Emily Tiede May 13, 2014

If you told me five years ago that I would be studying abroad in Valencia, Spain, I would tell you that you are crazy. Hi, my name is Emily Tiede, and I will be blogging about our second day in Spain! So, first of all, oh my goodness, I have never traveled so much, so far, or so long in my life before! But, let me tell you, it was all worth it! It's only day two and I already feel like I've experienced so much! Yesterday was very busy and we processed a lot of information. We met our homestay families for the first time as well and I already love and appreciate my homestay mother!! Even though she speaks barely any English; which I must admit, can get very frustrating because I want to get to know her and tell her about our day but, it doesn't work out so well. Which is okay because we can only improve from here!

 I really am living to the 'try everything once' advice and oh man, there is so much to try! Like last night, we went to a fancy restaurant for dinner and we ate so many different things which included a fried fish. A WHOLE FRIED FISH. There were bones in the fish and we were supposed to EAT THE BONES. Obviously I was not a huge fan of this experience but I will say that I am so glad that I at least tried it! Otherwise I would have regretted missing out on the experience. Some experiences have been more testing than others. For example, my roommate and I are having phone troubles with connecting to communication apps and adding contacts. This gets pretty frustrating at times because we are used to depending on our phones. Another pushing experience has been getting back and forth from our homestay and class, meetings, etc. Valencia is a giant city and very difficult to figure out at times, but we have definitely been improving on our traveling skills. Today was actually pretty testing because my roommate and I woke up an hour late because our phones were not working correctly. So, I didn't get to shower and we had to rush to get ready for class! However, our homestay mother did make us a delicious breakfast which was tea and some type of pastry bar! Very different from home though. Today was the first day of class which I feel went well and we also went on a walking tour of Valencia and it was BEAUTIFUL! I also got to try horchata for the first time and it was muy bueno! I really feel that once we get comfortable with traveling and get our phones straightened out that everything will just keep going up! Besides the few difficulties, Spain has been really amazing and I am forever grateful for the chance to go through this experience. I am also super duper excited for future experiences and cannot wait to become more of a global leader!

 My reaction to eating the creature

Emily K. and I drinking our Spanish horchatas

Listening to our Spanish tour leader Zaray

Josh Milligan- May 12, 2014

We made it! After approximately 8 hours in the air and 6 hours split between two buses we have all arrived safely in Valencia, Spain. We may have arrived tired and hungry but we were excited to be here. Of course having your homestay families waiting for you with the promise of a home cooked lunch will certainly raise the spirits of just about anyone!

Upon our arrival in Valencia our students were whisked away by their homestay families to enjoy two of Spain's most enduring images: the traditional, multi-course lunch and a siesta. Reports from our students informed us that the food was only rivaled by the opportunity to shower and to nap. After everyone had eaten and rested we reconvened at ISA headquarters for a discussion about the program and the schedule of things to come over the course of the next few weeks. We will have a jam packed schedule but it is filled with a wide variety of cultural experiences that will allow for our students to immerse themselves into Spanish culture. In fact, we would have such an opportunity later in the evening at our welcome dinner.

In Spain dinner typically doesn't begin until 9 or 10 o'clock, however, our friends at ISA knew how tired we were so they generously offered to begin our dinner at 8:30! After a short tour of the area surrounding the ISA office we made our way to a restaurant/club that had been reserved for us to experience a traditional Spanish tapas meal. All together we were served nine different tapas plates, among them were: gazpacho, bolas de bascalao, a croissant covered with eggplant, olives, brie, and a tomato marmalade, and variety of fried sea food (calamari, mussels, and sardines).

Our students proved to be quite adventuresome in their eating, trying many dishes they weren't too sure of. This was most clearly demonstrated when a group of students all simultaneously took a bite of sardines, which, if it isn't clear from the picture below, still retained their heads!

Experiencing such a traditional meal their very first day in county would be daunting for any student. But Horizons students are resilient and they met this new experience headfirst (quite literally in this case).

Our first full day in country has come to an end, but our adventure is just beginning. The students have found their way home and are resting up so that they can experience all that Valencia has to offer tomorrow, when they are met with their next opportunity!