picaresca: O Valencia!

I spoil you all with my whole two blog posts in 24 hours.

So THIS weekend our group went to Valencia. Why didn't I go to Valencia to study? I say that about everywhere I visit. Valencia is very quaint and Gothic and old. They've done a marvelous job of keeping up some of the original walls and fortresses. When you cross over from the old part to the modern part you pass through these huuuge arches, presumably where sentinels patrolled and dumped hot oil on you if you were a foe. I climbed so many stairs this weekend, my quads hurt. Good for Spain for not putting in some nonsense elevator in the middle of a cathedral, but honestly I got motion sickness climbing up 250 ever-narrowing stairs.

Also as per usual our group was a yelling brigade of philistines and nearly got us kicked out of a cathedral for being loud when people were trying to pray, sliding on the tiles, and generally being obnoxious in a house of worship.

On a related note, I have discovered that the quality I most dislike in people, above almost all else, is willful lack of curiosity. A lot of people I have met on my study abroad adventure have this sort of "learning is dumb, I don't care about this, why do I need to know this" attitude when it comes to things like history, architecture, and politics. Why WOULDN'T you want to know this? Why doesn't the pursuit of knowledge consume your entire being? Don't you realize that you, o privileged white upper-middle-class twentysomethings, have the luxury of being granted a whole 24 years of your life (give or take, I don't know when you started being read to or joining educational daycares or somesuch things) to JUST LEARN? As Americans born into a social class that grants us basically unrestricted access to ~~fountains~~ diluvial tons of information, we are expected to put any sort of social-contributing activities on hold until we earn a diploma. So please do away with this attitude that learning is dumb when there are people around the world who would do anything for the chance to even learn how to read. Pay attention to the nice lady telling you about relics and minarets. The end [steps down from self-righteous soapbox].

Also my mummy came to town last week. I was nervous, what with my crippling phobia of hosting in any capacity and the fact that Alicante solicits a resounding "meh" when people ask me how I like it. But I had a grand time, and I think Mom did too. She brought my aunt and uncle along, and they went to some towns in Alicante like Altea and Guadalest, and we went to the castle, and ate a lot of paella. Thursday I brought them to my house to have lunch with Juani and she made the most impressive paella I've ever seen, with prawns and mussels and all sorts of magic. Thanksgiving was nice too. We went to an Italian restaurant and had pizza, wine, and marscarpone ice cream. I haven't been able to spend Thanksgiving with my mom for a couple years now, so it was really nice to have her around, and also be a part of adult conversation. Mom was also good about practicing her Spanish and trying to learn things about Spanish culture. It was kind of an exhausting week for me because of class activities, but a good kind of exhausting. Only 5 weeks until I see her again. I hope the time goes by quickly; I'm ready to be home.

Enough rambling, here are photos:

The town hall-like place where government stuff happens

You may nominate me for a Pulitzer now for my stunning photography skills

The Cathedral

Apparently that thing is supposed to look like the ascension of Christ but I don't see it.

A saint's relic...

St Someone's ACTUAL RIGHT ARM ISN'T THAT AWESOME AND WEIRD.

We also went to the Valencia aquarium! These pictures are terrible because it was through the glass, obviously. I love fish. I love aquariums because they are so calming. Also it's not like every day you're like "sting ray no big deal" so in that sense aquariums are like zoos but better.