"O, Valencia!"

I just got home from my first haircut in Europe. I must say that I was scared to death, and so was Pot, especially because of the language barrier. Theresa comforted me when I asked her if she ever got a haircut here, and so did my hairdresser at home, who told me I'll get a "great haircut" over here. Pot and I found a cute little shop down the street from our apartment where the hairdresser spoke some English, so we just went with it! Well.... our heads aren't shaved and we are happy with our cuts :)

On that note (kind of?), apparently our bathtub drain is completely clogged. Our landlord came over today and tried to de-clog it, and he said it is a "humongous problem." So now we sit and wait for the plumber. Yayyy

This past weekend I went to Valencia, Spain, with Pot and Stacey from Thursday through Sunday. We didn't get into Valencia until very late and when we had finally found our hostel, we were so hungry that we ate at the Chinese restaurant across the street from our hostel. Yes, we ate Chinese in Europe, and it was delicious! We spent Friday morning catching up with our sleep from the week and from traveling and then we went to visit the Jardines Real (the Real Gardens). Valencia apparently has a ton of gardens and parks that are absolutely beautiful - our hostel was in a great location with surrounding parks, so we were happy about that. The gardens have lots of palm trees and fountains in them (to the right), and a lot of people were walking through them no matter what time of day it was. After coming from rainy and cold weather in Firenze, we were soooo happy to be in 60-degree weather, so we just sat in the gardens and soaked up as much sun as we could for the afternoon! Our first Spanish meal consisted of Spanish ham and cheese on bread, which is their most common meal it seemed. Nevertheless, it was delicious! I have never been one to like ham, but I really enjoyed it in Valencia. We also visited la playa (the beach) - Valencia is a very tropical city since it is on the Mediterranean, and it obviously attracts a lot of tourists in the summer time. To the left is a picture of Pot, Stachay and me in front of the beach. It was empty on the beach since it was a Friday afternoon, but when we went back on Sunday, it was extremely crowded! There were a lot of families playing games and relaxing on the beach together, which must be really nice. I wish family time was that easy in the U.S.!

We also got to see the bull-fighting arena from the outside, which looked exactly like the Colisseum in Roma. Katie told us that we absolutely must try Valencia's famous drink, Agua de Valencia, while we were there, so we went to a tropical bar on Friday night and had it. Her warning was correct: it is delicious and very strong! Enough said. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Katie because she resides in Toledo and couldn't get there for the weekend, but we are hoping to see her when she comes to Italy for her spring break in April. Our dinner that night consisted of ham and cheese crepes, which is pretty much the only thing every restaurant had to offer us. It was still delicious, and we followed it with a chocolate crepe that was even better! To the right is me with my first glass of Sangria wine, which is also famous in Spain. I didn't like it too much!

On Saturday, we visited Cathedral of Valencia (not sure of the name) and climbed the tower to see a 360-degree view of the city. It was very pretty, but nothing compared to the view of Firenze from the Duomo! It was very refreshing to hear Spanish - the language that I have been accustomed to learning the past 13 years - but I was getting so confused between my Italian and Spanish! However, I was still able to communicate for the most part with the Spanish and was proud of myself for remembering all of it. I've realized that I really enjoy learning languages and kind of wish I had minored in one or two. It comes pretty easily to me, and I like to practice communicating with the natives whenever and wherever I am. Below is a picture of a fountain in the middle of the city during the parades.

For the rest of the afternoon on Saturday, the three of us took a siesta like the rest of the town and woke up for another fun night out in the piazza. We tried a restaurant near the Piazza de Reina so that we could try some paella. We ordered paella veguras - vegetable paella, which is just a bunch of cooked rice and vegetables together. It was pretty good, but if I was studying abroad in Spain, I would never be able to live off of that for a semester! At least I tried it, which is what this trip is all about - stepping out of our comfort zones and immersing ourselves into the native cultures. I also tried a tuna sandwich, which I loved the most out of anything I tried in Spain! I can't wait to eat more tuna sandwiches at home now!

We returned to Firenze very late Sunday night (more like Monday morning) and went straight to bed. During my walk to class on Monday, I noticed that this city is getting SO touristy already! It's barely even mid-tourist season and I already can't stand the tourists. I know that I am somewhat a tourist myself, but I can definitely see why the natives get so annoyed with us. I can barely walk through the market to get to my class in time! I better get used to it.

We went to Mass last night for Ash Wednesday, and before we walked in, I asked Pot why we haven't seen any Italians with ashes on their foreheads all day. Considering this is a Catholic country, I thought it was so strange to not see the ash crosses on peoples' foreheads. I found out the answer when I got my ash - they literally throw the ash (what looks like dust) in your hair - ha!

While I've been here and made Italian friends, I have realized a lot about international countries' dependence on our own country, the U.S. I feel ignorant and kind of dumb for not realizing how dependent every country in this world is on America. I mean, I knew that America is the country that no one wants to leave and everyone wants to come to and that it has much influence on the rest of the world, but I never knew how much the citizens of each country truly cared about the influence our country makes on them. The U.S. political system is like the most important thing to them and they act like it determines their future. The other day, Pot was talking to Luca and Ana (the leather store owners) and Ana interrupted the conversation and yelled, "I have to go to the George Bush!" Luca told Pot that that means she had to go to the bathroom (hahaha). He told her that they say that everywhere in Europe because they all hate George Bush because when he took presidency the economy went down. It's hilarious that they say that, but at the same time makes me realize how important our country is to everyone else in this world. We are so lucky to be citizens in such a strong and influential country.

This week I have been reflecting a lot on my past (almost) two months abroad in Europe. Like I said earlier, this trip for me was about stepping out of my comfort zone and immersing myself into the culture. I can't even begin to explain how much I have stepped out of my comfort zones. First of all, coming here and being away from Mom and Dad for this long is a huge and personal step for me. Additionally, I have learned to be a citizen of another culture and to fit in. I have become accustomed to the culture, customs and ways of life (and trying LOTS of new foods!) here in Italy and I know that this will benefit me for the rest of my life. I have learned more than I could ever learn in a classroom and what is most important to me is that I have learned that I can step out of my comfort zone and take risks. In addition, I have become way more independent than I have ever been. Being an ocean away from my parents, family, boyfriend and closest friends, I have had to force myself to be more independent (though I already am) and know that I can do things myself and without asking for help. I haven't experienced culture shock yet (knock on wood) and I attribute that to my previous travels that I am fortunate for having and for being interested and open minded about everything - that is one thing I promised myself I would do: come here with an open mind. I can't explain it well - I just feel a million times smarter just by experiencing life in this amazing place and I will forever be fortunate for this opportunity and the things I am learning. I miss my family, especially Izzie, Katey and Ellie, and friends and Mark, but I wouldn't ever trade anything for this opportunity.

Well, tomorrow is the day! Mark arrives in Italy tomorrow morning and I am so excited to bring him around Italy and share this place with him! Now I have to clean.......