Valencia - Week 2

Our educational experience in Valencia has, to our surprise, been much richer than we anticipated at the beginning. Although we have been occupied with our daily classwork in addition to seeing the sights in Valencia - of course! - it has been helpful in a variety of areas. Our first class covers the history of Spain. . . that is, all of it. Our professor lectures over the historical events and artistic developments throughout the centuries. It has been particularly rewarding to understand the historical and symbolic significance behind many of the paintings and buildings we have thus far seen. In our second class of the day, we have been reading poetry by Bécquer and fragments of a play by Frederico García Lorca. We like the material but our instructor knows little English and, well, would probably be difficult to understand in any language. Nevertheless, our third class makes up for any shortcomings. We have written a few compositions for this instructor, whom we find inspirational and admire, and, surprisingly, have learned a thing or two about writing in English. What most impresses us is this instructor's ability to instill in the students a desire to explore the descriptive and poe

tic possibilities of the Spanish language. Finally, our communication class is taught by a lively Uruguayan instructor, who pronounces "y"s and "ll"s as the sh sound in English. These courses have indubitably contributed to our ability to converse with our family and others we have met over the last couple of weeks.

In fact, we have even had a few conversations about the current, global economic situation (called la crisis in Spain) and health insurance.  The other night, we discussed how life has changed for many people in Spain after the death of Franco.  Although he was a brutal dictator, we had heard that many people who lived while he was in power feel that life was better at that time.  According to the grandfather of the man with whom we are living, that this is probably due to, on the one hand, the lack of violence perpetrated by civilians in the past--for fear of Franco's "iron fist"--and, on the other, the supposed moral decadence associated with liberal society and religious tolerance. 

Our conversations aren't always so intense, however. One evening Lisa learned how to make tortilla española. This is nothing like the tortillas to which we are accustomed; rather, it is basically a fat omelette composed of eggs, pota

toes, and onions. We also learned how to make paella, a common Spanish dish that originated in Valencia. We all went as a group to a small town outside of Valencia named Sagunto. This is the sight of Roman ruins dating back to the second century BCE and a (controversially reconstructed) ampitheater. At a park nearby we had a competition over who could cook the best paella. We had to first make an open fire from twigs that we collected in the park. (Ian, being an Eagle Scout, succ

essfully took charge in this area.) We then cooked the dish in giant pans, starting with lots of olive oil and chicken, adding vegetables, spices, and tomato sauce shortly thereafter, and ending with rice and water. The winner of the competition became apparent when the opposing group set its paella ablaze. It was a fun experience and the food was flavorful -- a meal that definitely deserves some experimentation.