largest mall in spain, the open market, and mexican food!!!!

Oh boy oh boy!!!!  On Tuesday, one of our of so kind Spanish friends took us to the biggest mall in Spain!!!!  It was amazing.  I have gone to Valencia a few times now and I just haven't been to excited about the shopping there, but this mall definitely caught my eye.  There was a movie theater, bowling alley, lots of food, and lots of stores!!!  It was fun to explore around and shop.  I have tried to be careful with how much I'm spending over here, so I made a deal to only buy things that I absolutely can't live without and that I can't buy in the states.  Saying this, I found lots of things I loved, but not a whole lot of stuff that I couldn't get at home.  There is a store here called trucco and it was amazing...all my favorite colors.  I bought a really cute striped cardigan with a little bow on it and a super amazing skirt.  I can't wait to take it home and wear it to church!!!!  Shopping was fun and a great get away from the school AKA I can't wait to go back =)

Yesterday was open market day.  Usually we aren't able to go, because the market it only open from 8 a.m.- 1 p.m. and so conveniently we are in school from 9 a.m.- 12:45 p.m.  However, yesterday Chels and I skipped our first class and went to the market.  There was an endless amount of stuff, but I choose to buy fruit.  I got some of the most amazing tasting apples ever.  This is saying a lot considering that I go to school in Washington, where the apples are like heaven to my mouth.  I also bought some peaches that I have not yet tried.  While at the market I tried my first persimmon...it was ok, I wasn't too fond of the texture.

After school yesterday, some of us girls decided that we wanted, excuse me, we NEEDED mexican food.  We bought some cilantro, tomatoes, avocados, onions, garlic, and some chiles from the market and made homemade salsa (spicy spicy).  We also made burritos, where I made refried beans from scratch for the first time.  Grandma would be so proud of me.  I also made some of my mom's famous rice.  The burritos were a hit and people want us to make them every week....crazy!!!!  To top it all off, we made rice pudding (arroz con leche) for dessert. Oh man it was delicious and I couldn't have asked for a better day!!!!

I miss you all so much!!!  Can't wait to see you during x-mas break!!!

Campamento

wow....camp!!!!  so pretty much the school MADE us go camping.  literally, the school shuts down.  Either i had to go travel somewhere, bum it out all weekend, or go on the camping trip.  i wasn't too excited about it, because it was supposed to rain and who likes camping in the rain?  NOT ME!!!!  however, needless to say i ended up making some pretty funny memories even though it did rain a little!!!  we left thursday and got there late thursday night.  we went to Entrepenas, which is about 30 miles outside of Madrid.  the camp area was really nice.  mostly desert looking, but there was a beautiful lake in the middle of where we were.  the water wasn't too cold, but i decided not to go in, because it wasn't too hot outside.  thursday night, we played mixer games and i got to meet some pretty cool locals.  that night i found out that spanish people are super touchy.  someone always happened to have there arm around me or was kissing me on the cheek.  nice, but different than what i'm used to.  i also noticed that spanish people point with their middle finger.  i was rather offended a couple of times and ready to act when i realized it was just a simple action to them.  good thing, who knows what i would have done back.  probably would've stuck my tongue out at them or something.  man, that would've showed them.  haha  anyways, friday we got into groups of 8 and played team togetherness games.  i was in a group of all girls and was pretty impressed with our awesomeness.  most of the people thought we were going to get last place, because we were all girls.  it's a good thing i'm not a super feminist or something, because the men here think they are better than women....they need to be set straight i would say.  i got to shoot a bow and arrow for the first time and in my head i though, "what now Mark West?"  haha  also, thursday night i had a dream about the sound of music.  specifically i dreamt about the cuckoooo song.  so, our group of 8 girls reenacted my dream and took a picture in our assembly line...  sabbath, we played lots of games.  american games that we taught the locals and also some other games that they taught us.  it was really fun, because this one guys here, juan carlos, is from brazil and he taught me a brazilian dance....it's sooooooo cool!!!  it was hilarious hearing the locals try and speak english.  i know why they laugh when they hear us attempt to speak spanish....we must sound soooo dumb.  oh well.  we got home last night to the 2nd flood.  i've told you before that the rain storms are pretty crazy here, but i'm just not sure if you know how crazy.  once it starts raining, it's impossible to walk anywhere without getting your pants and shoes completely soaked.  i'm somewhat of a g-rump, because my running shoes are completely soaked, which means i won't be able to go running tomorrow.  also, this may not seem like a big deal, but if you know me, you know how devastated i would be about this.  i dropped my water bottle again today and dented it for the second time.  i almost cried.  however, i'm also in a super dooper good mood right now, because i just made some flower tea and that makes me happy no matter what...

Valencia and Oxford.

First and foremost, I am terribly sorry that it has been so long since I have taken the time you update you all.  Well, last Thursday, the school took us to Valencia, which is the largest city near us.  It was so much fun!!!!  We got to see some of the famous buildings in the town and we also got to shop shop shop till we dropped dropped dropped.  Surprisingly I didn't buy anything, which shocked me, considering that I love to shop!!!  I attached a picture of the opera house, which I found to be the coolest looking building architecturally.  Hopefully sometime this year I will make it to an opera, ballet, or piano performance at the music center.  I don't really like opera music, but I think that it would be fun and a good experience.  Anyways, while all my fellow classmates went back to school I was off to the airport....I was going to Oxford!!!!!  I was so proud of myself, because I managed to get directions to the train station, found the metro station, and got to the airport all by myself.   Once I got to London, I had to take the 2 hour bus ride to Oxford.  I arrived to my friends welcoming arms.  It was so much fun to see Becca and Christian again!!!  I also got to meet all their american oxford friends!!!  It was a blast.  We strolled, went to museums, went to Christ Church, climbing buildings, shopped a little, cooked, went to afternoon tea, and lastly we went to a pub.  Don't worry I didn't do anything crazy at the pub...I actually found it pretty gross, because I pretty much hate the smell of beer.  However, the ambiance of the pub was really fun.  It was a good experience and fun to experience with my friends from Walla Walla.  Sadly, after the pub, my stay at Oxford came to an end and I had to take the bus back to London, than the plane back to Valencia, than the metro, than the train, and then I had to walk for 30 minutes back to campus.  I'm standing a little taller now, because I feel so much more grown up because I traveled all alone.  My mom was pretty nervous about it, but good news I'm still living.

La historia de Sagunto.

Sooooo the school took us into town this week to learn about the ancient buildings.  It so happens that i still don't know enough spanish to be able to truly comprehend what exactly the buildings are and what they were/are used for.  I know that we visited the church and the theater, but i'm not sure what kind of church it was.  The theater was really cool and it was awesome to be able to stand on the stage and hear how good the acoustics were.  The architecture and color is amazing in Spain.  I love just getting lost walking and seeing what i'll run into.  Also, the first week of school is done and so far it's not much of a challenge.  However, i need to challenge myself and talk more with the locals....that's the only way i'm going to learn how to speak spanish.  Anyways, i'm going to London next weekend and i pretty much can't sit still i'm so excited.

Also, i sorry if me english starts to get bad, but i in spanish mode and i guess me head can't comprehend two languages at a time. =)  it's terrible.  since i listen to spanish all the time and attempt to speak it all the time, i find myself writing emails that say stuff like...."the camera of Chelsea," instead of "Chelsea's camera."  i guess that means i'm starting to think in spanish? let's hope so.  happy sabbath!!!

Healthy Hiking.

So...there isn't a whole lot to do on campus, so i have been exploring campus for something to do with my time.  So far, my classes are very challenging, so i have lots of time with not a whole lot to do.  I haven't explored town a whole lot yet, because it's been raining, but the sun finally showed a little today.  So, i'm excited to hit the hot spots in sagunto and valencia soon!!!!  I attached some pictures of the hiking that i've been doing a few times a week, just to say healthy.  Karolina and I were pretty pumped once we got to the top.  I was and still am amazed with how late the sun comes up here.  I have been going on that hike around 7:30 a.m. and the sun is just starting to come up when i return around 8:15 a.m....craziness.

The Weekend.

The weekend is over and now classes are on.  Church was difficult to attend, because unless you plan on listening, thinking, and translating every word, it is very hard to comprehend.  Nonetheless, it was nice to sing praise songs and meet other people.  I had the best hot chocolate EVER on sabbath though.  I think that we were only supposed to have one, but i had 3...don't tell.  I met some really cool people this weekend including this girl Carol, who i think i will become great friends with.  On sunday, we roamed around campus and found these HUGE leaves, which were fun and perfect for fanning ourselves off in the humidty.  However, it was crazy, because in the morning it was beautiful, humid, but beautiful weather and then all of a sudden we saw super bright lightning followed by immediate thunder.  This thunder was the loudest thunder i have ever heard.  It was crazy...i'm pretty sure that we were in the center of the storm.  Following the scary thunder came ping pong sized droplets of rain.  It was like in movies with bad effects where it's a super nice day and then all of a sudden it's starts to pour and if looks super fake and you almost start laughing because it's so unrealistic.  Well folks, it happens for reals, in real life.  I was pretty happy to have experienced that for the first time in my life.  Today was the first real day of classes and i'm excited because i LOVE all of my teachers and i think that having homework will be great for using up some of my free time. 

Trips to Carrefour and the beach.

hola amigos.  today was the first day of classes and my history class was impossible to understand, so i dropped out of it asap and joined pe and guitar lessons.  i'm pretty excited about both of those.  classes weren't too bad, it is going to take a little bit to get back into the swing of school and speaking spanish, but things are looking up.  great news from today.  most of you probably know that i feel in love with this class called buns, abs, and thighs (BATS) this summer and it so happens that the director of the sports here is looking for someone to teach and start an aerobics class.  i talked with him briefly tonight and it looks like i will be teaching an aerobics class here in spain.  I AM SOOOOO EXCITED, so hopefully it all works out.  however, i am going to need to learn all the workout phrased in spanish like, "squeeze those butts, get lower, jumping jacks, and you can do it."  also today, we all went into town to the main market called carrefour, which is similar to wal-mart to get supplies for our rooms or anything that we needed.  i was really hyper when i got there and learned that the little shopping carts are called carritas here....sooo cool!!!!  i was running through the aisles being the typical weirdo that i am.  also, i have been telling you about how starving i have been so today i got the bestest thing ever....nutella snack and drink...it's changing my life.  maybe this year i won't lose 20 lbs, i'll gain them....haha.  anywho, today we also stopped by the beach which was sooo pretty, but the weather was windy so we only stayed for like 10 minutes there.  Tonight, we had vespers and an afterglow with the young people which was the perfect way to start off my first sabbath here.  i'm growing to love this place more and more everyday.  buenas noches.