Wine Tasting Fail

Last night, I was so excited to go wine tasting! I thought it would be an authentic experience and a chance to learn about the complexity of "vino." Not going to lie, I definitely learned a lot but it could've gone wayyyy differently.

What I did learn is how to appreciate the smells, colors and tastes of different types of wines. We started off with whites, then "rosados" and finished with different types of reds. We were given a vocab, of words in Spanish, to describe what we thought of the wine and then after, the teacher explained why it was a good bottle or not. I think it's so awesome that I can say, "I learned how to drink wine in Spain."

Things started going downhill when we were allowed to pour our own portions. Let's just say, they were pretty generous. First of all, you're not exactly supposed to drink the wine. You're only supposed to spit it out or have a sip of each. No one could understand a damn thing the teacher was saying so everyone started chugging. Glasses were breaking, wine was spilling, people were screaming and I'm sure you can imagine the rest. By the time we finished we had "tasted" 9 different types. After the third bottle, when the teacher asked everyone what we thought, the classy intellectual answers stopped and all anyone could think of saying was "Si Si Si, Me gusta! Me gustan todos!" I was really embarrassed for all of us. We didn't help negate the American stereotype one bit.

Also, when I say "we" I obviously mean everyone else.

Awesome Weekend!

Time is starting to fly by and I hate it. Each day goes by so slowly but at the same time they seem to be racking up quickly.

The weekend went by really fast because it was nonstop activities and fun. On Friday, Kelsey and I spent our afternoon running along the beach and shopping in town. It was so nice to not have to rush anywhere for once so we strolled at the pace of Spaniards (FYI they walk half as fast as New Yorkers and it takes them hours to get anywhere.)
Something I noticed every time I go shopping, is how crowded every store is. All day and all night there are people flocking to the stores to shop. For a country that claims to be in such a crisis, they sure seem to spend a lot of money. For example, Sarah's host mom comes home every single day with bags. It's a joke to us to see how many bags her mom brought home the night before. These people have a shopping sickness!

Anyway,  Kelsey and I met up with Andrew and Tyler that night for the best shrimp tapas in town at this restaurant, "el llagosti." Because we had an early morning on Saturday, we didn't want to stay out till dawn so we came home around 1am after going to the beach with some other friends.

Saturday morning, my Gastronomy class took a field trip to "el centro mercado" to see the different types of food being sold and how people bargain with the merchants. In case you didn't know, GASTRONOMY is the culture of food, not about planets and stars lol. The market is more of a social activity than a chore. As interesting and pretty as it was, it was really nasty seeing dog and horse meat next to the chicken in the window. To end the interesting class we went to the beach for two hours and had our lecture there. ON THE BEACH. Can't even express my guilt for all those in Ithaca right now sitting in a foot of snow. Sorry I'm not sorry.

After an awesome morning and afternoon, I was invited to a "futbol" game with a few friends to see the Alicante team, "Hercules." So far, best experience I've yet to have here. I'm not really a soccer fan but it was such a rush and so exciting. The tickets were only 19 Euros for 5th row! Oh and you can't get more culture than a fan spitting on you because he's screaming so much... I'm starting to get tired of having to change my clothes 5 times a day. Bathrooms also had no toilet paper, paper towels or soap. ADVICE #5: We learned to bring napkins and hand sanitizer everywhere because 75% of the bathrooms you will use in Spain, don't have anything but a toilet. Oh and they need to make the skirts on the bathroom signs bigger. I accidentally walked into the men's room about 4 times thus far. So luxurious.


The night also proved to be really successful. Sarah, Kelsey and I met up with a few friends at Cien Montaditos on la rambla for drinks and tapas. What started out as 5 people ended in a group of 30. The group split around midnight to start heading to the bars and eventually discotecas. I couldn't tell you how many we went to. We came up with a range of 6-10 places. They're all very close so it was easy to just hop from one to another for a change in atmosphere.

Sunday was a relaxing end to the weekend. The day consisted of a huge lunch, siesta on the beach, TV and pancakes for dinner.  **IF STUDYING ABROAD, BRING YOUR HOST FAMILY PANCAKE MIX AND SYRUP. THEY LOVE IT.**

Andrew, Sarah, Kelsey, YO, & Tyler

When offered food, take it.

After walking around the city for 4 hours Kelsey, Eric, Shan and I stopped for an amazing waffle with nutella and strawberries. Filling as it was, I came home not wanting dinner. As soon as I said that to Maria, she almost cried. "Por que!?!?!?!" She almost had a heart attack saying 'What's wrong? Are you sick? Just eat it's fine. I will make you chicken, rice, bread anything you want just eat!" Ede came in after hearing the bantering and yelled at me saying that my Dad would wring his neck if I came home skinny lol.

After fighting for 30 minutes I finally accepted a yogurt.


Advice #4:Every one of my friends in the program say everyday how their host family won't stop offering them food. THEY'RE FORCE FEEDERS! Come hungry.

Life of a Local

Being here 12 days may seem like nothing but it feels as if I've lived here forever. I haven't felt like blogging but I will ramble about everything that's happened quickly.

• Day trip to Valencia was absolutely beautiful. Awesome shopping and gorgeous architecture. I definitely recommend it.  
• Group trip to the Castillo de Santa Barbara. Difficult hike but so worth it, especially for sunrise or sunset because you can see the entire city.
• Mondays: Free salsa dance lessons at Havana on "la rambla" (a main street with a lot of restaurants and bars)
• Tuesdays: Beer pong competitions at Havana
• Wednesdays: 1euro drinks and "bocadillos" (tiny sandwiches) at Cien Mondtaditos
•  Spanish class every day is 8am to 11am with a professor, Christina, who only speaks Spanish. She is the most amazing teacher I've ever had. Sitting for three hours is no easy task but she manages to make every single minute interesting and fun. Tuesdays I have class with two other students and our program director for dos horas. Awesome class about just the culture of Spain and it's very casual.
• Met with our "intercambios" who are students at the University of Alicante and want to learn English so we hang out with them about every week.
• Runs and walks are a daily must. I'd say I walk at least 8-10 miles every day. Pretty crazy but it's basically sunny every day here so runs to the beach have been an awesome daily activity with my neighbors and host sister Andrea
• Bought a phone for 6 euros and it's amazing. Shittiest phone yet I love it. Going from 7000 text messages a month and 1400 talk minutes it's a breath of fresh air now because I must only check my phone every few hours, if that, as I only have ten contacts (including myself lol). 
• Have only "partied" once since i've been here yet still managed to have at least one drink every day. It's very casual here and usually complements the meal. So far my favorite drinks are: CLARAS (half beer and half lemon seltzer water), Sangria (wine with fruit and sugar), and Tinto de Verano (half wine and half 7up)
• Typical Weekend night:
1. Dinner with the fam at 10:30
2. Get ready to go out and meet friends at the boardwalk by the port to drink your "botellones" and PREGAME at 11:30-12am
3. Head to "el barrio" where all the bars are at 1am (usually go to 2 or 3)
4. Discotecas open at 3am
5. Stay until they close at 5-6am
6. Head to the beach and either drink more or just sit and hang out and wait for the sunrise
7. Go get breakfast with friends

 

Sarah singing "Baby got Back" in a park in Valencia

La porta (we run along here and it eventually leads to the beach with a boardwalk)

First family lunch!

Beautiful University of Alicante

Sarah, YO, y Kelsey at the Castle

Dia tres en espana!

Today marks the third day I have been in Alicante! So far everything is going extremely well and it has been the biggest adventure of my life. Culture shock has kicked in to the 10th degree. I think the stages of culture shock people tell you that you'll have is so far NOT true. These past three days have been the most stressful yet incredible experiences at the same time. There is just an information overload! It's so hard to leave one way of life and enter into another full throttle. Every sign, every menu and every conversation is in Spanish. Thank God I knew enough of the language when I came because otherwise I would probably be in Africa by now.

ADVICE #1: Don't go to Alicante if you can't speak Spanish! I recommend going to Barcelona where just about everyone speaks English

People in Alicante are very wealthy and mostly families and retirees. They are extremely proud of their country and have no interest in learning English. My host father, for example, refuses to learn English but has no problem with Americans. On the other hand, Andrea (my host sister-17 yrs old) knows a little English and wants to learn more as does my other host sister, Olga. Mi madre, Maria, es un amazing cook. For lunch today we had paella (chicken, yellow rice, saffron and other things idk what) also with salad. I'm loving the way of life here in Spain it is very laid back and their eating schedule is working well so far.

An example day of food in Alicante:
8am Desayuno: Half a baguette with butter (mantequilla) or creamy cheese (queso) with jelly (marmalade) and cafe (my favorite is Bombon: espresso with a thick sweet milk)
3pm Almuerzo: A meat (sometimes two!), a vegetable, always bread-->THEY LOVE THEIR BREAD HERE! Almost everything comes on a white baguette or a croissant; ensalada, roasted potatoes (papitas) and wine
10pm Cena: a pizza (tortilla with red sauce and some unknown cheese with olive oil, spices and ham pieces), bread, cheeses and slice of rolled up ham with sweet carrots inside; Sometimes I'm still so full from lunch I only have an apple and yogurt for dinner.

ADVICE #2: Don't come here if you don't like jamon or bread because it will be included in every single meal.

(I wrote this a while ago but am just putting it up now, Sorry!)

Some tapas at a local restaurant in "el barrio"

Daily lunch at 2pm with Olga when she comes home from school for siesta.

It's very easy for a local to spot an American. At a bar, one of the bartenders put up this message bc she said she absolutely LOVES NY and it was obvious to her we weren't from Spain. I've had 3 Spaniards tell me they could tell I wasn't Spanish because of my face shape... whatever that means.

People store those big hams in their kitchen and cut some off each time they want to eat it (which is legit every meal)

Doesn't get more legit than having a phone in Spanish.

The Storm Before the Storm

With less than 48 hours until my life changes forever, It's pretty difficult to fall asleep. Nothing is done and I have way too much on my mind. Packing? Haven't started. Euros? Have none. I'M SO READY!

This being my first post, I guess I should tell you about myself. My name is Brittany Valente and I'm currently a sophomore at Ithaca College in upstate NY. I'm majoring in Business Administration while concentrating in Marketing and International Business. I have an amazing family living in Westchester County, NY whom I will miss sooo much but they couldn't be more supportive. I absolutely love my school, friends and family which makes leaving so hard.

The program I'm choosing to study on is through CC-CS (spanishstudies.org) in Alicante, Spain. The small-ish town is located on the Costa Blanca, near Valencia, on the Southern Coast. I will be studying in the International Business program a la Universidad de Alicante. While in Spain, I'm going to live with a host family (I'll tell you more details when I figure it out!) and so far, after an extremely difficult skype conversatiom, they seem very nice.

I leave from JFK airport on Iberia with my friend from school, Sarah Flade. We have planned all our travels together just so we're not alone. Anyway, way too much content for you already so I'll stop but the interesting stuff will come shortly ;)

OFF TO TRY AND SLEEP!