Jasmine Su- May 26, 2014

This past weekend that we spent in Barcelona was one the most amazing and tiring experiences. I don’t think I have ever walked so much in my life. The pain in my feet would just shoot up when I sat down and I could barely feel them when I was standing. HOWEVER, the cathedrals, parks and monuments I saw were worth every step. My favorite sight-seeing parts of Barcelona would definitely have to be The Guella park and La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. 

The Guella park consisted of a huge hill climb and when Katie Rose and I finally got there, the scene was spectacular. Although we did not pay to go inside the structures made out of tiles, we could see from the outside parts of it and it was beautiful. We also decided to hike up the trail that did not cost money and the view that we saw from the top was breath taking. As we were hiking up there was these beautiful beams and tunnels and there was this statue that looked like it was made out of tiles with horns and it was propped up in one of the caves. Katie Rose and I stood there for some time trying to figure out if it was real. As I was deep in thought staring at this stature, it pops straight out at me and scares the living soul out of me. I screamed so loud and jumped back as fast as I could. Apparently I was the only one that was scared because after I calmed down and got myself together, everyone was just laughing at me, including Katie Rose. After that experience I questioned if every statue I encountered was real or not. 

La Sagrada Familia was one of the most amazing cathedrals I have ever seen. Although it was still being built, the detail that was put into it was so impressive. It had Jesus and his twelve disciples all around the cathedral and parts of the cathedral had color in it which isn’t common at all for these types of Cathedrals. The cathedral had a very ancient looking architecture but modern colors which made it so much cooler. I regret not going into the cathedral because I bet it would have been breath taking but at the time I just was not willing to pay and wait in like a 4 hour long line. Overall, I enjoyed my time in Barcelona so much but I was so glad to come back to Valencia and rest my feet for a couple of days. 

Taylor Nelson- May 25, 2014

Someday I know I’ll come back to Spain, because you cannot experience everything in three weeks. I have been here for two weeks and there are still things that I haven’t tried and places that I want to go. This past weekend I traveled to Barcelona and was able to try many new things there, and before Barcelona I lived in Valencia. That’s right: I lived in Valencia Spain. For a very short period of time I stayed with a family and lived life similar to how they do.

Everything here is so different than in the states. For starters, the lunch schedule. I am used to breakfast when I wake up, lunch around noon, and dinner around 7. Here breakfast is before I leave for class at 8:45, lunch is anywhere from 1-3, and then dinner usually stars around 10 and goes until midnight or 1 am. So the first several days I was not only tired from jet lag, but I was always hungry. This was fine by me, because the food here is always amazing. Two weeks here and have loved everything that I have tried, and I have tried a lot of new things.

My homestay family could not be any more perfect. There is a mother, father, daughter, son, and a dog. Paloma, the mother, treats me the same way she does the rest of her family. She is trying so hard to teach me passable Spanish but I can’t quite grasp it yet. Alesandro, the father, speaks Spanish and Italian; two languages that I know very little about and two cultures that I am unfamiliar with. It makes it quite difficult to communicate with him, but he seems like a very sweet man. Marta, the daughter, is beyond amazing! She is the sister I always wanted. Marta is funny and very sweet, we spend quite a bit of time together and we always laugh and have a good time. Edu, the brother, is always at the library studying so I don’t see him often. The few times that I have seen him, the conversations were pretty short. He seems like a nice guy, but either tired or shy. Sam, the dog, is such a sweetheart. He always greats mewhen I get home, and would let me pet him forever. Sam drools quite a bit though, so sometimes I have to wash my hands between pettings.

My host mother and father

Paella lunch

Kate Forrestal- May 24, 2014

Our trip has already reached and passed our midpoint and now I feel like we are all under the gun to get as much as we possibly can in these next nine days. I personally feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to take part in this trip and I am so grateful that horizons found ISA because they have made this trip more than I could possibly imagine. Things were pretty rocky at the beginning with issues with our homestay family but that was quickly rectified with the help of ISA. Now being in our new family which feels like the true family setting both Emily and I were looking for. We now have our homestay mom, an abuela, a homestay brother and a sister from Germany, and even Sophie, our dog. We all communicate to the best of our abilities and I see myself keeping in contact with them which didn’t seem like a possibility with Christina, our old homestay mom.

Past all that, I have countless memories to take back to the states with me. From the first night in Valencia to now, our first day in Barcelona, we have fit in an unimaginable amount of traveling and sightseeing. I remember within the first couple of days Josh mentioning that we had already done all of the top five or something like that, things to do while in Valencia. While a lot of that had to do with having such wonderful help from the people at ISA, I also got incredibly lucky to have Emily as my roommate. Just sitting around for the day was not an option for the two of us (and most of the time also Josh). Our expectations for the trip fit together perfectly and each of us wanted to get the absolute most out of the experience. Even now we are trying to cram everything possible into the last couple of days.

Aside from anything having to do with the trip being in beautiful Spain, I feel completely honored and blessed to have been able to share it with such wonderful people. I am baffled by the fact that I have attended the same university with the individuals on this trip for at least a year and I have never had the pleasure of crossing paths with them. After this experience together I could not imagine my life without them. Also the knowledge I have gained is completely unique and I will carry it with me and use it to help me be the best leader and individual I can be for the rest of my life. All in all, this experience has turned out to be more than I could ever imagine and I am eternally grateful to have had been a part of it.

I'm on the left and my roommate Emily S. is on the right

Jabri Boyd- May 23, 2014

It has only been a week and a half and oh the stories I could tell. Since I have been here I have had so many bloggable experiences and to be honest, it was difficult only picking one. But I did it so here we go. So it was the second day of our trip and I didn’t have any toothpaste. Why might you ask (good question), it was taken from me at the airport. I was pretty upset but hey, life goes on. So we get to Valencia and everywhere you look you see signs that read “Farmacia.” So I was like “yes, I will get toothpaste from there and all will once again be right with the world.” So later that day, after class and our ISA activities my roommate and I swing by one of the Farmacia’s on our way home. We spent about 15 minutes in there because she was looking for sunscreen and the employees weren’t too friendly. The first thing I noticed was the prices, they were pretty ridiculous. So Taylor didn’t wind up buying her sunscreen there and I picked up the cheapest tube I could find thinking that toothpaste just must be expensive in Spain.

 The story continues later that night when it was time to go to bed. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth as I would any other night but as soon as the toothbrush hit my teeth I knew something we terribly wrong. I tried to continue brushing for a couple seconds thinking to myself “toothpaste in Spain is different than at home. You need to be accepting of different cultures.” But after about 15 seconds of brushing with that stuff I had reached my limit. I could not take it anymore. I spent the next 30 minutes picking this terrible, sticky, foreign paste out of my teeth and just used Taylor's toothpaste as I had done the night before. I came back in the room and told Taylor about my unfortunate experience and I’m pretty sure she just laughed at me. The next morning I was informed that I had brushed my teeth with…DENTURE GLUE!!! Yes, that’s right. For 30 seconds I rubbed denture glue in my teeth like it actually belonged there. I think it took like 3 days for the glue to get out of my toothbrush entirely. I look back at this experience and laugh so I hard I start to cry. My first  purchase in Spain was glue that elderly people use. I am really happy that I have this story to tell.

Volunteering with Devin on the left and Henry on the right

Paella eating!

Bike riding down the riverbed

Marcos Navarrete- May 22, 2014

           Studying abroad to Valencia, Spain has been so far an amazing experience. The country of Spain has so much to offer such as food, culture, history, architecture, art, and the list goes on. Arriving to the city of Valencia my first impression of this place was astonished how beautiful the city really is. The city of Valencia has many remarkable aspects that makes it a true beauty. Valencia is tightly connected to nature and agriculture but it still ties in a modern metropolitan city feeling. I really enjoy that the city is still a big city, but still contains beaches, parks, and nature embedded. Upon arrival to Valencia, I was warmly greeted by my host mother and went to her home afterwards. My homestay where I’m living is very welcoming and spacious. I enjoy living with my homestay family because we always have conversations about many things and I feel as if we have been knowing each other for a long time. 

​We have had many great opportunities to learn about the culture and historical facts about the city of Valencia. We took a walking tour through Valencia to learn more about the city’s history and culture, we have been to crop fields to learn about Valencia’s vegetation and irrigation, and we have had many adventures to add. We have been to many sites in the city, but one of my favorite of the trip was at a ranch to cook paella. We went to the ranch of Tony Montolui to pick out crops and help out to prepare the paella. I really enjoyed this activity because we got to immerse ourselves in the tradition of Spanish cooking paella, plus being on a ranch and having fun was awesome on my list.

​It has been surreal that we are almost finished with the study abroad program because there is so much we are doing and so far everything has been a blast. I am looking forward to visiting the cities of Barcelona, Madrid, and Toledo to view more aspects of the country of Spain. I’m very excited to visit the city to see it’s architecture, food, and culture. I am also excited to visit the aquarium in Valencia’s famous City of Arts and Sciences, I think it’s going to be an exciting time. The thought of leaving Valencia has not even come across my mind, but the day we depart back to Purdue is going to sad, because I feel I’m not going to want to go back. This trip has been very rewarding and I am very thankful to have joined HORIZONS on this trip and learned a lot about Spanish culture.

Stephanie DeSimini- May 21, 2014

I cannot believe that we have been in Valencia, Spain for over a week now. This past week and a half has been surreal in the sights, foods, and experiences. The sheer amount of things we have accomplished in such a short time is amazing. From the moment we stepped off of the bus into Valencia, I knew my life would never be the same. I would meet new people, eat new foods, and learn to love a whole new way of life. Our host mom (we call her mami or mama) was there to greet us as soon as we arrived. She has been like a mother to us in this new and unknown place.She feeds us meals filled with new flavors and different spices. She always greets us with a smile, and is proud of her artwork all over our cozy home.

We have spent a lot of time seeing the beautiful city of Valencia and trying all sorts of new things. We took a walking tour of old Valencia, and a bike tour straight through the heart of the city. We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. We have also had a wonderful opportunity to travel outside of the city to a Paella cooking class. What we thought was going to be just a lesson on what ingredients to include or what temperature to cook it at, instead what we got was a whole different experience! We had to go into the fields and pick our vegetables for the meal, (with help from the wonderful Tony) and learn what really goes into the Paella. Tony was very proud of his farm and establishment, and it was an eye opening experience to see that part of Spain.

Along with all of the amazing fun stuff, we have also been working hard volunteering. We helped at Feria de Primavera, which is a festival that they have every year to raise awareness and support for different mental disabilities. We worked in groups at different stations Saturday and Sunday. When working at the bouncy houses collecting tickets, I talked to all different kinds of people trying to practice my Spanish. In speaking to new people I learned all about Spain and its cultures. On Sunday when I worked at the zip line station, I got to work with little kids and practice a whole different set of skills. The weekend was exhausting but I think my Spanish has improved a little bit, and I know that my cultural skills have improved immensely.

From volunteering, to class time, and other fun and exciting new things, I am filled to the brim with new information and am excited to see what more there is to experience!

Colleen Jones- May 20, 2014

I am forever grateful for this experience and still can’t believe I am here in Valencia. This trip has been a real adventure for me. Being given the opportunity to travel worldwide is something I never had anticipated before in my entire life. I experienced my very first plane ride ever, and I must say that while it was an exhilarating first time experience, being stuck on that thing for 8 hours was slightly torturous.

Initial communication with my host family was extremely intimidating. I do not speak any Spanish and they do not speak any English. Luckily, my four semesters of Portuguese greatly benefited me. Thank goodness for similarities in romance languages! Communication is definitely a struggle, but figuring out ways to get the point is extremely rewarding.

The city of Valencia is absolutely beautiful. I love going to the beach and enjoying the outside weather every second I can. Different parts of the city have very different atmospheres, which I find to be more and more surprising every day. Some parts are historical and have an antique feel to them, while others are very new and modern looking. The vast differences make the views of the city the least bit tiring.

Today we volunteered at a school for our service learning activity. While I wasn’t able to communicate much in Spanish with the children, they made sure to make fun of the English speaking accent I had with my pronunciation of the Spanish words I actually knew how to say.They were very intrigued by the fact that I couldn’t speak their language. At one point, there were six kids around me pointing to my jewelry and tugging at my clothes saying “Cómo se dice en Inglés?!”, meaning “How do you say in English?!” It made me laugh that they were so fascinated by the language barrier.  

My roommate and I live in one of the furthest homestays in the city, and we both unfortunately may be the worst two people on the trip with directions. We have gotten accustomed to getting lost all the time, but we have come to think of it as more of a constant adventure than anythingnegative. I mean, if I have to get lost somewhere I am more than okay with it being in Spain. Because of us getting lost so often, we have seen parts of Valencia that are so far away I am sure nobody else has gotten the opportunity to see.  

I have been thinking about life in general on a much deeper cultural level. Being immersed into an entirely different culture makes you much more aware of both your own culture and other cultures, and increases your grasp of the world around you. I feel like I have become a much more confident and independent person because of the challenges I have come across in the duration of this trip. I truly cannot wait to see what the remainder of this trip has in store for me.  

At the paella farm

The farmer throwing lettuce for us to catch

The streets of downtown Valencia