It's hard to put a name to the time I spent between the two language courses. I was working for ESDES four hours a day, but for the most part, I had a lot of time on my own to deal with in one way or another.
At first, I spent a number of afternoons hiking on the mountain behind the school, because there were some trails I'd never seen before and I was concerned about getting enough exercise. I liked to go up and write up there, take in the view over the edge of a journal or a Bible. My two weekends were a little more interesting than that, though. The first Sabbath on my own was actually quite busy--I participated in Sabbath School for a change, needing the social contact, and had lunch at Pastor Ortiz's house.
Because the ESDES visit to the Science Museum is scheduled for the day I leave, I headed out to the City of the Arts and Sciences of my own volition to see it that Sunday. I got out at the Cabanyal stop in Valencia instead of the usual, and found it interesting to see a different part of the city on the way--cheaper fare and closer to where I wanted to go. The entrance fee to the museum was less than for a movie ticket just about anywhere, and well worth the price.
The first exposition I explored was all about the science behind Marvel comics. It explored things like mutation, the actual abilities of a spider, and even infrared technology. Upstairs, though, was where all the good stuff about the human body was--everything from DNA to voices, it was all there and very interactive. There were scales to measure the proportion of water in your body, fun little tests meant to prove what causes adrenaline rushes, and even a drawing test to highlight how men and women remember the same painting very differently. There was also an exposition on the effects of drugs. It had a booth one could stand in to see what an extasy trip is like. It gave me a headache. The next floor down had an exploratorium, with the usual delights, such as a reverb mike. There was also a "dream house" and a natural history exhibit of the Mediterranean, which was interesting.
The next weekend there was an excursion to Elche through the church, and it was wonderful to get away for a bit. Even though it was just a youth rally of sorts, not a sight-seeing visit, I enjoyed seeing the beautiful palm trees there and having communion for the first time since -cough- Greece. I definitely felt need of it after all that time; a year's too long to go without it. I enjoyed being forced to spend time with Spaniards by dint of being the only American, and I found myself wishing everyone got that opportunity at some point as a language student. It was good for me, at least.
Having made, at last, a friend with a car, Manuel, he took me to visit some of his friends in the agricultural zone La Huerta. There's little pockets of farms and fields there, with irrigation systems that date back to the Arabs, yet are still in active use. Manuel's friends were elderly men, whose faces showed the length and difficulties of their lives. When they gave us lunch, it was the best meal I've had in Spain; it had come straight from the field to the table. These men showed me their workshop, as they are also craftsmen--I was astonished by what they could work in wood. They sent me off with a new leather bag (new to me, at least) that someone had given them, for which I was grateful; my old one was very worn.
Then, Manuel and I drove off to Albufera, where there is a lake nearly as vast as Tahoe. In the village of Albufera stood some of the traditional Valencian homes, barrakas, with white walls and high, hay-thatched roofs. Many of these had crosses on their doorframes. It happened to be the festival of Corpus Cristi, and the village was hung with embroidered cloths of many colors. We followed a processional which visited a shrine in each neighborhood to pronounce a blessing on all the parts of the village, lighting candles and scattering rose petals in front of the images of the saints. On our way back to Sagunto, we had horchata, then I prepped for the adventure I'd been prepping for myself since I first laid eyes on the Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofia, the opera house in the City of the Arts and Sciences.
This company was undertaking, for the first time in the history of Spain, a full production of all four of the operas in Wagner's epic (16-hour) Der Ring des Nibelungen. I could only afford to see the first two (though the tickets were only 19 euros with a latecomer discount), and it was unforgettable.
The first one, Das Rheingold, was absolutely amazing, using technologies I'd never before seen on stage. My favorite part involved the Rhinemaidens at the beginning, who were actually suspended from the ceiling in tanks of well-lit water. I also delighted in the fiery dragon created for the shapeshifting of the dwarf. Every minute of it was thrilling--from its famous overture to the giants to the gods on lifts. The fortress of Valhalla at the end was made up of actors suspended from the ceiling in a fantastical configuration--in short, really cool. I was lucky enough to come out of this one to fireworks, which reflected dazzlingly off of the buildings and the water.
I was shocked when my friend Katherine, straight off of a plane from the US, wanted to join me for Die Walkurie. The trip over gave us time to catch up. The opera itself was a bit much even for my attention span--five hours. It took a lot of stamina to wait patiently through the boring love triangle in the first act and the gods' hissy fits in the second to reach what I'd really come to see--"The Ride of the Valkyries" done in its actual context, with all of the vocals. It really is thrilling, and the end, where Brunnhilde is surrounded with fire, is cool, too.
That was how what I'd consider to be a vacation here in Spain finished--my personal time, at any rate. Parts of it were boring, but all considered, it wasn't bad. I hope that life is treating all of you just as well, and that I can write at least once more before heading off to Italy on Sunday. Happy late Father's Day to all the fathers out there--thank you for all you do for your children.
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