Katie a la valenciana

Valencia, being on the Mediterranean coast and a 10euro roundtrip flight away from Madrid, seemed like the perfect place to reunite with some of my fave people: Kara, my bestie from Gonzaga, and Lindsey, my bestie from my super tightly knit all-girl's high school. So we booked a hostel for two nights and spent the weekend exploring, visiting the huge beautiful "Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias" (we visited the Science museum, 6.38euros, over the famous Aquarium, 21euros, because we only had 2 hours), going to the beach, exploring, and eating more oranges than I have ever eaten in my life.

Valencia is known internationally for two things: paella and oranges.

Below is a picture of Kara with her paella de carne. There is no picture of me with paella because, of the six people eating at the restaurant, I was the only one to not order paella. (I'm sorry but the BBQ pizza just sounded soooo goooood.) But yes, paella is delicious.

"Agua de Valencia" is not, in fact, water. (Big surprise, I know.) Instead it is orange juice with champagne, vodka and sugar (though I guess some versions just have champagne and OJ?) But if you get fresh squeezed Valencian oranges, as displayed below, it is seriously the best drink ever. Mostly because you can taste the perfect amount of pulp... ahhhhh, heaven.

Saturday we decided to take an excursion to a city, Cullera, about 30 minutes by train outside of Valencia (5.80euro roundtrip) which I was told by the tourist information lady had a great beach, Playa del Faro. She was not wrong. It wasn't super busy (hot enough for us but not true summer weather just yet) and there were NO international tourists. Also. It is normal for women not to wear their bikini tops at the beach. Us prudish Americans did... for the most part ;)

There are plenty of historical sites in Valencia that I'm afraid we did a poor job of tracking down, but what I really needed after all the craziness of museum trips and running around from city to city and classes was a mini vacation with some of my best friends. And Valencia was perfect- the beaches of Alicante are apparently even better, but really, when you are hanging out and catching rays, the company is the most important part, isn't it? ;)

Dali Museum in Figueres

So, as mentioned in multiple other blogs, my second favorite painting of all time (after Fragonard's "Le Verrou") is Dali's "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening". Usually it is on display in my current hometown (Madrid) at the Thyssen Museum, but it is currently on loan to the Dali Museum (he designed the museum himself out of an old theater; it's the largest surrealist object/ building in the world?).

A normal person would probably wait for the painting to come back to Madrid in early May then pay the 5.50 Euro entrance again. Instead, on my second trip to Barcelona, I grabbed my good friend Naomi, hopped on the train (23 Euros round trip! and they didn't even check the ticket coming back! Rip-off....) to Figueres (about 90 minutes outside Barcelona) and go see the only thing that Figueres has to offer in terms of tourist destination: the Dali Museum.

To summarize, if you like Dali's work (which I do, that man was genius.)(also, insane.) then it is definitely worth the trip. We lucked out with the weather (the walk would have been miserable in the rain) and the Dali museum is a pretty cool destination (if still pretty crowded). I won't bore you with the details of all the museum, but here is the link to the Dali Museum in Figueres.

The two things I will post:

My second fave painting of all time. It was just so cool to be standing in front of it! :)

Here is a 3D art piece (if you can tell?). I am taking this picture from behind a lens that puts it all together, but really its a sofa-like pair of lips (about my size), a 3D nose, 2 pictures of city landscapes and a really weird surrounding wig?

Paris (and Nantes): Whoa, Deja-Vu.

Mkay so recap: I lived in St. Gemain-en-Laye when I was little (for 2.5 years) so that's where I learned French, and then junior year of HS I studied at the Sacred Heart school (called La Perverie) in Nantes (which is 2 hours by train west). So most of (all of?) this stuff I have seen before: Spring break was less about doing tourist-y stuff and more about seeing friends and familiar sights :)

I did NOT spend enough time anywhere: got into Paris at midnight on Monday, I went to Le Mans to see my old HS roommate (from La Perv) for 5 hours on Tuesday, continued on to Nantes where I stayed with a friend from La Perv (and saw many of my fab friends, some who even drove home to see me:)) and then spent Wednesday afternoon through Friday afternoon in Paris. While my highlights were seeing lots of old friends and visiting places from my childhood, here was my spring break in France 101:

Group of students I studied with at La Perverie!!!

Nantes, which is a beautiful city, does not have that much going on tourist-wise. I like it better that way, and people in Nantes are so friendly ! (Yes, Parisians do have a reputation for their... rudeness? coldness?) But it's a pretty big town/city with quite a lot going on. Passage de Pommeraye is definitely worth a look.

PARIS:

The Louvre

So the Louvre (for the under-26 crowd, I'm so glad I get to travel and still get discounts, etc.) is free. And beautiful. And has TONS of tourists. But I don't care because I got to see my favorite painting of all time. It's Fragonard's "Le Verrou" ("The Lock") and while the explanation of why I love it so much is fairly long, seeing the painting live is my #9 lifetime goal (that's a Top Ten Goal!! So a biggie!) When we turned the corner I literally gasped with excitement. SUCH a pretty painting...

LE VERROU!!! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

The Louvre also has, of course, the Mona Lisa, da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks, a Delacroix collection, Michelangelo sculptures, etc. But you can read about it on the Louvre's website.

Effiel Tower: It opens at 9:30am, so GET THERE at 9:30am. The crowds get insaneeeeeee. And honestly, climbing it is 100 times more fun then getting in a cramped elevator, though that is the only way of getting to the third floor. But still, the best part of the 3rd level is the view, and the Eiffel Tower is the pretty part of the Parisian skyline anyway... Still. I remember climbing the stairs all the time when I was little. Then my brother and I would watch the movie in the little cinema on the first floor (mini- documentary about the history). And he would have a fit of joy when he saw the Superman clip...

Should mention: for students, elevator to the third level (which is actually two elevator rides) is 11 euro. Gross.

Miss Haley and myself after finishing with the Eiffel Tower.

Notre Dame

We got to go to the Notre Dame on Holy Thursday (Thursday before Easter, for those with little to no Catholic education ;)) which was really cool. Great weather, too. And the Notre Dame is the only place in Europe I've seen thus far that allows you to actually light a candle in remembrance of someone (though it is 2 euros, versus 20 cents to turn on the fake candle)

Beautiful day, gorgeous Cathedral.

Food

(Not a location, but it might as well be. I am positive I gained weight in France.)

I LOVE FRENCH FOOD. And they have sooo much chocolate in breakfast foods. Here was my breakfast in Nantes: (right to left)

Hot chocolate

Pain au chocolate

Sable de chocolate (it's really just a chocolate cookie)

And yes, I ate almost all of it. When buying the sable and the pain au chocolate, the woman at the boulangerie seemed to think I was ordering both for me and my friend ... so when Scott started to order his food, she got confused and said, "Oh I'm sorry! I though she [me] was ordering for the both of you!" I simply reassured her, "No, it's ok, I'm just fat."

Foods I didn't get to eat but would have if I had time: escargot (snails are yum), croque monsieur, moules frites, hot chocolate at angelina's (near the Tiulerie), quiches. etc. FRENCH FOOD IS SO BOMB.

Finally, my old home

St. Gemain-en-Laye is HOPPING, but with absolutely no tourists. It's a pretty big town, 20 minutes by RER outside of Paris, and on the Friday that I went there was the huge market, so it was super busy with all native French people. It was so weird being in the Monoprix I used to push my mini-shopping cart around in (it's weird what you remember), staring at the Chateau (now museum of archaeology) you used to run around inside, and though I didn't get to visit my old school (apparently it was shut down?), it was amazing to be in a place with so many memories. As a four year old, though, you really don't appreciate the fact that you are lucky enough to live in another country (next to what I consider to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world) and learn another language. So it was a truly beautiful experience getting to visit a place that, on more than one occasion (St Gemain and Nantes), I called "home".

Top right window in the picture... I think that was my parent's bedroom? And the living room was the other two windows on that level? Max and I had a bedroom on the other side of the building...

Hello Bilbao! You really like Abstract Art, uh?

SO! I had a free weekend. So I went to Bilbao with one of my friends, Devon, to see the Guggenheim and other fun things.

Our 5 hour bus ride left Thursday night from the Madrid bus terminal at 1:30am, depositing us in Bilbao before the sun rose. Since we had an hour and a half to kill we walked down to the river and went to see the sunrise behind the Guggenheim museum (which is just as cool as everyone says, Frank Gehry did a great job designing it!)

The Guggenheim had some really great pieces, and some pieces where you just kind of scratch your head and think, "Hm... my 11 year old brother could've done that!"

Here is the basilica up from the Casco Viejo (old city) where I accidently attended mass on Friday... it was a weird service? We just said the Padre Nuestro and Hail Mary over and over. Thank God my 7th grade Spanish teacher had us learn those... But it was kind of nice to have some time to myself in a church.

That evening we went out with another American and some Austrians (one who was living in Bilbao) and we had PINCHOS. Which are like tapas, as displayed below. This was the best thing EVER. Expensive, though, at 1.50 euro each :)

In the pic below: Fred the Californian, Devon my travel buddy, me, and Verena the Austrian. Marco, the one taking the pic, was our guide for the night.

The next day Devon and I joined a group of Spanish and French students on a tour through Bilbao. The most interesting part about the group is the fact that they defaulted to English, since most of the French students didn't speak Spanish and vice versa. But the tour included an hour long trip to the Palacio Congreso, a new-er 81 million euro conference center designed like a boat. It was gorgeous, below is a picture of the main auditorium (also boat shaped).

I know a girl studying in Bilbao right now, and as beautiful as the city is I think it would be hard to stay there for over a weekend... there's not a ton to do. But then again I guess it's like Spokane, where the tourist activities are a little bit limited but it's still easy to have a great time with friends.

Also hostels are growing on me... I am kind of a hard sleeper (okay, "kind of" is false, I am an incredibly bad sleeper) but I'm willing to sacrifice sleep in order to meet new people. Facebook has completely changed the hostel dynamic now; people who in past years would be "weekend friends" now exchange info so we can be facebook friends, even if we will probably never see each other again...

But I won't be in a hostel until mid April now, and I'm okay with that ;)

10 Ways to Tell Katie is 'Merican!

1. I am a fast walker. I walk quite a bit faster than the average American (like mother, like daughter), and the average American walks faster than the average Spaniard. This means I look like I am freaking out whenever I walk anywhere, since I can usually DOUBLE a Spaniard's speed. (Except in heels.)

2. I tend to smile. Not at particular people, but I sometimes smile absent-mindedly when I walk. So this means I creep people out, or look like I am interested in dating them. I mean to do neither, I just tend to be a particularly random-ly happy individual. I am slowly learning to NOT do this at night, when creepers are at their drunkedness and accidently mistake a light smile for a come-on.

3. Sometimes... I sing. Quietly and to myself, but you can hear it if you're close enough. Or I get a song stuck in my head and sing it loudly and encourage others to join in. Note: They usually don't. But that's okay. The most popular songs? "Tik Tok", "Love Me Tender", that song that goes "workin' that back, don't know how to act, slow motion for me, slow motion for me..." or "Parachute" (Cheryl Cole). Sometimes Switchfoot, if I did a lot of HW the night before. Anyway, this singing Katie stands out ;)

4. I dress/look like an American. All the Spanish girls are adorable, in their cute boots and matching purses and skirts or skinny jeans... I like my sweatshirt and converses. Also they wear quite a bit of make-up and do their hair, and I like to go au-natural in the make-up department (though I'll admit I wear more over here) and have a ponytail or sloppy bun. And not a "oh, I'm going to spray this bun and make it look cute and sloppy", but more of a "I have to go to school in a bit, Gosh darn it" bun. Exception: when I go out.

You would think the lack of effort would make the Spanish men ignore me, but instead it seems to point me more out as an American and I guess Americans are hot commodities? I get hit on more on the metro looking like a homeless person than when I dress up...

Bad! No make-up, wearing sweats and sweatshirt, with a ponytail. Do not do this!!!

5. I talk like an American. Not just in English, but louder. Noticeably louder. Americans are notorious for this, and I'm still a bit better then some American groups I meet on the Metro. You can TELL an American group.

6. I still get uneasy when people yell "Guapa!" You'd think that after having it EVERY MORNING from the garbage men I would get over it, but I always get flustered. And that is somehow encouraging to them, mostly because that means I acknowledge their existence.

7. I still go to Sol/ Gran Via. Tourist-y areas. But I think it's fun meeting other Americans and Brits and Australians.

8. I am a big arm mover. When I talk my arms tend to go all over the place. This is not something I see a lot of Spaniards do, at least not sober ones.

9. I thank people for stuff. Like the cashier at H&M, the person who hands out free newspapers at the Metro stops, etc. I suppose I could break this habit easily if I wanted to, but I would feel bad just without thanking someone. Same applies for "¿Que tal?" Usually you ask this of friends, but I ask my waiter, my teachers, etc. etc.

10. My dancing. That's self explanatory. I'm ok with it, apparently I'm still a fun dancer. I think it's because I laugh and smile a lot when I dance, and it makes me look like a fun person ;)

This is a candid picture, and look! I'm still smiling! (Like I said before! Smiling attracts creepers! I had quite a few, um, "fans" that night... and that is not a good thing at 3am!!!)

Need More "Dancing Queen", Less "Epileptic Dolphin"

Ha, I'm kidding. Really I'm not that bad a dancer. At least I hope not. But I am still super awkward on the dance floor, especially with an actual man dance partner.

SO there are two types of dancing (actually there are 2532323412 types of dancing, but I will divide them into two general groups): partner proper dancing and club dancing.

I will talk about them here.

Partner Proper Dancing

I really should copyright that title. Anyway. I have a Latin dance class on Monday afternoons with the awesome people in my program (and it is surprisingly evenly matched, boy-girl), and a Salsa class on Thursday evenings with one American and a bunch of Spanish people (of all ages, shapes and sizes).

The teacher in the Monday class is adorable. I definitely have a mini-girl crush because of how happy and sweet and cute-as-a-button she is. Also she is a great teacher- I am sometimes saddened by the knowledge that there is a very high probability that the best batchata (I have no idea how to spell that word and neither does spellcheck) or chachacha partner I will ever have (no offense to the boys! but you guys know how awesome she is). And it's really easy to feel comfortable with her leading; I think most guys underestimate how absolutely confused I can get. I need an aggressive lead or I tend to start leading by accident...

Only frustrating part of that class is we are spending so much time on the Sevillana. The Sevillana is danced in Sevilla on festival days. I am not going to Sevilla (sadly?) so it is wasted on me.

Thursdays class, filled with Spanish people (and more men than women), is a little more chaotic, a little faster paced, even though it is only for Salsa. I know the basic moves now... the Croqueta, the Giro de Rosca... though I will have no idea what to call them in the States, at least I'll know how to do them ;)

Some of the men are good dancers and some are not. But I prefer a bad dancer to a creepy dancer, of which there are always a few. I find it awkward to receive hand massages mid-dance or to have a stranger staring into my eyes without blinking from 6 inches away... and last week one dance partner (new guy) screwed up and attempted to blame it on my lack of Spanish when the teacher asked him. Definitely surprised him when I explained in detail what he did wrong. In SPANISH. Boo yeah, rude new guy with weird glasses.

Club Dancing

Without getting into the nitty-gritty, I am less a "good" dancer and more of a "fun" dancer when it comes to club dancing. For the most part I enjoying laughing with my friends than going one-on-one with a strange man in a club (Mom and Dad, be proud of your daughter). My favorite nights are ones like Saturday night, which I will outline here. Please keep in mind that I wanted to be home by 2am on Sunday morning.

11:30pm Meet up in front of the McDonalds at Gran Via, near the tourist-y/bar area is. We use McDonalds because (a) it is very very easy to find people there, (b) McDonald's are nice in Europe, and have great bathrooms, and (c) if we get bored we just watch the prostitutes pick up random guys, it's essentially red light central near there. I always have to go around 11:30 pm because my host fam eats dinner at 10:30pm, and it takes about a half hour getting from my apartment.

12am Head, everyone in tow, to a bar. 75% of the time this is El Tigre. El Tigre is mostly Americans but has good drinks (6euros for a Mojito which will keep you buzzed throughout the night) and comes with Tapas (appetizers, usually patatas bravas and tostadas but hey, we're not picky).

Some fab friends (Niki and Naomi) visiting me in Madrid, so of course I take them to El Tigre! We are holding the infamous Mojitos ...

1-2am Leave El Tigre and walk around Sol until a "club promoter" offers free entry and, sometimes, free shots. These places are never the big clubs (like "El Kapital" or "Joy") but I have more fun there anyway, when I'm not being constantly pushed against and can talk to my friends. On Saturday we went to the "Bourbon Club", which had 70's, 80's and 90's music playing. One of my friends started a limbo line which got a bunch of people in the club super excited, myself included. And singing along to "I'm Too Sexy", "Holding Out For a Hero" and Grease songs resulted in a lost voice for the next 24 hours. But dancing with good friends and good music is definitely a favorite past-time ;)

4am Either leave for another club, or (like me on a long day) head to Plaza de Cibeles in the center of the city to take the night bus home (or you can wait for the Metro to open at 6am...) Since I live relatively far from others in my program usually this is an interesting walk solo. I am one of the few girls who is not a prostitute walking alone at 4am. And you meet some interesting people at 4am downtown!

Here's what I tend to do after 3+ hours of dancing... take a break and sit on the stage while the next club dancers are getting ready ;)

Anyway. That's my summary of the two main dance events I get to partake in every week. Hope it was enjoyable and not scarring in any way.

(I hope I did not overly concern people with my last post, thanks to all who sent emails or messaged me ;) I really am having a great time in Madrid and in Europe, but it's always a little sad to think of life going on as usual back home and not being a part of it... and people in the program, I love you guys!! You have been such a great group of people, I couldn't ask for better)

The Blah Blah Blahs of Katie A's Mind: And it might be the muscle relaxants talking. But probably not.

To start off, I should declare: I am an extrovert. And not in the textbook way (more concerned with practicalities than inner thoughts), but in the social way. I (for the most part) try to surround myself with people, and deal with my emotions and thoughts through them. When sad I like to have someone to talk to, when happy I want someone to celebrate with. And when my friends are sad I'd prefer to be with them than to leave them alone, etc. etc. Studying abroad has somewhat messed with my extroverted ways...

What I really didn't realize while studying abroad is how much change a person goes through. And even harder to accept is how much change occurs back home with friends and family that I have no control over, and in some cases, I will have no knowledge of.

I did not know anyone in my program before coming here, and am the only person from Gonzaga (or Seattle). Fortunately I'm not the only person from Gonzaga in Madrid, and that makes it easier (thank god for miss haley). But really, I could've come to this program calling myself a different name, acting a different way, doing things differently than I do at home and no one here would be any the wiser. There is literally nothing holding me to be the person I was at home. And while some may rejoice in this, I think it's almost depressing. At the risk of sounding corny or whatever, it's nice to have some links to home, and links to who you are at home. I think it's one of the reasons I spend so much money and time traveling to see people from Gonzaga or from my high school. I suck at dealing with emotional turmoil while flying solo.

Unlike at Gonzaga, where most of my time is spent running from one activity or friend to another, I have a lot of alone time here. It's not that I want to spend it alone, but when you have to take a 30 min Metro to get anywhere and you don't live close to friends... you know. And I've done quite a bit of traveling by myself, which (truth be told) kind of sucks. And I'm looking at having to travel some solo this summer, too. But I guess that's part of the experience? At least it's becoming a part of mine.

Our program ends in less than two months, I'll be back in the states in about 2.5 months. And as much as I try to communicate over postcards and skype and facebook and email, I fear many of my relationships back home might change. There will be inside jokes I will have no knowledge of, and people will have, for the most part, evolved. (in some cases de-evolved?)

To those people I haven't talked to while over here? I won't be the same person. Already my religious beliefs, my view of the world, all of that, have changed. Maybe for the better? Or maybe not.

(please note this is my experience, not all your friends abroad have mental breakdowns and revelations or freak out that everything is changing back home. Also, as mentioned in the title, I am on muscle relaxants. They are strong. Also overly emotional for reasons that are TMI.)