Hasta luego

In Spain, they do this thing where whenever you leave somewhere, they say "luego" (which means "later") instead of "adios" (bye).  Even in a situation where it's obvious I'll never return, like a snack store in Ibiza or, hopefully, the doctor's office in Madrid, the people smile and say, "luego!" as I walk out the door.

I've also noticed people on the streets say "luego" instead of "hello" whenever they pass by friends as well.  The man on the corner snack stand waves "later" every time I pass by. In a way it makes sense, because anyone you are greeting you are probably going to see later.

It's taken me a while to get used to this slight cultural difference. I'm always sputtering, "Goodbye!"when I leave places. But today is the day that I'm finally sinking in to the Spanish way. As I make my way to the airport this morning, I don't want to say "adios" to anyone. My time in Spain has been amazing, and I have no doubt in my mind I want to come back. So I really mean it when instead of saying bye, I just say, "See ya later!"

Which is what I am about to go say to Mercedes right now. And though it's going to be hard and emotional, it has to be done because I heard there's this woman in the U.S. whose name also starts with an M who REALLY wants to give me a hug.

Burnt to a crisp

Welllllll, my whole non-responsibility thing continued as I got seriously sunburnt on my back yesterday. I'd been doing a good job of re-applying sunscreen and even covering myself up with clothes, but a mid-afternoon nap did me in. Two hours tummy down = super red.

Epiphany of today: traveling with sunburn is very uncomfortable. Especially when your back is what's burnt, and the only thing you're carrying is a bookbag.

So as terrible as sunburn is normally, I highly recommend taking extra precautions on the days before traveling. Hopefully this redness will fade some before my epic voyage back stateside tomorrow!
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Tanning trends

Being on the Spanish beaches for the past few days has been amazing. The water is beautiful, and the sand is great as well.

The perfectly blue tint of the water is not the only thing that distinguishes the European beaches from the American ones though. The dress code is distinctly different. Guys sport speed-o's, even if they aren't on swim team. Girls walk around topless and in thongs like it's no big deal.

Though I'd heard this is true on beaches over here, it was definitely different to experience it first hand. On one hand it's pretty weird, but it's also kind of just laid back.

Soooooo, how far did my friends and I take our whole study abroad mission to soak up the Spanish culture? That's just going to have to remain a mystery.

Hostel of the year award

This is the view from the patio of our hostel room. For 11 euros each per night, I was not expecting a patio, much less a view that includes beautiful blue water!

I kept thinking there must be a catch to our hostel here since it was dirt cheap. It all seemed too good to be true -- we got a private room with 3 beds (I'm with two friends), breakfast included, and it's right across the street from the beach.

But it all exceeded my expectations. The room is great, and having our own space is nice after a few nights in a crowded dorm in Valencia. And the breakfast includes cereal! So I'm happy.

We determined that the two main reasons we got such a steal are that it's still off season (summer hasn't officially started here), and we are only staying on weeknights. It's actually nice having less crowds.. More sand space for us.

I am thoroughly pleased that my last European hostel experienced turned out to be the cheapest AND the most luxurious. Definitely a good way to wrap up study abroad.
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Free as we'll ever be

Finished with finals and not yet on to summer internships, yesterday my friends and I celebrated our "responsibility-free" day. That was our theme as we played all day and acted like kids.

We started out the day by sleeping in. Then we went to the Mercat Central, which happens to be Europe's largest food market. We bought whatever our little hearts desired to prepare a picnic. The best decision we made was to each compile our own little bags of trail mix from the nuts stand.

Next stop was the bike rental store. I took the whole non-responsibility thing to an extreme and wiped out in the first five minutes from not paying attention to where I was pedaling. Anyways, we biked through a gorgeous garden slash parks to the day. We stopped along the way to play on a giant rope playground along the way.

The beach was perfect. We got a great spot near the marina with a view of mountains in the distance. The beach wasn't too crowded because it's still a little early, which was nice. And the weather could not have been better.

On the way home we stopped at one more playground. This one was shaped like a giant man, and we rode slides down his belt.

Today though our worldly responsibilities resumed as we had to make it to the airport on time, which is actually kind of a struggle. But we made it, and we are in Ibiza waiting for our bus!
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All hail the Virgin

Yesterday as we wandered around Valencia, we discovered we were here for their holy day celebration. I first got a hint of this when I emerged from the train station to a plaza literally jam-packed with people and the sounds of bombs going off in the background (I think they were fireworks.)

Streets were lined with chairs on both sides, and we stumbled upon a security guard trying to explain to some tourists that they had to pay if they wanted to sit there. After helping bridge the language barrier between the two, we found out that a parade was taking place that night.

So we headed out to the streets with the Valencian population to watch the procession. Four members from every original Valencian family (there were about 700 families) marched in costume. It was really interesting to see the different adornments. Then the Valencian flag came down the streets, which everyone cheered for and threw flowers at.

The main attraction of the parade was a float with a statue of the Virgin Mary on it. Everyone cheered wildly and thew lots of rose petals on her. She was preceded and following by armed men, kind of like the secret service for the president. My favorite part was watching people standing from their apartment balconies in the streets that lined the parade. When they threw rose petals, it looked like it was raining flowers.

The impromptu parade was a nice surprise that made us feel like we really got to soak up the local culture!

Choo chooo

Well, I'm off to Valencia today. I'm taking the AVE, Spain's high-speed train, which will get me there in about two hours. I'm using up one of the extra days on my Eurail pass that my parents so graciously treated me to.

Eurail passes are really awesome if you're planning to travel around Europe. The catch is, you have to buy them before you come to Europe; they are specifically for tourists. They mail the pass to your U.S. address.  You don't necessarily have to plan out your exact trips, just how many days you are planning on traveling and what countries you will be traveling in. You can go ahead and make reservations beforehand online, or make them at train stations in Europe if you want flexibility.

I was able to weasel my way around the lack of planning ahead by having a pass delivered to my parents, who brought it over when they visited in March. I got a joint Spain-Italy pass, so I used it for my Spanish adventures with the parents and Italian galavanting with Aunt Jan.

Anyways, if you're considering roaming around Europe anytime in the near future, I'd recommend looking into these passes. They seem to end up being a lot cheaper than buying individual tickets, especially for the high-speed trains. Oh and did I mention there are youth discounts?

In the mean time,  I've got a train to catch. I need to make it to Valencia in time for lunch. I hear they have really good paella.