At the beginning of the year, I joined my school's theatre program. We performed a play created by my Spanish Literature professor, José Milián, called "El Principito".
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One week of every year, the Valencian Community goes crazy, with Fallas, a traditional celebration commemorating Saint Joseph.
The actual term 'fallas' or 'falles' in Valencian can be used to refer to the fiesta or to the monuments that are set up in many of the streets of Valencia during the Semana Fallera. Los falleros, Valencians who take a special interest in the Fallas, work all year long to build the best falla (the monument) with beautiful lights illuminating the adjacent streets. Each falla has a message that often is satirical, criticizing politicians and celebrities and recapping major events in Spain that occurred during the year. During Fallas, los falleros wear traditional dress (pictures below). As well as the monuments, there are also las mascletàs, la ofrenda, los fuegos artificiales, y la Nit del Foc (the Night of the Fire). Las mascletàs involve strings of fireworks (that only make noise, nothing visual) set off at each falla and in the Town Hall Plaza, every day from the beginning of March until the 19th. La ofrenda (the offering) consists of all of the falleras in Valencia bringing flowers to the Plaza de la Virgen, where they cover a sculpture representing la Virgen de los Desamparados (the Virgin Mary of Valencia) with the flowers. You can see many falleras crying as the walk towards the plaza. The best display of fuegos artificiales (fireworks) during Fallas is the night of the 18th. According to my host family, Valencia has the best fireworks in the world, and I wouldn't disagree. On la Nit del Foc, all of the fallas (the monuments) in the city are burnt in commemoration of San Jose. In the Plaza de Ayuntamiento (Town Hall Plaza), there was a fireworks display right before they burnt the huge monument. I don't think I've ever seen such a big crowd in my life. A couple weeks ago, my host family took me on a trip to see Madrid for 4 days. While there, I got to wander around the center of the city, and see the Reina Sofía, the Prado, and two cities nearby: Segovia and Ávila. Here are some pictures! Ya llevo 5 meses en España..y no lo puedo creer. Todo ha ido demasiado rápido, y ha sido increíble. Estoy triste cuando pienso que voy a salir España en el verano y dejaré la vida que he creado aquí. No lo puedo decir demasiadas veces que la acción de viajar cambia todo para lo bueno. Nunca es perfecto, esta experiencia no me ha sido perfecto, pero lo que ganas: los mejores amigos, la experiencia de conectar con una persona cuando ni uno habla el mismo idioma, un nuevo entendimiento de ti misma, todo esto vale muchísimo más que la dificultad de estar realmente fuera de la zona de comodidad. Y al final tienes el privilegio de verdaderamente entender y sentir el amor que junta todos los seres humanos, da igual el país, la ciudad, la familia, es el mismo "amor que mueve el sol y las otras estrellas".
Click here to see videos of Christmas Eve dinner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_kprEWkDF0 https://youtu.be/z8wGgBSqB4o Ahora llevo 4 meses en España. Entiendo casi todo, y puedo hablar con mucho más facilidad que antes. Definitivamente, hablo con un acento propio de Valencia. Siempre quiero poner más en este blog pero hay tantas cosas para decir que me mareo. La verdad es que este año ha sido uno de los mejores de mi vida. También lo más duro, pero creo que he crecido un montón como una persona y VALE LA PENA. Estoy muy contenta. Tengo miedo del mes de julio, ya llevo 4 meses y pareció demasiado rápido. Para las Navidades, mi familia y yo estamos en un pueblo pequeño en la provincia Alicante que se llama La Nucía, con los familiares de mi madre anfitriona. Aquí celebramos la Nochebuena, y el día de Navidad volvimos a Valencia para comer con la familia de mi padre. Vamos a quedar en La Nucía hasta el 6 de enero, el día cuando vienen los tres reyes magos y traen regalos para todos los niños. I have been in Spain for 4 months. I understand almost everything and I can speak mucho more easily than before. I definitely speak Spanish with accent from Valencia. I always want to put more on this blog but there are so many things that I would like to say that it's too much. The truth is that this year has been one of the best of my life. Also the hardest, but I think I've grown a lot as a person and it's worth it. I'm very content. I'm scared of July, I've already been here for 4 months and it seemed like it went way to fast. For the holidays, my host family and I are in a small town in the province Alicante called La Nucía, with the relatives of my host mom. Here we celebrated Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day we returned to Valencia to eat lunch with my host dad´s family. We are going to stay in La Nucía until the 6th of January, the day when the three wise men come and bring gifts for all the kids. I have now been in Spain for over 2 months. I am in love. Already this experience has been so amazing, it's hard to describe with words. Challenging, eye-opening, a journey of self-discovery, an opportunity to enjoy a new life in a new place. I think before I left, I didn't fully grasp how different Spain is from the United States. Yes, I knew it was a different language, culture, continent, etc, but before I actually arrived in Spain I couldn't grasp the difference in its entirety, and I still learn more every day. There is so much more to say. I write in my journal whenever possible, and I plan on posting more often here in the future. Thanks to my host family and my school, I have had opportunities to travel around the area of Valencia and the North of Spain. So for now, here are some photos of my adventures in and out of Valencia. Viaje a Soria, Burgos y Logroño con mi ClaseReunión de los Estudiantes de Intercambio en Madrid:I just went out to dinner with my host family. We went to a bar in the center that was founded in the year 1944. I ate a delicious bocadillo de calamares, a sandwich with calamari, and my host mom told me it was the equivalent of fast food in Spain. Crazy. The difference between this and a meal from Burger King is huge.
Today, I've been in Spain for more than a month. I can't believe how lucky I am. I've already had some moments where I really miss my family and my home in Colorado, but along with those there are so many moments of pure wonder and happiness. I am incredibly grateful to be here and deeply in love with Valencia. My apartment is in the center, inside the walls of the old city, which means everything is right outside my door, like the Plaza de la Almoina, la Catedral, the ruins of the ancient Roman city "Valentia", and so much more. There are so many new little things I encounter everyday that give me joy, and I wish I could write them all down, but it's impossible. Traveling to another country has opened my eyes, not only to the cultural differences and the things I take for granted, but also I am constantly improving my ability to break out my "routine". By breaking out of my routine I mean changing the state of mind where I am passive, stuck in one way of seeing the world, taking the blessings in my life for granted, not truly paying attention to my life. It's easy to do, and whenever I feel down it's because I'm thinking this way, whether I'm in the U.S. or in Spain. However, by living in Spain I am so much more aware of it, because this experience is constantly pulling me out of my comfort zone and what I know about the world. Every new thing I learn adds to my knowledge about the world, changes my way of thinking, convinces me that there is so much more than I can imagine. I am so happy to be here.
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