Being On Holiday

HOLA DESDE VALENCIA.

With the many visitors we’ve had over the past few weeks and no exams nor University, it very much feels as if we’re on holiday right now. Last Sunday evening, I travelled to the airport to welcome back Heather (who had been at home for the weekend celebrating her birthday) and Jess, my friend who was coming to visit for my final stint in Valencia. As I waited outside the exit, I noticed a Spanish family who were holding a banner to welcome back their daughters from Erasmus. This kind of put things into perspective, as they were leaving my country to return home and it’s nearly time for me to leave their country to go home!

That evening we bought a pizza, sides and ice-cream and sat up until the small hours chatting about life and catching up with each other. Beautiful :D

Being on holiday, Jess is obviously keen to get a tan and go to the beach and that’s exactly what we did on Monday, later joined by Alex, Hannah and Sam. We had a good swim in the sea and there were some crazy waves throwing us about – It was hilarious to watch Alex who was desperately trying to avoid getting the salt water in her face and eyes. We also attempted to play with a bat and ball (quite a common game on the beach here) but it soon became evident that we needed a little bit of practice.

That evening Jess, Alex and I went to Yi, a Japanese restaurant as Alex was craving Sushi (I’m surprised she hasn’t got bored of it by now) and I ate sooooo much food. It’s an all-you-can-eat menu but you choose what you would like and it’s cooked freshly for you. We just kept ordering more and more, but at least we got our money’s worth. From there we headed to Luna Luna, the bar a stones-throw from my flat where we met with Hannah, Heather and Heath’s friends Becky & Marie. Ironically, as Jess had come to Spain to escape the British rain, a thunderstorm ensued with some awesome lightning flashing across the sky. As already mentioned, thankfully home was only a few seconds away.

On Tuesday I took Jess for a wander through Carmen with the intention of climbing the Miguelete, the tower at the Cathedral. However, it was quite overcast and I felt it’d be better to do it another day when the view would be magnificent. We stopped at a Tapas restaurant just off Plaza de la Reina where we ate some pinchos and took a rest inside from the warm, it was horribly humid. Jess was certainly getting into the swing of Spanish life, taking a siesta later that afternoon, more Spanish than me! That evening, Pooja and Alyssa had arranged to have a get-together on the beach as it was their last night before returning back to America. It was sad to say goodbye, but I will always be with Pooja as I gave her one of my t-shirts: She is into photography and it has a camera on it. The tee is so old I was going to leave it here and so she asked if she could have It – Definitely the best present she has ever received.

Another goodbye that I said this week was to Becks. She wrote the following in her blog:

Thanks to the English guys and girls (or mainly just the whole of the language department at Cardiff Uni) – You guys were great fun to go out with and I am definitely coming to Cardiff for a night out with you all! And Sam, I will learn the Single Ladies dance and we can duet ;)

This made me smile and made me realize just how lucky I am to have met so many wonderful people during this time in France and Spain with lots of people all around the UK that I have to go and visit J

I received an email from Cardiff that I needed to get a signature on my Learning Agreement, a bit annoying after being here for 5 months, but easily solved. I popped to Uni on Wednesday morning as this is when my coordinator has office hours. While in Cardiff we make appointments to see lecturers, here it is just a case of turn up and wait. Unfortunately, there was a large queue or Spanish students who had questions and forms to be signed as they were just about to go off on their year abroad. Therefore, I had to wait 2 hours, which wasn’t fun and the signature took less than 10 seconds. Poor Jess had been left waiting in my flat as I told her I’d be no more than half an hour. This was my last experience within the Spanish system and what a way to go out, with just as much disorganisation as when I arrived. I certainly won’t miss this aspect of Spanish life/education.

Having planned to go to the Beach but feeling quite a lot of the day was gone, we decided to head back into the old town to wander some of the parts we hadn’t seen the day before and to also climb the Miguelete. I noticed how much wonderful graffiti/artwork was all around Carmen. Whether it is illegal or not (?) I do not know, but I’d rather look at some elaborate artwork and designs rather than random words sprayed on a wall. Climbing the 207 steps of the Cathedral with a temperature of high 20s was tiring but SO worth the views from the top. Naturally, I took lots of photos and we sat and stood for half an hour, looking over this beautiful city which I’ve come to call home. The more I think about it, the more this feels like home and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact it’s a city and that I live in a flat, compared to the student halls in France. I’ve come to the conclusion that I think I could live here, but I couldn’t study here. That said, I haven’t experienced the work-side of life here and it could be quite easily as badly organised as the education I have seen here.

Wednesday was also sad as it was time to say goodbye to María, the bessssst Spanish flatmate ever. She had planned to leave Thursday and we had planned to have some drinks and dinner on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, there were no remaining train tickets for the next day and so she had to leave unexpectedly the day before. It was sad to say goodbye after so many laughs and so much fun but I DEFINITELY plan to come back and visit, hopefully for Fallas next March! I also have a lot to thank her for as my Spanish has benefitted SO much from living with a native speaker and our conversations always being in Spanish. Not only that, she would tell me if I’d said something incorrectly or if something sounded too literal and weird and there’re plenty of colloquial phrases that I’ve picked up from my time living with her. I’ve been very lucky.

That evening AK and Anya returned from a weekend in Valencia and along with Heather, Becky and Marie, Jess and I joined them for a delicious dinner at Tanto Monta. Conversation was interesting, company was beautiful and food was delicious. Enough said I think?!

Thursday was another beach day with Heather, Becky and Marie. After 4-5 hours of tanning, I got restless and left the girls to sunbathe while I grabbed a Valenbisi and decided to cycle down to the other end of the beach. I’d never been there and just wanted to check it out, it was something on my list of things to do before leaving. The beach essentially carried on and on until I reached a motorway and sand dunes, where the coast began to curve and unable to find somewhere to park up the bike, I had to turn around there. Amusingly, I saw a man walking his pet pig on the beach, something I’ve never seen before. He poured water into a bowl for it and patted it on the stomach as if it were a dog – Only in Spain! Thursday evening, Anya and AK cooked us the most DELICIOUS and traditional Indian meal with a chicken curry, dahl, rice, salad and sweetcorn. Heather had made white sangria and Alex bought an ice-cream cake for dessert and it was yet another evening of great food and great company. Yum!

After having a lazy morning, Jess and I went into town for Paella for lunch on Friday and while delicious, I did feel that the service in the restaurant left a little to be desired. However a salad, paella and desert for 12eur? I can’t complain too much! We then headed to Turia and wandered along the riverbed to reach Artes y Ciencias. Studying engineering (just like Joanna,) I was sure it would go down well and indeed it did. The skies were blue, the water was glistening and everything looks gleaming and beautiful. After wandering around, we crossed the road to El Saler, the large shopping centre to have an ice-cream before wandering the way home. 

Friday was the Summer Solstence, the longest day of the year but the fact that the sun was in the sky for the longest period of time in the whole year was kind of overshadowed (literally) by the dramatic weather conditions that soon came. Soon after arriving home, it began to rain and then it began to pour and there was a huge thunder and lightning storm – Welcome to Spain Jess! The skies soon cleared to reveal the most spectacular sunset I think I have ever seen and as my lounge faces west, we had the perfect view. I took some photos and Jess had the great idea of going to the roof for a better view, and what a view it was! As the sky began to darken, it did so quickly as more clouds rolled in bring more thunder and lightning with it. I stood on the roof getting drenched taking photos and trying not to get my camera wet. I wanted to capture some lightning but the rain became too heavy and I was forced to retreat to the dryness of the indoors.

That evening we were supposed to go out but what with so many places being open-air at this time of year and the currently meteorological conditions, nobody really felt like it. Maddie was out that evening and so I took the opportunity to borrow her laptop and sort the photos I had taken over the last few days.

For the final Saturday of my Year Abroad, Jess and I spent the afternoon at the beach. It was HOT and the place was packed, mainly to the front where the sand is cooler and the sea is in easy reach – Perhaps others have experienced burnt feet from the sand too… Due to the busy nature, I decided we should walk further down the beach where I had cycled a few days previously. This paid off as the beach was a little quieter and we could have our own little area. We tanned, ate, played with the bats and ball and I also spent 2-3 hours in the sea just swimming around and enjoying the sea. My tan is coming on very well and I need to get it to its optimum level of brown before I go home, I am told people are expecting great things. I have a GREAT tan line where my shorts are, which is amusing to see in the shower.

We spent about 5 hours at the beach before grabbing and ice-cream and heading home. Jess needed her daily Siesta while I watched some junk Spanish TV (it’s all I can think of to do without my laptop!) Last night, Jess and I along with Heather and her 4 friends (another 2, Katie and Sally, had come from Barcelona/Madrid where they’re on their YA) all went into Carmen for a tapas dinner. Delicious! Carmen was buzzing with activity and the streets were crowded with people milling from restaurants, bars and others having botellón. From there, we met with Anya, AK, Amy and some new people I hadn’t met before and we had a few drinks in El Laboritorio, a bar just next to Plaza de la Virgen. When it closed, we sat on the steps of the plaza chatting and being 2am in the morning, the place was a hive of activity. Carmen is one of my favourite areas of Valencia and I’ll definitely miss it when I return home.

So here we are, Sunday 23^rd June 2013. I travelled to France on the 1^st September 2012. 10 months. Crazy. I can’t quite comprehend that it’s actually nearly time to pack up for the last time and head back to Wales for good. While there are things I will obviously miss here, I am so excited to get back home to friends, family, foods, work and just a bit of ‘home.’

I have 4 days left in Valencia and a huge list of things I want to do. Will I get to do them all? No, probably not. I’ve very much ‘lived’ here as a local and haven’t been running around seeing all of the tourist attractions like I felt I did in France, but that’s fine as I will without doubt come back here in the future.

The next few days will consist of packing, enjoying, goodbyes and ticking things off my list as the final few days of my Third Year Abroad play out. Britain, I’ll be seeing you soon…