What's up Valencia?

If a trip of 8 hours wasn't long enough, a woman in the bus decided to sneak in her little dog against all rules, to get discovered in the middle of the night by the driver... she got yelled at and delayed the whole trip one extra hour. Oh snap!

The bus arrived to Valencia at 5.00 am., allowing me to squeeze in a couple of hours of sleep before heading to the hair stylist at 09.00 am. The hotel room at NH Center was amazing... well, it was more like a small apartment, with its entrance hall, a complete bathroom with a big bathtub, a spacious double bed and a small relaxing area next to a glass wall. All the people at the hotel were very nice and polite, making me feel 10 years older by calling me by “usted” and carrying all my luggage to my door - they didn't event let me hold my suit, which I carried in a travel-cover. The hair salon was right next to the hotel, managed by two blonds who gave me tips to move around the city. There was also a nice small restaurant next to the hotel where I got breakfast and lunch for 2 and 9 Euro respectively... Full menu, first, second, dessert and wine... Amazing.

The company I was going to interview for is right in the center of the city, in an old and charming area, among very picturesque buildings. When I arrived, I had a cup of green tea in the most lovely tea-house in the very same street... Valencia was just gaining brownie-points left and right... Until I actually got to do the interview: it was awkward, uncomfortable and very nerve-wracking... Hence killing my mood to go exploring the city some more that day. Thus, I decided to stay in the hotel Thursday evening, swimming in the outdoors pool, drinking mojitos and sunbathing. Moreover, I got to talk to Sara, Matt, Jenni, Sarai and Ivar between glass and glass of white wine, which the waiter at the terrace kept coming all evening and never charged me for - nice. I also got to do a lot of resume-sending and organized some stuff for London; it was a very productive and relaxing time. The only pato-aventura I had was when I ran to my room after letting my battery die in the middle of a conversation, to plug in my computer in my room, killing all the lights in the floor... C'est la vie. I fell asleep watching the channel “Cosmopolitan” and woke up very late the next morning to “Never been kissed.”

On Friday, Valencia-city got another chance, when I ventured into the center and the old part. In my opinion, Valencia has a certain Mediterranean touch, like Barcelona, although it is more welcoming than Barna, due to its smaller and more manageable size. Moreover, it also has a Southern Spanish medieval-city atmosphere to it sometimes, like when you enter the old part through medieval massive towers or when you find medieval churches buried amongst tall, modern buildings. Other parts, like the big avenues with tall decorated buildings of the early XXth century reminded me of Madrid, although Valencia definitely has its distinct character seasoned with palm trees, orange trees and the green park of the Turia river crossing the city.

My “mordisquitos”-side was also very pleased. I had an awesome lunch - first, second, bread, dessert and wine - at a small restaurant right in front of the cathedral for less than 9 Euro. This was very surprising given the amazing location. The waiters were very friendly and gave me directions to try to find my bank to get some pounds for the UK - which I couldn't get in San Sebastian because of the 2-day-order rule. On my way there, I got stopped by the TV crew of “Gente,” an evening program of the main Spanish national TV network. I tried avoiding them for some reason.... I thought they might had been asking tourists stuff about the old part or the tourism industry in the Fall... but they ran after me, to tell me that they loved me outfit and wanted to interview me and pass a fashion's designer's test... Which I passed with a good grade! Thank goodness! haha I wish I had been better dressed though... I was just wearing a comfy skirt and a t-shirt with “merceditas” and Sarai's latest black bag. At least my hair was ok... haha :) Anyhow, my search for pounds was tiring, long and ineffective, given that even in the big banks in the center of the city, they followed the 2-day-order rule... (After-editing-note: There are no exchange-places at the airport either!!! So I'm flying to London without a single pound in my pocket.... Hopefully there will be an ATM or an exchange place at the airport so that I can take the train to London Bridge!)

On the other hand, there were also a couple of sketch moments in my trip... When I left the hotel in the morning on Friday, two sketch-balls followed me for 20 minutes , until I got very nervous and approached a security guard standing in front of the entrance of “El Corte Inglés.” The guys turned around right away and never saw them again... Thank goodness! Later that afternoon, I approached a traffic policeman for directions, when I was looking for my bank's headquarters and he politely indicated me the way. However, two streets down, when I stopped to take pictures of a church, he crossed my way and told me not take pictures of him, to which I smiled and said “don't worry sir, I wouldn't do such a thing.” Another couple of stores down the same street, he approached me again and told me that he was joking and that he would walk me to my destination if I didn't mind... To which I agreed, given that I actually had no clue if I was on right street or not. On our way there, he asked me where I was from, joked that I didn't have a Basque accent, what my plans for the day were and even offered to pose for a picture of both of us... When I told him that I was flying to London, he asked me if he could have my phone number.. to which I replied that I didn't know when I was returning. He smiled and watched me enter my bank... and even waved a couple of times while I waited in line... Oh snap! Is it even allowed to approach happy, non-disturbing innocent citizens like that??? Way too much concern for your citizens Valencia...

Late that afternoon I returned to my hotel, picked up my bags and took the bus on the 150 line. It is so convenient! It stops in the main spots (including my hotel), costs 1,50 Euro and leaves you at the airport in 50 minutes. Valencia got tons of brownie-points for its efficient and safe public transportation system. The airport is small and manageable - kind of boring actually. There is only one overpriced fast-food place once you pass the security point, so make sure you eat out in the city before your flight back.

Au Revoir Valencia, you are a nice city, with great-cheap restaurants, good transportation systems, interesting sightseeing spots, way too many palm-trees and creepy traffic policemen... and I got to be on TV! :) My only concern now is how I will get pounds in London so late at night.... 

Trip to France

Saturday 18^th of September

My last hours before leaving were crazy-hectic. I was called for a last minute interview for a rather cool teaching position, for which I had 15 minutes to arrive to... I got there in jeans, a large sweater and with the last addition of my braces... which doesn't let me speak properly... I don't think they were very impressed (I know I wouldn't be). And... if they call me back I would have to return back to Spain way sooner than I would like to... So I feel 50-50 about this job. I won't think much about it.

My dad wanted to take me to the train station in Hendaye this morning, right across the border. The trip should take around 30 min max, but he planned to leave two hours earlier... Which actually we ended up using because he got lost... I really don't understand how that happened... But now I know who did I get my lack of orientation from... and my extreme obsession to be on time everywhere.

I'm writing this in the French TGV, bordering the gorgeous French coast all the way up to Bordeaux.... It's actually a nice, comfy and very well color-coordinated train. Last time I did a long-distance trip in train across Europe was during the summer of 2005 (5 years ago?!!) when I went interrailing with my Danish roomie Selina. I remember how excited I was about the idea of getting stamps from all different countries (we crossed six) in my passport... which never happened because Europeans citizens can travel anywhere within the EU with their national ID – didn't even need a passport. Disappointing. Back to my point, the trains we used were actually rather rackety, old, and funny-smelling. So, things have either changed these last five years... or we were very unlucky with our train-selection.

Hmmm.... is it weird that I feel so homey at airports, train stations and other means of international-transportation? Although these last three months and a half in Spain have made me realize how much I like living in Spain and, how much I need to settle down somewhere for more than a year so that I can regain some sense of belonging... I think some part of me will always be desperate to jump in the next train or plane to somewhere far away. I'm stating to think that I also got that from my dad... I could see how his eyes lighted up when I told him we should meet up in Bordeaux to spend the day and do some sightseeing when I've settled down in little Brossac. Also, I think he enjoys a little too much sending me to ask random questions about anything and everything in French to random French people.

PS - Pictures from Bordeaux St. Jean train station.

One day and wake up: France-time!

Hiya! This is the last update before I leave for France, to little Brossac. About this week, it was very, very, very productive work wise - So I am leaving for France with some peace of mind knowing that I left everything that needed to be done in this side of the border ready. The pics are from the trail I run every day, isn't it gorgeous?

Last weekend was rather awesome. The comedian on Friday turned out to be Marco Antonio - hilarious doesn't even begin to describe this guy (http://www.marcoantoniocomico.com/). He also presents the Comedy Club in Murcia, works as reporter for Interalmeria Televisión and writes and presents Telematón. Where on earth does he find the time to do all that? 

The highlight of Saturday was getting to know some acquaintaces better (Myriam's friends) - They turned out to be some of the most interesting people I've got to know in a while. After a cosy dinner at someone's house we headed out to a concert, although we didn't stay for long. Afterwards we went to the old part of San Sebastian to rediscover what used to be the old "Tic-Tac," in its new phase: way clasier, better music and less smoke! We danced a lot, even ended up closing the bars in the old part. Fun times.

Anyways, the fall seems to be arriving in the Basque Country, starting with the apple-season. This week I couldn't help picking up some every time I went running to feed them to my fav horsie - he likes the red best. Also, apple-season always reminds me of start putting away the summery clothes, although I couldn't bring myself to take out the rainboots... not yet! I'll wait till I get back in few weeks.  

Next update will be from the other side of the border :)

The Perfect Man - It's all Sarai's fault

Sarai is the one to blame for this post about "The Perfect Man" by Sheila O'Flanagan. She gave me this book as a present from London... Although it took me two months to read the first third (it starts kinda slow), I've read the rest in just two days. I was literally glued to the pages of this book... I read half in my second visit this week to Cristina Enea Park and the rest this morning... putting off everything else... buffff

In my opinion... the story line is not that original, the writing is cheesy, the development of the plot very slow, predictable and, the fact that many scenes of the book take place in the south of Spain, in a tiny village of Málaga, sometimes made me a little bit uncomfortable - made me wonder if the author actually knows what she's writing about... "Sierra Bonita", really? really?

However, it also talks about Dublin and Ireland... And one of the characters is half Irish, half Spanish... Who made me think of someone very dear to me. Moreover, the emotional evolution of the characters is brilliant - I really enjoyed all the subtle, believable changes throughout the novel. Lastly, it is romantic... And hadn't read a chick-flicky-bestseller in years... It was good for me - These last six months I actually forgot there exists something called "romance" out there...

**To Sarai: If this book was part of a strategy to stop this year's ongoing personal-emotional transformation into Samantha Jones... you were smart my friend, very smart... Thank you very much. I love you.

PS - The title is a link to O'Flanagan's official site. It has a very cute-very British ad about the book :)

Brain-deadness

Seriously. What was that? Was that a real interview or was he conducting an experiment on my brain to see how many seconds it took me to change between languages?

This morning I had an interview for an English/Japanese/Spanish  teaching position in a prestigious language school in Guipuzcoa. The interviewer was very friendly, welcoming and interesting and, who also gave me little "gifties" with their logo :) hehe But the interview itself... wow! He made me start telling the story of my fav book in English, and with a snap of his fingers I had to immediately switch to another language, adding French and Basque to Spanish, English and Japanese. Moreover, he made me conjugate obsolete verbs used only in poetry and asked me to come up with synonims for the most random words/concepts... like "body snatcher" and "hushed" (kinda gloomy terms, really).

Oh well, it was a good exercise to test my knowledge and language-skills... But it left me brain-dead for the rest of the morning...

Cristina Enea Park

On my way to the second visit this week to the dentist (who as soon as recognises my voice on the phone asks “what happened to you this time?” haha), I decided to make a detour and cross the Cristinea Enea park, instead of the crowded centre of San Sebastian. It was definitely the best idea I had this week.

The current park used to be the area sorrounding the palace and other private buildings belonging to the Duke and the Duchess De Mandas, who passed away without having an heir. The couple left most of their personal assets to the city at the beginning of the XIX century, with the condition that the park would always look as it did when they lived there.  Honestly, I do not know to what extent the city hall has respected the wishes of the Duke during these last 100 years, but crossing the doors of the park definitely seems to take you to another time.

Although it is in the middle of the city, the silence reigns, only to be broken once in a while by the sweet tweeting of the birds. There are little hidden tracks everywhere, each of them taking you to charming corners where you can read, take a nap, sunbathe, admire the vegetation and forget about the urban chaos prevailing just few hundred metters away. 

Anyways, I could talk forever and ever of this park, which has witnessed some of the most romantic and funniest moments of my teenage years... even a time where I was locked in the park at night and had to climb the walls to get out! Sillyness... The park does ooze an atmosphere that makes you fell like anything and everything could happen between its walls... And the "Be aware of the peacocks" signs and the "frigoteca" are just part of its charm.

On another note, my dear friend Sarai has become part of the oh-always-famous cosmetic company Avon and I thought I could put a link for here in the sidebar. Click on it, and if you like anything, she'll make sure to get it to you. Lastly,  my answer to the question I posted in the last entry... Nope... They weren't handsome at the central office... But a girl can always wish, right? :) Good Night!

PS – The title is a link to the official city-hall-site of the park.

The summer is over...

September first is approaching and my 2010-summer is coming to an end. After my graduation from W&L, my departure from my dear US and the ending of many important things that used to define my life, this summer has been an interesting one, in both positive and negative ways. Although I'll miss the afternoons in the beach, the ice-creams in the Boulevard, the funny Sunday-morning calls among my friends inquiring what happened the previous night and, most of all, the absence of the Basque-never-stopping-rain... I'm glad this phase is over and I can move onto new projects.

Sarai & I - Bus to Bilbao

One of the new projects is writing this blog, which hopefully will keep my English-writing skills from getting too rusty. Other projects include traveling, visiting old friends, improving my recently acquired French-language-skills and most importantly, finding a job related to my fields of study. Currently, I'm facing two weeks of paperwork and planning for my stay in France, in Brossac. I think it will be very exciting to write about it, given that it will a completely new experience.  However, until then, I have to deal with all the slow-paced bureaucracy to re-issue all my documentation, which got stolen/lost a little bit ago. Only today I went to five different locations (some of them even 3 times) to accomplish nothing, given that apparently, telling you which documentation you need to bring can't be done all at once... Why? I don't know... But I just nodded and smiled every time... (sigh).

Nevertheless, on a funnier note, all the going and coming helped me discover something new about my dear Basque village and its surroundings. As you might know, I've never been too interested in my fellow Basque-guys and their style... Or their height...(Usually I'm like one head taller than them... take no offense please!).

Bilbao City - August 7th 2010

However, today I was glad to notice that all the policemen at the different local police stations I went to were amazingly dashing. Were they always like that? Is being extremely good-looking a new requirement to become a policemen here? How can I get one of those to go? Well, this afternoon I have to go to the central police station in San Sebastian to continue all the paperwork... I'll look around and see if I can actually make a generalization about that :) haha Anyways, it's time to go, but I also wanted to say thank you to all of you who shared your time and gave me your support during these months of transition - you know who you are (especially you elephant-crazed person haha). Thanks for a great summer. Love you all!

PS - If you click on the title of this entry, you'll be directed to one of my fav songs which reminds me very much of my senior year at W&L. The pics are from my girl-trip to Bilbao this summer... Good times, good times.