Week 10,11, and 12

Hola family and friends,

As I expected I didn’t write the past weeks. I was busy doing fun stuff with all my visitors which was really nice. Since the last visitors left yesterday I have time to write again!

Monday 7 november – First volleyball training

I went to my lectures, I learned that people sensitive to caffeine have bad nights due to drinking coffee after dinner. Which is very interesting since there is always such a big discussion about this subject. I think I am sensitive to caffeine, but I never drink coffee after dinner, so my sleep is safe. Although cola also contains caffeine. Okay enough info about caffeine. In the afternoon I had my first volleyball training, with my team from the university. I was a bit nervous, didn’t know what to expect. The training is in torrent a small town just outside of Valencia. I have to take the metro for 20 minutes. The building I train in is really fancy, with a big sports hall in de basement. The team only had one central player, and the coach told me I had to play as central player. I don’t like being central player, which I never had to be in the Netherlands because I am to small for it. But since nobody is taller than me in the team he thought it would be the right spot for me. The training was really fun, I learned many new Spanish words. Only e few girls know English so communication is hard sometimes. A good way to learn Spanish. There is a polish girl and a French girl, also Erasmus students, they understand English very well. I also got a training suit from the uni, and when we have to play a match against Alicante they will pay the journey. AWESOME!!! My body was not used to train anymore, I was physically tired but very satisfied afterwards.

Tuesday 8 November – Just lectures

On this day I didn’t do anything very interesting, I went to my mediation class and my Spanish course. I really enjoy the Spanish course, the teacher always forces us to talk Spanish, which is hard but I learn a lot of it. But an exiting thing that happened today was my sister becoming an aunt the second time, her sister in law had her first baby. my sister and her boyfriend were really happy, the baby, Mara, was born before they went on their holiday to Cuba. In the evening I went to bed knowing it was my last night without anybody in my bed for two weeks. I was exited for the next day because Flora would come!!!

Wednesday 9 November – Missing a plain

On Wednesday I woke up early to get my room ready for flora. She should arrive at 4 but at 10:30 I received a text that she missed her flight. She remembered the wrong time so she was too late to the airport. I felt really bad for her, she insisted on coming the same day and booked a new flight leaving in the afternoon. I went to CrossFit ( yes I know I work out so much!) and afterwards straight to the airport to pick her up. I was so happy to see her, it was so long ago. We went to my house to dump her stuff and went out for dinner after. I treated her on real tapas, patatas bravas included (our favourite), because she deserved paying so much to come visit me.

Thursday 10 November – So much lectures and the international dinner

Unfortunately I had many lectures on Thursday, but fortunately, flora is very well able being on her own. She walked around the city on her own. For my practicum course, I had to visit an Alzheimer clinic, which was awesome. I got to meet some elderly people suffering from Alzheimer, they didn’t know any English but I tried talking Spanish with them. They were really nice and interested in why we studied in Spain. The idea of us coming there was to learn about the clinic but the patients learned more about us I think. After the visit, flora and I had lunch at Paprika, my favourite breakfast and lunch place because they serve gluten free bread. In the afternoon I went to my Spanish course which was really cool again. Afterwards, Winnie came to our place to bake pancakes. We had to make something typical from our country, and pancakes are the easiest thing and the most delicious. We had to make this for the international dinner at the university that evening. The dinner was awesome, so many different people and so much delicious food. Everybody liked the pancakes, we brought some liquorice as well that was less popular. After the dinner, we had drinks in a park, with loads of French and Flemish people.

Friday 11 November – Cross fit and the beach

On Friday I didn’t want to go to my morning lecture because I hate being up at 7. After a good night, we went to my old house, I had to receive my deposit back and pay the bills. It took forever because the landlady is very old and had trouble understanding what was happening, but afterwards, Flora, Chris and I went to the beach since it was really nice weather. After disgusting tapas, that was way too expensive flora was determined to swim. I really didn’t feel like it because it was not that warm. Flora and Chris both went swimming for a bit but not that long because it was really really cold. In the evening we went to cross fit which was nice but afterwards didn’t feel like going out so we stayed in.

Saturday 12 November – hiking and party

Flora really wanted to go into the mountains, she told me before so we decided this was the day to do it. Marieke joined us, we went with the bus to Villagordo de cabriel, a small village in the mountains. First, we had a coffee because we had to wake up early afterwards we went looking for sunglasses for flora, but other than a few little bakeries and other tiny shops they didn’t have anything. We went walking from the city to a lake nearby. Walking through olive and wine yards at first, and later a bit higher in the mountains, we didn’t see many people. We saw a dutch couple that lived in Spain 5 months per year, with their dog Johan, which we thought was the funniest name for a Spanish dog. After walking 6 km we arrived at the lake, it was so serene, quiet and beautiful. Because my sister wrote me a small card saying I had to do something crazy I climbed down to the lake and went in with my feet. The water was very cold, but I felt badass. We had lunch there but had to go back because we had to be on time for the bus, otherwise we would have to sleep in that small town and we didn’t want that. When we arrived back in Valencia our legs were so tired. But Chris had a party at his house, which we really did want to attend. The party was awesome until the police came to end it. We went to a club, which I enjoyed because I had room to dance.

Sunday 13 November – Relaxing and flamenco

Because we had were home late, we relaxed during the day. Flora went with Marieke and Sara to the Starbucks but I was too tired and slept some more. Short nights are not my thing, I should sleep before at 10, mum I know. Flora turned 23 just before she came, so as a birthday present I took her out to a flamenco night. It was original Spanish flamenco, with a singer, guitar player, and two dancers. It was beautiful, we both loved it. Afterwards, we were very hungry so we went out for sushi. THE BEST SUSHI EVER. Okay maybe not ever, but they had a real Japanese chef making fresh sushi. Flora didn’t yet have an ‘agua de Valencia’, so after the sushi, we had one.

Monday 14 November – shopping and training

In the morning we went to the city of science and arts and the fallas museum. After walking around a bit there, we went to the big shopping mall close to it. We found a door specially made for flora, see the picture, and I bought various kinds of gluten free bread at the Carrefour. In the afternoon I had volleyball training again, so flora packed her stuff while I was gone because her flight was early on Tuesday. My training was really good again, I had to jump a lot, which my legs didn’t like because of the working out, hiking and dancing. We had dinner with Jamie at The Good Burger, no burger for me, unfortunately. We didn’t want to sleep too late because flora had to leave early and Ruben was arriving with the plain she was leaving in.

Tuesday 15 November – Flora leaving, Ruben arriving

After waking up way too early, we went to the airport. After saying my goodbyes to flora I went to the arrival hall waiting for Ruben. I was really happy when I finally got to hug him after a month. When we arrived home, Ruben needed to sleep a bit because he had to wake up extremely early. In the afternoon I had a volleyball match against Alicante, they were really good and tall. We lost big time but it was still really fun to play. We didn’t want to cook so we went out for tapas instead. The tapas was delicious and they had gluten free beer, I deserved that after playing a whole match.

Wednesday 16 November – Shopping and practical

In the morning we went to a big mall, Ruben needed a new winter coat and some shirts. The mall was really weird because clothing for men and women were not separated. But we found him a really nice coat and shirt. In the afternoon I had to go to uni. Master students who worked at a psychology clinic of the university came to explain what they did. It is a clinic for people with a low economic and social status. It is really inspiring what the students do there. In the evening we made pizza’s with Marieke, Meike, and Sara. It took forever but tasted very good. I cleaned my room and Ruben thought it was funny to make a mess again, see the picture.

Thursday 17 November – Walking around & gluten free pasta

Good girl I am I went to my morning lecture ( at 8!!!) only to wait there for 30 minutes for the teacher finding out she was sick. I got Ruben fresh coffee and a croissant, to make it easier to wake him up. We walked around the city for a bit, when I received an email my Spanish teacher was also sick. I really did want to go to lectures this day but it was not happening. We had some tapas in russafa, a nice area of the town, and dinner in the city centre. We went to an Italian restaurant that serves gluten free pasta, which was the best gluten free pasta I ever had. After dinner we went to the Brads and Jamie, to have some drinks. We didn’t want to go to a club so we went home. Getting out of the cab I felt really sick. I couldn’t keep my food inside, and for the next 15 hours, I was not able to keep anything in, not even water. Love food poisoning.

Friday 18 November – Food poisoning and Palau de la musica

I was very sick most of the day, Ruben was really sweet, taking care of me. When I finally was able to keep something in I was so happy. I started to try to eat small bits, and soon I felt good enough to go to the concert wee had planned at Palau de la musica. The concert was beautiful, with a very big orchestra. Afterwards, it was bed time for me because I still felt a bit sick.

Saturday 19 November – El Saler

Because the weather was really good we decided to go to a beach just outside of Valencia. We forced ourselves to go swimming, also for the crazy picture for my sister. The water was so cold I just went in really quick, Ruben, superhero he is, went under for a few seconds before running out. We got really cold so we changed in our normal clothes. We did crossword puzzles for a bit and had a picknick on the beach. After a few hours we got so cold we decided to leave. We bought stuff to make sushi, but we couldn’t find gluten free soy sauce so we decided to make sushi on Sunday and go to the good burger instead. Because it wasn’t enough food for Ruben there we went to a cheap looking place next to my home. He ordered more food, eating it all. We watched some Spanish football and went back home. I was amazed by Ruben being able to walk after all the things he had.

Sunday 20 November – Football match and sushi

In the morning we went to a store that sells various eastern foods. I was very happy when we found gluten free soy sauce. We had coffee at dulce de leche, special cappuccino LOVE IT!! In the afternoon we went to the match of Valencia against Granada. It was very nice to being in the stadium again, but unfortunately, Granada was a shitty team. The game ended 1-1 due to stalling of Granada. The supporters were very angry but that soon faded when they left the stadium. We had to take the metro back but that was horrible because it was packed and people tried to squeeze themselves in. when we finally arrived home we made sushi, way too much of course, so we would have lunch for the next day. We finished watching the crown, a series I can recommend, it was really good.

Monday 21 November – Mom and Hester arriving

We had to wake up early because my mother and her girlfriend, Hester, arrived that morning. I was so happy finally to see them again. It had been such a long time without them. We went to their apartment just 110 meters away from mine. Afterwards, I showed them my place, and we went walking around in the city. I forced them to drink horchata, the typical Valencian drink. At night we had dinner at Tinto Fino, a really good tapas place. I had balsamic pannacotta for dessert, I had never had that before and I loved it.

Tuesday 22 November – saying goodbye

Did I already tell you I hate saying goodbye? This time was also awful. After crying like someone had died on the airport, a lady came to ask me I was alright, I went to Hester and my mother. We went to mercat central and walked around for a bit. In the afternoon I went to my Spanish course. We cooked dinner at their apartment and went to bed early. Finally my bed just for me!!!

Wednesday 23 November – shopping

We had breakfast at Paprika, tostada con tomato, café con leche y Zumo de naraja. We went to a big mall were we shopped for a while. They bought me an awesome blouse with cactuses on it and a really soft Kashmir vest. In the afternoon they went walking around in the centre and I did groceries and relaxing. In the evening we celebrated Greta’s, my roommate, birthday.

Thursday 24 November – Xátiva

On Thursday we went to Xátiva, a small city close to Valencia. It was the first sunny day since my mum and Hester arrived. They have a really nice castle there, where we walked to. The town was very quiet, apparently, they have a siesta from 12 to 5 in the afternoon. The castle was built on a mountain, some parts were very old. The castle was really big so we walked around for quite a while. When we went back to the city we were a bit cold. So we ordered some warm drinks there. When we finally arrived back in Valencia we bought pizzas for dinner.

Friday 25 November – lectures again

I was a long time since I went to a lecture so I finally went again. I also had to do some studying, which not often happens. In the evening my mother, Hester ( aka my gift mother) and I went out for dinner. My mother had to try real paella since she had some precooked paella the night before which I thought was disgusting. We had dinner at petit bistro, a nice restaurant. They serve food from almost every country, so Hester had wraps. My mother and I had paella marisco, with seafood. They put whole shrimp in it that gave us some difficulty eating. I had one glass of wine but because I had taken a few painkillers, (my wisdom tooth is coming through, and it is inflamed now), I felt dizzy walking home.

Saturday and Sunday 26 and 27 November – saying goodbye and studying

I combined these days because I didn’t do that much. On Saturday morning I had to say goodbye to Hester and my mum, I didn’t had to cry but I still was very sad they had to leave. It was so nice having them here, so close. After saying goodbye I went home straight to bed again, sleeping a bit. I studied for a few hours and watched series. Because I have to take many painkillers due to the pain in my mouth I am a bit slow. So Sunday, today, I didn’t do anything but studying and writing my blog. Tomorrow I am going to the dentist, I hope he will take my wisdom tooth out.

Pff that was a long one! Hope you enjoyed reading it.

Love you all!