Finally. It feels great to be back in Valencia, and even greater to have unlimited internet access and a normal food diet. However, the past three weeks of traveling have been an exciting, entertaining, and eye-opening experience. Our crazy week of Las Fallas was proceeded by 4 days of class, then: Semana Santa the week of March 29th, Spring Holiday the week of April 6th, and "Midterm" Week (although we had none) was this past week of April 11th. With all of this free time, Europe was just begging for a visit from me. I had to oblige. Having booked Ryanair tickets rapidly and impulsively, most plans weren't quite finalized until the last minute. So here is the timeline of what actually went down in my life:
March 26-29, Milan
March 29-31, Venice
April 1-2, Cinque Terre
April 2-3, Florence
April 3-5, Bologna
April 5, Valencia
April 6, Madrid
April 7, Tanger
April 8-10, Marrakech
April 10-11, Zagora/Sahara Desert
April 12, Madrid
April 13-15, Porto
My journey is depicted below.
View Spring Break 2010 in a larger map
Four countries and three weeks later, I returned with countless stories, thousands of photos, and incredible experience on traveling Europe/North Africa. I'll eventually get around to making dedicated posts to each country I visited but for now, my photos say it all: http://picasaweb.google.com/amy.j.zhou
The agenda for this week: despierta, levanta, y va a la playa!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Bullfighting
This past week, many new things were unfolding in Valencia. The beginning of primavera (spring), the unveiling of the fallas, and the commencement of the bullfighting season. The corrida de toros, bullfight, has been a tradition in Spain for centuries. Not knowing much about the event or the history behind it, I decided to check one out with an open mind. Needless to say, the three-hour event left an intense curiosity about the tradition, its cultural relevance, and the fierce debate surrounding it.
Bullfighting started as a small tradition of competition between knights in Medieval Spain. The Iberian bull is known to be the fiercest animal of the wilderness surrounding the battlefields in Spain. Often weighing over 1200 pounds (600 kilos!) and having a provocative anger, they were seen as a noble animal to fight and when beaten, brought the challenger praise and honor. The tradition spread and since then, blossomed into a form of artistic entertainment.
So what exactly happens in a bullfight? There are three matadors, killers, in each fight, and each matador fights two bulls. A corrida is separated into three tercios, each setting the bull up to a different challenge.
First, in the tercio de varas, the lancing third, the bull faces a lance on horseback dressed in armor. As the bull charges, the lance stabs a long spear into the bull's neck, causing the first open wound.
The next part is the tercio de banderillas, third of flags, where banderillos plant two barbed batons into the bull's back.
Bullfighting started as a small tradition of competition between knights in Medieval Spain. The Iberian bull is known to be the fiercest animal of the wilderness surrounding the battlefields in Spain. Often weighing over 1200 pounds (600 kilos!) and having a provocative anger, they were seen as a noble animal to fight and when beaten, brought the challenger praise and honor. The tradition spread and since then, blossomed into a form of artistic entertainment.
So what exactly happens in a bullfight? There are three matadors, killers, in each fight, and each matador fights two bulls. A corrida is separated into three tercios, each setting the bull up to a different challenge.
First, in the tercio de varas, the lancing third, the bull faces a lance on horseback dressed in armor. As the bull charges, the lance stabs a long spear into the bull's neck, causing the first open wound.
Tercio de Varas
The next part is the tercio de banderillas, third of flags, where banderillos plant two barbed batons into the bull's back.
Tercio de Banderillas
The final stage is the tercio de muerte, or third of death. This is when the matador enters the ring and fights the bull with a red cape. The bull charges closely past the matador many times, becoming more and more enraged at its taunter.
Finally, at the end of the stage. the matador thrusts a long sword into a specific spot through the spine of the bull and pierces the heart. At this moment, if done correctly, the bull will soon fall.
The Crippling Blow, or Estocata
For each matador, two bulls are slaughtered. Each fight, six bulls die. In a week, over 50 bulls are killed, and in one season, hundreds. Where does the dead bull go? Immediately after its execution, the bull is dragged across the street to a butcher's and made into top-quality steak right away. Six half-ton animals must provide a lot of steak.
The main animal rights issue focuses on the torturous killing of each animal. Bred to be large and strong, these bulls spend their lives being trained to fight. Over a half an hour, the bull is pierced seven times, facing numerous taunting matadors, made to run throughout the entire stadium while losing blood, and finally killed in a spectacle for entertainment. Bullfighting as a blood sport has already been banned in most countries, including the U.S., and faces controversy all over Europe.
As an art, however, the bullfight seems like a dance between a man and a beast. The matador must be skilled enough to have a steady stance and move fluidly to please the crowd. He must move the cape in a sweeping motion, just enough to draw attention from his body, while directing the bulls charging past inches away from his torsos. Fear has to be put away, as a bull would readily impale a shuddering man; instead, the matador looks into its eyes and holds dominance over the beast with human intelligence and grace.
Humane or not, the spectacle was interesting to say the least, and I'm glad I attended and learned just one more thing about this crazy country and the history of the people who live here.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Mid-Fallas Post
It is now Wednesday morning, 4:17 am, and I finally have a chance for a quick update.
What is Las Fallas? Las Fallas literally means "The Fires" in Valencian. The five-day festival is centered around each neighborhood or plaza creating its own ninots, together which make over 350 statues constructed with paper mache and plaster. Each day of the week has its own purpose to either set up, commemorate, celebrate, or burn the building-sized creations. Also, every day processes in a similar schedule:
08:00 - La Despertà: The Wake-Up Call. A parade of fireworks accompany a brass band while marching through the city, creating incredibly noise to rouse the city.
14:00 - La Mascletà: Sound Fireworks, aka Deafening Explosions. Each day since March 1st, there is a daily ritual of a sound fireworks show in the Plaza Ayuntamiento. Instead of it being a display of color, it is a display the sound. The fireworks are set off rhythmically to sound like "music" and reach incredible earth-shaking volume. Every day shows the work of a different pyrotecnic while thousands of people gather to see and hear it, often offering roaring applause to the best and the loudest.
01:00 - Castillo de Fuegos Artificiales, the Castle of Fireworks. Every day of the week, a firework show is performed after midnight in the riverbed Turia.
Among this daily routine, the days lead up to the eventual peak: La Cremà. On Friday, March 19th, every falles except for the best one will be filled with explosives and lit on fire. The streets will then become open-air nightclubs, as all of the residents of Valencia pour outside to celebrate the cremation of the statues.
So far, there are explosions everywhere. Firecrackers are handed to small children like candy, and massive booms have nearly become normal. As part of Spanish cultural exploration, we saw a bullfight at the Plaza del Toros, ate churros con chocolat while sipping horchata, and threw a couple fireworks ourselved. At night before the firework shows, we walk around the city centro through avenues adorned with hundreds of thousands of lights. The entire city shuts down; people don't work, students don't have class, everybody is just happy throwing firecrackers at each other and enjoying the crazy festival. To say the least, Las Fallas is a shitshow. After going hard for the past week already, my night is relatively early (before sunrise) and trying to rest up for the few crazy days to come.
What is Las Fallas? Las Fallas literally means "The Fires" in Valencian. The five-day festival is centered around each neighborhood or plaza creating its own ninots, together which make over 350 statues constructed with paper mache and plaster. Each day of the week has its own purpose to either set up, commemorate, celebrate, or burn the building-sized creations. Also, every day processes in a similar schedule:
08:00 - La Despertà: The Wake-Up Call. A parade of fireworks accompany a brass band while marching through the city, creating incredibly noise to rouse the city.
14:00 - La Mascletà: Sound Fireworks, aka Deafening Explosions. Each day since March 1st, there is a daily ritual of a sound fireworks show in the Plaza Ayuntamiento. Instead of it being a display of color, it is a display the sound. The fireworks are set off rhythmically to sound like "music" and reach incredible earth-shaking volume. Every day shows the work of a different pyrotecnic while thousands of people gather to see and hear it, often offering roaring applause to the best and the loudest.
01:00 - Castillo de Fuegos Artificiales, the Castle of Fireworks. Every day of the week, a firework show is performed after midnight in the riverbed Turia.
Among this daily routine, the days lead up to the eventual peak: La Cremà. On Friday, March 19th, every falles except for the best one will be filled with explosives and lit on fire. The streets will then become open-air nightclubs, as all of the residents of Valencia pour outside to celebrate the cremation of the statues.
So far, there are explosions everywhere. Firecrackers are handed to small children like candy, and massive booms have nearly become normal. As part of Spanish cultural exploration, we saw a bullfight at the Plaza del Toros, ate churros con chocolat while sipping horchata, and threw a couple fireworks ourselved. At night before the firework shows, we walk around the city centro through avenues adorned with hundreds of thousands of lights. The entire city shuts down; people don't work, students don't have class, everybody is just happy throwing firecrackers at each other and enjoying the crazy festival. To say the least, Las Fallas is a shitshow. After going hard for the past week already, my night is relatively early (before sunrise) and trying to rest up for the few crazy days to come.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Back from Barça
So a semi-uneventful week ended with an extremely eventful weekend!
I spent the most of last week being enferma (sick). I've still got a bit of a cough left over but the most of last week was going to class, sleeping a lot, and enjoying the beautiful weather (sunny, 70, with a bit of wind).
But on Friday morning, we embarked via hella-expensive Renfe train to Barcelona! Just another dingy hostel, but what a beautiful ciudad (city)! First of all, not knowing Spanish is enough. But in Barcelona, Catalan is spoken everywhere. From appearance, it looks like a mash-up of Spanish, French, and Italian. Spoken, it's uninterpretable. While the language is interesting, the city streets are even more of a wonder. The carrers (street in Catalan) are littered with incredible Gaudi architecture. We visited Gaudi's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia. The enormous cathedral, conceptualized over 130 years ago, is one of the most unique buildings I have ever seen.
Among other touristy things we did, my favorite was climbing to the highest point in the city, the top of a big hill in Park Guell. The 360 degree view from the top was more than I have ever seen before, and the photos don't do it justice.
Among amazing sights, there was also amazing food. We walked through a market, had the best gelato of our lives, and feasted on the sights of fresh fruits and delicate chocolates throughout.
On Saturday night, we all gathered for a mini-botéllon in a nearby park and headed to Camp Nou, the largest fùtbol stadium in Europe belonging to the best team in the world, having held the winning La Liga title for 3 years and the Champions League for last season, FC Barcelona. We got the worst seats but still had an incredible view to the Barcelona v. Málaga game. Barcelona won, 2-1. Amazing stadium, amazing victory. Go Barça!
Besides the incredible sights, we did endure a few bumps along the way. Our hostel, despite the incredible location along Passeig de Gracia, was absolutely shit. They only had bedding and towels for an extra charge, and stacked twelve beds in each large but drafty room. Needless to say, we spent most of the night out on the clubbing avenue La Rambla or climbing up to the top of Park Guell for a midnight view of the city. Also as Barcelona is well known for the pickpockets, a few members of our large group were robbed. They catch you off guard, appear to be friendly and strike good conversation with you in English. They ask where you're from, try to relate to whatever place and distract you for a good time to reach into your back pocket and take your belongings. For anyone who wants to visit Barcelona, beware the pickpockets.
So far since I've been back, it has been the start of something new in Valencia: Las Fallas! The festivities started on February 28th, and go all the way until March 19th. Every day, there is a marching band wakeup call to the city at 8am. There is also a daily enormous fireworks display which they call La Mascleta, occuring unusually promptly at 2pm. The fireworks are incredibly loud, reaching up to 120 decibels, and thousands of people gather every day to see and hear the commotion.
As Fallas draws closer and closer. the streets are starting to light up with signs and decorations. I look forward to March 15th when all the falles (constructed statues) are finished, and the 19th when all but one are burned in the ceremony called La Cremà.
Hasta luego!
I spent the most of last week being enferma (sick). I've still got a bit of a cough left over but the most of last week was going to class, sleeping a lot, and enjoying the beautiful weather (sunny, 70, with a bit of wind).
But on Friday morning, we embarked via hella-expensive Renfe train to Barcelona! Just another dingy hostel, but what a beautiful ciudad (city)! First of all, not knowing Spanish is enough. But in Barcelona, Catalan is spoken everywhere. From appearance, it looks like a mash-up of Spanish, French, and Italian. Spoken, it's uninterpretable. While the language is interesting, the city streets are even more of a wonder. The carrers (street in Catalan) are littered with incredible Gaudi architecture. We visited Gaudi's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia. The enormous cathedral, conceptualized over 130 years ago, is one of the most unique buildings I have ever seen.
Among other touristy things we did, my favorite was climbing to the highest point in the city, the top of a big hill in Park Guell. The 360 degree view from the top was more than I have ever seen before, and the photos don't do it justice.
On Saturday night, we all gathered for a mini-botéllon in a nearby park and headed to Camp Nou, the largest fùtbol stadium in Europe belonging to the best team in the world, having held the winning La Liga title for 3 years and the Champions League for last season, FC Barcelona. We got the worst seats but still had an incredible view to the Barcelona v. Málaga game. Barcelona won, 2-1. Amazing stadium, amazing victory. Go Barça!
Besides the incredible sights, we did endure a few bumps along the way. Our hostel, despite the incredible location along Passeig de Gracia, was absolutely shit. They only had bedding and towels for an extra charge, and stacked twelve beds in each large but drafty room. Needless to say, we spent most of the night out on the clubbing avenue La Rambla or climbing up to the top of Park Guell for a midnight view of the city. Also as Barcelona is well known for the pickpockets, a few members of our large group were robbed. They catch you off guard, appear to be friendly and strike good conversation with you in English. They ask where you're from, try to relate to whatever place and distract you for a good time to reach into your back pocket and take your belongings. For anyone who wants to visit Barcelona, beware the pickpockets.
So far since I've been back, it has been the start of something new in Valencia: Las Fallas! The festivities started on February 28th, and go all the way until March 19th. Every day, there is a marching band wakeup call to the city at 8am. There is also a daily enormous fireworks display which they call La Mascleta, occuring unusually promptly at 2pm. The fireworks are incredibly loud, reaching up to 120 decibels, and thousands of people gather every day to see and hear the commotion.
As Fallas draws closer and closer. the streets are starting to light up with signs and decorations. I look forward to March 15th when all the falles (constructed statues) are finished, and the 19th when all but one are burned in the ceremony called La Cremà.
Hasta luego!
Monday, February 22, 2010
"Mañana..."
So it is the end of my third week and the start of my fourth week in this amazing country. The biggest thing I have learned since my descent in Europe: picking up a language from scratch is NOT easy. I spend most of my days surrounded by some sort of American or English influence. The television channels often have American TV shows (LOST, Simpsons, Man vs. Wild, etc) and many people here speak enough English to accommodate my lack of ability. The concept is strange since in America, foreigners are often scorned and ignored because they "can't speak our language". Yet, as I travel about places with thousands of years of history and language, I'm eagerly greeted with my own language and welcomed by Spaniards yearning to learn more of what plainly isn't theirs. Needless to say, I'm trying my best to learn their language with as much diligence as they have learned ours.
Moreover, the Spanish seem to operate in an extremely relaxed way. Requirements for courses are an incredible contrast to the harsh torture that James A. Clark School of Engineering calls education. First of all, the focus of each class is very abstract. No homework, no tests, no grades, just pure knowledge. One class, Physical Concepts, is a philosophical discussion on the existence of physics. Our Einstein-look-alike professor spent his first transcendental lectures on the existence of energy. As schoolwork is incredibly rare, I have enjoyed adjusting to the mandatory daily routine which includes a three-hour-long siesta.
From the Spanish lifestyle, we can coin the term "Mañana." To anybody educated with a semester or two in Spanish, or for anybody equipped with Google Translator, this word simply means "tomorrow". But here, "mañana" exemplifies the greatest outcome of Spanish lifestyle. Relaxation feeding procrastination. To say "mañana" and to be "mañana", you are doing what every one of us has been cautioned against our entire lives: procrastinating. But "mañana" in Spain is perfectly acceptable. It may be mañana in registering for courses, or mañana while buying tickets for a movie. Even mañana in skipping class as a teacher (true story). Mañana mañana mañana.
As the Spanish say, "tranquiloooo". It literally means chill. So what if something doesn't get done TODAY, there is always mañana. In Spain, the important things are appreciated: great food, great weather, and fantastic company wherever you go.
Hasta luego!
Moreover, the Spanish seem to operate in an extremely relaxed way. Requirements for courses are an incredible contrast to the harsh torture that James A. Clark School of Engineering calls education. First of all, the focus of each class is very abstract. No homework, no tests, no grades, just pure knowledge. One class, Physical Concepts, is a philosophical discussion on the existence of physics. Our Einstein-look-alike professor spent his first transcendental lectures on the existence of energy. As schoolwork is incredibly rare, I have enjoyed adjusting to the mandatory daily routine which includes a three-hour-long siesta.
From the Spanish lifestyle, we can coin the term "Mañana." To anybody educated with a semester or two in Spanish, or for anybody equipped with Google Translator, this word simply means "tomorrow". But here, "mañana" exemplifies the greatest outcome of Spanish lifestyle. Relaxation feeding procrastination. To say "mañana" and to be "mañana", you are doing what every one of us has been cautioned against our entire lives: procrastinating. But "mañana" in Spain is perfectly acceptable. It may be mañana in registering for courses, or mañana while buying tickets for a movie. Even mañana in skipping class as a teacher (true story). Mañana mañana mañana.
As the Spanish say, "tranquiloooo". It literally means chill. So what if something doesn't get done TODAY, there is always mañana. In Spain, the important things are appreciated: great food, great weather, and fantastic company wherever you go.
Hasta luego!
(And some photo peeks)
MTV Winter Valencia
America's Cup, an international sailing competition. America brought the Cup back home!
City of the Arts and Sciences
Wine-tasting and Tapas
Oceanográfic - the largest oceanography aquarium in Europe
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Livin' the life.
This past week I've just been taking my time getting situated in the piso, learning my way around the area, checking out the local bars & clubs, and feeling and eating all the great Valencian comida y vino. This week we also started escuela, and despite having such few classes, finding each one was a backbreaking task. There's actually no place online or in the school to check where the class is. You either wander around the building you THINK it's in, or frantically hop from information desk to information desk, looking for an English speaker.
Actual proof that the Oficina Internacional is only open for an average of 2.5 hours a day. We FINALLY got our paperwork in after going in every day for about a week. We have yet to receive our student cards, but at least the hard part is over.
Botéllon... early-ish on (about midnight)...
Botéllon an hour later:
It's really just a big party outside. THOUSANDS of young people, erasmus and Spanish locals gather on this block and drink till dawn.
Paco comes over every Monday and Friday, always bringing some delicious Valencian cuisine. This week, it is Lara's birthday, so he whips out the paella!
Paella de pollo conejo (paella with chicken and rabbit... sorry wellie!!)
Happy birthday to Lara, our Spanish roommate & Paco's daughter!
Friday, February 5, 2010
El Piso de Paco
Buenas dias! we just moved into a piso situated right outside of our universidad, owned by a guy named Paco. The search was long and taxing; we looked through hundreds of ads and visited 6 in person. We finally found a place super close to the university, right off the block of the main bar street, Avenida de Blasco Ibañez, living with three other international estudiantes. Paco welcomed us with a homecooked meal: Spanish steak with potatoes, goat cheese, and fruit marmalade. One of the girls is Paco's daughter, who speaks only Spanish and helps us along with the language.
We're right down the block from a square where Botellón takes place. Botellón is a Spanish traditional nightlife practice of buying alcohol from the supermarkets (before 10pm, per law) and drinking outside in plazas. Yesterday there were hundreds of people outside! Spain's relaxed lifestyle is starting to grow on me. Today I woke up at 10, ate a meal, walked around outside, ate another meal, hung out with mike & andrew, ate another meal, and now it's just about the right time for siesta before my 4th and last meal.
Also something rather inconvenient: the Spanish don't seem to work much. Especially at the international office at school, where we need to get our paperwork filed. In fact, they only seem to work two hours a day (4 hours on tuesdays and thursdays). Not to mention, just about everything is closed between the hours of 2 and 6, which is why we are relaxing in these lengthy four hours. No complaints though, the Spanish are incredibly laid back. I could get the hang of this.
Now it's time for siesta. Adios, hasta luego!
We're right down the block from a square where Botellón takes place. Botellón is a Spanish traditional nightlife practice of buying alcohol from the supermarkets (before 10pm, per law) and drinking outside in plazas. Yesterday there were hundreds of people outside! Spain's relaxed lifestyle is starting to grow on me. Today I woke up at 10, ate a meal, walked around outside, ate another meal, hung out with mike & andrew, ate another meal, and now it's just about the right time for siesta before my 4th and last meal.
Also something rather inconvenient: the Spanish don't seem to work much. Especially at the international office at school, where we need to get our paperwork filed. In fact, they only seem to work two hours a day (4 hours on tuesdays and thursdays). Not to mention, just about everything is closed between the hours of 2 and 6, which is why we are relaxing in these lengthy four hours. No complaints though, the Spanish are incredibly laid back. I could get the hang of this.
Now it's time for siesta. Adios, hasta luego!
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