Vale, Vale, Vale.

Liza, Me, Tay, Britt, Caroline, and Grace at the Beach

VALE. I feel like I must explain this term, considering it is my new favorite word. Spaniard use "vale" (pronounced like ba-lay) like we use the word "like." To be nerdy and use the correct term, its called a pragmatic marker. Anyways, this word is used ALL the time and I am finally getting the hang of using it and responding to EVERYTHING with it. I feel like we were always taught to say "bien" or "está bien" but here "vale" is the response to everything. I love it :). So, the past couple of days have been absolutely amazing as usual. I left off last Thursday when I went to lunch with Deigo, Austin, Taylor, and MC. I attempted to take a nap but people kept coming in my room, so that was not successful. I would still say that I am deprived of sleep. After I write this, I am heading straight to bed (actually I am already in bed) and sleeping for a couple of hours. Anyways, Thursday was THE MOST annoying day ever. A bunch of us were running out of clothes and were desperate to do laundry. Our laundry situation in a nutshell --  Only one washing machine works for our entire dorm, only two dryers work (and by work, I mean that they get our clothes to a "damp" stage, there are no laundry mats nearby that will let you do your laundry for less than 12euro (NUTS), and when the washing machine does work in our dorm...it is never available -- Needless to say, I hate doing laundry here officially. I eventually grabbed the washing machine after wasting plently of euro cents on the broken one and then turned my bedroom into a laundry mat hanging my wet clothes everywhere. It was kind of funny. My day got sooo much better though because my friends recorded the funniest video on facebook...it made my day! I miss those crazy kids!!! Anyways, I decided to stay in that night because of my frustrating day...drank some wine...listened to music..and went to bed dreaming of Spaniards... ;) Just kidding.

Friday I walked to class with Ryan and Brittany and it was a pretty day! Later after eating and napping, I went with Taylor to return the boots she bought because they gave her two different sizes. I swear that Spain is trying to make it that we will never be able to walk again...we are NEVER going to be able to get comfy shoes. I was craving ice cream on the way back, so Tay and I stopped at Bertel in La Plaza Reina. I got gelato avellanas con cookies -- hazelnut with cookies -- and it was soooooo delicious. My craving was satisfied, but it was kind of expensive like good ice cream places are in the States (3,00 euro...I know we are cheap, but we don't want to waste a single euro cent). Taylor and I started drinking some wine fairly early and went out with our fav Spanish kids -- Caroline, Grace, Brittany, Carlos, Sad, Jorge, Diego, Ana, Ana, y Rosa. They first took us to this hole in the wall bar, which literally was a hole in the wall. We had to duck to sit down in the bar. It was so awesome. We all just talked in Spanish about where we were from, worked on our Spanish while they worked on their english, and seriously had a BLAST. Then, they took us to a salsa bar and taught us how to salsa. They said they we dance "muy libre", which just mean that we don't follow steps..we dance very "free." Next, we went to Radio City, which is still our personal favs, and danced all night long. Around the corner from our dorm, there is a Plaza that everyone gets doners, kebabs, and pizza -- a doner is sort of like a euro, but SO much better...I'm addicted -- While everyone was chowing down, I met other Universitad students from France and Italy. The French guy, Fred, spoke english, french and spanish, but the Italian kids only spoke Italian and Spanish! We exchanged numbers and hope to meet up soon for tapas! They have been here since September, so I am sure they have plenty of awesome things to fill me in on.

Plyometrics on the Roof

Greg at Gulliver Playground

El Río - Walking to El Museo

The next morning, we woke up around noon and wanted to do P90X on our rooftop. We recently discovered our awesome rooftop terrace and now everyone chills up there all the time. Me, Tay, Austin, and Suz brought my laptop on the roof and got our butts handed to us on a platter. We did plyometrics, which is "the mother of all P90X's". It killed us, but I mean...we were on a rooftop working out...in Spain. We CAN'T complain. That was awesome and will be happening often. After that, we got ready and went on a long walk through El Río to the Museo de Falleros. The walk was way better than the museum. I got to see Gulliver which is a HUGE playground shaped as Gulliver from Gulliver's travels. It was SOOO awesome. I spotted these guys break dancing in the middle of the play ground. I'll try to add the video I took on the bottom of my blog. After, the miserable museum, we took a taxi home because we are so sick of walking. Taxis here are SO cheap, but I was scared for my life. The roads are totally different here, so I just thought that we were going to die the entire time..haha.

When we were on our way back to the dorm, we spotted this cute old couple eating what looked like heaven in a cup outside. We asked them what they were eating and they were so cute and offered us some, but we immediately decided to go back later. It was at a small cafe called Valor. We got churros and chocolate (which Eliza claimed must have been made by Jesus himself..haha) It was soooo delicious. Later that night we went to O'Haras, La Bolsería, doner kebab, and Music Box! Such a fun night! It was Martín's (guy on the left) last night in Valencia. He is a friend that we made from Denmark. He will be missed!

Stefan and I Chillin' at the Beach

Sean, Eliza, and I

Taylor and I at the Beach

Sunday morning was fabulous to wake up to because that meant that we were GOING TO THE BEACH!!! Ahh! It took us forever to find the tram, but we finally found it and hopped on! We got to the beach and I was automatically in love. It was soooo beautiful. The sand was soo fine and soft, the water was beautiful, and I couldn't have been any happier to finally see the gorgeous beach in Valencia. It was kind of windy and cold, but we all just brought blankets and hung out on the beach and in the little cafés (Els Angeles) around the beach. Two of the crazy boys got in the water and I'm sure they regretted that decision, but it was hilarious for us to watch. Tay, Molly, and I walked up and down the strip looking for a bathroom, which was unsuccessful, but did find a ton of beautiful places along the beach. After, we left the beach, we SEARCHED for an Italian restaurant, but literally the streets are empty and EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays. We were disappointed, especially when we had the grossest meal thus far in our dorm. That night I skyped Daniel Kuckelkorn, who was the foreign exchange student who lived with my family for a year when I was about 6 years old. I am staying with him and his wife for all of Semana Santa and traveling all over Germany. I absolutely can't wait! It was so awesome talking with him since I haven't seen him since I was 6! I also got to talk to a bunch of fam that day! I thought I was done with this day until I realized that I went and got churros and chocolate yet AGAIN that night.....the server recognized me at VALOR. NEVER GOING BACK.........

La Playa

Yesterday was my LONG day at class, but it wasn't TOO bad. Me, Tay, Grace, and Molly were on mad HUNT for Toms shoes yesterday. Britt had a pair and I borrowed them one day because my feet hurt sooo bad and they were like walking on clouds. We searched all over Valencia, but had ZERO luck. We are so bummed, but think we are going to send them to our houses in the states and have our parents send them to us. That is how desperate we are. On the way back from shopping, we stopped at this tiny place to get crepes :) They were so unhealthy, but so delicious. Then, I came home and skyped the fam and wished my mom good luck for her surgery today! We also planned our Dublin, Ireland trip for next weekend and bought our plane tickets!!!!! it was the BIGGEST pain in the butt, but I think we finally have it figured out. Now just on to my Germany ticket...hehe. I went with Suz and the Spanish kids to get a Guiness last night before bed and then caught some zZzZZzz...


Today I just went to class and made a long TO DO list as usual. I think we are just resting today and then going to celebrate Rebecca's 21st birthday!! Yay....now...NAP TIME....

Caroline, Me, Suz, Eliza, and Tay at the Museo Fallero