FESTIVAL DE SAN JUAN

What a night!

Our professors told us last week about this festival called San Juan. They told us its a huge tradition in Spain to celebreate the beginning of summer (last monday) and everyone goes to the beach to party. The traditions are to party from sunset until sunrise, make 3 wishes, and then jump over 9 waves in the sea. Vinesha and I took a cab to the beach, but ended up walking for blocks because so many of the roads close to the beaches were shut down due to the festival. Once we got to the beach we were SO shocked! Literally, EVERYONE was there on the beach. The news paper on tuesday said that 130,000 people were on the beach in Valencia! There was a huge stage set up with DJ´s, dancers, and a singer. The croud infront of the stage was pack with people dancing to the techno music and socializing. ISU people all put our stuff together and started a bonfire. We all made our wished and jumped our waves so our wished would come true. A friend and I decided to go swimming--despite that I was fully clothes. I forgot that my camera was im my pocket, so it came swimming with us too. It is ruined and I lost my pitcures of Valencia so far, the bull fight, flmango dance performance, and pictures from that night so far. I am going to take other peoples pictures and put them up here so you all can have a visual. Anyway, we went swimming down by byt rock wall/peri thing. All of a sudden I realize that I cannot touch, the waves and bigger and going over my head, and I looked at the shore and we had been pulled really far out! I started swimming with my perfect breast-stroke from from FoxJets, but I wasnt getting any closer to the rocks. Eventually we made it to the rocks and I saw 2 other people get into the same situation as us. I heard her yelling for help and we went down to the rocks to pull them in. It was a few of some of the most terrifying seconds of my life. The waves that night were some of the bigest ones I´d ever swam in and it was so fun! I stayed on the beach until the sun came up around 6am. I got back to the apartment and went to sleep. I skipped my first class and as punishment, the ISU directors made everyone who missed class due to San Juan write a paper about our San Juan experience. I thought it was a great assignment and I hope they enjoy reading about all of our nights!

Spain in playing Russia in the semifinal soccer game tonight. Some of our friends know of this bar that plays the game on a huge projecton screen so we are getting there an hour and 45 miutnes early in hopes of getting a seat in the bar!

Beatiz--our host mother here-- fed Vinesha and I rice, beans, and SQUID and PRAWNS last ngiht for dinner. I tried them, but the smell gets to me so badly that I just can´t eat them, even though the taste is not that bad. I had a hard time gettting past the tenticle things poking out too. I hope toight its just rice and chicken because I am hungry!

p.s. sorry for my typos. This spainsh computer doesn´t do spell check for engligh and I am too lazy to proof read and fix them. LOVE LOVE! ALSO-- you can DOUBLE CLICK on the pictures I post to make them BIGGER!

The Rains in Spain....

The rain has finally stoppped. For the last two weeks the weather has been perfect. I taught Vineshea how to convert celsius into farenheit, so one day on our way home from school I had her practice converting it. She was doing the math outloud and said 89 degreees....wait no 98 degrees! Oh my gosh its 98 degrees! We did the conversion a couple more times to make sure, but she was right, it was 98 degrees. On the way to school today it was 90 and it was not 10am yet.

Last weekend was the most exciting weekend is Valencia so far. On friday, we went to see a FREE flamanco dancing performance. It was amazing the way the women moved their hands and bodies in super tight long dersses. It was a fun performance to see and Flamanco is what you think about when you think of Spain, so I am glad I got to see it!

On Saturday some Iowa State students and I went to the southern region of Andulucia and climed a mountian. There were also a group of older professors and non-traditional students with us. We had to climb many super steep hills of this tiny town to get to the beginning of the montain trail. One of the older men fell/collapsed on the street and they called an ambulance and I believe were doing CPR on him. We were about 30 minutes from the top of the mountian when one of the leaders of the hike caught up to us and told us that man who fell in the street had died. We tracked passed the word around to everyone on the mountain and well began to climb down the mountian. The rest of the afternoon consisted of a lot of waiting and gathering of our group. The mountain was beautiful and the views were awesome and I really liked the hiking part of the day.

I was exausted and really weirded-out by the occurances of the day and I just wanted to get home. I have become so aware of how precious life is with Grandpa passing away this month, a week later my best friend Maggie lost her Grandmother, and then this man from the hike. It was really difficult to not be able to be with my family in Michigan and be at his funeral. I am thankful for all the time I was able to have with him and being able to write a little something for his funeral was helpful for me to feel like I was there in a small way. I am really looking forward to getting back to the States and being able to go to Michigan and see family.

On Sunday I went to a bullfight. The bull ring stadium thing--called Plaza dr Toros in Spainsh-- is less than a 15 minute walk from my apartment. I walk past it almost every day here in Valencia and I was so excited to finally be able to go inside of it! The bullfight started at 7, but of course it was still 90 ourside so I was sweating. The the bad or cheap seats are the ones in the sun, and of course our were int he sun so I was dying of heat for a bit! The beginning of the bull fight startes with the madadors all walking out, some guys on horseback and traditional stuff. I really liked it and they outfits were so traditional and just as I had imagined them! Then the bull fight started. Each bull fight has 3 madador and they each kill 2 bulls. Sometimes if the bull is too aggressive, they send it back and send out a different one. The first bull was very difficult for me to watch. I was peaking though my fingers for most of the time! A couple of madadors attract the attention on the bull and get it to run around and tire it out. Then, a man on a horse comes with a stick in his hand that has a knife on the end. The horse man stabbs the bull near its spin and it justs bleeding and bleeding. FINALLY, the great and brave madador comes out to kill the bull--keep in mind its already really tired and it´s been stabbed and is bleeding alot. The madador does some cool moves, though. There was one madador from Mexico and he was my favorite. He did a really good job of making it entertaining and showing off. The madador takes a sword and stabbes the bull next to its spin to its heart. Then as he is celebrating that he killed a bull, some other guy stabbs the bull in the head to make sure its dead. OK, so I´m being biased and a bit negative, but it so unfair to the bull and the madador doesn´t even fight it full strength. I am glad that I went and staying the whole time.

After the bull fight we went over to a bar and ordered some food and watched the second half of the Spain vs. Italy soccer game. Right now is the EuroCopa. It is like baseballs world series, but a tourment for the soccer teams in Europe. It is so exciting because everyone gets really into it! There are signs everywhere telling people when the game is and all the bars are full of people. People will yell at the TV just like Dad yells at the TV when someone missed a putt or dropps a football pass!:) Love you daddy! The game went to over time and then into a shoot and and Spain won!! Our goalie stopped TWO penatly kicks! He was rocking! Walking home from the game lots of the cars were honking and people were yelling out their windows. We also saw soem guys running the streets with a Spain flag tied as a cape!

Going to class is my least part of the summer; they are super boring. I had a test in my Management class today and I think it went alright. Luckily, our professor has already told us he is going to curve our grades it alot. He is such a suporter of study aborad and he thinks we are all really great students and people becuase we are on this program, so he gives us a break!

Vinshea and I have been going to the beach and hanging out with kids from Iowa State. There is such a great group of people here from Iowa. Everyone is getting along really well and we all have a great time together. For those of you who do not know Vinesha, she is a good friend from high school. We went to Eden Prairie together and we went to the same chruch. She attends the University of Minniesota. We had talked about studying abroad together even before college, so we kept eachother updated with the programs we were looking into. I told her about ISU´s program here and Valencia and she decided to come! We are roommates here and are having zero problems. I am so happy she is here and that I get to experience this once in a life time trip with such a good friend. She is half Malaysian so thats why she has such a super sweet name! I love her! And I love telling people she´s from Malaysia! Haha.

These three pictures here are a smapling of the photoshoot we had one night in the apartment before we lef t to hang out with people...it happens that you get kinda board waiting until 11:30 or midnight to leave so pictures happen a lot !

My Turtle- Like Life

I´ve been in Valencia for a week and 3 days. I have lots of stories of transportation issues and mistakes Vinshea and I have made while trying to nagivate ourselvs around the city! The busses and the metro system here are not user-friendly, in my opinion. One day while on the bus to go to school, our driver got off the bus at a stop, went into the cafe for a bit, and came out finishing his donut!! Life is slow here. Everything takes 2-3 times longer-- transportation, waiting to cross the street, eating out, waiting in line, service! The service here is almost non-existant. In America, you are tought in ever yjob that the customer is the number one priority; you drop what ever task you are in the middle of to make them happy. Spainards could care less! It´s frusterating, but I am getting more and more used to it and I know to expect it now, also. I am getting used to living like a turtle.

Oh, and a bird pooped on my favorite--and only CLEAN pair-- of jeans.... :(

I thought it happened often becuse you dry all the clothes outside, but my host mom just laughed and laughed when I showed her... I took that as a sign that its not as common as I thought...

It has been raining a lot here, but i have 2 classes to go to every day. I am taking a class about Spain today and the other is a Management class specializing in Entreprenuership. Class is not super exciting, but my Management class did take a field trip to the Port of Valencia, which is one of the main HUBs in the world. It was really interesting and we got to ride on a boat for part of the tour and they served us wine and mussels. I, of couse, passed on the mussels this time!

Beatriz, our host mom, introduced us to her friend´s son, Phillipe, who is our age. He took to to his church´s youth group last friday and it was awesome! The worship music was so great and I recognized a couple of songs, except they were in Spanish. The people there were incrediably nice to Vinesha and I and welcomed us and chatted. We hung out with them a bit that night too, but it was really difficult to follow what they were all talking about becuase they speak SO fast and with a lot of slang. Vinesha, Beatriz, and I went to the same church last Sunday and God has just really answered my prayers so clearly with this church here, Phillipe and his friends, and with Beatriz being a Christian, too. Vinesha and I feel really lucky to have some spainsh friends and we are looking forward to seeing them again.

ESPANA--FINALMENTE!

We FINALLY arrived in Madrid on Thursday May 29th after traveling since May 12th! EJ and I were TIRED and sooo looking forward to first, warm weather, and secondly being in the same city, in the same bed for 6 whole weeks! yes! Madrid is the typically besutiful city with lovely plazas with old statues and building right next to a modern glass building. There were always people out on the streets. You'd see high school kids to grandparents out on the town at midnight going to eat or to a bar. Loved it! We went into the Pardo Museum and had some free time on Friday.

On Saturday, we went to a city called Salamanca and I saw my first California Red wood tree-- in Spain. The US gave the city and church in Salamanca the tree back in the day, and its HUGE! I didnt take many pictures because it was raining and we spent most of our day in side the univeristy there and in two churches. We walked through a wedding too! It was a beautiful city and I wish we could have spent more time there. On the drive home, the storm clouds were leaving and the sun was trying to get through as you can see in this picture ont he left.

The next morning, Sunday June 1st, we left Madrid for Valencia!

Amsterdam: a city of learning, not experimenting..

Amsterdam was a good time. Our hostel was close to the Dam Square, which is the main area in Amsterdam. We arrived on a Sunday night and the streets were bustling with people. We ate at the most delicious asian resturant called Wok Walk--wow my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Yum! We met some fun girls at our hostel--from Costa Rica, Brasil and Argentina. They were all super friendly and social and very interested in the US and comparing our countries. Two of the girls were only 18 but they were so educated and aware of political and social issues.

EJ and I did a lot of learning--and not experimenting :)-- while we were in Amsterdam. There was a free city walking tour given, so we, of course, went when we heard the word FREE!! Our tour guide was actually from California. She studied abroad in Australia and fell in love with a Dutch man and that's how she ended up in Holland! She took us to the oldest church in Amsterdam which is, and always has been, located right next to the Red Light District. We took a stroll down one of the many, many streets of the district. She explained to us how the Dutch view prostitution as just something that happens--its normal and no big deal to them. She said that the Government had always tolerated Prostitution, but that they choose to make it legal in order to regulate it and make it safer for the women. In summary of that topic, I'll just say the sights were shocking.... Next she showed us some buildings that have been around since Amsterdam was first a city and explained what they were used for, she showed us the smallest how in Amsterdam--see the picture-- The Dutch are taxed on how WIDE their house is, so in order to avoid some taxes, they all built tall, skinny houses. However, the houses are too skinny to carry anything us the stairs to the top floors. These ingenious people then built their buildings slightly tipping forward and placed a large hook at the top which is used for a levy-pully system. The house tips forward so that when they are pulling furniture up the side of the house, the furniture has not way of breaking the windows on the way up! Again, Ingenious!

The tour guide also gave us a bit of drug history: Marijuanna is legal, along with mushrooms, because they are viewed as 'light' drugs. In the 1960-1970's Amsterdam had 70,000+ junkies living in the city. The government then choose to focus their attention on the hard drugs and ignore weed because it doesn't cause as many problems. No one has been arrested for smoking a joint in Amsterdam for 31 YEARS.
Oh, she also showed us the smallest house in Amsterdam--it´s the red one on the left!!

We went into the Anne Frank Museum after our walking tour. Here is a picture of Otto Frank's actual store front door--ignore the bars, the building is under construction. The museum was shocking, amazing, unreal, and inspiring at the same time. All over the walls in the building where the Frank family and the 4 others lived were quotes from Anne's diary. They (the museum) did such as excellent job of explaining where you are in the house, who lived in this room, how the rooms were used, the pictures and newspaper clippings Anne used to decorate the bare walls....incredible. They had interviews with Otto Frank and with the people who helped hide the families. They had papers and documents from Aushwitz with Otto's name listed, hand written grocery lists the families wrote and gave to the the people helping them hide. They had so much authentic, detailed papers, writing, concentration camp papers that it was unreal. I was so shocked to see all that. Of course, the musuem also had facts, pictures, and film about the Jews and the concentration camps. I cried for those people, for their families, for the rest of the world and how long it took everyone to respond and stand up to Hitler. Our tour guide told us a story about how a few Jews in Amsterdam attacked and beat up a some Nazi soldiers. The next day, the soldiers went into the Jewish neighborhood and killed 425 people. In one day. You learn about WWII in school, but you don't hear about the little, local stories like that, it makes it so real and stomach-churning.

We spent some good times in Dam Square people watching and eating PB&J sandwiches. We rented bikes for and afternoon and it was stressful! I feel like I could conquer biking downtown Minneapolis now with my experience from Amsterdam! We walked past the flower market every day. They had some really cool cactus and I wanted to buy some!


Our last day in Amsterdam, which was a Wednesday, was grueling. We had to check out of our hostel at 10AM, but our flight into Madrid wasn't until 7am on Thursday... We hung out on a park bench--heres a picture of me below at our home for the day-- and we found this HUGE sign saying I AMSTERDAM and took lots of pictures. We slowing walked ourselves to the train station, which then took us to the airport. We arrived at the Shipol Airport at 7 PM and flew out at 745 AM. I didnt do much sleeping--only about 2 hours actually. Not exactly the best day of my life, but it was an experience! :)

Bruges: the fairytale city

Bruges is a couple hours west of Brussels in Belgium. It is know as being a fairytale like city, and I have to say that I agree. It is smaller and more quiet than the other cities EJ and I visited. There are plenty of old apartments still standing in the very narrow streets. The canals are all over the city and in the parks and stone arch bridges make it easy to cross over and walk all around. The buildings are very interesting with the tall point at the top of all the buildings, like you can see in this picture below.

We went to the oldest bar in Burges, which has been around since 1515. We also went to the church which has the vile of Christ blood, which changes into liquid form when ever the priests take it out of its box or something... The belfry in Bruges was huge, of course, but its very very pretty and Burges also has few squares that were in closed with all these beautiful buildings and churches.
EJ and I took an afternoon to picnic by the large windmills and the weather was absolutely perfect and I got sunburned. I have never seen more couples than when we were in Burges and I also have never seen more couple so public with their displays of affection, if you catch my drift....Also, people in Bruges bike everywhere!! The are tons and tons of bikes and people riding bikes and walking their bikes....after we had left Bruges and went to Amsterdam I was annoyed with the noise of cars and I missed the quieter streets of Bruges.