Vale vale vale vale vale

Yesterday was Sunday (I think... I can't keep track of the days. Yes. Sunday) and Valencia c.f. played Granada c.f. -- those are soccer/fútbol teams in case you were wondering. A bunch of us, probably ten, maybe fifteen, bought tickets to the game and all ended up sitting together ten or so rows back, right on the corner of the field. Now, if you've ever been to a D.C. United game and you're thinking oh cool wow soccer how fun NOT, let me just say that on a Sunday night at 8:00, the stadium was almost completely full. It was amazing. Rachel and I bought Valencia tee shirts (actually pajama shirts, shhhh) and huge flags and wore them like capes, and as cliché as it sounds, it was really awesome to really feel like a part of this huge city. There was an adorable little boy behind me sitting with his dad and he kept asking questions like "cuando eras joven, eras futbolista?" y "papí, vamos a ganar, SI? SI? SI?" and his dad was super patient and answered every question, even if it was the fourth time he had heard it. It was precious.

Anyway, we won (WOOOOOOO VAMOS), and after the game a few of us went in search of something fun to do/somewhere fun to go, and happened upon the Festival of the Nations (I think that's what it translates to, I don't know if that's actually what it was even called) which was basically just a huge bazaar-type thing with food tents and buying-stuff tents from tons of different countries. I finally got my hands on some "Mexican food," something I've been craving since I got here. Okay, so maybe it was a ham and cheese quesadilla but it came from a tent that said Mexico and sold tequila so that's probably as close as I'm going to get in Spain so vale.

Oh look at that, a perfect segue into my favorite thing about Spain so far: the word "vale". Pronounced [ba-le], it's this beautiful interjection that you can pretty much use to mean any combination of "OK, yes, fine, sounds good, see you there, yes I admit you're right and I'm wrong" and anything else you can think of. I'm pretty sure it either starts or ends every single sentence that everyone says here.

Another really interesting thing I've noticed in the past week is how informal everyone is with their speech. Honestly I probably only notice this because I'm fresh out of Hispanic Sociolinguistics this past semester, but it's seriously fascinating. When people in the States start to learn a foreign language, the first thing everyone wants to know is "how do I say bitch?" "how do I say fuck" etc etc. But seriously, cursing is not a big deal here. People call their children, dogs, husbands, friends, really whoever, things like "coño" y "puta" y "cabrón" and no one bats an eye! The first time I heard it I was honestly a little shocked, because it's not really acceptable to call people those things in public in the States... But my art professor today was explaining the history of the War of Spanish Succession and every so often he would say, in English, "Espain es deeferent," and I think that sums it up perfectly. Everything here feels more hectic than at home, but more relaxed at the same time. I know that makes literally no sense, but you have to see it to understand.

Anyway, after the game and the festival last night, I went home and crashed. My sleeping patterns have been really weird the past couple days -- I wake up at around 4:30 or 5 every night and can't fall back asleep until 7 or so, and then wake back up at 9 or 9:30 to go to class. I don't know if it's jetlag or leftover sleep weirdness from finals or lo que sea, but hopefully it straightens itself out because I really really love sleep and I'd prefer a full night's worth of it if possible.

Oh, and I had my first experience with the Valencia Metro today! It's honestly exactly like the D.C. metro, only cheaper. It's a flat rate no matter where you go (seriously D.C., take some lessons from Valencia because paying 6 bucks to get to a Nats game from Vienna metro really sucks), and you can change trains as many times as you want. We may have almost gotten lost once or twice, but we eventually ended up at our destination, the mall! I told myself I wasn't going to buy anything, but there was this really awesome long knit blue, white and orange sweater, and this other orange dress, and they were both on sale, and how could I resist UVA colored clothing in Spain on sale? It was fate.

I feel like I'm finally settling into a schedule here, which is really nice. I'm definitely the type of person who likes to have her days planned out before they happen, so I'm glad that I have class at the same time every day, and can rely on having coffee ready in the morning before I go to school, and showering at the same time, y todo eso.

I guess to wrap things up, I'll say that even though I leave in 25 days (actually sad already), I'm still so excited for everything I have to look forward to. This weekend we have an excursion to Peñíscola, a beachy-place-thing about an hour away -- I'll actually wake up for this excursion, unlike Xátiva -- and then next weekend is Madrid (WOOO) and the weekend after we're taking a train up to Barcelona for this SUPERMEGAREQUETEGUAY music festival called Sónar. Seriously though, it's going to be insanely cool. The lineup for Friday night includes Skrillex, Two Door Cinema Club, Major Lazer, Diplo, Baauer... there are 30 or so acts scheduled between 10pm and 7am, and tickets are only like 66 euros. Like I said, insane. After that, I have a week left and then finals and then back to the States, I suppose. The UVA en Valencia people might have to drag me kicking and screaming onto the plane, though. I can tell you already that I'm going to hate leaving.

(Also, if my English sounds a little strange, can someone let me know? I've noticed in my speech that I sort of speak with the cadence of Spanish, but using English words, and every day it gets more difficult to communicate easily in English. I know that's the whole point of being here, but I'm still interested.)

Hasta luego!