Family visit!

A few weeks ago, my parents, little sister, and good family friend came to visit! To say I was excited is the understatement of the year. I was absolutely estcatic. I'd literally been counting down the days from months and months ahead, and remember telling my friends in school things like "Only 64 days 'till my parents come!". So you can imagine my eagerness to finally, FINALLY, be able to see my family after 8 months of seperation.
Angela, Miguel, and I drove to Valencia to pick them up at about 12, when their flight came in. Of course we got there early and had to wait about an hour or so, which seemed to strech on for days. I've never been more impatient in my whole life. While we waited at the gate, I was shaking because I just had so many nerves and it was a lot of emotion. And as soon as I saw my mom's red hair walking through the gate, I lost it. I started crying uncontrollably, and ran up to hug her, my baby sister, my daddy, and our friend Lisa, who is basically my aunt. I was surprised at myself because I didn't think that I'd cry; that I'd be too excited to waste my energy on tears, but there were so many built up emotions, and really, after not hugging your mother for 8 months, it's hard not to let at least a few tears out.
 After our movie-like reunion, we continued outside to get their car rental sorted out, and then we were on our way! We followed Miguel and Angela in their car to Valencia, because we were going to show them around there for the day. Once we parked, we walked around Valenica, non-stop talking and just enjoying being together. We ate in this great restaurant that looked like a cave and everyone got along really great. Miguel spoke pretty good English, and I translated the rest for my family. It was actually really fun being able to understand 2 languages and help people understand. It made me realize that I've learned so much Spanish these past few months.
After our tour of Valencia, we drove to Denia, where my parents rented a time share for the week. Once Miguel and Angela went back to Benissa, and we all settled our stuff in, we took a walk to the beach, which was actually right behind our beautiful timeshare. As the sun set, and I got to witness my family dip their feet in the Mediterranean for the first time, I was happy. I will always remember that as one of the happiest moments of my life. Being reunited with the people I love the most, being able to show them this amazing, exotic place and show them how much I've learned and grown this year, was the best feeling. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.
The next day we had to navigate our way from Denia to my house in Benissa. We got lost at first, but then my sense of direction kicked in and we finally got there. I was really excited to be able to show them my house, my bedroom, and all the little things that makes this place home for me. Then, Angela took us to go on a nature walk right along the Mediterranean coast. I was so happy to be able to see my family's reactions to the beauty of this place because it reminded me of when I first got here. My dad, Angela, and I even braved the chilly water and went swimming! After, we came back to our house to have paella with my two lovely Rotary counselors, Ramona and Olga. Both of these women speak at least 5 languages and our two of the most interesting women I've ever met in my whole life. Lunch was delicious, and it was filled with laughter, interesting anecdotes, and a general sense of happiness. After a siesta, we all went to Altea, one of my favorite towns here in the Valencia community. It's your typical Spanish town, filled with beautiful cobblestoned streets, cute shops, and delicious restaurants. It's also right on the Mediterranean and has some amazing views. When we returned home that night, we walked along the main street of Denia for awhile, then came home. My sister, dad, Lisa and I stayed up talking and drinking wine on our balcony for hours talking about pretty much everything there is to talk about. We had some really great, deep conversations and I felt really lucky just to be able to have some wonderful people around me to be able to give me some inteligent advice about my future (one of my biggest fears). I've just really realized that I'm so blessed to be surrounded by so much love in my life. I now have two wonderful familes and sets of friends, and I really can't fathom sometimes how my hand of cards came out so good. I'm just so, so grateful that God has given me so much.
 The next day was my favorite day. It was by far the most jam-packed, but definitely the best. We got up early and came to Benissa to meet up with Miguel. Then, I actually got to show my family my actual town and tell them the history, and sort of paint the picture in their minds that I actually live in Spain! After our tour of Benissa was finished we went to an absolutely beautiful natural fountains. The waterfalls are stunning, and alhtough there isn't a ton of water, it was beautiful just the same. We went to lunch after at a really great restauraunt and left completely stuffed. My parents were kind of shocked to have eaten so much at lunch time, but seeing as it is Spains biggest meal of the day, they went along with it. After lunch we drove to Guadalest, absolutely one of my favorite towns in the whole world. Guadalest is more on the interior, so it's surrounded by mountains and actually looks more like a town in Switzerland rather than Spain. It's a really cute town, but the view is what's the attraction. It is up really high on a mountain with old castle ruins and a stunning view of a resovoir embedded in between the mountains. It's breathtaking, and I know my parents were taken away as well with its' beauty. Then, we drove down the mountains to the beach to Benidorm. Benidorm is a really great tourist spot. It has a beautiful beach and tons of restuarants and bars. After walking along the shops for awhile, we stopped into an English karaoke bar for a drink. There was barely anyone inside, but the guy working was non stop singing. He asked my mom and I if we wanted to sing, so being spontaneous and fun, we said yes! I normally never would have consented, but I figured "why not?". I was with my family, it was a great day, and I was happy. My mom and I sang "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. But the real showstoppers were Miguel and my dad singing "Walk the line"  by Johnny Cash. With Miguel's Spanish accent and my dad's terrible singing, it turned out to be probably one of the funniest moments I've ever witnessed. It was just such a great day/night and we all had such a great time.
The next day was more relaxed; we stayed in Denia for the day to walk around the shops and harbor. We had tapas at a restaurant in town, and I got to demonstrate my knowledge of Spanish cuisine as I ordered for my family. We also climbed to the top of Denias castle, which gave a really great view of the coast. Later, we returned to our timeshare for a quick nap, then came back into Denia to meet Miguela and Angela for dinner. We had a great dinner, and expanded our normal horizons with food when we tried foie gras de pato (Duck liver). It wasn't bad at all, although I couldn't fully wrap my mind around the fact that I was eating an actual liver. The rest of the dinner was delicious, and we stayed for nearly 3 hours, dragging it out because we all knew we had to say goodbye after. My parents' flight was in the moring so I had to go home with Miguel and Angela that night. As we walked back to the car from the restaurant, I started crying. I had such an amazing few days with my family and we made some great memories. I missed them so much; I didn't realize just how much I missed them until they actually came to visit me so it was hard to say goodbye again. I know I'll see them again in 2 months, but goodbyes are always so hard to say to people you love so much.
All in all, they were some of the best days I've had here in Spain. I was able to have my two families together, and was able to show my real family my home here in Spain, and everything I love about this culture. I think they now understand why I don't wanna come home! It was honestly perfect though, that I was able to have my loved ones here in this place that I love so much.

Las Fallas de Valencia

This weekend was absolutely one of the best of my life! My aunt lives right in the center of Valencia, (along with her 11 children), so they invited me to stay with them for Las Fallas. After school Angela dropped me off at the train station in Gandia, and I took the hr or so train ride to Valencia by myself, which made me feel a lot cooler than it should have (I always feel really mature when I use public transportation solo). At the station, my cousin Mari picked me up. She's 18 so we get along really, really well. Just walking from the train station to the few blocks away to her apartment was chaos. There were so many people, and as soon as we stepped out into the street there was music and Falleras parading around the streets. Falleros are the people who dress up in the traditional clothing of Valencia and participate in all of the festivities to celebrate the Virgin Mary. Being a fallero is a real honor here and people get really emotional with everything.

When we got back to Mari's apartment, we chilled out for awhile and then later went to go get 
STARBUCKS<333.Anyone that knows me knows I'm obsessed with Starbucks like the majority of
Americans, so you can imagine my excitement after 7 months of deprivation for a Mocha Frappucino.
Later, we walked around the main shopping area of Valencia, looking into stores and catching up. Then we went into the main Plaza, where there were huge Fallas everywhere! Las Fallas are these beautiful
giant wooden structures that are so intricately painted.Mainly, they have to do with political or social
events and are satirical, but they were beautiful just the same. I was literally in awe. I remember walking
arm in arm with Mari, telling her how happy I was because it was so true.Valencia is by far one of the
most beautiful cities I've ever seen, and this night was just perfect. Walking down beautiful European
streets with all of the people and music and these Fallas was just amazing. There was a vibrancy and a
liveliness in the air that was just indescribable.


Later that night, after eating dinner, we went out to go meet up with Mari and her friends. They were all
beautiful and really welcoming and we had a really great time that night. We went to El Puente, which is a bridge that everyone went to to go see El castillos (fireworks). As I stood there, looking these amazing
lights (I'm such a sucker for fireworks), I remember saying "Don't forget this, don't forget this.." It was
such a beautiful moment for me, and the night seemed somehow magical, that I knew I wanted to
remember that moment, like so many others I've experience here, for the rest of my life. After the
fireworks we walked literally through all of Valencia to find the discomobile. I ruined a new pair of boots
and my feet were absolutely dead, but it was worth it.


The next day, Mari and I went to the main market with her family. This market was incredible and had
every type of food imaginable; all of it fresh. There was a ton of people inside, and just to add some fiesta, a band also was walking around, playing music. After that, Mari and I went to Starbucks and waited for
la mezclata. La mezclata is basically fireworks during the day, but without light and a whole lot of sound. Seriously, it wasn't my favorite only because it sounded like you were in the middle of a war zone. Once we made are way home, we ate and took a siesta, then got ready to go to mass later.


We went to the same church where my cousin Dani (Mari's older brother) got married this year. The
church is beautiful and although I understand Spanish well, I still couldn't keep up with the mass, only
because it was a bit boring and my attention span isn't long enough for me to translate a whole sermon for myself in my head. After church, we went to get something to eat with some of our friends. On the way
back, we saw a bunch of break dancers doing these amazing stunts. At all hours of the day and night  
during Las Fallas, you can find something interesting to do. There's either light shows, break dancers, or 
just the incessant parading of the Falleras, but it's always exciting.


The next day was a lot more calm. We basically hung around the house all day, exhausted from going out all day and practically all night. Later, when it was time to meet up with our friends, we went to a pizza
place to eat beforehand and Starbucks of course afterwards. This night was the best because the disco
mobile was the coolest and we could actually dance! Haha, we got home late again and by the next
morning I was exhausted from such a jam packed weekend of fun. Literally every moment of this
weekend was amazing and I am so lucky to have been able to gone with my wonderful cousin
Mari.

Everything

Oh wow..I don't even know where to start. First of all, I'm probably the most inconsistent person on the face of the planet, and I apologize. So many things have happened since my last blog. Not only have a lot of really awesome big stuff has happened, but even just the daily things that I probably should write about, but never get around to it. This blog will be brief just to organize my thoughts and try to find out where I left off. I'm going to write the most important things each in a seperate blog, because they definetly deserve their own margin. That being said, I'm going to start writing them now, so I'll post again when I'm finally done!