Sagunto, February 25

Last Thursday, I had the wonderful luck to go to Valencia with the school to learn more about its history. Before entering the museum we were there to see, MUVIM, the history teacher showed us an archeological park of the ruins of Valencia and also the old powerful silk company that competed with China back in its heyday before they discovered that mandarins were a better choice. The mandarins they grow today right outside my school are actually Chinese mandarins grafted onto the local Spanish variety to make them sweet. The local ones are really bitter, though they carry many medicinal benefits. Also, we saw the Valencia public library, which is a spectacular building, a former hospital of Renaissance architecture. My eyes popped out to see so many wonderful books in one place.

In the basement of MUVIM, they have a section of the old Arab wall on display. The history teacher explained how the Arab walls were made by building two walls of wood, and then stuffing the space between them with rocks and their version of cement. The circular street around the older section of town is actually the imprint of the old city wall. The MUVIM building itself is interesting in its proportions, as it was constructed according to the Golden Ratio so that everyone inside it would feel at ease. Sadly, cameras were not allowed inside, so I will do my best to describe the experience that is MUVIM.

The visit began with a silent hooded monk beckoning us to follow him through exhibits of the doubts of scholars copying texts in the Middle Ages, the advent of the printing press, and how this changed the world. His last part was a choice of three doors reflecting the changing picture of God the Renaissance brought, along with the place of man in the universe--a shaking of his faith.

Our next guide was a very polite woman in colonial costume, who curtsied to us and led us through the Enlightenment and the revolutions that followed it. Many students recoiled at the horrors of slavery and the guillotine in the French Revolution. To contrast that, she led us into a well-furnished roccocco room and served us Valor chocolates with a polite flourish. The reproduction of the period furniture was absolutely magnificent.

In place of her, we got a labcoated scientist, who led us through the scientific developments of the twentieth century, then through a room of many screens. It started with the sound of a human heartbeat, but then changed to display several montages at once of the many bloody wars of that time. It was enough to turn anyone's stomach--the Holocaust, Vietnam, Rwanda. . . it ended poignantly with the explosion of the atomic bomb, too massive in its its destruction to contemplate. At the end of our visit, they showed us a montage of the hope for the future, how we have the potential to overcome the wounds and wars of previous generations.

We spent the rest of our time in Valencia visiting a cute candy shop and a really big, really cheap book store. I savored these few moments of fun, because the next day I had a project due that kept me up late into the night to finish, a newscast. I might've finished it sooner if my friend Jenny hadn't have sprained her wrist on the stairs and come to me for help, but I don't begrudge her that, naturally. The project turned out fine, and we had a good time looking at each other's newscasts in class. I have taped a few (not my own, sorry) if anyone cares to see them on the webpage.

Sabbath afternoon, a nice big group of us went up to the castle of Sagunto to look around a bit, because some of the new students hadn't seen it yet. Although I had been before, it was still fun to climb new things, get new angles, and to see, heh, a recently married couple taking photos, still in their wedding clothes. This week has been very relaxed, and thanks to a good deal of the school leaving to go skiing, my teachers cancelled class today and we went to the Sagunto market instead. I got a pair of flamenco shoes for only twelve euros. Afterwards, our teacher had us over for lunch, all twelve of us that remained, and it was a wonderful meal, very relaxing.

As for now, I'm gearing up for the end of the quarter, buckling down on end-of-quarter projects and getting my reading for class done. I can hardly believe this quarter has gone by so fast. I hope that life is treating you all well, and that you enjoy yourselves wherever you are.