Attack of the (HAM)burgers!

Here is an amusing and short story!  All 20 of us girls thought it would be nice to go out for dinner since everyone was still getting to know each other.  We decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to grow closer.  We had walked away from the dorm to see if we could find a good place to eat.  We came across several restaurant's so we looked at the different menu's and first noticed that we were able to order Hamburgers! Everyone in the group became excited so we chose that restaurant with the burgers!  All 20 of us ordered a hamburger because we were missing the "American food".  All we wanted was a greasy and juicy burger!  But guess what, when our food had arrived we took one look at it and it was literally a HAM-burger!  We all started to laugh at the same time.  It was awful but hilarious!  Of course it was a hamburger! 
This is what I have learned when it comes to food in Spain: When a food item has the word ham in it, it means ham!

Paris, Valencia, Morella!

Starting from the beginning!

Day 1:
Thursday we left for Paris!  The plane ride was super long but at least they had movies and television shows to watch and different games to play.  We were also served snacks, dinner, and breakfast and the food was actually pretty descent for air plane food!  After landing, a shuttle picked us up and it was off to Paris we went!  All I can say, Man! French people everywhere! Haha ;).  We were able to walk around Paris to get close to the Eiffel tower.  We took a boat ride that even took us around the City.  We saw the Notre Dame! (No I did not see the Hunch Back there). The plane ride to Valencia from Air France was brutal.  The ride was about an hour and thirty minuets but it felt much longer.  The plane ride was like being held hostage in a day care center with non-stop crying babies and toddlers.  It was pretty brutal and the landing could not come fast enough.  We finally reached Valencia and it is absolutely gorgeous!  We finally checked in at the dorms, unpacked, ate dinner, then we all crashed!

Day 2:
My roommate Dana and I had woken up early to eat breakfast.  We were able to find some other girls in our travel group already down there.  Day 2 was basically a free day but were given a scavenger hunt in order to learn our way around the dorm and Valencia.  A group of us participated in the scavenger hunt but had a few problems finding different things.  Eventually, we ended up at the beach!  The beach was very crowded and we had seen a bunch of women going topless!  At first it was pretty awkward because none of us are used to that back in the States. It We eventually got used to it and just stopped looking around at the crowd. It is very common for the women in Spain to go topless on the beach but don't worry, my top stayed on!

Day 3:
Everyone had met downstairs at 9:30 in the morning so we could all tour another part of Valencia.  We were taken to a few Churches and a Cathedral.  The Church's and the Cathedral were absolutely beautiful.  When we toured the Cathedral I had become a bit emotional.  It was hard to take the beauty in because there was so much of it.  We were able to see the Holy Grail in the Cathedral of Valencia.  The thought of being near the Holy Grail was unbelievable to me. Again, everything was hard to take in but I had appreciated every moment of it.

Day 4:
A day trip to Morella!  Morella is the cutest town I have ever been to!  Everything in that town seems very peaceful and it was fun to imagine what it must be like to be a part of that town.  We took a hike up to the Castell de Morella and it was a long hike but totally worth it.  The views from the hike were breath taking.  I thought of my parents most of the way up and down the hike because it would be something that they would love to do.   We also received the opportunity to go into the Cathedral in Morella.  This Cathedral held part of the Virgin Mary's cloth from her garment.  Can I say wow?  Again, the architecture and beauty of this cathedral was stunning.  I sat in silence for a while to take everything in. I have always been very fascinated with the designs of Cathedral's and other buildings as well.

Day 5:
Today we learned how to take the subway train which was pretty easy.  I can now say that I feel comfortable with taking the train around Valencia.  We walked around and toured more parts of Valencia.  The area we were in had a lot of shopping and was very crowded. 

I have been learning different things about being here in Valencia and it has open my eyes to many different things.  The people here value their time and do not seemed rush to get through life.  The people value their time with their family and I think at times we take that for granted in the United States.  Back at home we are in such a rush with reaching the top of our careers in order to buy the 70 inch flat screen TV.  It is always about how much money you have and how big you can upgrade your house.  Here, it is about family and the moments that are cherished with them.

Oh, did I ever mention that dinner is at 9 in the evening?  Back at home, the time that it reaches 9:00 p.m is when I am eating my SECOND dinner!  It is extremely hard for me to eat lunch at noon and then not being able to eat again until 9 p.m!  I guess it is easy for them since they are napping after they eat lunch and then wake up late afternoon! When I go back to the states, I will definitely be looking forward to eat my two meals for dinner again!