LIVING in Spain

You really feel like you are "living" somewhere when you start doing tasks like grocery shopping. Today I went to the market to buy a basket full of food for the next few days. It's so strange shopping in a country in which you barely speak the language. It can be frustrating and take a lot more time then it would have at home. I probably spent nearly 45 minutes trying to gather up the goods. Different language, different currency, different packaging. It was interesting and a good exercise for practicing my spanish.

The market is about a 15 minute walk so I have to take a cart when I am going to buy a lot. Ahhh please excuse my flat feet. My T-strap sandals only make them look wider. Probably not the best style for me but I love the color. Oh and you can see the tan I am getting from wearing my other sandals almost every day!

The woman I am working for wrote me a list and even drew some illustrations to help me out :)

After I loaded my "old lady cart" and headed home. Everyday is an adventure when you are in a foreign country!

xo
-esther

pan

strong coffee
Valencia orange juice
and a croissant.
Lovely, just lovely.


Why don't we have more cafes in America! Oh how I wish we did! I love this breakfast special. Everything above for a mere €2.50 which is equivalent to $3.25. The best thing is that I can sit at that cafe for hours and no one has a problem with it. It's normal. People go to cafe's and sit and chat with friends for as long as they desire.

Americans have settled for McDonalds.... A Mcmuffin, a hash brown and some coffee. No thank you!

Below is some delightful bread I bought at another bakery.

Im certainly going to miss being able to get fresh bread so easily. I suppose I'll just have to do a lot of baking when I get home!

Happy Wednesday!
xo
-es

600th Post and Video

Woah I can hardly believe this is my 600th post! I am so glad I have this blog to document my life. Goodness it just moves far too fast!!! I really must to my best to record bits and pieces of it. There are somethings I never want to forget.

So I made a really simple little video to show how quickly things changed. The first half was shot in Los Angeles and the Second Half in Spain. At the beginning of last week I was jumping on the trampoline with sweet little Liv and by the end I was traveling through a beautiful Spanish city. The video is full of random clips of my life this past month. From sitting in my car before class at 5:55 a.m. to hanging out with the brother and sister. The Spain clips aren't anything spectacular. It's hard for me to find things to record since I am always alone. But these video clips mean a great deal to me. They will forever remind me of the long walks I too around Valencia. Time that I spent talking with God, practicing Spanish, and daydreaming about life.

Oh and I chose to set it to yet another lovely Cat Power song that I have been listening to quite a bit.



xo
esther

Monday

After a lovely weekend it's back to work for me. Today was a really easy day. I only worked for a few hours. Also the woman hosting me gave me a ride into downtown Valencia. I spent some time wandering the city sans my big camera. It was nice not having to carry such a big bag and I did manage to snap a few photos with my trusty iPhone. The iPhone is so great for traveling. I don't get service here in Europe but I still use the camera, connect through the internet at wifi hotspots, read my bible, Skype, play games all on this teeny tiny device. What did we ever do without them...

There are also photos of the home of one of my hosts students. I watched the baby under the beautiful terrace while they were having a lesson. Such a lovely home.


besos
esther

Festival de las Naciones

Today I ventured into the city for the Festival de las Naciones. It was a celebration of different cultures. I had so much fun seeing all the booths and smelling all the different cuisines from many countries.

When I saw the booth for the United States I just had to check it out.

Nothing says America like BBQ ribs, Jack Daniels and Duff Beer (this one really through me off) OHHH and Guns' n Roses playing in the background. Really???? What a beautiful way to capture American culture... Not.
Below are some lousy photos I snapped under the tent so that you could see the menu and have a good laugh.

Chicken nuggets and Onion rings. Again, really? On second thought that actually sounds about right...eeeks. I can't even count the children in America I have cared for who live off of Chicken nuggets...

Then I headed to the shopping area. Some of the booths had some really nice clothes and jewelry.

I even bought myself a purse. I got to practice haggling in Spanish. The man would not budge on the price. I told him I would give him 20 euros and all of the change in my purse which was like 3,20 euro and he said no... He wanted 25. I said no thank you and walked away and then he tried to sell me a smaller one for that price. I looked at it and kindly said no again and walked away once more. And then all of sudden he said "Vale, Vale" which means "Okay, Okay" I know it was just a couple Euros off but this country is expensive so I really to try and get some good deals...

I didn't get a picture of the bag I bought but it's really lovely. I'll have to do an outfit post soon.

After I sat under a beautiful tree and enjoyed some delicious sangria and paella. So very good!!!


Then I went back to check out what else was going on. It turns out they were having some sort of military history day or something. It was hard for me to understand in spanish. Anyways they had people dressed up in military costumes from other countries. Starting from the the Roman empire to around the 1950's I believe. I snapped a ton of pictures.

Above is a photo in front of the American Military tent.






I thought it was really funny that this guy had a lipstick stain on him during his whole presentation. I wonder if he knew.



Then I walked back to the underground station and headed back home.

I walked passed some stairs full of confetti and a beautiful garden. Sigh I just love Europe.

I also had to stop for some caffeine and dessert.

I wanted to try something different. I knew I needed coffee. I was so tired and it was only 4 P.M. So I got an shot of expresso with whipped cream and a pistachio macaron.

Well that pretty much sums up my day. Now I better get some rest I have to work early tomorrow morning.

Night
xo
-esther

solo

Today I went into the Valencia city center all by my lonesome.

It was nice. I get to move and my own pace and really get to take in my surroundings. There is no one to distract me. It's weird not being around Americans I haven't seen one since Tuesday. So strange. Since this is my first trip alone this is really something I'm not use to. When I do leave the country I usually go with at least 10-12 americans (mission trips and study abroad) This time its just me. This is such a great learning experience. I always thought of myself as someone who was very independent. I often took trips around Los Angeles alone but this experience is forcing me to be even more confident when being alone. I don't feel lonely yet as I have kept myself occupied with photography, writing in my journal, and reading. Keeping busy will help keep my mind off of the ones I miss back home i.e. daddy, mama, mimi, rynie, david and all my sweet friends.

Well let me get off this tangent and show you some photos from my day.

Without further ado here are some photos taken by and American girl in beautiful España.

Oh and thank goodness I have experience with the London tube because the underground transportation here is just like it. So it was very easy for me to sans english!

Oh how beautiful so many European cities are. The old buildings all over western europe always make me weak in the knees. Sooo pretty.

And the way some of the european children dress... Swoon. So adorable makes me want to sew something just as sweet. Sorry the pictures is bad it was a tight crop I just wanted to show you these cute little twins I spotted in there adorable outfits!


After walking around for a bit I bought some gelato and headed home.

What a lovely day it was.

Night
xo
-esther

And so it begins.

my little journey in Spain

this sounds all too familiar. Reminds me of this experience
Living in another country. How interesting it truly is.

The people here

dress different
Speak different
Interact different

Such a strange experience it can be to leave the country where you live and move to some place where you don't speak the same language.

Sweet friends will you please pray for me during my time in Spain? I'm asking the Lord for wisdom, patience,and flexibility (something you need when you are living in someones home)

Here are some pieces of my day. I ventured off into the town between watching the baby in the morning and now. (She is sleeping so I have some time to write before she wakes.) I went by foot but tomorrow I think I will take the train into the main city. I have a cel phone so I feel more comfortable doing so.

There are pine trees EVERYWHERE and this town smell so good because of it.

Some of the homes I pass while walking.
I went to the market and bought some almonds and then sat at the park and attempted to practice my spanish.



The weather is really warm right now but it's going to really heat up soon! Eeks.

Well I will blog some more tomorrow.

Happy Friday!!!

xo
-esther