Two days in one entry, because I didn't do much today and I made only a short trip yesterday. Still not feeling very well, which is irritating. I did get a fair amount of grad school work done with (just need to finish my letters of recs - I'm lucky in that two of my recommenders asked me to write the letters and send it to them), my personal statements, then I'm done!!
Yesterday, class was its usual. Still haven't learned the past tense in class, which is annoying when I'm trying to communicate and I can only use the present tense ... apparently that's one of the most complicated parts of Spanish, so I have to wait for my slow-as-a-drunk-snail class to get to it. Sigh. I shouldn't be complaining, but I get pretty frustrated when we go over the same concept for the fortieth time just because Yun or Chou haven't done their homework or their reading. Why come to a new country to study if you just want to stay at home and talk Chinese with your gf? If it's nookie you want, you could've managed the same in your home country.
...forgive me, I'm cranky and irritated at my irresponsible classmates. They can spend their time in Valencia however the hell they want to spend it, but when they start wasting my time with their bullshit — that's when I get angry. We don't have a lot of time to learn Spanish, and it's not like these classes are cheap.
We played a game after class with the level 2 students (Valentina joined us!), which was moderately amusing. I met a woman named Robin, who went to Azusa Pacific and grew up in Huntington Beach! Her husband was going to the branch of Berklee in Valencia, so she tagged along to learn Spanish and basically enjoy a prolonged vacation in Spain. It was great, having a fellow American to speak with — she's actually the first I've met thus far.
The game involved one person being put in the "hot seat," while another put up vocab words on the board behind them. We then went around the room, each of us giving a hint as to what the word was (for example, if the word was "blanco/white," a clue might be "negro/black.") Felix & I had a bit of trouble because obviously our vocab is much smaller than the students who have already studied Spanish for some years, but both of us still managed to guess a few words when it was our turn in the hot seat.
After class, I went to the Santa Catalina horchateria in the Plaza de la Reina. Alright. First up: it's a beautiful little shop. The waiter spoke in quiet but clear Spanish, so I actually had the semblance of a conversation with him. The horchata looked nice, the farton was great. That's where the positives end. Despite the horchateria's reputation (it's the oldest on in Valencia), the horchata was terrible. Too sweet. And they definitely added milk, because my stomach ached like a mfer for the rest of the day. To the point that I later had to stop walking and sit down for awhile. For shame, Santa Catalina!
After that, I went to the Centro Cultural la Beneficencia, next to the Catolica Universidad in Valencia (on the very other side of the Ciudad Viejo), which housed the Ethnography and Pre-history museums. Again, I have to reiterate that I'm disappointed by the lack of information in Spanish museums. I took the following pictures, and I read the Spanish captions very slowly so that I knew what I was looking at, but the combined horchata pains + my irritation with having to go searching for information about the exhibits instead of having it readily available -- well, I guess there was a reason that I was the only visitor in the entire museum.
Lots of old coins! Loki's prehistoric horns! (Actually prehistoric goat horns. Same diff.) Bits of old cave paintings! Bone tools! Pots! Pots! A metric crapton of pots! I swear, about 50% of the history museum was just ... pots ... pots ... pots. Half expected to find a bemused-looking Pepper amongst them. (my jokes are getting worse and worse. It's because I'm related to my father.) An infant burial (...in a pot!). A giant Roman mosaic (it was about 25ft square)! Thorin Oakenshield's sword! Old Valencian textiles (these were gorgeous in person). Farming tools, etc.
(Valencia was a Roman colony, hence all the Roman tie-ins.)
I'm glad I went, all the same. There were some beautiful exhibits, especially in the Pre-history museum.
Today, class. Had an interesting conversation with Felix about the differences between European and American attitudes re: education. He was telling me how most Europeans didn't really care about finishing on time/didn't mind taking it easy and using up an extra year or two whilst partying the time away, since it's not like they were paying much for it. And then he laughed at whatever expression I was making, haha. Can you imagine? I hurried to finish my degree because I was appalled and angry re: the fee hikes, and then Felix tells me that he was the only one in his entire class who finished within a semester of his expected graduation time.
I wanted to go to Yelmo Cines afterwards, but I think my cold has been elevated to the flu, so I stayed home and did some grad school work instead. (I did, however, find a few Valencianas from the Universidad on Tumblr who said they'd love to go with me to see Thor 2! That'll be great.) Tomorrow, I'll head to a few museums (the Ceramics museum, hopefully!) and the Mercado Central, where I will finally take pictures.
I also want to go out and get myself a few cheap dresses. I'm dying in my jeans. Located a few secondhand stores in the city, so I'll head out and see what I can find.
Listening to Les Mis in the background. Black, the night that ends at laaaaaast!! (God, Aaron Tveit - aside from Hathaway - is the best thing about this adaptation. His voice is incredible. One day, I will see him on stage.
When I grow up, I want to be Enjolras.)
The blood of the martyrs will water the meadows of Fraaaaaance!!
My brother made Eagle scout yesterday! He's now well on his way to becoming the next president of the US!!
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