar travel itch. We want to get out and about, explore, party and meet even more people! So we decided it was time to plot a trip to Barcelona. We have our bus tickets, we have our beds, we have a week off of school and from here it's time have some fun. The girls are great and I couldn't have asked for a more fun bunch to hang out with.

And on the menu we have...

On the rooftop, eating by the light of the moon
...and a tiny lamp.

On Friday we met at the bus station and from there we to the Institut Valencia d'Art Modern for a screening of Czech animated films (among them Jirí Trnka and Jan Švankmajer). From there it was a trip to the market and then to Liis' flat. This I will remember as the evening I learned how to clean calamari. We made a dinner of couscous, steamed mussels with white wine and garlic, fried calamari and cucumber salad, veggies, shrimp, toasted bread and eggplant. And it was delicious. With Liis' flatmates we ate, drank and were very merry on the rooftop. From there it was to a fiesta on the beach and then homeward bound. The party was a little lacking, but still met some very nice Erasmus and España natives. The crescent moon rising over the sea was beautiful, I only wish I had thought to have taken a picture of it.

And here are some more pictures from the beach...

Even Photoshop couldn't help these tan lines...

La playa. The chain Pan's and Company makes these delish
'patatas bravas' which are basically little potato wedges
with mayo and a spicy ketchup.

I love looking down the beach and seeing the mountains
over the skyline. I want to see what is over there.

So this week at the beach was filled with more clear water, more calm waves, lots of swimming, lots of boobies and some more sunburn. But also there was a great instance of a business man stripping off his suit, handing it to his buddy and running full speed at the water in his tightie whitie underpants. This is about as cool as the gentlemen and women in their suits riding their motorcycles to work. It is the Spanish beach life for me!

Next time I shall be reporting about Barcelona. Stay tuned!

Love, Katie

Week 4: Let the Classes begin!

2007-09-30T23:20:00.001+02:00

And so classes at Politécnica have begun finally for this short, Americano girl! The schedule is a tad rough, each class is 3 hours long, but hey! I'm an animation student, stamina should be my specialty! At least, thats what I want to say...

Anywhosit, let's begin with my first impressions from this first week. I'm taking 4 art classes in addition to 1 Spanish language class. I didn't do very well on the application's test way back last fall semester, so despite how much I've learned in the past month, there is still a price to pay. Shooooot.

Conservation and Restoration of Sculpture and Ethnographic Materials
I've only had one class on this so far and it was the basic syllabus run. Is going to be taught in Spanish despite the class registration had it marked down in English. But luckily, there is an aid there who will help with the theory part. So soon I will hope to have more the report.

Conservation and Restoration of Paper
This class is awesome! So far as an intro we discussed what paper is and the physical properties. The teacher is so enthusiastic and energetic, he also loves to use visuals and writes on the board a lot. This class being completely in Spanish makes it difficult enough, but I already picked up a lot with the visual help. To help me understand I've been reading up on what materials is available in English in the library, it works so far.

Artistic Anatomy
The first day of class was the most boring time of my life since the person who was lecturing was neither the real professor nor someone who wanted to get us drawing for the 3 hours we sat there. I worked on Soot in the meantime since his Spanish was more then difficult to decode. Other then that, the class begins mid October and if I am able to stick with it, I look forward to drawing the handful of skeletons, the bookcase of skulls and the crazy muscle model floating over blackboard eventually.

Fundamentals of Animation
Now you need to understand that this is my last class on Tuesdays and Fridays. These days are when I have 3 out of the 5 classes I'm enrolled in. I know right? So despite how physically tired I am, the greatest reason I am staying in a class where I've already learned most of the subject is for the atmosphere. This class is half Erasmus and half Spanish students and probably the most vocal, energetic bunch I have encountered thus far. The teacher is just as excited, not to mention she has made her own short, hand-drawn and paint-on-cell films. On the upside, I will get to see a lot more foreign films then previously in History of Animation at UMBC, as well as what I'm really after; the new perspectives.
So in conclusion, I think I have an edge on this class, but it doesn't mean I will learn any less.

Español I
This looks like it may be a doozy. But luckily I have a good crew of people to hang out with, Liis and Amy are a treat. The teacher seems nice and gets right down to business. And so the review of high school Spanish begins...

On a whole, this weekend I was exhausted. I had a great day at the beach, the water was so calm and clear I could swim very far out and still see my toes when the water was up to my chin. I've also learned this week that the Spanish are hardcore drinkers. And that I am still a lightweight. I learned the hard way. Yeah, not too much fun and I missed a fun night out. But the games were very fun even though I was definitely a victim!

So sorry for the lack of pictures this week, until next time!

Love, Katie

Week 3: The Little Things

2007-09-23T00:54:00.000+02:00

Unibrow man says, "GTFO!"

Sorry I'm a bit late on this one! Too bad! Anyway, this week I bring you, some of the little things that amuse me,

The metro signs reminds me of a red M&Ms everytime I look at them.
Some muggers need lessons in how to blend in with the crowd.
Kabobs are in burrito form and the meat is cut using a handsaw.
Softener goes in the slot, detergent gets thrown on top of the clothes.
Beach = boobs.
1 and 2 euro coins are awesome, but the euro penny is still a pain in the butt.
If you see clothes for sale for 30-50 euros, odds are its knockoff is going for 3-10 euros in a Chinese shop.
Parallel parking is much easier when you can just get out and push cars around to make room for yours.
Soccer still isn't that exciting, but the many camera angles on TV make it a bit better.

So this week was a lot of writing, drawing, walking and meeting new people! I got a great start on my senior project as well. The roommates all returned to our little flat this morning, it was a swell reunion while it lasted, but Rocio and Vane both left for home for the weekend. But it is good to have Vir and Angeles around, they are so funny and sweet! Watching fútbol and drinking a cerveza is good, relaxing fun. It was also very rainy this week, which wasn't very fun.

Boo no fun!

On Tuesday I did go by the school and take some pictures for you all while I got my temporary student card. Woo! Time to go swim in the pool! It is a very nice campus, about a 15 minute walk from my flat on the Avenida. There are many sculptures and lots of areas to sit and relax. Jordan and I also came to the conclusion that all Fine Arts buildings must be required to be mazes, because this one is just plain crazy.

This area is where the cafes are as well as the
papelería (for paper), librería (for books)
and the biblioteca (for library books)!

Near the entrance. Oooh palms!

Tree cozy made of plastic bags.

A quiet place to rest in the shade.

A building, cool!

But my building is obviously cooler.
I mean, look! TWO orange cars parked right outside!

There are murals and graffiti art all over the place!
This one is on the side of Belles Artes.

This was was really cool, right near the 'commons' area too.

On Wednesday, I met up with a very sweet German girl named Stephanie and we hit the Calle Colon for some sweet window shopping. I made it my mission to find some nice heels to dance and wear with my fancy pants from Chicos. I'll take a picture of those next time, after the blisters from my previous pair of black shoes heal. Otherwise, the shops ranged from ridiculous to pretty decent. Again, the Chinese shops are the most thrifty and the best place to score knockoffs and look-a-likes. Kukuxumusu on the other hand is the most hilarious shop I've ever stepped into. Some of you can expect a silly postcard or a souvenir from this place because it is that off the wall.

Stephanie was hunting for some gummi bears.

But we did find some marshmallow dentures!

Me at a plaza on a cloudy day. This picture is just proof
that I got out and about, haha.

On Friday I met up with Stephanie again and also her friends Lina and Katarina (who I had met briefly at the beach come to find out). We accomplished some serious shopping, I found the perfect pair of heels that actually allow me to walk straight. Classy and sassy and for 30 euros, not too shabby. Later that evening we navigated to Katarina's apartment where her flatmate, Juansa, made us some serious tortillas de patatas (an omelette of onions and potatoes). So serious in fact, that he kicked us out of the kitchen because it was his abuela's secret recipe, haha. The experience is sort of comical because I ended up practicing more Spanish with these three German ladies and one Spanish gentleman than I have most of this past week. I was able to get a lot of handy hints as well. The walk home was...very wet. Three girls huddled under umbrellas in a thunderstorm downpour. Lina was so very taken with the small rivers being made across the sidewalk she loved to stop and take photos.

Looking hungry with that amazing tortilla!

(Stephanie, Katarina, Juansa, Me, Lina.)

This week's culinary masterpiece, chicken paprikas! I also made some egg drop soup but uh...that needs a little work still. Otherwise still knawing on ham sammiches and Nutella toast. Scrumptious!

Omnomnom!
It's just not complete without butter bread! :)

Until next time!

Love, Katie

Week 2: Katie's Mix of Emotions

2007-09-15T00:39:00.000+02:00

"To be."

So now I've spent about two weeks in Valencia. Some things weren't as grand or as shiny this week and to be honest I spent most of the time nursing tummy aches and meandering around on the internet connection I'm still swiping from some unknown person in or around my building. Mostly watching things in English, checking empty email inboxes and staring at FaceBook as the odd fact that "life goes on without me for everyone else" hits hard. This realization also stemmed from not speaking with parents online most of the week and Michael, my boyfriend of nine months or so, moving to Japan come December. I'm happy y'all are busy and trucking along, but a very selfish side of me wishes I could be there to keep an eye on everyone and be a part of it. Childish, but it feels good to admit.

On the other side of the coin, it is a bit disappointing how powerful the draw of the internet and instant communication is. Even trying to break the cellphone habit has been rougher than I expected. The longer I sit here craving to close the physical distance with this digital space I'm hurting myself more than helping. I think I may resolve just to shut down my computer for longer periods of time and focus more on the "olden ways" of communication.

Now, this isn't to say I didn't get outside, get more sunburned, attempt desperately to learn more Spanish or explore! I do have ants in my pants after all, c'mon. I went to my first flea market, right next door to the fútbol stadium. It was a hotbed of dirty dealing and gypsy wares, not to mention extra crucified-Jesus' just in case your current Christ just isn't doing it for you. Besides all of the fantastic junk everywhere the most intriguing part was the people, especially the sellers. These ladies and gents were wheeling and I made a point to slow my steps to listen in on the bargaining. I wonder even now if I had arrived earlier in the day at the peak of the markets bustle, what it would be like. I guess I'll find out this coming Sunday.

Look at all that sweet stuff!

How'd they know I needed a spare Jesus?

After a beach trip or two later, spending more time with a delightful bunch of Erasmus (this is the general term for "foreign student" come to find out) students and outings with my roommate Rocio I've found myself being able to communicate a little bit better, but still understanding just about nil. Nothing much to do about that besides hitting the books and watching more Friends (which is tough, but luckily the dubs make the show tolerable, haha yeahIsaidit). I must say that verbs still suck.

A bunch of Rocio's friends came over for pizza and crepes.

Some lovely German Eramus students.
(Miguel, Lina, Katarina, Stephanie.)

And then little ol' me.
Still not looking very European, oops.

I'm hoping to take more trips to the historical district for some real food tasting and more photography. Jordan and I took a tiny trip to find a bicycle shop. This became a trek between a total of three metro stops and effectively getting lost. Luckily for me, Jordan's Spanish is much better than mine and a local police officer was nice enough to take a break from directing traffic to point us in the right direction. Along the way were many old, old buildings, courtyards and churches. The few I took a few snaps of were undergoing a bit of renovation and reconstruction. I had read in a pamphlet at the Universidad that the Conservation/Restoration students are put on local projects like those going on in the city. If I enjoy the class, it may be something to look into. My favorite spot of the trip was apparently a cool place to the punks to hang out, but it was pretty much standing ruins within a giant courtyard of a public library. The carved columns particularly intrigued me, not to mention the creepiest sculpture of a monk I've ever seen. I want to go back there soon when the light is better, many of my photos were dark and don't do the library and its courtyard much justice.

Gorgeous! Must research the buildings I saw...

These old structures have these gaping
holes in them. Feel better old building!

Creeeeeeepy!

Since I was feeling a bit under the weather and had to go to the clinic, I did not take any decent pictures of the school. Classes still don't start for another week and a half anyway so, too bad! :) Lo siento...pero no.

Love, Katie

PS. Don't forget, I post a ton more pictures to my Flickr account!

PPS. Mama here is my first attempt at gomboc! These are Hungarian plum dumplings to the rest of you.

They were yummy, but not that yummy...
Needed some butter bread I think.

Spain: I'm here!

2007-09-07T19:32:00.000+02:00

This is the view from our flat!

Stitched together horribly in Photoshop!

Well I've safely landed in Valencia, Spain and the past 5 days have been interesting on a few levels. Before the flight, I admit to being a bit antsy, irritable and pretty emotional. But Mom, Dad and Jenny were champs and put up with me well enough :) A handful of friends stopped by the airport to say goodbye and to give valuable advice on Europe. This was a great addition to the gypsy-awareness education I received from Mama and Papa. Anywho, after lots of hugs, a few tears and more hugs, we were one our way.

Jenny sure looks sad to see me go...

Me and my amigos before the flight to Philly.
(Top: Aaron, Mike, Dave. Middle: Christina, Me, Irene. Bottom: Crabbie from Ralls.)

The flight itself was a doozy. BWI to Philly was about 20 minutes, Philly to Paris about 7-8 hours and Paris to Valencia took 2 hours. (I can't imagine flying to Moscow Aunt Val & Uncle Dave, wow!) I've never been in the air that long before. The longer flight had decent food and had these little tvs built into the seats. I watched Wild Hogs which...I admit...had me laughing out loud a few times. By the time we hit Paris' smelly airport, my tummy wasn't very happy with me. Jordan and I managed to get lost once or twice, waited for baggage that wasn't coming and got into wrong lines. Luckily they were very nice and shuffled us Americans along to the right place.

Arriving in Valencia, some adrenaline kicked in and I was able to survive until making it to the flat. I swiftly collapsed on my bed and was knocked out for a few hours. After waking up and meeting the girls, Angeles, Virginia, Vanessa and Rocio they took me out to a little bar where I got to watch some serious Valenciano futbol and truly learn how much I suck at the Spanish language. The flat itself is like a little labyrinth, with lots of doors, little bathrooms, windows and is very cute. My room is the smallest, and pretty plain right now.

My very messy bed! My walls are very plain too, I need some posters.

My desk and window. The view isn't very good here.

La cocina!

The salon and Rocio! We watch dubs of Friends, CSI and some pretty keen Spainish shows.

The girls are studying for big exams so I've had to go out and explore a bit on my own. When they have tie though we bond in the salon watching TV. Seeing Friends in Spanish actually made the show entertaining, haha! There is a lot of American music playing in elevators and restaurants here as well and American celebrities are also huuuge here in adverts and stuff, so that isn't much different from home at all. Apparently mullets are in style as well. Jordan and I are perplexed, but it sounds like David Beckham did it once and there has been a craze ever since in Europe. It is amazing.

So far the weather is very nice, always warm with a breeze coming from the Mediterranean. The people are patient enough with the language barrier, but I still have a long way to go. There are little things here that are very, very different from the US, like elevators the size of broom closets, a basketball-sized octopus sitting on ice in the seafood aisle of the supermarket (and snails!), gigantic palms trees, 1 and 2 Euro coins ... and for my dad, traffic circles with no lines! Noooo!

The chaos of it all!

In my next post I'll have more writings and pictures of the city itself, the university and the beach. Sadly I didn't take my camera with me because I had to scope those out first to make sure there were no gypsies! ;) Adios!

Love, Katie