Hello! This was a pretty typical week for me, but this weekend, I went to Valencia with my study abroad group. It was so much fun and I am so happy that I got to experience it.
- Monday, September 27th
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This morning I went to the gym, as usual, then I went to class, and I went grocery shopping. I would love to buy groceries on Sundays, but stores are closed, so I have to do so on Mondays. When I came home, I cooked the same meal that I made last week, the zucchini-broccoli-chicken stir fry, and went to my two remaining classes. My roommates and I had a dinner reservation at an Asian cuisine restaurant, so we took the metro there after my class, and the food was amazing. We saved the place on Google Maps for future endeavors. I’m still getting used to eating dinner around 8 or 9 p.m. here instead of a few hours earlier like in the US, but I am here to experience the culture and immerse myself in it, even if that means eating dinner at a later hour than I am used to. Anyway, we stopped for gelato after dinner and then headed back home.
- Tuesday, September 28th
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I am not sure why, but today I was in such a terrible mood. After a typical morning and my first class, I received a call from Apple saying that my laptop had been repaired and was ready to be picked up. So after my evening class, I took the metro to the Apple store and finally got my laptop back, free of charge. Since I was already in the main square and I was not in the best mood, I thought, “what better way to improve my mood than retail therapy?”, so I went shopping and bought a couple of cute tops, which did indeed make me feel better. Then I came home and showed off my new clothes to my roommates, and we went to dinner at our favorite nearby restaurant. I also finished working on a presentation and a paper that I had the next day for a class and then I went to bed.
- Wednesday, September 29th
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This morning I had a great workout, so naturally, I indulged in a pastry for breakfast. The day was already off to a great start. In my first class, I gave a presentation, and it went well! At the very least, I’m glad to have it over with. After class, I worked for a few hours since I finally had my laptop back, and there was so much to catch up on. Then I went to my two remaining classes, Mediterranean Politics and International Business. After that, I talked to my therapist for an hour and treated myself to some ice cream, and now I am heading to bed.
- Thursday, September 30th
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Today, I once again went to the gym and my mid-morning class, and then I came home and put in a few hours for work. Then I had to go refill my SIM card since I hit my limit, so I took a walk to Orange (my service provider) and got that done, and then I headed to my last class of the week. It’s crazy that I have already had a full four weeks of school. Time is flying! After class, I packed for the Valencia trip that I am going on this weekend with my study abroad group, and one of my roommates and I went to dinner at a burger joint in the Gothic Quarter. I had a great burger, but it was huge so I could not finish it. Then we came home, I filmed some TikToks, which are all in my drafts since they are too embarrassing to post, and then headed to bed!
- Friday, October 1st
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This morning we were leaving for Valencia at 8:30 a.m., so we woke up at 7 and it was still dark outside, which was quite unsettling. The sun doesn’t rise here until around 7:45, which is very strange. After my roommates and I got dressed and finished up some last-minute packing, we walked over to our favorite cafe to grab some breakfast and coffee before heading out to the International Study Abroad office where our bus was waiting. We boarded the bus and embarked on our journey, which was five hours long. For lunch, we stopped at the beachy part of Valencia, which was beautiful but hot, and after that, we went to the Valencian aquarium, L’Oceanogràfic. I can’t remember the last time I was at the aquarium, but I honestly really enjoyed it. My favorite part was seeing the penguins, they are so cute. After the aquarium, we had a city bus tour on the way to our hotel, and then we got our room and roommate assignments (I was placed with my roommates that I live with in Barcelona) and checked in. It felt so nice to take a shower after such a big day, and after we were clean and dressed up, we went to get dinner with our friends at an Italian restaurant. We ordered some pizzas, which were huge and really good. Then we walked 45 minutes to a club, where we stood in line for an hour and eventually decided it was not worth it, so we went back to the hotel. By the time I got back, it was nearly 3 a.m., and I barely slept all night. But, totally worth it.
- Saturday, October 2nd
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As I said, I barely slept last night, and when I finally did fall asleep, it was only to be abruptly woken up by the phone ringing at 8 a.m. My roommates and I got ready for breakfast and then our entire group went on a walking tour of the city. That was just the beginning. Right around noon, we drove up to a farm, where we’d been told that we’d be making paella. Well, only four people got to make paella while the rest of us walked around the farm and got attacked by bugs. I also went on a horse-drawn carriage which took us to a cottage and back, and if I’m being honest, I have no idea what the significance of the cottage was. Then, three hours later, it was finally time to eat. We had been told that we were coming to this farm for paella, so imagine my surprise when we had seven courses brought out to us, which included bread, salad, bread with hummus, patatas bravas, calamari, THEN paella, and then fruit and cake for dessert. By the time we got to the paella, I was stuffed. I literally could not eat anymore, which is unusual for me. I love food. We ended up spending five hours at this farm, and after a group photo with Toni, the owner, we were on our way back to the hotel. When we got back, I took a much-needed nap and a nice shower, and got dressed. I went with some friends to grab drinks and snacks because I was NOT hungry for dinner, and it was nice, except for the fact that we literally had to ask for our check seven times and waited 30 minutes to pay. Looking back on it, I’m pretty sure we could have just left and it would have been fine, but we didn’t. For the rest of the night, I hung out at the hotel and went to bed.
- Sunday, October 3rd
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This morning, we, unfortunately, left Valencia. On the way back to Barcelona, we stopped in a town called Peñíscola, which was so beautiful. It’s surrounded by water and is just unreal. I would have rather spent five hours there than on the paella farm, but they only gave us two, so we made the most of it. After exploring there for a while, we came back home and are now exhausted. I think my roommates and I are going to go get pizza for dinner and then we will probably pass out because we are so tired.
Even though the week itself was uneventful, I had a wonderful weekend and I enjoyed Valencia so much. I’m so grateful that I got to go there and I am so grateful that I get to be here in Spain! I will see you all next time for week six!