After the flurry of the holidays, I decided to put my nose to the grindstone for the new quarter, but not without making time for fun. At 18 credits all in Spanish, there's a grand temptation to spend all my time studying, but I've been finding ways to do it without going crazy. For one thing, I do the vast majority of it out in the school garden, where even in January the sun shines. Also, at the end of the week, when my brain is at its most tired, I go hiking up in the mountain behind the school.
My time has been punctuated with several fun trips to Valencia. The first one was to get a pair of boots from the huge sales the Spanish have after Three King's Day. The second was with the school, to the City of the Arts and Sciences to see a film, the Alps in their famous IMAX theatre, the Hemispheric. It was a gorgeous film about the Swiss Alps, though that has nothing on the beautiful white curves of the buildings outside the theater. Afterwards, we went to a mall across the street where, despite having fun trying on various pieces of clothing I'll never be able to afford with my friend Jenny, I managed to escape buying nothing but some turron ice cream and a tube of toothpaste I needed.
The last visit I took to Valencia was yesterday, actually. This time, Jenny and I had such bad cabin fever that we just left. We had some of that good, rich Valor chocolate in the shadow of the cathedral and took a stroll through the central plaza. The day was sunny, and Jenny had the patience to walk with me through all the flower stalls, nerding out over the different types sold in their brilliant array. The first scent of Fallas was in the air--in the distance, we could here explosions by fireworks companies starting to test their products for Valencia's most extravagant holiday. As we walked back to the station, I was just entranced by all the colors of Valencia--the orange trees, the scarves, the ceramic tiles. . . Paris may be considered the city of love world wide, but Valencia has a romantic charm the world's tourist agencies have yet to spoil.
On campus, I've been enjoying several other diversions. The day after the inauguration, which I watched streaming on the internet, I had the pleasure of doing commentary on the local Adventist radio station. They were looking for an American perspective on it, and I was the only student they could get on such short notice. . . it felt good to be back in a studio. It feels like I spent a fifth of my time at PUC in Fischer Hall, and there's something nice and cozy about the sound equipment.
One Saturday night Jenny and I got bored and decided to do a photo shoot of our own. We dressed up and, working in glorious monochrome, had the time of our lives. Entertaining, and free to do. Despite the fact that my film collection disappeared during vacation, I have had no problem filling and enjoying my time. I've even been more faithful with worship attendance as a result. This last week was Week of Prayer, featuring Jonathan Dolcet, a former rock star who is now a pastor. His theme was, of course, music, and it was fascinating. I actually really enjoyed this Week of Prayer, which surprised me after last quarter's.
As for now, on Tuesday we're leaving for our tour to Barcelona and the small country of Andorra on the border between Spain and France. We'll be back on Friday, but it will be a nice reprieve from our classroom studies to get some more hands-on learning. That, then, will be the next episode of Jillian's Journeys; until then, I wish all of you an absolutely fantastic week.
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