1/14/09

I wrote this when I got here, but I didn't have internet to post it until today.

After what seemed like an eternity of travelling, I have finally arrived in Valencia. But seriously, note to self, never travel as a group again. Whoever planned the whole thing was seriously out of his mind. Sure, it was extra long for me since I had to drive to Raleigh then fly to JFK and wait six hours for the next flight, but the five hour bus ride the next morning from Madrid to Valencia was just completely unnecessary. I would have shelled out a million dollars to just get to Valencia instead of dragging out the whole process into a 24-hour ordeal.

All complaints about traveling aside, I’m really excited to be here! When I got off the bus, my madre and housemate, Amaya, were waiting for me. My madre’s apartment is really close to the institute, so we rolled my luggage on over there and she showed me my room. It’s a pretty nice room, and I took all of about 20 minutes to unpack my belongings. My madre is really sweet and I’m already in love with her. The only thing is talks really fast. And I mean really fast. So when she finishes explaining something, she looks at me and goes “¿Comprendes?” and I just stare at her blankly. Then she tries again, but she doesn’t slow down any the second time. Fortunately, Amaya, whose dad is originally from Valencia and mom has studied Spanish in Valencia, is really good at Spanish. She usually serves as a translator for me when I have no idea what’s going on. It’s clear, though, that my madre loves her more than me. It’s weird being the lesser-liked sibling and I’m not happy about it. I already feel myself developing an inferiority complex.