Sarah Angley- May 29, 2014

It’s really strange that we’ve arrived in Toledo. It’s not so much that this place is strange, or even that it is weird to be here, exactly. But more, it’s weird to not be in Valencia, and to know that I will not be going back there. Looking back, three weeks really isn’t that long a span of time, and it feels like it’s been far too short, but it also feels like I haven’t been home in years. It just doesn’t feel like this should be coming to an end so soon. I still remember unpacking that first day in Valencia, realizing that while the apartment I was going to live in was fairly large, there was not nearly enough space for all of our stuff.  And I remember meeting my house mother, who speaks just as much English as I do Spanish – none.

It was then that I realized that this trip was not going to be easy. And there were many challenges. From getting stuck on the bus for an hour – twice – to not being able to speak to anyone outside of our group, I was faced with more challenges than I anticipated. And a lot of us were. Most of us didn’t speak Spanish, and so it was a struggle even just to order food. Between phone issues and getting lost over and over again, our group was forced to persevere. And we did, though it was hard at times. But as many challenges as we faced, this trip was also an incredible experience. I tried so many new things and saw sights I will remember for the rest of my life.

I met amazing people and ate amazing food. I learned more about myself and this place, and I have grown as a person because of it. I even traveled through Spain with just two other people, and climbed a mountain to a medieval castle.  

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I am extremely sad for this trip to end. I don’t want to say goodbye to all of these amazing people who traveled almost half way around the world with me. Saying goodbye to my house mother, who I could barely communicate with, was hard enough. And these people, my Horizons family, were amazing. Everyone was so different, but those different personalities didn’t clash like they probably should have. Instead, we all got along and pushed past the problems and tough patches, and made this trip the most amazing experience it could have been. I could not have asked for anything more.

My roommate Emily, our house mother and I the night before we left Valencia.

One of the most beautiful things I saw was Casa Batlló, which was designed by Gaudi in Barcelona.

Castle in Xativa, Spain

Some of those amazing people I mentioned.

Devin Hall- May 28, 2014

Wow. Where do I even begin? Today is our last day in Valencia with our host families and we only have a few days left before we all go home and to our daily routine. This trip has been such an amazing experience and I think I speak for the whole group when I say we are all so blessed to have been apart of this beautiful adventure.

So far we have done so much in these short few weeks. We have taken a bike tour, participated in a movie night and discussion about Shakespeare in Spanish at the University of Valencia, a paella cooking demonstration, service learning projects, went to an aquarium, took a special trip to Barcelona, got make overs by Rosa, and so much more. Instead of focusing this blog on that aspect of this trip, I want to talk about our home stay experience.

For this study abroad trip we were all placed in family’s homes to stay and reside in for the next three weeks as opposed to staying in a hotel or something like that. At first I was a little nervous about the whole situation. I wasn’t sure what to expect at all. I didn’t know how I would feel or act going into someone’s home and living there for three weeks. Looking back now on how I felt then, I feel foolish.

This home stay experience has been something I will never forget for the rest of my life. I have made a wonderful, long-lasting connection with this family and with my roommate, too. The mother, Carmen, has made this whole study abroad trip so great. She has made being away from my mother a lot easier, and I truly thank her for that because I felt so horrible leaving my mother on Mother’s Day. She really treats Jessie and I like we are her own daughters. She has taken care of me when I woke up not once, but twice with a huge, swollen eye from the killer mosquitos here. She always took care of us and made sure we were fed any time we needed. Jessie and I DEFINITELY took advantage of that. We will be going back probably 20 pounds heavier! She was such a great cook, too. One night Jessie and I made dinner for the family to thank them for welcoming us into their home with open arms. Even though she didn’t speak much English at all and we weren’t really fluent in Spanish, we made a connection with her and created an incredible relationship.

This was such a great experience for me and I feel sad for anyone who studies abroad and doesn’t get to experience something this awesome. It is a bittersweet feeling leaving them tomorrow. I can’t wait to get home to my family and loved ones, but I will miss this. I’ll miss my “Valencianhome”.

Emily Strobl- May 27, 2014

I initially went into this trip with notions and expectations which have proven to be in stark contrast to my actual experience, and I could not be more grateful or blessed for the adventure which has unfolded before me. Today´s adventure was one I had been planning for a while now. We were informed even before our departure that we would have one “free day” in Spain. I knew right off the bat that I wanted to take a train somewhere, but where? After talking with our ISA director, Manuel (our amazing contact of endless knowledge) I settled on the ancient city of Sagunto. My roommate, Kate and I ran out the door of our homestay mother´s home early this morning with “Hasta luego! Muchos gracias!” on our lips and a homemade lunch in our hands. Spain has taught me many things, but one of my favorites is that the loving care of a mother crosses all barriers, even the language one! Soon we were on a train to Sagunto with our teacher, Josh. Only 4€ for a round trip ticket and a day of adventure ahead of us. After a fifteen minute ride through gorgeous Spanish countryside I caught a glimpse of ruins peeking out from the mountains. We climbed up, up, up, through a quiet town, followed by ancient steps until we were standing before the beautiful city itself. A kind man at the entranceinformed us, to our pleasant surprise, that the tickets were “gratis”. Excitedly we ran off to explore the incredible history around us. At this point I must admit I´m endlessly grateful for cameras because no matter how I try this is not a sight I could put into words. One of the most amazing aspects of Spain is the breathtaking way the mountainscascade into the ocean; however, I´ve never seen it quite as perfectly as today. We stopped to have our picnic in a little nook carved out of the mountainside; a welcomed rest from the strong Valencian sun. It was in this quiet moment, eating and laughing with two of my dearest friends, that I was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. This trip has molded, strengthened, and awoke my spirit in ways I never could have anticipated. For this I am blessed, but I´ve had a second realization beyond this. It is not enough to simply be blessed. As global leaders, it is our responsibility to share our experience, and use our new found skills to benefit the lives of others. All this was in my heart as the three of us continued to explore the ruins, and try our best to capture every bit. After roughly four hours of pictures, joke cracking, and a wonderful conversation with a vivacious Englishman-who may or may not have actually been John Lennon- we started down the mountainside to find our way back to the train station.Luckily for us we first found a small restaurant in the back yard of a Sagunto residence where we could rest and have a drink. Here we poured over the day´s photos, relaxed, and as always laughed. The day´s adventure reflected this trip in many ways; I didn´t know what I was getting into, it exceeded every expectation, and it left me exhausted and exhilarated all at once. Spain has been good to me!

 

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