April Fools’ Day/El Día de los Santos Inocentes

Since my birthday is coming up I wanted to briefly talk about a conversation that I had this week with one of the teachers.

I told the teacher that my birthday was on Sunday, April 1^st and that this day was also April Fools’ Day in the United States. I then began to tell her about some of the pranks that people pull on others on this day and how my family especially tries to fool me because it’s my birthday.

She began to tell me about a day similar to April Fools’ Day that they observe in Spain, called El Día de los Santos Inocentes, or The Day of the Holy Innocents. This day is celebrated on the 28^th of December every year and the people also pull pranks on each other. The inocentes as they are called, are the gullible ones, the people who fall for these pranks. In some regions, after the pranks are performed the jokester says, “Inocente palomita que te dejaste engañar" ("You innocent little dove that let yourself be fooled"). However, nowadays, and in most areas of Spain, the jokester just cries out, “¡Inocente, Inocente!”

I did a little more research on this topic and found out that El Día de los Santos Inocentes is actually a religious holiday named in honor of the young children who were slaughtered by the order of King Herod around the time of Jesus’ birth. These children were called the santos inocentes because they were too young and innocent to have committed any sins.

Today, most of the religious aspects of El Día de los Santos Inocentes, like most other holidays, have been forgotten, and the people spend this day playing inocentadas, or practical jokes, on each other. An example of a prank preformed on this day is someone filling a sugar jar with salt, or vice-versa. Another prank would be for someone to change all of the clocks in the house. Many big companies and news stations also take part in this day; a newspaper company, for example, would publish a false story.

It seems crazy that a day commemorating the slaughter of children would turn into a big prank day, but unfortunately that’s how the world works.

It turns out; many countries have their own version of an April Fools’ Day. In France, Romany, Italy and some areas of Canada, the people try to attach a paper fish to the victim’s backs without being noticed. This is called Poisson D'avril (April’s Fish) and it also occurs on the first day of April. In Scotland, April Fool’s Day is called Hunt-the-Gowk Day and it involves a game of sealed messages. Other prank days are celebrated throughout the world, like in Korea, Denmark, Poland and other places. To me, it’s refreshing to hear that amongst all of the pain and war in the world, most countries chose a day to joke around and laugh at each other; at least I think it’s refreshing.

I guess the whole world is full of jokes!

There’s a Reason for Everything….

Today turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant day. As I normally do on Fridays (my days off), I slept in, cooked myself a small breakfast, got dressed and headed to the supermarket to get groceries for the weekend. I always go to the supermarket on Fridays during school hours because that’s the only time that I’m certain I won’t see a bunch of my students. Unfortunately though, I do sometimes see some of their parents.

After I made it back from the supermarket and put my groceries up I decided to walk down to the beach. The weather has been so sunny and warm lately and today was no exception. I did have to contemplate this for a while. Although I really wanted to walk down there, I was also thinking about the distance, the time and the fact that the kids would probably be getting out of school very soon and I would probably run into a lot of them. Eventually though, I decided that I just had to go. It was too beautiful outside and I felt that I should take advantage of living in a beach town before I have to go back to the states.

About 5 minutes after I began walking to the beach I noticed an older lady standing on the sidewalk looking at the bus schedule with a confused expression on her face. The reason why she stood out to me was because she was brown-skinned, and that’s just something that I don’t see every day in Jávea. As I started to walk past her she stopped me and asked me a question… in English. She asked if the bus stop was where she needed to be to go to the port and I told her that it was, but that the bus only came every hour. She then showed me a sheet of paper that she had with her containing the address of a hotel that she was going to be staying at and she asked if I knew where it was. I told her that I was familiar with the name of the road and that I knew that it was in the port area but I wasn’t exactly sure where. She said that she was just going to walk there and I showed her the direction to take.

After picking up on my American accent she asked where I was from. I gave her my usual response (the United States) and when she asked me what part I said Atlanta. “I’m from the states also,” she said, and she told me that she was from Florida. I was stunned. I haven’t met another American person in Jávea since I’ve been here. I didn’t immediately pick up on her accent because it sounded a little foreign. That’s when she told me that she was Dutch, but that she had been living in the states “since way before I was born.”

After talking and walking with her for a little while she told me thanks for the information and she encouraged me to go about my business. I had no problem walking with her but I decided to go on just because she said something about it so I put back on my earphones and continued walking to the beach. I glanced back at her a couple of times just to make sure that she was going in the right direction and then I kept thinking to myself, “What are you doing?” “You have just met a person who is black, speaks English and is from America.” How often does that happen in Jávea? NEVER.  I knew that I had to keep talking to her… just because.

After about 5 minutes of walking I immediately stopped and waited for her. When she saw me waiting there she looked pleased and said, “I’m glad you’re still here, which way do I go?” I told her that I would be happy to find the place with her and she told me that she would love my company. So we walked and talked the whole way to the port. When we finally got there it took us about 15 minutes to look for the place. The address that she had contained a name and a street but it didn’t have a building number. After asking a couple of people if they knew where the place was, trying to call the place with a number that went straight to voicemail and going in the wrong direction, we finally found the hotel that she was looking for. It was in a slightly hidden area.

Once we finally found the hotel we were faced with another problem, no one was there and the building was locked. We looked at the door which had the check-in and check-out times. The office supposedly opened back up (from siesta) at 4:00pm. But we were there at 4:07pm and the place was empty. For a couple of minutes we stood there and waited and talked about how crazy the system was. To be honest, this didn’t surprise me at all, I have gotten used to the fact the Spanish people don’t care about much, especially schedules.  After waiting for about 5 minutes, we decided to sit down at a café and have a cup of coffee.

If there was ever a day to sit outside and have coffee today was it. The weather was so perfect. It was warm, there was a slight breeze and we had a great view of the sea. We sat, drank our coffee and talked for a while about everything. I found out that she was a nurse in the states and that she had a lot of family in Holland and Amsterdam. She told me about all of the trips that she has taken to London, South Africa, and other wonderful places in the world. She told me that she was here visiting and that she had some friends in Jávea but she didn’t want to stay with them because she wanted to be “independent.” I completely agreed with her. I told her that I was in Jávea teaching English through the Fulbright program, for which she responded, “You go girl!” It was a great conversation.

After we finished up our coffee we decided to try the hotel again. When we showed up the front office was still empty. We kept talking about how strange it was. Eventually, I decided to call a number that was on the door under the sign “para más información” (for more information). When I called, someone finally picked up. I told the man that we where outside of the hotel and that no one was there. That’s when he told me that the office is only open on Monday and Tuesdays and that there was a box on the wall outside the door with the key in it. I gave him the lady’s name and he gave me the code that I needed to open the box. I finally opened the box and got the key. Because the conversation was in Spanish and the lady didn’t speak it, I told her what happened. We laughed about how interesting the experience had been and she thanked me.

Dutch Cheese

Then she said, “Well you’re going to check the room out with me right?” I said “sure.” I didn’t have anything else to do. We finally got up to the room and it was very nice. The place wasn’t really hotel; it was more like a set of apartments where you could rent out rooms. She had a studio apartment, it had a nice bathroom and kitchen and a great view of the sea. She decided to take some things out of her suitcase. That’s when she pulled out a couple of packages of Dutch cheese that she had brought back from her recent trip to Amsterdam. As she was beginning to put it in the refrigerator she asked if I wanted some, I told her “no thanks” but she gave me a package anyway. She talked about how good it is. I can’t wait to try it!

After she got situated she decided to go back outside with me and call her friend, who she would be spending the day with. She spoke Dutch the whole time that she was on the phone and although I didn’t really understand everything, I was surprised at how similar Dutch sounded to English. But this could be because she speaks very good English also.

For about 30 minutes, we sat on a bench outside while she waited for her friend to pick her up. She talked about how great of a city Amsterdam is and how I should go one day soon. She told me about her family members there, and said that she had a niece that would be happy to show me around. I told her that I would love to go. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about that city. We also talked about a ton of other things. She kept talking about karma, how there’s a reason for everything, and how she was so happy that she met me. She said that if she didn’t miss her bus from Benidorm to Jávea and had to catch another, and if she didn’t go in the opposite direction when she arrived in Jávea, then she wouldn’t have met me (and she possibly would have had a more difficult time getting to the hotel). She wouldn’t stop mentioning this.

When her friends finally arrived (a women and her husband) she introduced me to the both of them, we talked for a little while and I said goodbye. We had already exchanged email addresses earlier that day and she promised that she would write. She told me to give her a ring if I ever stopped by the port in the week in a half that she would be in Jávea, and I definitely took her up on that offer.

The Sea

After leaving them (I was with her for at least 3 hours) I was in such a good mood that I decided to sit on a bench in the port and read for a little while. It was so relaxing. There were many sailboats in the sea today and I watched them sail, I listened to the peaceful waves and I read my book. After a while, I started to see some of my students and thought that it was time to head back home.

Later, I started to think about what the lady was saying about karma and the way that things work. If I had never done my grocery shopping early and forced myself to walk to the beach, I would have never met her. And if I wouldn’t have decided to turn back around and help her find the hotel, I wouldn’t have Dutch cheese, plans to visit Amsterdam and a new wonderful friend…

There’s a reason for everything.

La Huelga General

“LaTasha, do you come to school tomorrow?” one of the English teachers asked me yesterday. “Yes of course, why wouldn’t I?” I responded. That’s when she realized that I knew nothing about the huelga or in valenciano, the vaga that was to occur on Thursday. After giving the class some independent work to do, she began to tell me about it.

If you were to watch the news today, go on the internet or even attempt to go to one of your favorite stores, you will soon find out that today is the day of the huelga general, or in English, the general strike. Today, Unions throughout the entire country of Spain are protesting the new conservative government's labor reforms and austerity cuts. According to the teacher that I was talking to, most businesses, both large and small, would be closed on Thursday because of the strike, and most of the teachers at the school weren’t going to show up.

Our School Banner

 Hearing about the huelga general in Spain didn’t surprise me at all. Since the first week that I’ve been here I have been constantly reminded of the struggling Spanish economy through television programs, newspapers and some of the numerous conversations that I’ve had with people. This has especially happened at school, where the teachers all take part in the Manifestación in the community of Valencia. Every Monday, all of the teachers wear black and every Thursday morning, we all stand outside of the school with a big banner, musical instruments, and chants to protest the government’s cutting of educational budgets and teacher salaries.

The teacher told me that the other staff at my school had the option of not showing up today, but that 100 Euros would be deducted from each of their paychecks if they chose not to come. “Do you think it’s worth it?” I asked.  She told me that it was worth it in the long run only if things began to change in the country, but that 100 Euros was a lot of money and that she could use it to pay for her gas for a month or use it to cover over half of her monthly rent.

Before school ended yesterday, a letter was given to all of the students to take home to their parents. The letter stated that due to the huelga only four or five teachers were going to show up the next day, as well as the director of the school. It also said that each cycle was going to have combined classes. So infantil (2 classes) were going to be combined and the first cycle (3 classes), the second cycle (4 classes) and the third cycle (4 classes) were going to be combined also.  The students had the option of coming or staying at home.

After hearing about the strike, I desperately tried to find the director of studies. Technically, I am supposed to report to her (even though half of the time I think she forgets about me). It turns out that she wasn’t there yesterday, so I decided that I was going to text her when I got home to see whether or not I had to come to school. As I was leaving school, I came across one of the English teachers who asked if I was coming to school on Thursday.

These last couple of weeks in English class we have been working with the 4 and 5-year-olds to create Easter baskets for next week and the children still hadn't finished.  After I told the teacher that I didn’t know if I was coming yet, she asked if I could come to help her finish the baskets so that they would be ready for next week. Well, I guess I got my answer.

When I arrived to school this morning I had never seen it so empty. Every morning the children in each class line up outside before the bell rings (or in our case, before the song starts playing) and this morning I could barely spot 30 children outside. When I went inside there were about 5 teachers there, and each one looked perplexed when they saw my face. The English teacher who first told me about the huelga asked me why I showed up and when I told her that the other teacher wanted me to come to help her, she said, “But she’s not even here.”

I spend the first couple of minutes a little frustrated; not only because the teacher didn’t tell me that she wasn’t going to show up, but also because I felt that I didn’t really have a purpose there. I then decided to make the best of the situation and I started doing some work. I created some fun Easter worksheets for the kids to work on and I started a PowerPoint presentation that I am planning to give to the older children next week.

Easter Baskets

After waiting for an hour, just in case the other teacher just so happened to show up, I decided to find the baskets and work on them by myself. I went to one of the infantil classrooms and began my work. The children had already colored their handles, formed their bunnies, and brought in their water bottles so I just had to put everything together. I worked on them for about 2 hours and took a break to go outside and talk with the other teachers.

All of the children had been outside for at least an hour and a half, and they had been eating their snack and playing the whole time. When I sat down with the other teachers, one of my favorite 1^st graders, the one that gave me a Valentine’s Day card and said he was in love with me, immediately sat next to me and began to try to talk to me in English. We went over our emotions, the weather, colors and even sang some English songs and the whole time the other teachers were teasing him about the way he would gaze into my eyes. It was a pretty entertaining break.

When I went home during the lunch break I ate, talked to my roommate (another teacher at my school who chose to stay home) and went back to school. When I returned I finished working on the baskets and then tried to find something else to do for the 15 minutes that was remaining. I didn’t have to go to my valenciano class this evening because it was cancelled due to the strike. I decided to walk down to the port in the afternoon because the weather was so nice and sunny and I needed some exercise. When I got down to the port, I bought some gelato from a gelato shop (so much for exercising), sat on a bench facing the sea and read my novel for an hour. It was very nice and peaceful.

I am amazed at how big the huelga is. In smaller towns in Spain, like Jávea, most of the people chose to stay home for work, but in some of the bigger cities, like Madrid or Barcelona for example, the people are rallying in streets with big banners and many have been arrested or injured.

This strike means so much to the people of Spain now more than ever. In the midst of Spain’s deep economic crisis Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy took office in December and the economy has been declining ever since. This general strike is the first against his government.  According to CNN.com, Spain's jobless rate is nearly 23% overall and nearly 50% for youth. Nearly 5.3 million Spaniards are out of work.

Today, supermarkets, museums and shops are closed. Hospitals, public transportation systems and schools have significantly reduced staff and over 650 domestic and international Spanish flights have been canceled due to the huelga. The strike has taking over the whole country and is even affecting other countries.

As an optimist who always tries to see the good in situations, I have to commend the Spanish people for successfully making this happen. Almost every Spaniard that I’ve met has spoken about the crisis and is really serious about change, and they should be. Although it’s difficult to watch a country struggling economically (hello, America has been doing the same), it’s inspiring to see everyone work together (against the government) for the good of the nation. I really hope the economy gets better, not only in Spain but everywhere.

If you would like to read more about the General Strike in Spain or the new €27 Billion deficit-cutting plan, here are some good links:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/29/world/europe/spain-strike/index.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/30/world/europe/spain-economy/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Las Fallas of Valencia

I feel really guilty about not going to the Fallas this year, especially since I live in the community of Valencia. But at the time that I booked my Paris trip I wasn’t aware that the grand event of the Fallas was going to be on the same weekend.

The President Of Mexico
fallasvalencia.es

Even though I didn’t go to the Fallas, I still feel obligated to talk about it because this is the biggest and most popular festival in Valencia and it’s definitely what the Valencia region is known for (besides the paella). In addition, it’s one of the most well-known festivals in all of Spain.  

The Fallas (or Les Falles in valenciano) is a festival held every year in Valencia in commemoration of Saint Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary. In Valencian, the word “falles” means “fire” and the Fallas is a festival in which the whole town is literally set on fire.  

In preparation for the Fallas, many organizations create ninots (puppets), which are huge statues made of paper-machè, cardboard, wood and wax. The ninots are extremely like-life, colorful and they often depict (and satirize) political figures and current events. The ninots require much craft and skill and they are extremely expensive to make. They normally take almost an entire year to construct.

Starting from the beginning of March, the ninots are placed throughout the center of the city and people vote on the best ninots. Every day before March 19^th at exactly 2:00pm, there is a mascletá in the Plaza Ayuntamiento of the city. This is when loud, timed-firecrackers are ignited and cause commotion in the city. There are also many bullfights, parades, paella contests and pageants around the city during this time. 

Ninots of Several Presidents of Latin America (and America)
depicted as Snow White Characters
fallasvalencia.es

March 19^th is the known as La Cremá (the burning); it is the last day of the Fallas. Early this day, men make carefully crafted holes in the ninots and stuff them with fireworks. At night, the streets are full of people, the streetlights are turned off, and almost all of the ninots are set on fire at night. Only one ninot of the entire collection is saved from burning, it is called the ninot indultat (the pardoned puppet). This is the ninot that received the most votes from the people, and at the end of the Fallas celebration it is placed inside the Museum of the Ninot, where it is exhibited, along with the other ninots indultats from previous years.

La Cremá (the burning)
www.valencia-cityguide.com

Although the Fallas sounds so interesting, lively and artsy, I can’t help but to think about how dangerous it also sounds. The idea that you will be surrounded by lots of people, fireworks and flames sounds a little scary and unsafe, but then a lot of things that I’ve encountered in Spain also seem to be this way.  I’m sure that it was a blast to those that attended!

I’m sad that I missed the Fallas this year (even though I still don’t regret my trip to Paris) but I’m certain that this won’t be my last trip to Spain and I am excited about attending the Fallas in the future; especially since I know so much more about it now.  I am also very excited about another big Spanish festival very similar to the Fallas that occurs in Alicante every year, Las Hogueras de San Juan (the bonfires of St. John), and I am hoping that I will be around at the end of June when this takes place.

Au Revoir, Paris: The Conclusion

Before going to Paris I had very high expectations of the city and this trip far exceeded my expectations. I was able to see everything that I wanted to see, and I even saw things that I didn’t plan to. Although it seemed like we were always on the move, I also felt like I was getting a good mix of both relaxing and productive outings. Through these outings I was really able to experience the culture of Paris. There were so many things about the city that I loved:

People

Before coming to Paris all that I had ever heard about Parisians is that they are very rude, they don’t even bother to speak English to tourists and that they don’t really care about anyone else but themselves. What I experienced from people, however, was the complete opposite; they were very nice and helpful. And as soon as people saw us struggling with words, they were quick to start speaking English.

Another thing that I noticed about the people of Paris is that they are so diverse. There is a very big Afro-French population in Paris and, unlike most places were the white-skinned people and dark-skinned people don’t associate much with each other, I saw so many interracial couples and groups of people hanging out with each other regardless of their color. It made me very happy to see this.

And yes, the Parisian men are as gorgeous as they appear in the movies.

Food

There is no way that I can talk about my trip to Paris without mentioning the croissants. France is a country well-known for its delicious bread so I already expected greatness. The French croissants were perfect. They were so soft, flaky and buttery. They are very different from the croissants in Spain, which are usually glazed. The croissants were one of the best parts of the trip.

Also, you can’t go to Paris without having a crêpe. They are a great snack and they’re very abundant in the streets of Paris. You can fill the crêpes with so many different things: chocolate, egg, cheese, chicken, ham, strawberries and other fruit fillings. The crêpes were awesome.

I didn’t have many big meals in Paris but the meals that I did have were delicious.

Things to Do

One of the reasons why I think that Paris is such an amazing city is because there is so much to see and each place has such a deep significance and history behind it. There is no way that a person visiting or living in Paris can ever get really bored. There are so many important monuments, so many parks to relax and play in, so many different places to eat at and so many bars, clubs and other entertainment sites to go to with friends.

Scenery

In my opinion, it’s not very common to find a city that offers so much culturally, but offers even more naturally. Paris is naturally such a beautiful city. Every time I would walk out I would be amazed at how gorgeous the city was, from the shape and style of the buildings to the color of the trees to the beauty of the Seine River. The whole city has such a romantic appearance.

Language

Although I don’t know much French, it was fascinating to hear the people speak French. My favorite thing to do in Paris was listen to French conversations because they all just sounded so beautiful.

Sure, there were things about Paris that bothered me, like the smoking, the weather and the cost of living (Paris is expensive) but there were so many other things that I loved, and the things that I loved made the other things seem so miniscule and unimportant.

Visiting Paris with my friends was definitely worth sleeping at the airport, getting sick and leaving my iPod at the hotel. If I had to do it all again, I definitely would.

Au revoir, Paris

Paris: Day 3

We woke up a little early on Sunday morning so that we could have plenty of time to do the things that we wanted to do before it was time for us to leave. After getting dressed and packing our things we decided to start our day. Fortunately, the hotel manager was kind enough to let us leave our backpacks at the hotel until it was time for us to leave Paris so that we didn’t have to carry them around all day.

Moulin Rouge

We stopped at a bar to have coffee and pastries. Unfortunately though, they didn’t have any pastries so we had our coffee there and then headed to the bakery across the street to get our dose of bread for the day. I bought a croissant and a pastry stuffed with chocolate. Both were delicious. Earlier that morning while on our way to get breakfast I had seen the street where the Moulin rouge was located so I knew that we had to stop there afterwards. We eventually made our way to the street and saw the Moulin Rouge, the very famous cabaret well known for its music and dance shows.  Of course it was morning time and the Moulin Rouge looked nothing like it would look at around midnight, but it was still exciting to see.

Cemetary

One of my friends wanted to see a popular cemetery in Paris. I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of visiting a cemetery, but after she explained it to me I was more inclined to see it. The cemetery was very interesting, all of the tombs were like little houses where not one, but many members of the same family were buried together. The cemetery was enormous and supposedly many famous people were buried there. I didn’t really recognize any names because they were all very French but it was still cool to see the large, elaborate tombs.

Musée du Louvre: Mummy

After visiting the cemetery we went back to the Louvre Museum because it would be such a shame to come to Paris without visiting it. Fortunately, I was able to get free admission into the museum because I am a resident of a country in the European Union and I’m under 25. Awesome! There were a couple of things that I knew I had to see at the Louvre: the Egyptian artifacts, the Islamic art and, of course, the Mona Lisa.

Musée du Louvre:
Nike of Samothrace

My friends and I eventually separated once we entered the museum, which turned out to be a very good thing. The Louvre was huge and there was no way that you can see everything in the museum in one day and come out alive. Therefore we all knew what we wanted to see and we headed towards our destinations. I immediately went to see the Egyptian stuff because that’s what I was most excited to see. I am obsessed with ancient Egypt. I came across a lot of interesting things like ancient scribes, sculptures, tombs an even a mummy.

Musée du Louvre: Mona Lisa

After leaving the Egyptian section, I figured that I better make my way to the most popular attraction of the museum, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (the original copy). After getting lost, I finally found it. Once I got to the correct floor, the Mona Lisa wasn’t difficult to find because there was a crowd of people all walking in the same direction. After pushing my way to the front of the small crowd to get a good view of the Mona Lisa, I admired it for a little while. It was really hard to concentrate on the picture, however, because there were so many people trying to take photos of themselves in front of it with their camera phones. It was pretty hilarious.   



Musée du Louvre:
Code of Hammurabi

After leaving the Mona Lisa I tried my best to follow the museum guidebook to find my way around but it really didn’t help at all. I got lost numerous times so I just stopped following it and walked around to all of the other areas. In the three or four hours that I was at the museum, I saw so much art that I developed a headache. While I was there I saw some other famous things like the Code of Hammurabi, the Venus de Milo and the Nike of Samothrace.

My friends and I decided to meet back up at four o’clock. At this time I had a headache, I was starving and I was a little cranky; but even though the Museum wore me out, it was still awesome and I would love to return some day.

We still had a couple of hours until it was time for us to head back to the airport so we went back to get our stuff from the hotel and then we ate lunch. For lunch we stopped at this Middle Eastern restaurant. Although I had hummus and other things before, this was my first time eating at a Middle Eastern place (I obviously need to get out more in Atlanta). I don’t remember the name of the dish that I ordered but it was pita type bread stuffed with spicy grilled chicken and it came with lettuce, tomatoes and onions. It was so good.

Arc de Triomphe

Before we headed back to the bus stop, we decided to make one last stop. What good is visiting Paris without seeing the Arc de Triomphe, another famous monument in Paris?  We literally got off of the metro, looked at the Arc for 5 minutes and then got back on the metro.

We got to the bus station on time and took another hour-long bus ride to get to the airport that we had arrived from. Once we got to the airport it seemed like we waited forever for our Ryanair flight. While we were waiting for the flight I looked around for my IPod in my backpack and realized that I didn’t have it. At that moment I immediately knew that I must have left it on the bed of our hotel room. I don’t lose things very often so I knew exactly where it was and what I was doing when I put it there. I remember packing my bag that morning and thinking that I would put my IPod in last because I wanted it to be easily accessible before I got on the plane. I immediately got the number of the hotel from my friend and talked to the manager. After about 5 minutes of struggling to communicate with him because of language barrier, he told me that he was going to go look for it and to call him back in 5 minutes. When I called him back he told me that he had found it. I was relieved but I didn’t know what to say next. How would I get it back? I attempted to talk to the guy again and he basically asked me if I had a French boyfriend or knew anyone else that speaks French. I’ve found a friend that speaks French but now I’m trying to figure out just what to do. I’m not really familiar with Spain’s mailing system and I don’t know if I trust him enough to send him money to send my IPod back so…. Another trip to Paris maybe???

After waiting for what seemed like forever (and feeling very sad about my IPod), we finally boarded the plane. The flight back to Madrid took about 2 hours. We arrived after midnight. My friend that lives in Madrid went back to her piso while my other friend and I decided to sleep at the airport. We had a very early flight in the morning so we figured that it wouldn’t be worth the hassle to leave. After being bored out of my mind for hours and then attempting to sleep in the uncomfortable chairs at the terminal we boarded the flight back to Alicante. Once we arrived in Alicante my friend went home but I obviously still had to get back to Jávea so I then went directly to the bus station, waited for over an hour and finally took the bus back to Jávea.

I finally arrived in Jávea later that afternoon and I was so thrilled to be home. I loved Paris, but there’s no feeling like coming back home after an exhausting trip. Not only was I so happy to finally be home from the long trip but I was actually so elated to be back in a country where I understand everything! Although most people in Paris spoke some English, it was still very strange for me to communicate because I’ve never been in a country where there was a communication barrier. The only countries that I have ever been to speak either English or Spanish as their official language, and in Paris I felt like such a foreigner because I didn’t speak French.  This is one of the reasons why I really like to learn languages… maybe French is next.

Coming back to Jávea really made me realize how much I have made this place my home. Although I love travelling, there is still nothing better than being able to sleep in your own bed, take a shower in your own bathroom, and cook your own food. As soon as I got home I took a hot shower, popped some popcorn, poured myself a glass of tinto and skyped my family back home.

Goodbye Paris… until next time.

Paris: Day 2

After a 12-hour sleep, we finally woke up in Paris feeling very refreshed and ready to start the day. Unfortunately though, I woke up with an unbearable headache, a runny nose and congestion and my friends also woke up with bad coughs. I’d say that it was the air quality, cigarette smoke and pollen in Paris that was making us sick. Also, unlike the sunny 70 degree day that we had on Friday, this day was a lot cooler and wetter.

As soon as we got dressed we stopped at a pharmacy so that I could buy some ibuprofen for my headache. As I was buying the medicine, the pharmacist made sure to warn me not to take more than 400mg every couple of hours (she obviously doesn’t know me).

Breakfast

Afterwards we stopped at a small restaurant to have breakfast. Because we didn’t really have dinner the night before (and because we slept 12 hours) we were starving. At the restaurant, which by the way was very cute and French, we each ordered a breakfast that consisted of coffee, orange juice (that was super sweet), a pastry and a scrambled egg and bacon mixture. I ordered a croissant for my pastry and it was delicious. The breakfast didn’t really feel me up as much as I thought it would, but it was still good.

My first crêpe

After finishing breakfast we headed to the other side of town to visit another attraction that we were anxious about, the catacombs. While on our way to the catacombs, we came across a food stand in the street that sold crêpes. One of my friends loves crêpes and had to buy one. I had never tried one before so I ordered one also, with chocolate.  We ate the crêpes while we waited in line to enter the catacombs. It was delicious, but the chocolate was a little bit much for me, especially without water.

The Catacombs is an underground ossuary in Paris that holds the remains of about 6 million Parisians. The story of how the catacombs were created is fascinating.

Catacombs

Back in the 18^th century the citizens of Paris all chose to bury the remains of their family members in private church cemeteries. The only thing about the cemeteries, however, is that they were small and Paris was an extremely crowded city at that time. The people had to literally start piling bodies on top of each other. Eventually, the cemetery became so overcrowded to the point where the citizens of Paris started to suffer from disease due to the contamination caused by the corpses.  Eventually, the government decided to take action and so they dug up all of the remains in the cemeteries. They then placed the remains in abandoned quarries. The catacombs today consist of a mass tomb covering a network of underground tunnels in the center of Paris.

Catacombs

This description of the catacombs may seem a bit eerie, but for me, visiting the catacombs was more fascinating than anything. It was amazing to see all of the skulls and bones that were over a thousand years old all aligned in such an elaborate and decorative manner. It was a little creepy to be in a cold, dark tunnel underground surrounded by millions of bones but creepy in a cool way. It definitely reminded me of something that I would see in a movie, like The Mummy.

Catacombs

They say that one of the most interesting things about Paris is what lies beneath the city and from my tour of the catacombs combined with the history that I’ve learned about the city, I definitely agree. I would definitely suggest people to visit the catacombs. It has such a historical and cultural significance to the city of Paris. And it’s so cool.

After visiting the catacombs we decided to head to the cathedral of Notre Dame, another famous landmark in Paris. While on our way to the cathedral we stopped for a while to walk along the Seine River. The Seine is a long river that flows through the heart of Paris. If you were to take a cruise around the river you would see so many important landmarks in Paris, like the Eiffel tower or Notre Dame. 

A view of the Notre Dame Cathedral

In my opinion, the Seine is one of the most beautiful parts of Paris because it has such a serene, romantic and enchanting ambience around it. After looking at the river we crossed the bridge and went to the cathedral of Notre Dame. This cathedral is considered one of the finest examples of French gothic architecture in Europe. In most cathedrals that I’ve seen, I generally like the outside of them more than the outside. The outside of the Notre Dame was very beautiful and the beauty of the church was only enhanced by the area surrounding it, with the Seine River to its right and a big plaza in front. I wanted to see this cathedral because it’s very popular but truthfully, I’m a little tired of seeing cathedrals.

Restaurant Menu

After stopping at the cathedral we decided to find a place to eat lunch. We found a cute little restaurant to eat at and, surprisingly, it didn’t take us that long to find it. We were the only ones there so the food came very quickly. We shared a salad and I ordered a dish with beef, vegetables and rice. It tasted really good and reminded me of the delicious pot roast that my mom cooks. We also ordered a bottle of wine to share (this seems to be the cheaper way of having it).

Louvre Plaza

After lunch, we took the metro to the Louvre Museum, one of the largest museums and the most visited art museum in the world. We weren’t actually sure what time the museum closed but we were going to try to get in just in case it stayed open late. When we got to the museum we found out that they had already stopped selling tickets so we decided to return on Sunday. In any case, the trip was still worth it because the outside of the museum was almost as cool as the inside. The museum is housed inside the Louvre Palace, which began as a fortress in the late 12^th century. Covering the entrance to the museum is a glass period and it’s located directly in the center of the Louvre Plaza. The outside was definitely a sight to see.

Do you really even need a caption?

After leaving the Louvre we decided to stop at the biggest Landmark in Paris, the Eiffel tower. I had mixed feelings about seeing the Eiffel tower after dark. I’ve heard that the tower is so beautiful at night but I also knew that my camera takes really bad night pictures and I really wanted to get a good photo of myself in front of it. As soon as we got off of the metro we turned around and there it was, staring us right in our faces. To me, seeing it was very surreal, it was crazy to think that I was all the way in Paris, on the other side of the world, seeing a thing that I’ve obviously seen in movies and television, read about in books and heard about in songs. It just reminded me of how lucky I am to be in Europe. The tower was very big and all lit up. And although I didn’t get a good picture with my crappy camera, my friend got a great photo of me with her “photographer’s camera.”

We were in a good mood after leaving the tower, so we decided to stop somewhere and have drinks. We stopped at this bar that had live music and a happy hour drink special. We had drinks there (I had a cosmopolitan) and listened to a musician sing and play the piano. It was a great atmosphere.

My friend really wanted another crêpe, and since we weren’t really hungry enough to eat a big dinner we decided to stop at another crêpe stand for dinner. This time I got a crêpe with ham, egg and cheese. It was so good; I really want another one right now.

After eating the crêpes in the street, we headed back to the hotel and got a good night’s sleep in preparation for day 3. Louvre MuseumLouvre Museum

Paris: Day 1

The Seine River: Paris

After a bus ride to Alicante, a train ride to Madrid, a Ryanair flight to somewhere in France, and an hour bus ride to the center of the city, I finally arrived in Paris, the city of my dreams. Once I stepped outside the bus I felt such a rush of excitement. I couldn’t wait to explore the city, meet the people and delight in the wonderful French food.

I went to Paris with two of my Fulbright friends, one is an ETA in Alicante and the other is an ETA in Madrid. Not only was I excited to experience Paris with two other people, but I also knew that these two people loved coffee and wine as much as I do. And that’s just an excellent combination.

Although our journey was a little long (we woke up at 3:00am), we still arrived in Paris pretty early so we immediately stopped at a restaurant to have a small Parisian breakfast. As soon as we sat at the table outside the waiter greeted us with the French greeting “bonjour”. And we replied. I don’t know any French but one of my friends knew a tiny bit so she did most of the talking. For breakfast we had coffee with cream, croissants, yogurt and orange juice.  This is a typical “French breakfast”.

After eating we tried to find the hotel that we were going to be staying at so that we could drop off our heavy backpacks. It wasn’t very easy to find, but after a lot of walking, we finally found it and checked in. The room wasn’t luxurious but it was private and had its own bathroom and it was perfect for the small amount of time that we were going to spend in Paris. After relieving our backs we headed out into the city to start our exploration.

Église Saint-Sulpice

First, we stopped at the Église Saint-Sulpice, a beautiful Roman Catholic church in Paris, and the second largest church in the city. This church was featured in Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code. After leaving the church, we decided to find the Luxembourg Gardens. We figured that Friday would be the perfect day to visit the gardens because the weather was expected to be a lot worse on Saturday and Sunday. The Luxembourg Gardens is one of the largest public parks in Paris and it is very popular because of the range of people and activities it attracts. Once I got to the gardens I was impressed by the number of people there and the variety of things that they were doing. There were old men playing games of chess, university students doing work, children playing, athletes exercising, people playing tennis, professionals casually eating lunch in their business clothes, girlfriends chatting, musicians playing music and everything else that you could imagine. I absolutely loved the scene at the Luxembourg Gardens. It seemed like such a nice place to relax, catch up with old friends and just enjoy the day. It was also very beautiful. Surprisingly though, it wasn’t as green as I expected it to be, but this could be because of the season.

Luxembourg Gardens

After visiting the gardens we were famished so we decided to look for a place to eat. We walked around the city and browsed menus at different restaurants. After spending at least half an hour trying to find a place that had a good menu and wasn’t too expensive to eat at, we finally decided to stop at a place. I ordered an omelet with ham and cheese and we shared a bottle of wine. It was perfect.

After lunch we decided to make one last trip of the day to see the Sacred heart Basilica of Montmartre, also known as Sacre-Coeur. This is another Roman Catholic church and it has a great political and cultural significance to the people and history of Paris. It’s located on Montmartre Hill, the highest point in the city, and it's one of the most noticeable landmarks in Paris.

Sacre-Coeur

When we got to the Sacre-Coeur I was stunned, not only by its beauty, but also by the atmosphere around it. Many people surrounded the front of the Sacre-Coeur; they were sitting on top of the hill, talking with friends, playing games, and visiting the church. There was also a musician singing and playing the guitar while people watched and sang along. The scene reminded me so much of a hippie show, where so many different types of people just lounge around outside and enjoy the weather and the company of their friends.  I really liked the atmosphere.

View of the City

My friend told us that Montmartre was a wonderful place to watch the sunset (since you can see the entire city from it) so we decided to sit down and watch the sunset there. While looking into the city, we could see the Eiffel tower as well as other landmarks in the city from a distance. It was a beautiful sight.

While we were sitting down waiting for the sun to set, we noticed a guy across the street from us who seemed to be searching for something on the ground. The guy literally examined the ground for at least 20 minutes and he would move in a way that seemed so calculated and unnatural. He reminded me of Orlando Bloom. He had long black hair, a young face, and he looked like he could be an artist of some kind. Some people occasionally saw what he was doing and laughed at how strange he looked. While others (I presume) went up to him and asked if he needed help with something. But the guy just kept looking at the same spot and thinking really hard about something. My friend kept saying that he was “so French” and I couldn’t have agreed more.

After leaving Montmartre, we attempted to find our hotel. We had arrived in Madrid after midnight on Thursday and woke up at 3:00 am to get to the airport. And on top of that, we were all so busy during the week that we hardly got any sleep. So we knew that we were going to go to bed early. On the way to our hotel we bought a couple of mandarins from a fruit stand, went back to the hotel and crashed before it was even 10:00pm.