Such a good family day!

So last Thursday I was definitely thanking God it was Friday and just praying for it to go by fast. But today I am seriously so happy. I spent all day with Andrea, but it was great. I felt like such a part of the family today and that she really enjoyed spending time with me.

She woke up on her own at 9 am. I am so thankful that siestas make her less of a zombie in the mornings because I used to HATE having to wake her up. We had a fun morning where she proceeded to play dress up by putting on various dresses of mine.



Today was her second to last swim lesson and she got invited to a girl's birthday party tomorrow (mermaid themed, duh she's excited) and she read the invitation to me about 1000 times today. We went to the beach and dug large holes and built sand mountains. Lunch was her favorite, arroz a la cubana. I promised her we could siesta at Loli's if she behaved, so we napped downstairs until 4:30.

Loli told me I could go home after we woke up and Andrea could stay, but I ended up just hanging out. We played more games in the garden and she found a fake tattoo (a lovely Chinese dragon hahaa), so I let her put it on. We played more on the swings, then hide and seek, and then she pretended to be my GPS, directing me to fake museums and zoos.

Finally at 6:15, Alicia came to pick her and Ali up. We walked home and Raul was outside about to take Indio to the vet. So we made it a family trip and we all went. Then we got an horchata afterwards and made a reservation outside at an Indian restaurant for 9.

My only disappointment of the day is that I was pumped to try out a 6 mile run, but we got home at 8:30, and obviously that didn't leave me enough time. So I was doing this 8 minute ab video in my room and Andrea came in and told me she was going to exercise with me. Hahaha I think I got more of an ab workout from laughing at her attempts than actually doing the crunches.

Dinner at the restaurant was so nice and the Indian was really good. Much to my amazement, curry chicken is the same in the US as it is in Spain haha. I played with Andrea after dinner and we did piggy back rides down the street and I let her climb walls and such.

We went to the feria afterward so she could ride on the merry-go-round. She waved every single time she went around the loop, just like I did when I was little and rode the merry-go-round in the mall. We were walking home and she wanted to play in the park, so Raul and I spent time trying to teach her the monkey bars and then Raul pushed Andrea on the swing to the point where I thought Alicia would faint from her worries over how high she was going. Baby Ali fell asleep at dinner, and we finally got Andrea to leave the park around 11:10.

It's almost midnight and I'm gearing up for a good Friday! It's Cait's last night in Spain so we have to make it count!

Hump Day

I don't have too much to say, but I'll go ahead and update my blog because I know mom likes hearing from me. Honestly today was just another typical day here in Pobla. The weather was really bad..it was cold and I thought Andrea might blow away in the wind. Nonetheless she was a champ at swim lesson and we spent the day doing homework and playing with other kids in the apartment complex. Andrea found the most repulsive snail that she had to tote around all day. Ok, I know I played with snails too as a kid, but they officially give me the creeps every since I've seen them as a dish at the lunch table.

After lunch we went home to siesta..this time Andrea slept on the ground in her sleeping bag. I don't think Alicia was too pleased I let this happen, but whatever. I got her to take a siesta and that's what counts. Alicia didn't get home until almost 6 and then I finally had time to read and relax. I'm going on book #6 since arriving in Spain!

I went for a 5 mile run today which felt like heaven. Raul had a paddle game tonight, so it was just Alicia and I for dinner. I played with both Andrea and baby Ali until 11 when they went to bed. Now it's time for some me-time until I'm off to dream world as well. Goodnight all!

Santa Ana

Today was another good day! I hope that this trend keeps up for the rest of the week. Maybe I have just become inured to Andrea's capriciousness. Bahaha trying to use my GRE vocab..

I couldn't sleep last night...darn insomnia. I probably jinxed myself by saying that I would sleep well because of my run. So I was pretty tired this morning, but I got to stay in bed until 9 and Andrea actually got up on her own.

Swim lesson. Beach. Lunch at Loli's...we did the usual routine today, not much else to add in there. We decided to take our siesta in the basement of Loli's building and it was delightful. We stayed downstairs until 5 pm on the cool mattress. I'm loving these naps but I'm really hoping it doesn't mess my sleep up again.

Today was the fiesta of Santa Ana...which is just like a day in honor of a saint. But since there's a girl named Ana that lives where Loli lives she decided to have a little party for her saint day. She invited all the kids to the pool and there was a huge table of horchata and fartons (pastries that you dip in the horchata). Of course Loli forced one of everything on me ha. What would life be without overbearing grandmas?

I played with Marta and Andrea in the pool there and finally around 7:30, I walked home. I went on a walk for maybe a mile and a half and then just relaxed. I got to skype with David today and then also with Bradley just a little bit ago. Skype is truly an amazing technology.

I studied for the GRE tonight and just started the math section. Oh my favorite. I've realized it's a good thing I'm reviewing now because you better believe that fractions and algebra are not things that my brain has chosen to hold on to.. its all been replaced by Spanish by now ha.

Andrea made me play funny games with her tonight where she taught me a dance... and then she accused me of being a sucky dancer and not listening to her teaching. Bahaha she just hasn't seen my shopping cart and my sprinkler yet. She'll change her mind soon enough.

Somehow it's already after midnight, so I'm off to attempt to sleep. I'm going to have to start setting an alarm for siestas if tonight turns out to be another insomnia night haha.

Cangrejos, Clochinas, and Caracoles

Today was a great Monday...there's nothing better than coming from a week where a 4 year old brought me to tears, to starting off the week really enjoying spending time with her and feeling totally in charge.

This morning she woke up at 8:30 before her mom left for work and I thought all hell would break loose and that she would be crying non-stop, begging her not to leave. Surprisingly, she returned to bed and stayed there until I got up at almost 9, no tears at all. Score.

She made me proud at swimming and then we went right to the beach and spent a good chunk of time there today. A little girl from her school named Virginia played with us and we found a cangrejo, or crab. One little problem (that wasn't actually a problem in Andrea's mind) is that it was dead. But she picked it up (GROSS) and kept it in her bucket and brought it back home with us. Hahaha oh well.

Loli put an astronomical amount of food on the table. Like I'm pretty sure me, a 4 year old, a 91 year old grandma, and Loli were not about to eat enough for a Thanksgiving dinner. First there was fideos con gambas, which is like noodles with shrimp. Then there was a large tortilla of potatoes and squash. On the table were also some leftover snails (caracoles) from the weekend, clochinas, the Valencian mussels, ham, tomatoes, and large chunks of merdusa, a type of fish. I think about a quarter of it got touched haha.

After lunch Andrea and I went home for siesta. Today it was in her bed and we literally stayed there from 4-6. Alicia hit bad traffic on the way home so she didn't arrive home until almost 6:30. At least she didn't find me in tears today haha.

I really wasn't in the mood to run tonight...like I thought I'd go 2 miles and want to stop. Then somehow I ended up running a 6 mile exploratory loop where I took an accidental detour through some farm land and got chased by two tiny but vicious dogs...it's a lot funnier now that I'm safe in bed and their miniature fangs aren't inches from my ankles. It ended up being a really awesome run though and I expect that despite my long siesta, I'll sleep well tonight.

Raul cut me some ham and watermelon for dinner and I had cucumbers and tomatoes too. So I'd say it's been a very successful Monday! Life is good today!

Relaxing Weekend

Just what I needed after such a hard work week! Friday I felt like a crazy person...by the time Alicia came home from work at 6 pm, I was crying on the couch and had to fake sleeping (what...my face is always wet when I sleep, totally normal) in order for her not to notice haha. But then I went for a long run and felt a lot better. Sometimes I just need to be away from humans... no offense to anyone, but Friday was just one of those days I needed me time.

So I walked to this hippy market nearby, bought a new mono (so legit, can't wait until I have pics) and apples. Then I proceeded to eat my feelings in form of apples in a park nearby when I read. After I consumed three apples consecutively (I don't recommend ever doing this), I had to leave the park for fear that the runner that went by would notice that the first time he passed me I was at the core of an apple and then the second time he passed me I was magically biting into a whole apple again. Not that he would notice, but in my brain I was being judged haha.

That night I read a ton and went to bed nice and early. It felt so good to be refreshed on Saturday morning. Caitlin and I made plans to go into Valencia so I got in a good run (in the rain, always the best) and then caught the bus at 1:15 into the city. I really wanted Cait to see the Central Market, because it's one of the largest indoor markets in all of Europe. We bought lots of fruit and then walked around trying to find a place to eat it. We decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone by going into McDonalds so that Cait could cross it off her bucket list to try on Spanish Mickey D's. We also sketchily ate our fruit out of the plastic bag there...haha surely we looked normal.


These grapes were probs the largest I've ever had

Then we went on a long walk in the river. We walked at least 5 miles this day, probably more. We paused along the way to climb some really cool trees where I'm pretty sure I flashed half of Valencia...just kidding, only the girls having a picnic beneath us. More acceptable. That was fun and then we passed by all my old favorite places like Palau de la Musica, where I used to run and creep on Spanish families (not knowing that 6 months later I would have my own family).


Up in my lovely perch


Doing self-timer in a tree...I didn't just spend $140 on a new camera to not take at least a couple risks, right?

Finally we arrived at the City of Arts and Sciences, a series of modern buildings in the rio with the coolest architecture ever. We walked around inside and contemplated buying tickets to the Aquarium, but decided against it. To rest our feet we got tuna sandwiches and water at an outdoor cafe in the rio and then we trekked back to the bus station. Well I thought we left with enough time to get back to the bus station in time for the 7 pm bus. Turns out we arrived at 7:05 and had to wait for the bus at 8. What would our lives be without public transportation failures anyway?


At the City of Arts and Sciences

Finally we made it back to Pobla de Farnals and we sat in my kitchen and laughed our butts off, as usual. I don't know what it is about that kitchen, but we are ALWAYS so silly together when we're there. I was also delirious because I'm pretty sure with my run and all our walks, my feet took me over 10 miles (half in cowboy boots).

Finally around 11 we hit the Paseo. First we went to El Lloc for our tradition gin and tonics. Then we went to the Hossegore Pool place, which was the hip place to be on a Saturday night apparently. We drank a mojito and ended up calling it a night around 3. We were both just dead and kind of wanted a relaxed evening. So even though it wasn't a Paseo night of epic proportions like past nights, it ended up being exactly what we both needed.

Cait spent the night downstairs (on the couch with Indio hahaaaa...sorry) and I surely passed out. But let's not forget the fact that first I took the time to drunkenly donate $20 to the suicide research walk that I'm doing in September. Hey, a good cause right?

This Sunday my family went to a lunch at a friend's house, so I spent the afternoon walking. Literally. I left my house at 2 pm and trekked down the beach for an hour. Sometimes I just like long walks on the beach okay? Who cares if it's by myself. I stopped on these rocks that overlook the sea (where all the fisherman go, I totally fit in with my dress on). I walked an hour there and then turned around and walk back. At 4 I checked my phone and saw that I had a message from Cait inviting me to go see Harry Potter with her family.

I was actually so so excited to see it in Spanish. I'm glad I got to spend some time with her family. I understood the whole movie. I can officially watch a movie in English and in Spanish and they are the same to me. Wooo. I still want to see it in English, just because I feel I have to seeing as how I'm part of the Harry Potter generation.


Posing with Draco (pronounced Drah-co here)

I got home close to 9, skyped with my parents, got dinner, and now I'm ready for bed. Can you tell how loopy I am in this blog entry? Ha maybe I'm just the same as always. Either way, I feel so much more ready to face a new work week now. Bring it on, Andrea!!

Siesta Addiction

Hello lovely blog readers!

Today is Thursday night... which means tomorrow is Friday. Thannnnnk heavens. Not that it's been a bad week, but my days just feel so long and exhausting. I haven't had to go Supernanny on Andrea since Tuesday, but just getting her to do small things like wake up, get dressed, and go to the beach are such time and energy consuming processes.

Wednesday it was tough to get her up, so this morning when she woke up at 9 on her own I was pretty relieved. Yesterday after her swim lesson I got her to the beach for about an hour. We built castles, but the waves were kind of rough so we didn't swim. Lunch with Loli was good as usual. I've tried a million different types of seafood in the past 2 days including sardines, clochinas, bacalao, and calamares a la romana...sorry I don't know most of these in English.

Yesterday Andrea and I took another really solid siesta in my bed... and I mean like 2 hours long. Since she's literally always going non-stop, I'm pretty impressed/excited by her talent for napping. Quite the champ. After our long nap, I got to skype with Cherie and it felt so good to have an English conversation. Sometimes I speak so much Spanish that I feel like by the end of the day or week, my words aren't even coming out right anymore. It's definitely gotten natural for me though.

Then I went for one of the best runs that I've had while here. I've got this one loop that I love and I extended it yesterday. Unfortunately my GPS was on indoor mode, so I don't know how long it was. I'll probably do it again tomorrow and measure it, but today I needed a break.

This morning was really cloudy, so after swim lesson Andrea and I played in the park and on the swings instead of going to the beach. And her idea of a fun game was to climb 12 flights of stairs in Loli's apartment complex and then walk back down them. Then we walked up again and rode the elevator down. She got all concerned because she didn't think I would know which floor to go to... I know Spanish floors start at 0 instead of 1, but I think I had that down haha.

After lunch we attempted siesta, but it was a fail. She brought this huge (and I mean about as large as she is) stuffed dog home from Loli's and it just HAD to be in bed with us. Oh 4 year olds. Luckily, Alicia came home just before 4 and the sun came out, so I went to the beach for an hour.

Ok and I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm always SO TIRED here. I came home with the intention of staying in bed for half an hour reading and then going on a walk...and I passed out for 2 hours! And I mean it was that kind of nap where I wake up and feel like I'm glued to the bed and I can't move because I'm so exhausted. What the heck??? I guess it's just the way that from the time Andrea wakes up until her mom comes home, it's literally constant interaction, running around, and thinking, talking, and playing in Spanish. That has to work as an excuse for daily 2 hour naps right?? Hah.

Once I was finally awake I spent some time studying the GRE and Alicia made us a tortilla de tuna for dinner, which is basically just tuna and egg. Tuna has to be one of my favorite foods on the planet though, so I enjoyed it. I hope that seafood really is brainfood, because I'd be getting really smart here.

It's almost midnight, so I think I'm going to read and then go to bed to prepare for my Friday. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly...my patience is always at its lowest come the end of the week haha.

Tuesday: a little yelling, but a lot of love

Today didn't go quiiiite as smoothly as yesterday, but it still ended up well. I got Andrea up at 9:30 for her swim lesson and she was less than thrilled to be awake. Nonetheless her lesson was good and lasted until 11. Normally we swim afterward, but the water was so cold today and neither of us wanted to be in it. We went to the beach for a bit, but on our way home I was just getting really frustrated and I ended up yelling at her in our house. You should've seen the look on her face when I was standing at the top of the stairs, yelling angry English down at her. Haaa I felt a little bad at the time, but she started being nice and friendly again after I did it, so at least it had the desired effect. I definitely was channeling Super Nanny today.

Lunch time was better and we came home at our usual 3. I couldn't get her to do homework today, but she did sleep her first siesta with me! Normally it's just me wanting to sleep and her laying in bed, chatting away, getting me to play games with her. But today we were laying in my bed and I dozed off and then woke up, freaking out about where she was... only to find her curled up at my side. She actually stayed there asleep even after Alicia got home at 4:30. So that was a success at least.

This afternoon I spent a little time at the beach and reading my new book. I'm on my 5th one while here! Having a Nook has most definitely been worth it this trip! I didn't run tonight, but I spent some time studying for the GRE and I totally slammed the practice questions. Haha maybe I should give grad school some more serious thought. Meh, who knows what the future holds.

Raul had a paddle game (like tennis but with a smaller court I think??) tonight, so he didn't come home for dinner. I happily played with Andrea until her bedtime and we were old friends again (today she uninvited me to her birthday party right before I yelled at her hahaha). Alicia made us a salad and we stayed in the kitchen talking about marriage and relationships for a bit. Hahaha my own real Spanish mother.

Tomorrow is already hump day!

Ibiza Weekend!

So this past weekend was an absolute adventure, but I had a sincerely amazing time. Caitlin and I decided to go visit Ibiza, an island right off the coast of Spain. It is well known for having some of the best clubs in the world (#1 of 2011...I looked at the list) and crystal clear beaches. One weekend definitely was not enough to experience everything, but we did our best to see the most noteworthy parts of the island.

Friday our plane left at 10:30 pm from Valencia and arrived in Ibiza at 11:15. Everything worked out really smoothly with that and we just spent an evening enjoying Valencia before catching the metro to the airport. The taxi from the airport to our hostal in Ibiza was really expensive, so we definitely figured out how to get a bus to the airport come Sunday.

I was definitely expecting our hostal to be (excuse my language) an absolute shit hole. It was only 20 euros a night and for a place like Ibiza I figured it would be grimy, lacking air conditioning, and the bathrooms would be communal. But actually the lady working the desk was so friendly and helped us out a ton. I think she was excited to meet people who spoke Spanish because we were literally in little England. We were surrounded by British people and definitely could've gotten away without speaking any Spanish at all.

Our room had a fridge, a fan, and our own private bathroom. We got ready quickly that night and then hit the streets so a place called West End of San Antonio. It was packed with people and pubs and we had no idea where to go. So when a lady approached us offering us 3 drinks for 10 euros, we decided to stop there. We stayed at this place with our gin and tonics and tequila sunrises until about 2 am I think. At our hostal we bought discounted tickets for a discoteca called Es Paradis.


Getting our night started in San Antonio



On to the next one

We started heading there, but got a little sidetracked when we found one of those sling shots that you can ride that shoot you into the air. I was begging Caitin to ride it with me, but she refused so we decided to find me a friend. I ended up going with this random British guy and it was definitely an experience.


Bahahaha waiting in line with my new friend... don't worry we ran away right after the ride was over

The discoteca was really cool and so pretty. In Ibiza the discos are so renowned because of the fact that it's literally like a show inside. There are drag queens dancing, women swinging from hoops in above the dance floor, and ladies that can climb ribbons from the ground and then proceed to dance in them above you. It was epic and Cait laughed at how transfixed I was by all the sights (apparently they do things like this in Vegas, but I was beyond thrilled).

We stayed out so late this night...literally I got home at 8:15 am. We slept in our hostal until like 12:30 and then we went to find food and water. We went to a cafe near us where I got a tuna sandwich, coffee, and a really large agua. We meant to get ready for the beach right when we got back but this guy had to come fix the air conditioning and the only way to reach it outside was to lower himself down by a ladder he put in our window. So we stayed and had laughing fits over really random stuff in our beds until we finally walked to the bus station.

We bought our ticket to a beach, Cala Bassa, that was recommended to us. We still had like 45 minutes till it came, so we decided to go sit at a cafe in the meantime. Unfortunately we got there and realized we had missed it...then we saw a sign that had the time on it and my watch was 10 minutes off. Hahahaha of course. So we walked around a bit and did some shopping. I had a feeling I would buy an outfit in Ibiza, so I didn't bring one to go out in for Saturday night. So I found a really pretty maxi dress (the first one I own!) in this store that I loved.

Finally we caught the bus to the beach and it was just what we needed. It was SO beautiful and the water was absolutely clear. Like we could see fish swimming around underneath our feet. Ok another sidenote, many women chose to go topless at beaches in Spain. Not all, but at Pobla de Farnals I'd say it's like 50/50. In Ibiza it's more like 90% and I just decided that Saturday would be my day to go for it (going topless on a beach was a definite on my bucket list). It was so weird at first, but it ended being something I'm glad I can say I did. I could've stayed at the beach forever, but at 8 we decided we needed to go back to catch the sunset.


Us after our (topless) swim at the beach

Raul and everyone I talked to said that we needed to watch the sunset at this place called Cafe del mar on the beach. So after quick showers, Cait and I headed that way. The area was kind of like a boardwalk and it was filled with people enjoying the evening. We sat down at Cafe del Mar and I was told that I needed to try liquor ibicenga, an alcohol native to Ibiza that comes from a bottle filled with plants and herbs (appealing I know). So I tried it and it was pretty nasty...it kind of tasted like licorice. But hey, I can say I went to Ibiza and drank it at least. We ate dinner on the beach after walking around a little and stayed there until midnight or so.


Cafe del Mar

We kind of wanted a more relaxing evening since the night before had been so crazy. So we walked down and found a person handing out free entrances to another disco called Eden. We went in, but since it was only 1 we knew that it would get more popular later. So we were told we should just leave and get stamped and then come back. We got a sangria at a cafe in the meantime. DISGUSTING. I mean I didn't know it was possible to mess sangria up, but this sir totally achieved that. Baha at least we enjoyed sitting there and hanging out together. After a while we walked back to Eden and I again enjoyed the show going on and danced my heart out.

We had met these British people inside Eden and then it just so happened that when we left around 4:30, we ran into them on the street. We sat outside talking to them for a while and then I'd say around 5:30 we made it to the hostal. I'm actually glad we got in a little earlier because we had to be checked out of our hostal by noon. They offered free breakfast until 11am (which we clearly didn't make it to on Saturday), so Sunday morning we hit that up before we left.

The bus to the airport worked out perfectly and we boarded our flight with no problems. I was dozing on the plane when I woke up to the three things simultaneously: people screaming, the plane shaking, and Cait grabbing my hand. It was just windy day and we hit a current, but it really freaked Cait out. I guess I'm just literally not afraid of planes at all because it didn't bother me at all once it was over. Meh I guess that's a little weird.

Finally safe on the ground in Valencia, we rode the metro to Pobla de Farnals. Let's discuss this little life incident. I've always known that no train or metro went to Pobla, that's why we always take the bus into Valencia. But on Friday when we were riding the metro to the airport, we saw that there was a stop in Pobla. So Sunday we decided just to go for it. As we arrived we realized that I live at PLAYA Pobla de Farnals, and that the town is actually a really solid distance from the beach part of Pobla. Who knew that there would be two separate parts? I wanted to go on an adventure and walk to the beach (although that would've been idiotic because I'm almost certain it would've taken more than 2 hours). So we called Maria Jose, Caitlin's Spanish mom and she came and got us.

Finally I was back at home in Pobla de Farnals at 6 pm! I wasn't ready to leave Ibiza, but it was nice being home after a bus, a plane, a metro, and a car ride. That night was really really relaxing and I just unpacked a little, played with Andrea, and went to bed around 9 pm.

Today was a really awesome day with Andrea. Perhaps it was being completely away for a weekend, but I just really enjoyed her company. She woke up late and her mom said since she went to bed so late the night before, she could skip swimming. So we swam together in her pool, went skating, and played a lot of random games. At 2 we went to Loli's for lunch and then came home at 3. Normally Alicia comes home from work between 3:30 and 4:30, so it was kind of a surprise that she didn't make it back until 6:15. Honestly on a Friday I probably would've wanted to pull my hair out, but I was happy just playing with Andrea for a good while.


Obsessed with this picture

When she came home, I accompanied Alicia and Andrea to go pick up Ali from Loli's house (that was just a lot of names, sorry). Alicia had been telling me about this one store in Pobla de Farals that has really cute clothes and things for a while and the stuff there is finally on sale. So all 4 of us went and did a bit of shopping. Alicia is friends with the woman who works there and I ended up buying a dress...surprise! Haaaahaaa my life. Oh well, it was worth it with the sale and everything.

I went for a run when we got home and just did 4 miles. It felt good to be back to that after a weekend of relaxation. Raul made us this absolutely amazing fish for dinner. This past weekend was Alicia's 40th birthday. I was disappointed not to be there for all the festivities, but I planned Ibiza before I knew it was her birthday. Basically last Friday when I was flying to Ibiza he told her they had plans to go to dinner, just the two of them. But he actually planned this surprise dinner with 23 of their friends and he made her a video of all these photos that he played there. So tonight we got to watch the video. I was basically crying, but it was one of those happy cries because Alicia and Raul are just the perfect couple and he was so sweet. I hope someday I have someone like Raul in my life! Haha ok, so there's my mini pity party at my current state of singleness. Whatever, who's in a rush??

Longest blog entry ever (and that's saying something!) is finally OVER!

4th of July Celebrartion... a week late

Yesterday was a really fun Tuesday with an unexpected surprise. Heather sent me a 4th of July package, but I wasn't able to go pick it up from the post office until yesterday. It was filled with all sorts of America goodies like a visor, mints, straws, pinwheels, window stickers, and a ring pop. It was so awesome.


Andrea enjoys her first ring pop

Caitlin's boy, Adri, is on a cruise this whole week, so since she's off work she came to play with us. We went and had a good time at the beach and ate at Loli's. We came back to my house and we were just playing with Andrea when Alicia came home around 4.

I felt like I didn't know what to do with myself being free for the rest of the day, so we decided to investigate a little something called Lambrusco. It's this sparkling wine that all of Raul's family is obsessed with...Loli gives it to me with lunch every single day. Caitlin and I feared it might be pricey, so we just decided to go to Consum, the grocery store, to check it out. Turns out they are 1.65 a bottle, so we definitely bought some.

On the way home we stopped at this restaurant right by my house that I've always wanted to try where I got an horchata, a really typical drink from Valencia. I had it plenty of times last semester, but I haven't actually had it since being back this summer. We sat there for well over an hour and then returned home.

We decided to celebrate the birth of our great country by drinking our Lambrusco (from Finding Nemo cups, what else?) with the America straws that Heather gave us. There ended up being a TORRENTIAL down pour in Valencia and of course, me being the child I am, I had to go play in it. It actually hailed too! It was nuts.

Just a side note, that is why I am wearing the attractive outfit I have on in the following America picture and that's why my hair and face clearly look so good. Just had to throw that out there.


AMERICA

We played with Andrea until her dinner time where she proceeded to have the worst temper tantrum I've ever seen from her. I think she must've just been tired because she literally played all day.

After she was finally asleep, Cait and I ate dinner with Raul and Alicia. It was simple, but as always Raul's cooking is phenomenal.

This morning I did NOT want to wake up. Haha I was so tired! But I took Andrea to swim lesson and I got to babysit Ali during it so that Loli could go shopping. All the other little kids at the pool were obsessed with her. After her lesson we went to the beach and Cait found us there. It was the most beautiful day and the water was so clear. Andrea and I ended up jumping around in the waves for a while after building some castles.

Then the three of us swam in the pool together until 2. We were all laughing and Andrea was being crazy and having a good old time. She was so well behaved when we had to leave, although at lunch she ended up misbehaving. I like that's she's good with me normally, but I hate that she usually acts the worst whenever we're around the rest of her family. It makes me think that they don't think I can control her or that she's always just a bad kid. Whatever, at least I know that we have fun.

For lunch we had large quantities of snails. Ughhhh. I haven't been able to bring myself to try them yet, but today Loli fried a whole pot of them and I braved it. I literally had goosebumps as I was holding it. Honestly at first bite it wasn't that bad but I really didn't enjoy the taste too much as I was chewing. So that was a no go for me. The rest of the family LOVED them though.


Big pot of fried snails...ALL GONE after lunch today.

I brought Andrea home around 4 and about half an hour later Alicia came home. Caitlin had gone home for lunch, so I just got into bed to read for a bit. I'm on book #4 while in Spain!

Caitlin came back at 5:15 because she had left her bag with her computer in it here. We decided to siesta then...she in Andrea's bed and me in mine. Haha it definitely felt good, but I was dreaming about snails! Ugh I am officially creeped out by them!

Around 7, I walked back home with her and then from her house I began my run. I wasn't really in the mood to run, but it felt good and I'm glad I went. Right now Alex and Amparo, two of Raul and Alicia's friends from college (the ones that own the mountain house we went to) are visiting with their two kids, Carmen and Luis.

I plan on having a relaxing evening and maybe going to go socialize with all of them after my shower. Happy Hump Day!

Friday-Monday

Sorry I suck and I've been so neglectful of my blog!! Ah somedays just feel so busy and it's hard to find the time (or desire) to sit down and update.

Friday was the best day ever. Andrea was really good during the day and then Raul and Alicia went out on a date that night, so I stayed home with her. She would've cried if she was home when they left, so we played in the pool until they were gone. It was a little sneaky, but it worked because Caitlin came over and by the time we went inside, she seemed happy with life.

I gave her dinner and everything and despite being wild and playing with us she wanted to spend the night at Loli's (because that's where Ali was sleeping). So we took her over at 10:30 and then Caitlin and I had an epic adventure.

We didn't really expect it to be such an adventure. We thought it would be a tame night. It started with a espresso at this one little cafe on the paseo I like. We stayed there until 1 or so and eventually just caved and got our usual gin and tonics. The waitress was an Austrian woman who talked to us for a little while.

We left and walked out to the beach and somehow we just started to have this long photo shoot...the pictures are on facebook. We were being silly and climbing all over rocks and that's when we had the great idea of staying up to see the sunrise. So we walked to her house (a mile and a half away) so she could get the bottle of wine we had bought last week. Then we walked back to my house (we're both pretty sure we walked more than 5 miles this night) because we had the wine opener and the cups.


Out on the rocks


Just being silly and climbing things

So we sat in my basement, laughing, talking, having a heart to heart, the usual. At 4:30 we decided to jump into my pool...and got yelled at by a neighbor. Haaahaaa. Not really yelled at, she just came out to her balcony and told us it was the middle of the night. So we went back inside and drank hot tea in my kitchen and we were just being so silly.

At 5:30 we walked back to the beach, did a little harmless skinny dipping, and saw the sunrise. At 6:20 we went out separate ways back home. Unfortunately as I was getting into bed at 6:45, I saw that the sunrise was this perfect firey ball rising over the sea...so if we'd stuck it out a little longer I would probably have some sweet pictures. But oh well, I saw it at least.


Sun rising

Saturday I woke up at 1. I ate lunch with Andrea and Raul and Caitlin and I met up for a beach day. Unfortunately the water was filled with seaweed where we were, so we walked back to her pool for a little while. At 6 I went back home to get ready for a night in Valencia.

I got the bus at 7 and David met me at the bus station. It was so good to see him again! We walked back to his apartment and he made me coffee and we sat talking for a little while. For dinner we went to this restaurant in Plaza de la Virgen where we ate these cheese crepes, salad, and icecream. I got made fun of for liking coconut because apparently here that's the loser flavor. Baha whatever it will always be my favorite.

A little after midnight 5 of David's friends arrived at his apartment and we sat out on his terrace for a few hours. They were all really crazy and funny. When I'm in big groups of Spanish speakers, I can follow the conversation exactly, but I'm not quick enough to be able to banter back and forth easily. This always frustrates me because I practice so much and I wish I were good enough for that, but they still made room for me to talk.

We had plans to go to this one really cool disco, Las Animas. But we got there at 3 and the line was ridiculous and we didn't feel like waiting. So we went to this other one that was really pretty and right on the water called High Cube. We ended up staying until 5, dancing and being silly. David tells me he reads my blog, so here's a shout out to all your crazy dance moves!

I kind of screwed myself over by staying up all night the night before because I can never sleep well during the day. So by 5 I was dying of exhaustion...guess I'm no the champ I thought I was haha.

The next day, Sunday, I ate lunch at Loli's with Raul and Andrea. We had paella…duh. Classic Spanish Sunday. And that would be incomplete without a siesta after we ate.


4th picture with a paella here...classic

Around 6 we went back home and we had a really cute family moment. Andrea had decorated the kitchen for Alicia’s 40th birthday (not till next Saturday, but hey it’s the thought that counts) and when Alicia came home after a weekend with the girls, she was so excited and everyone was happy to be together. We got a really cute family picture of the 5 of us that I should post.


Family picture in our decorated kitchen

That night Danni and Eva came over for dinner and then I finally got a good sleep. Monday was a good day. Andrea was really well behaved and we had fun swimming, going to the beach, and playing together until 6 when Alicia came home.

I was really tired so I was able to relax when I was off work. Eventually I went for a run and had dinner and then went to bed.

Today Andrea woke up at 8:30 and it’s kind of cloudy and might rain… a real rarity for Valencia. I’m in a good mood though, so hopefully the day goes well!

Viernes, por fin!

It's finally Friday! Wednesday and Thursday were good days...just a lot of work. It's funny because when I first got here, I was like "wow, I can't believe I'm getting paid to play with a Spanish 4 year old!" ...but now I've come to realize it really is work.

Wednesday she was so well behaved and we had a lot of fun together. It was such a relief after Tuesday being so tough. We went to the beach and stayed for like an hour and a half and she finally had fun building castles and jumping over waves with me. I was just so tired that day that I fell asleep at like 9:30 and didn't even make it until dinner time! I just needed a good night's rest.

Thank goodness I got it because yesterday was once again a long day. Andrea woke up at 7 when her parents were still home. At first I thought this was awesome because I wouldn't have to wake her up...false. She cried hysterically when Raul and Alicia went to work. Then I think she was tired from not sleeping much, so she wasn't behaving as well again. Sigh. The life of a 4 year old.

We still did our routine of swimming, beach, lunch, and (attempted) siesta. I just had to yell at her more. I'm getting good at it ha. But of course whenever I'm the most frustrated, she does something really cute that melts my heart again. We were laying in her parents bed and I was trying to make her sleep. She asked for a high five and when I gave her one she said "equipo para siempre," which means team forever. Haha I about died. Then we were just giggling and being silly when Alicia came home at 4. So it was a good end to our time together.

Her friend, Paula, from school came to play and swim yesterday. They were really cute together, but I didn't play that much with then because Caitlin came over and we went to the beach. We spent a solid hour floating in the waves...then another hour on our towels. We finally went back at 8 and we were just going to jump in the pool to wash sand off and then we ended up playing like little kids and I didn't want to get out. I was doing handstands and cartwheels into the pool and everything haha...all things I would never do in front of Andrea.

That night we played with the kids until Alicia was able to put them both to bed. Then we went downstairs, made ourselves a large tuna salad for dinner, and painted our nails and listened to music and laughed at the dumb things we said. It was really nice and it was so good getting to enjoy myself after a long week. At midnight I walked her about half way home and then I came home and fell asleep so easily.

Last night kind of felt like Friday since Cait was over, so this morning I didn't really want to have to work...but in just a few hours I will be free!!! I'll be waking Andrea up in 20 minutes and starting the routine all over again. TGIF!!

Exhausted!

That word literally defines how I've felt about life this week so far...and it's only Wednesday! Ha. Well Monday night was really good and I stayed up talking late with Raul and Alicia just about life and we were laughing and having a good time. I really enjoyed that.

Tuesday was just like the longest day of my life. I have to wake Andrea up at 9:20 for her swim lesson, and it was SO hard getting her out of bed. Then it just felt like everything went wrong...she spilled her chocolate milk that morning, wouldn't let me brush her hair, didn't want to go to the beach (but Alicia asked me to make sure she goes everyday), didn't want to do her homework, didn't want to eat lunch. GAH!!! I was at my wits end haha. But now I can look back on it as just learning experiences.

Today she was so so much more well behaved though and I had a ton of fun swimming in the pool with her after her lesson and she actually stayed at the beach for an hour and a half (normally after 15 minutes she tells me she's ready to go back home). We swam in the waves and built a cool castle. I even got a tiny siesta in while she watched cartoons. I like that she doesn't watch much tv because I don't either. But somedays when I'm just so exhausted, I wish I could put her in front of a tv to occupy her...but alas after 30 minutes she's bored and wants so play.

Alicia (mom) had to go t the doctor today, so I was with Andrea until about 7. At 5 we went back to Loli's house and we went swimming again. My little fishy. Finally at 7:45 I came back home. I've been adapting to the way Spaniards like their late nights, but lately I've just been struggling with the hours. When I'm this tired and wake up at 7:30 each day, I would prefer to be getting ready for bed around 10...but last night we didn't even eat dinner until 10:45. It makes mornings tough, but like I said, I'm adapting.

At least it's hump day!!

Repaso

Well here is my weekend review since I didn't get to update at all!

Friday ended up being so much fun. After Alicia came home from work, Caitlin walked over to my house. We played with Andrea all evening and Raul made us dinner and homemade mojitos. Then we decided to keep up our Friday tradition of getting a drink at El Lloc, a restaurant/bar right by my house. After staying there until 1 am, we decided to restaurant hop and we went and got another drink at a place called Oasis.


The kids always enjoy photo booth

Here is where things got random and interesting. This group of old Spaniards (presumably drunk and over the age of 40) made us come sit with them at their table. The lady was so funny and made me get up and dance with her even though I was so embarrassed. She told us how we had to hang out with her 17 year old son (even though she referred to him as weird) so he could practice his English. She kept saying things in English even though she knew next to nothing, so that was really funny. She said "no likey" in reference to my siver nail polish haha. Then this random old sir named Toni handed me his number and e-mail on a little sheet of paper, even though he probably doubles my age and informed us he has a wife in Argentina. That was a bizarre moment.

So when we finally escaped from that scene around 3, we thought we'd walk home. False. A random group of sirs grabbed our hands and took us to another club (I didn't know that a club existed in Pobla de Farnals). We ended up meeting someone who was my neighbor and then two Americans. One was an older guy who lives here and his son was here visiting him. We hung out with them until 5 am, I swam in the Mediterranean in my dress, and I'd call it a successful evening.

Saturday morning I played with the kids while Raul set to work on cutting all the old ham off the leg in our kitchen because guess what?! We got a new leg to hang up! Haha oh Spanish traditions. At 2 I rode the bus into Valencia and read in Starbucks. It's the first weekend of "rebajas" or the time every July when there are intense sales on summer things. I bought a new mono (the name for long pant rompers). I'm determined to come back with one for everyday of the week haha.

At 5:30 Caitlin came to Valencia and met me at the Torres de Serranos and we continued our shopping expedition. I got some sweet parachute pants...can't wait to have a picture in these..and a new bathing suit. I'm always so excited to get new things and I've been saving up, so it was worth it.

At 8 we rode the train back to Pobla de Farnals where we got ready for our evening out (we both sported out new monos). Isa, the aunt of the boy Caitlin takes care of who took us out two weekends ago (when we stayed out until 6:30) came to pick us up at 10:30. We stayed in the Barrio Carmen of Valencia, which is the city center where I lived all last fall. Oh my old stomping grounds! We shared salad, tapas, and sangria for dinner and then at 1 we went over to Ghecko. We met some of Isa's friends and had a good time dancing and singing. At 3:30 Ghecko closed and Caitlin and I were down for a disco, but we could tell Isa was tired and she apparently had to work the next day.


Caitin and I at Ghecko

So she took us back to Caitlin's house. She has a pull out mattress under her bed where I intended to sleep...except one of Adri's friends spent the night, so when we got there at 4, the mattress was not in her room. So we shared her twin bed. Haha surprisingly it was a comfortable sleep.

Sunday we got up at 10 and we had planned on having a beach day. We went from 11-12, but it started raining, so we had to come in. We walked over to my house because I promised Loli I'd join them for paella for lunch at 2:30.


Us and the paella

It was really good and they added eggplant to it, which I'd never had in paella before. Yummm. We were so full and ended up staying at Loli's house until 5:30. She gave Caitlin a tour of their apartment upstairs and we looked at old photos of Raul and company.

When we came back to my house we planned on booking our trip to Ireland. It didn't end up working out because basically there was no way around having only one full day there. So I'd really been wanting to travel to Ibiza or Mallorca. I asked Raul and Alicia which one we should do and they both recommended Ibiza, so that's what we went for. I'M SO EXCITED!! July 15th-17th I'll be there, enjoying beautiful clear beaches and a kid-free weekend (haha).

At 10, Raul drove Caitlin home and I was seriously so tired that I couldn't even stay awake to skype with my parents at midnight.

This morning I had to wake Andrea up at 9:30 because her swimming lessons have started. They're just at Loli's pool for 45 minutes starting at 10:15. She's such a good little swimmer!! After her lesson, we played in the pool for another hour and I really enjoyed it. Loli let me lay in the sun for a while before lunch and then we ate chicken (only the second time I've eaten chicken in a month here!).


A picture I took of Ali this morning

Andrea and I had a siesta after eating and then I played with her and Ali until 5:15 when Loli took Andrea to the pool and I brought Ali home.

Happy 4th of July everyone!! I'll be thinking about America tonight and of course I'm rocking my red, white, and blue <3