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I was welcomed home with this cake, homemade by Ember. 💕

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(Honors Reflection 9: An Overview)

Hello everyone, I’m safely home! I got back to the US on the evening of July 30th and back to Sioux Falls the next day, so sorry I kind of just left the blog hanging. Travel went well but it was exhausting. Getting home has been great. I love being here. I don’t think I’ve missed Spain once. It was cool, but if I had to do it again, I would choose to go with a group to avoid some of the loneliness that hit me while I was there by myself.

I had a few things come up after returning that took my attention for a while, but I owe one more honors post and I thought it would be good to recap my trip in a more bite-size way than an entire blog. So here we go!

I spent most of my time in Spain working at my internship as a teacher’s assistant at an international school in Valencia. The Spanish school year went till the end of June, so for the first month or so I worked with the music teacher at the school and with a 5th grade class. It was both fun and challenging to work with the kids. My favorite project combined my work with the 5th grade class and with music: creating, rehearsing, and performing a musical for the parents and the other students. I got to know a lot of the kids and other staff members better during this project, and the final result made me so proud!

After the school year ended, the school transitioned into their summer program. I was placed in the three and four year olds group. There were less opportunities for music, but I did get to sing a whole lot. In school, a toddler’s internal clock is linked very closely with music: good morning song = greet your friends and teachers, clean up song = clean up time, lullaby = nap time. Working with younger kids was interesting, they have their challenges and fun moments every day, but I have to say I prefer working with older kids. At the end of July, just a couple of days before I left Spain, the summer program ended. It was perfect timing for me.

When I wasn’t working at my internship, I was either resting, attending Spanish classes, or exploring Spain. Spanish classes at Euroace taught me a lot about the cultural and conversational Spanish of Spain, i.e. colloquial language. I picked up a lot of new vocabulary and had the chance to try out a lot of it. On the weekends, I had fun in Valencia going to museums, the beach, and shopping. I visited cultural locations like the 700-year-old cathedral, the massive protected marsh and beaches of L’Albufera, and the iconic Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències which houses the Palau de les Arts and the Oceanogràfic aquarium. I also visited Barcelona for a day and a half and got to experience the astounding architecture of the Sagrada Familia cathedral and Parc Güell. Spain has a lot to discover, so I surely missed seeing some things, but I’m glad I got to experience what I did.

I also got the opportunity to travel to Schladming, Austria for a week to participate in the World Youth Wind Orchestra Project. I had a lot of fun meeting musicians from around the world and getting to make music together! I even got to translate for one of my section members, a horn player from Costa Rica who didn’t speak English well. Austria was beautiful, too, and I got to enjoy the stunning mountain landscapes when we weren’t rehearsing.

Overall, my time abroad allowed me to see a part of the world I could only imagine beforehand. It was a really special opportunity that I’ll remember for a long time and keep learning from as I share my experiences with others. I’m very grateful for everyone who supported me along the way, especially those who followed along with me on this blog! Thank you all for traveling with me :)

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(Honors Reflection 8: A Broader View)

Today, I finished my last day of “have to’s” in Spain with six hours of Spanish classes back to back. Yesterday I completed the last day of my internship. I’m very close to the end of my two months (plus one week) of study abroad here in Spain, and I’ve found myself reflecting a lot on the experience. Maybe too much! But I’ve learned, experienced, and felt a lot, and whenever that happens, I just gotta write. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been a fan of a numbered list, so here it is: The Top Three Things I Learned In Spain (And Elsewhere In Europe).

1. I can do a lot more than I usually give myself credit for.

One of the greatest motivators for me to embark on this trip was that it would help me improve my Spanish in a way that’s not easy to find in South Dakota. I can definitely tell that my Spanish comprehension has improved greatly, most of the time it flows completely separate from English in my head. My speaking skills have also improved, but I think this will always be my weakest of the four pillars of language (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). But these improvements weren’t passive. Surprisingly, my big break came not in Valencia, in fact, it wasn’t even in Spain. It happened at WYWOP in Schladming, Austria, during our first French horn sectional. After introducing us all to each other, our coach said to us: “Álvaro doesn’t speak English, so we’ll have to help him out…” With a confidence that often eludes me, I raised my hand, spoke up, and said “I can speak Spanish,” offering to translate for him.

And that was it! We often underestimate the power of affirming our own abilities out loud to others. Simply saying that I CAN speak Spanish so that everyone could hear seriously, actually had an immediate and positive effect on me. Translations came to me much quicker than before and I feel like even my accent came out sounding less forced. I’ve often subconsciously and/or unintentionally punished myself by telling myself in my head that since I don’t sound like a native speaker, my Spanish is subpar and it would be better if I just didn’t use it. But when this chance to use my language skills to help someone else came along, I just couldn’t pass it up, so I let all the self-criticism go, at least for the moment. In doing so, I was able to truly enjoy, maybe for the first time ever, using a skill I’ve worked at for eight whole years. Now, I’m applying this strategy whenever I start to doubt my Spanish, and my other talents that my anxiety tends to attack. It doesn’t work 100% of the time, but when it does, it’s kind of awesome.

2. It’s okay not to belong.

In various places along the course of my life so far, I’ve picked up a lot of false “supposed to’s”. One of these is that you’re supposed to have your life changed by every new place you travel and you’re supposed to never want to leave. According to the Instagram posts of girls I went to high school with, studying abroad is supposed to make you find the most charming street corners you’ve ever seen and drink wine with fancy dinners and glow like an angel on beaches or in deserts. So when I got to Spain and found that I didn’t like it as much as I hoped I would, I felt guilty for missing home so badly. Actually, I’m still struggling on and off with this feeling. But with the counsel of a few people who are wiser than I am (aka Jesus and my mom), I’m starting to see myself as maybe the luckiest person alive for having been born in the same place I want to die in. South Dakota is, without question, my home. It’s My Place, and what joy that I haven’t had to search the world to find it! But being away from home for two months has been just as much of a long-distance relationship as being away from my family, friends, and boyfriend. I long for it in the most real sense. In my heart I know that all my love lies with the prairies, rivers, fields, fireflies, and other good South Dakotan things. And I simply can’t wait to get back!

Europe is cool, Spain is neat, and Valencia is one of the better cities I’ve been in, but I feel it deep within me that I will never belong here. Not because I’m not welcomed, but just because I’m not meant to. And that’s okay.

3. I am surrounded by Love.

Last, but most certainly not least, being a literal ocean away from people that I had gotten used to being a part of my everyday life made me see that I think I was starting to take them a little bit for granted. As the days and weeks passed, sudden urges would pop up in my mind to do something specific with someone in particular, I’d see something out and about that I knew x or y person would love, or a song would come up in my Spotify shuffle that reminded me of somebody. In the first couple of weeks, I did nothing about these thoughts except let them make me sad that I wasn’t with those people, doing those things or sharing those experiences. But then I again went against the arbitrary rules my anxious brain had made and started texting people random things just because I wanted to. I started telling people I love them and miss them and they make me happy not in response to any big event, but just because I felt their absence a little extra in my heart. It was a really, really good idea. You guys are so important to me. You, yes YOU who are reading this right now, are a spark of joy in my life and I want you to know it!!

Just today I came up with the title for this Third Thing That I Learned. I’ve been taking copious amounts of pictures whenever I go somewhere cool, and now my phone storage is nearly full, so I’ve been using my 15-20 minutes everyday on the metro to work on cleaning out my camera roll. It’s so great to scroll through the pictures and rediscover moments of me enjoying life with the people I love. This afternoon, on my way back from class, I hit a particularly good stretch of pictures, and I couldn’t stop the smile that crept up on my face, even though I felt like other people on the metro were staring at me, smiling at my phone like an idiot. But that thought was very swiftly pushed out of my mind by another, bigger, warmer, and infinitely more important thought: “I am surrounded by Love.” Not lowercase love, as in I love chocolate ice cream, it’s uppercase Love, as in there is a whole lotta Love in the world, and there is a whole lotta Love in my little entorno (Spanish, literally “environment” or “surroundings”, here it means “my circle of people”) that is indescribably precious. We can sometimes get a little washed out in the sameness of the day-to-day, but I think real Love is always gonna find a way to get back to you, and for me going halfway across the world was it.

Now to bring it all home. To make this Top Three list, I read through a Google doc I’ve kept throughout my time abroad as a sort of travel journal. Only some of what I’ve written has been shared to this blog, but you’ll thank me for that, as the doc is now at 25 pages as of me writing these words. My first entry, dated May 21st (two days before I left the US), is titled “holy shit.” I wrote it late at night during an anxious spiral I fell into while packing for the next two months (packing will always be the death of me). To be honest, it hurt a little bit to read again. It’s full of fear and insecurity, and it’s clear that I was terrified to come here. The 350-word panic attack of an entry ends with a moment of self-awareness, saying that I know I’m writing out of a place of deep anxiety and I hope that Spain can teach me something about it. On the other side of the trip, I’m proud to have a calmer outlook while writing one of my last entries, and I can say that I have learned a lot, but not really about my fears. Instead, by many little miracles and the overcoming of a lot of small and big obstacles, I’ve learned to see the antithesis of that deep anxiety: deep Joy, deep Hope, deep Peace, deep Love. To sum up these two months, my big discovery is that there are a lot of good things in the world, everywhere. They are in you, in your place, and in your people. By sharing my experiences, I hope I can be a little reminder for you to enjoy your own good things. Wherever you may find them, take the time to dust off the daily grind from them and pick them up and Love them again. Send a message to or call somebody you miss, visit your favorite place, remind yourself of and affirm those unique talents that make you you.

I leave you with one of my favorite tidbits that I’ve written in my travel journal: “Don’t let the world tell you to be afraid of it.” No, I say be bold, and Love the life we get to live together!

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My favorite WYWOP/Austria photos, part 2 ☺️

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Some of my favorite WYWOP/Austria photos... part 1!

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And finally, food from Amsterdam! For lunch, I had poffertjes (right, bottom) and a bacon and cheese Dutch pancake (left). On the flight out of Amsterdam back to Valencia, passengers were served this awesome cream cheese and chive sandwich (right, top) made from Dutch cheese. Soooo yummy!

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Sights from Amsterdam! I enjoyed getting to see the iconic canals and narrow buildings. I also visited the Anne Frank House, pictured in the bottom right corner. It is now a museum, with much of the original interior preserved, including the famous bookcase door. Sadly, I was not allowed to take photos inside the museum, but I can tell you that if you ever get the chance, you need to go to this museum. It was incredibly moving.

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To the Netherlands! I had a long layover in Amsterdam on my way back from WYWOP in Austria. These are some photos taken from the busses, trains, and planes I took to get there.

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(Honors Reflection 7: Creative Activity)

Not being able to understand what’s going on around you can be scary. Traveling can be like this if you are not able to understand the native tongue of your destination. From conversations that sound like gibberish to you, you may be able to glean general meanings, tones, and feelings and identify key words, but often without completely understanding them. However, despite all your best efforts, you miss out on a lot. You may feel a range of emotions: shunned, like you’re an outsider, paranoia that others are gossiping about you, overwhelm at all that’s going on that you cannot understand. And it is definitely taxing. You might learn eventually, but for the time being, you’re in the dark.

I sometimes felt like this while I was in Austria participating in WYWOP, the World Youth Wind Orchestra Project, and I’m sure many others did too. Some members of the group had the double whammy of not understanding neither German nor English. It could be frustrating for everyone at times, German, English, Spanish, and French speakers alike, to try and communicate, whether it be when discussing part arrangements in sectionals, simply chatting at lunchtime, or finding our starting points during rehearsals. On some days it tired us out more than others. With a lot of help, patience, and collaboration with the other musicians we’d only met days ago, we found our way through most situations.

But you might ask: why did such a hodgepodge of languages find themselves in the same place? The answer is actually another, bigger language: music. Music is often given the title of “The Universal Language” for its ability to be understood by anyone, regardless of their mother tongue. I have always agreed with this sentiment, but had never really experienced it in action until attending WYWOP.

Music is a unique language in the sense that the meaning that any particular piece of music conveys is not concrete. In other words, music can mean many different things to many different people, and there is no wrong way to experience and understand music. It is also different from other languages because music is usually a collaborative language rather than a transactional one. When you speak, you’re often giving information and expecting a response from your listener(s), or asking questions to gain information from another speaker. When you make music, you don’t expect anything in return. You simply create, or as a listener, enjoy the experience of something being created. The act of sharing without words is what makes music so special and so universal.

During WYWOP, I was part of many moments where the sharing of music brought together people who couldn’t understand each other through words. Our final concert on Saturday was a highlight - we played under four different conductors of three different nationalities and languages, performing music that represented a handful of different countries and regions around the world, including Spain, China, Latin America, and more. And we all had a great time while giving the concert! By the end, everybody was smiling even though we had exchanged no words. It was certainly a special concert for all of us, and one I’ll not soon forget.

I guess the central point of this reflection is that I’m so grateful to be able to partake in something as crazy awesome and unique as music! I will never tire of its ability to bypass words and connect people at the soul. What a special thing.

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(Honors Reflection 6: Engagement, Service, and Leadership Development)

Hello from Austria, everyone! I am currently in the beautiful town of Schladming enjoying some great wind band music with many musicians from around the world as part of the World Youth Wind Orchestra Project (WYWOP). I got here last Saturday afternoon and will be here until Sunday morning. The WYWOP ensemble performs at the annual MidEurope convention that is held here in Schladming, giving one children’s concert and one finale concert at the end of the festival, as well as being part of small group performances throughout the week. Although my chops are busted (musician slang for “my face is tired of playing” 😂), I’m having a great time playing classics like “Overture to Candide” by Leonard Bernstein and new favorites like “Unidad en Rítmo” by Michele Fernández.

Even though I’m in a German-speaking country, I haven’t stopped speaking Spanish! Since WYWOP is an international ensemble, there are plenty of Spanish speakers here in attendance, coming from countries like Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. In fact, in my own section I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a Costa Rican horn player named Álvaro! Álvaro doesn’t speak English, so I’ve been translating (or to be technically correct, interpreting) for him in rehearsals. Though I wasn’t expecting it, I’m actually really happy to have the opportunity to flex my bilingualism! I’ve also talked to many of the other Spanish-speaking musicians, and a few have even complimented me on my Spanish. This is my first time receiving this compliment from a native Spanish speaker in my eight years of studying Spanish, so I’m feeling very proud of myself and finally stepping into a new confidence in my abilities to communicate bilingually.

On top of the personal benefits I’ve gotten from translating, I’m also enjoying being witness to the benefits others enjoy thanks to the translations I’ve provided. Because I (and a handful of other musicians here) are translating for our fellow musicians, they get the opportunity to learn from our talented conductors and coaches, get to know others from around the world, and laugh together at the silly children’s concert jokes with all of the rest of us English speakers. It makes me feel really good to support others in this way and to contribute to the musical experience being more inclusive and equitable. This is a big reason why I’m looking into translation/interpretation as a career path for life after college. Whether I end up translating professionally or not, I’ll always have the Spanish language as a resource I can make use of to connect with and help others. Those who know multiple languages have the ability to make our world feel more welcoming for everyone in every space. Therefore, if you take away one thing from this post, let it be this: being bilingual is so cool!!

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(Honors Reflection 5: Scholarship)

On Saturday, I talked on the phone with my sister and she commented on how cool it is that I’ve gotten to meet people from all over the world and communicate in Spanish with them, in many cases with it being neither of our native languages. This made me realize: yeah, that is super cool! And, I would be remiss if I didn’t write about my linguistic experiences while in Spain.

Being surrounded by a language that is not your mother tongue can be all sorts of things. For me, it’s been anything from exciting to overwhelming to exhausting to intriguing. Here in the Valencian Community, there are two official languages: Spanish and Valencian, so all official signage and government establishments display information bilingually. Valencian can best be described as a hybrid of Spanish and French, and I’ve also heard it bears striking resemblance to Portuguese. Although Valencian isn’t commonly spoken here in the city, many Valencians readily understand it in writing, thanks to its official status which requires it to appear on signs as I have described, and also to be taught in schools. At first I thought this requirement seemed quite tedious, since it causes documents and signage to be twice as long and most everybody just reads and speaks Spanish anyways. But then I realized: since Spanish is the default, what would happen to Valencian if it did not have its official status? I think it would disappear in a matter of generations in today’s linguistic landscape. This would be a genuine tragedy - Valencian is a cultural stamp as well as a language. Even just seeing Valencian underneath Spanish text on a street sign reminds you of its existence and the culture it represents. Unfortunately, over 3000 languages around the world are in danger of extinction. I think that in some cases, granting co-official status to these languages could be a solution. Personally, I’ve had a lot of fun dipping my (linguistic) toes into the Valencian language thanks to its prevalence, and I believe many other less-used languages could enjoy a rekindled interest if the population were simply exposed to them more often in their day-to-day life.

Now, more about castellano (aka Spanish)! I’m going to hit you with some fun facts about Spanish that I’ve been experiencing in Valencia!

Speaking of castellano, did you know that Spanish in Spain is most commonly referred to by its speakers as Castilian? This is because the language called Spanish by most of the world today is derived from the Castile region in Spain, and the name “Castilian” serves to differentiate Spanish from other Spanish languages, i.e. languages spoken in Spain, including Valencian, Catalan, Galician, Basque, and more.

Secondly, did you know when you sing Happy Birthday in Spain, you don’t need to know the birthday-haver’s name? Throughout the song, they are simply referred to as “you.” Here’s the lyrics, and my own literal translation:

Cumpleaños feliz, / Happy birthday,

cumpleaños feliz, / happy birthday,

te deseamos todos, / we all wish you,

cumpleaños feliz! / happy birthday!

I witnessed a group of friends having a birthday celebration at McDonalds, and it occurred to me that I could very easily join in on the song without the awkward pause that comes in the English version when you don’t know what name to sing. How fun!

Lastly, living in the same house as a seven-year-old has made it easy to pick up on all sorts of “soft swears” in Spanish, haha! My favorite expression is ¡ostras!, literally meaning “oysters!”, to say “darn it!” and as a more polite replacement for another word.

Studying abroad is great for a curious mind like mine, especially when it comes to enjoying a second language. If you’ve never tried delving into a second language, I would highly recommend it! Although it’s often difficult and humbling at times, it’s also a lot of fun, great for your brain, and a wonderful way to discover a new culture. Plus, who knows when it might come in handy! 😉

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Instead of creating multiple photo collages, I decided to do something a little different with this blog post and create a music video of my experience! A week ago (on June 22nd) I took the city bus to the end of its line to visit the L'Albufera Nature Park, a roughly 53,000 acre protected area in and around L'Albufera, a giant lagoon located about 5 miles to the south of the city. The park also includes multiple small towns, many rice paddies, pine forests, sand dunes, and natural beaches. I did some hiking in the forests and sand dunes, then relaxed at the beach before visiting the small town of El Saler to enjoy a croqueta de bacalao (cod croqueta). I enjoyed getting out of the city quite a bit, I miss the green grass!

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Last Monday, the 17th, I was scurrying out of my internship right at 5pm to meet Flo and another of her friends for dinner, and afterwards I paid a visit to the architecturally awesome Reina Sofia Palau de les Artes (Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts). I have had the privilege of being in Valencia for the finale performance of their opera season, W.A. Mozart's famous opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). The opera was performed in the original German, but the hall was outfitted with subtitle screens at each seat that allowed you to see a translation in your preferred language. The costumes and scenery were modernized and the production featured impressive special effects. And, of course, the orchestra and singers were incredibly talented! I had a great time and I think it will be one of the highlights of my Valencia trip.

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Hello everybody! Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been sick this past week, and I've still been doing exciting activities, but they've exhausted me completely so I haven't had the energy to post about them yet. I am feeling better now though, expect some new posts soon!

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(Honors Reflection 4: A Broader View)

I’ve been having a really good day today. I’ve been sick this week (allowing me to finally use estoy constipada in the correct context - it means “I’m congested,” NOT “constipated!!”), and today was the first day where I felt like I took a turn for the better. Besides that, it was also good because I got to laminate stuff at my internship today, I had a bomb chicken salad sandwich and a whole bunch of Santa Claus melon (my new favorite fruit - look it up) for lunch, and the Year 6 students I’ve been working with totally rocked their end of year show performance! So I’ve felt really nice.

In the middle of working out this evening, I realized that today I’m exactly halfway done with my study abroad program. It’s nine weeks long, and today is Wednesday, the middle of week four. It feels right, if that makes any sense. Strangely, simultaneously, today has been really good, but I think today is also the most I’ve missed home. Not in a crying, freaking out, “omg send me back” way like it was when I first got here, but it’s more similar to the sensation of sitting just ever so slightly too close to the bonfire in the backyard. The ache for home is for sure quite enough heat, but it’s summer, it’s a perfect night, and you’re not about to scoot back from the fire. Your skin reddens, your eyes sting a little, but oh, you will be nowhere else tonight. That’s the way I miss home right now.

It is now that I feel like I have gotten to know Valencia. We’re no longer acquaintances, I’d say we’re probably casual friends by now. I’ve mastered the metro and tried my hand at the bus system, I have my handful of street corners that are familiar to me, I’ve checked off the top five boxes on the “things to do in valencia” Google search. I know some special little things about Valencia now - things I like and things that bother me and things I prefer over other things - just like I would notice about a new friend that’s come into my life. For example, I love that Santa Claus melon that is so Spanish that it’s just called melón in the language, and the way the graffiti here bursts with color and love. The humidity bothers me, and also the irritating coo the pigeons make every morning at 8am. I prefer the Colón stop to the Xátiva stop on the way to my Spanish classes, and I prefer red sangría to white.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the students at my internship, and next week summer school begins. Out of all the things in Valencia, I think I’m probably going to miss the kids the most. I didn’t expect to enjoy working with them and getting to know them so much! Truthfully, I thought most of the class hardly gave two cents about my being there until this Monday when I arrived about three hours late since I wasn’t feeling well in the morning, and I was greeted with several surprised, yet happy, exclamations of “Eden! I thought you wouldn’t be here today!” from the students. This afternoon, at the end of the day after the class had performed a show to truly be proud of, a student asked me: “Miss Eden, will you be here next year?” I replied that sadly, I would not. Another student joined in: “But when are you coming back to Valencia?” In a knee-jerk reaction, I said, “Never, I don’t know, I’m going back to the US,” and their disappointed faces made me realize that I really might never see these awesome kids again. To make up for my blunt response, I added: “We’ll see. Maybe I’ll come back to visit when you guys graduate Year 9 (the last grade students complete at this school before going to a high school).” This was enough to satisfy the students, and they said goodbye and left. But I think these kids will always be somewhere in my mind, every once in a while I’ll wonder what they’re up to and how they’re each using their unique talents to learn and grow.

But if Valencia is my friend, then South Dakota is my father, my mother, my brother, my sister. The feeling of the first prairie wind on my face since returning cannot come soon enough. I long to see the land spread out before me in all directions, like the most intricate quilt you’ve ever seen, patched with tall corn and wide soybeans and stitched together by ambling rivers and roads. The sunset on Tuesday, July 30th, 2024 will kiss me with the tenderness that a young mother kisses her newborn’s soft head. I need cicadas and crickets and songbirds and switchgrass in my ears and campfire smoke in my nose. Bare feet on mowed grass will be my high heels on red carpet. I Love my home, with a capital L for the strength and certainty with which I do, and when I am not there I will always feel it, my heart is always pounding for it.

So here I am, exactly in the middle of this experience and exactly in the middle of two places that are and are becoming irreversibly important in my life. And I do not feel stretched or pulled either way, I feel permission to have a foot in each half of the world, to be in between, to be both. As someone who tends towards extremes in the midst of intense feelings, this feeling feels wonderful.

I think I can learn a lot from this good day.

Back on the road, I pick up my feet and go

Fixed on a star, I go with the hills and roll

The bus man said I had to pay my toll

It’s a long way home, it’s a long way home

But we must fight on

(I don’t know why this song speaks to me so much today as representative of my “middleness.” The guess I venture is because it acknowledges what’s already passed and also looks longingly forward, all while being firmly grounded in the importance and the action of now.)

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More kitties, and my own doodle I added to the café's doodle wall.

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I also went to a cat café today called La Fábrica de Huellas (The Pawprint Factory). It was really good for me since I've been missing my kitties at home ☺️ "ama los gatos como a ti mismx" = "love cats like you do yourself"

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Women who have made/are making a difference in the field of environmental activism. I love this piece!

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Today I visited IVAM, the Valencia Museum of Modern Art. Most of my favorite pieces were from an exhibition about feminist art in the 60s and 70s, during the aftermath of the Spanish civil war. "UN MUNDO MEJOR ES POSIBLE" = "A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE"

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Me, Flo, and Connie after kayaking. Connie is Flo's roommate and is from China near Shanghai.

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Some views from the trip there and back (olive trees and grapes growing!), plus me in my silly little kayaking helmet.

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Me and Flo!! ft. fried squid, patatas bravas, swordfish, and sangria

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(Honors Reflection 3: Wellbeing)

This weekend I went on a kayaking trip on the Río Cabriel that was put on by Euroace, the company that has done all the coordinating for my internship and provides my Spanish classes. Due to the poster advertising “an exhilarating day of kayaking along the stunning coastline”, I was under the impression that we would be kayaking in the Mediterranean, but we drove in a bus about an hour and half through vineyards and olive groves to the edge of the Iberian System mountain range, where the muddy river flows through tall cliffs. The kayaking itself seemed to go by quickly, fueled by adrenaline spikes after navigating rapids and falling out of the kayak twice into the deep and freezing river, but it was a lot of fun! Despite the high adventure experience, I think my favorite part was making a new friend.

As the trip began, I was quite nervous because it seemed that everybody had come in pairs or a group and I was alone. I knew I would have to be brave and get to know somebody. Observing the group, I didn’t have high hopes for making a genuine connection with anyone - many of the soon-to-be kayakers were loud, smoking, swearing college kids from Virginia. Maybe I’m too judgy, but my already low reputation of them plummeted even more when one of the guys, very hungover, made an emergency exit off the bus to throw up in a trash can not even five minutes after pulling away from the meeting point. Nonetheless, I knew I didn’t want to finish the day having not said a word to anyone. Thankfully, when we arrived at the departure site, I heard a girl who didn’t appear to be part of the Virginia group humming Holst’s Jupiter. This was enough to give me hope that I might get along with this person. So, even though I felt horribly awkward, I made the first move. All it took was, “So, where are you from?”

Her name is Florence, Flo for short, and she’s from Essex, England. Coincidentally, we’re both music (she’s a flautist) and Spanish double majors! We paired up when we found out that the kayaks were double-seaters and Flo was looking to kayak with somebody who had some experience, since this was her first time trying it. We chatted and got to know each other on the calmer parts of the river and did our best to stay calm when the river turned to rapids, which we actually did pretty good at! After returning to Valencia, we decided to do a little shopping and go for tapas together. It was so fun and I really enjoyed getting to know Flo. Unfortunately she’ll only be in Valencia for another week, but we’re planning to go out for dinner once more before she leaves, along with another student she met earlier.

After a fun evening, we went our separate ways and I reflected on the day. I realized that I’d met tons of people since getting to Valencia, but I hadn’t really made any strong connections yet until then. Making friends and getting to know people has always been difficult for me, but it’s something I’ve been working on for the past couple of years. Every time I meet someone I get along well with, I feel proud of myself for getting out of my comfort zone and meeting new people. I’ve heard it said that traveling can be empowering, and I think the confidence boost one gets from meeting new people while abroad is great for one’s wellbeing. It is one of life’s little wonders that people who come from vastly different places can have much in common. I’m looking forward to meeting more cool people!

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Here are some photos from yesterday evening at the beach. The waves were strong so we didn't do any swimming, but it was very relaxing to sit in the sand and play "fishing" with Álvaro. A storm rolled in at about 9pm and that's how we knew it was time to go home.

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Paella is THE Valencian dish. And it’s delicious! It’s made with saffron rice, green beans, Lima beans, and meat. This paella, which was a birthday surprise for Genni, has chicken for the meat but rabbit is the most traditional. Everyone eats right out of the big pan and it’s super fun. Highly recommend that you try paella if you get the chance!

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Una tienda china - I love how they look from the outside!

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This is a tienda china - literally "Chinese store." Usually owned by Chinese Valencians, they're super common in the city and could be compared to bodegas in New York City. They're quite packed but you'll find everything from beauty products to dishes to hardware tools. I visited this one today to buy some flowers and a birthday card for my host mom, today is her birthday!

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"TE AMO" - I see this bench on my walk to work every day.

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(Honors Reflection 2: Global Perspectives)

One summer evening when my family and I were taking our usual walk around the neighborhood, I had a realization that would change my life. The thought was so simple and seemed so obvious that I almost felt dumb for not having realized it earlier. Nonetheless, I still believe it is one of my most important epiphanies to date.

My detail-smitten eye noticed a family sitting down to dinner through a window with the blinds still up, the soft glow of commonplaceness and domesticity gently spilling out to the sidewalk on which my own family and I walked past. It hit me then, and the thought was this: in every home I see, someone is living in it like I live in mine. My mind, normally racing, was left speechless as that thought echoed in my brain. From then on, every house I looked at became a whole world. Somebody called that place their own, it was where they rested and woke up and argued and forgave and cooked and ate and played and cried. I couldn’t believe it. The human fabric of the entire Earth spun out before me in fractals, small units reflecting the whole in a dizzying, never-ending tapestry.

I have not forgotten my epiphany, though I have pushed it to the back corners of my mind to preserve my sanity and focus. But now that I’ve traveled nearly 5000 miles away from my hometown and entered another “whole new world,” it has resurfaced. Just like it suddenly came to me that my neighbors live in their homes like I live in mine, I am again just beginning to recognize that Spaniards live in Spain like I live in the United States. When I first got here, everything was so new that it felt like living in my dream of visiting Spain was actually a dream. Here they eat dinner at 9:30pm and go to bed straight after. Nobody has dryers and instead they hang their clothes on their balconies to dry. At the store, juice sits on shelves at room temperature. My surprise at this and other new experiences is what is commonly referred to as culture shock, defined as a feeling of disorientation experienced when one is subjected to an unfamiliar way of life. But, over the course of a week and half, I slowly woke up and saw life here for what it is: simply life.

There is something so poignant to me about taking the time to truly experience the ordinary, everyday moments that come together to tell us we’re really here on this Earth, alive. On Thursday this week I spent about twenty minutes in the bookshop area of El Corte Inglés before going to my Spanish class. By complete chance (it fell off the shelf as I was pulling another book out), I found a thirteen-page poetry booklet titled El corazón de la luz (“The Heart of Light”). Because it was so short, I read the whole thing. The poet mused on the meaning of life and came to the conclusion that light (which in context meant love, beauty, kindness, hope, etc.) is always at the center of it. I cannot do anything but agree. Even though I have gone through some of my darkest moments in the past year or so, I always knew the light was there. In fact, that awareness was sometimes frustrating because many times I just wanted to give up completely, but the little glimmers of hope wouldn’t let me. Now, I can see it everywhere. There really is a lot of light in this world that makes it worth living. Even just this week I’ve witnessed it. I saw a mom making a heart with her hands to her kid while dropping him off at school and it made perfect sense because that particular student has always been kind and confident in class. Of course he’s so loved at home! On the metro, an older man addressed me with usted (the formal second person pronoun, indicating politeness and/or respect) and offered his seat to me because he saw I was carrying three bags and he was getting off at the next stop anyways. It made my day. The trouble in my life has passed now and because of things like these, I don’t want to give up anymore, even if the darkness comes back. This is my global perspective: going abroad and finding the same type of life and light I knew at home fills me with hope.

To those of you who are struggling right now, because I know there are many: life is still beautiful. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, I can tell you everything I’ve seen and assure you that there is still light. So keep going. Keep going for the little light in you.

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God bless all elementary school teachers at the end of the school year. These kids are crazy... 😅

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For you all! 💗 End of my pics from a fun day.

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A poem so beautiful I don't dare translate it.

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This was my favorite exhibition. A heart shaped vase was designed and then sent to many different artists to work with. After being exhibited, the pieces will be auctioned and the profits given to a nonprofit that seeks to improve the lives of people with ALS. If you want to see some of the pieces, check out the website: https://www.totcorproject.com/

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"the sketch is the integrity of art." There was an exhibition by artist Luis Massoni, I loved his pieces.

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The museum is located in the restored Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas.

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Did you know Picasso made pottery? This is one of his works.

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I made it to the Central Market about 20 minutes before it closed.

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The cathedral was built over ancient Roman burial grounds.

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The Holy Chalice, allegedly the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper.

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Traditional Valencian tile in one of the cathedral's hallways.

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A religious artifact on display at the chapel, made of gold and jewels.

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El Ayuntamiento de Valencia, the city hall

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Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day sightseeing in Valencia's city center. It was very fun and also very tiring, which is why I haven't posted about it until now! I toured the nearly 800-year-old Cathedral of Valencia, visited the Central Market which boasts more than 1000 stalls, enjoyed viewing exhibits and restored palace rooms in the González Martí National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts, and finally, went shopping in the famous six-floor department store, El Corte Inglés. I had a great day and took LOTS of pictures - expect some of my favorites to show up here soon!

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I got off a bit early from my internship today, so I decided to visit el Jardín del Turia (basically the Central Park of Valencia) before going to my Spanish classes for the evening. This park is one long green space running throughout the city where the River Turia used to flow before it was diverted after the Great Valencian Flood in 1957. The park is BEAUTIFUL and full of flowers at this time of year!

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Yesterday I had my first Spanish class at the office where my internship provider is located. It’s right on the edge of the city center so there were more historic buildings, on the right in the above picture is La Plaza de Toros de Valencia, a bullfighting ring!
I’m in a Spanish class with six other students, two Italians, an Armenian (I think), a Ukrainian, a Brit, and an Irelander. I’m constantly being surprised by the cosmopolitan nature of this city!

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Hello everyone! Just one post today, I'm quite tired after attending my internship from 9am-5pm. It was my first day interning at a private British-style school here in Valencia. I started the day with some training along with 10 other new interns, all of whom are Dutch! They all spoke English with varying degrees of comfort but of course they preferred to converse with each other in their native language, Dutch. I didn't understand a word of what they said, but it was so cool just to hear a language that I hope to learn a bit of someday ☺️

After that, I was assigned to hang out with a sixth year classroom (equivalent to fifth grade in the US). I observed their Spanish lesson as well as helped them prepare a play they're putting on for the rest of the school in a few weeks. To end the day, I helped out in an eighth year (equivalent to 7th grade) music lesson. Their assignment was to practice and perform a short song. I helped two girls record their rendition of about half of The Periodic Table Song from memory!!

What's really cool about this school is that there are 42 nationalities represented. The principal informed me and the other interns that the most common are Spanish, Ukrainian, American, and Chinese. Although the students receive instruction in English, they're free to speak whatever language they please amongst themselves, so I heard a bunch of different languages going on within the same classroom, it was so fascinating!

I'm at the school again tomorrow from 9am-5pm, and after that I will be beginning my Spanish classes at my internship provider's office. It will be a busy day but I'm looking forward to it!

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For the past three nights, I've heard a cat in a neighboring apartment meowing very loudly exactly at 9:15pm. Seems like somebody knows when dinnertime is ☺️ makes me think of my kitties at home! 🐈❣️

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Proud of myself and feeling good after today's little excursion ☺️

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Pictured above is a street lined with the purple flowering trees that I mentioned in an earlier post. Upon further investigation, I've found out that these are jacaranda trees! They're native to the southern and central regions of South America but have been planted extensively near the Mediterranean as well as in Australia, South Africa, and the southern US.

Also note that the sidewalks are made with small tiles. This made it so that my suitcase was incredibly noisy while I was walking home with it. I felt a little embarrassed, but hey, I lived 😂

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A Shell station with mini palm trees(?) outside.

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I took the metro to the airport today to pick up my luggage. I bought a pass and rode the entirety of Line 5 to get there! On a normal day I'll only ride about halfway before transferring to another line to get to work. Marítim is only about a 10min walk from my host home.

Again, my American big city expectations were shattered - people do talk on Valencia's metro! I was actually grateful for this because it made me feel more comfortable, and I got to practice my Spanish comprehension with a little bit of eavesdropping 😉

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My baggage is now back with me! 🥳

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This is the family I'm staying with for these next two months. On the far left is José Luis, on the far right is his wife Genni, and in the middle is their son Álvaro with his bison stuffed animal I brought him. He named it Bison T because "bison" in Spanish is bisonte. 😂

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When the airport calls you at 9pm and says your lost luggage arrived, but they're only open until 9:30pm 😐

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(Honors Reflection 1: Community)

Today was my first venture outside of my host home (besides the drive to get here). I walked around the neighborhood near my host home, by the marina, and to the metro station I’ll likely be taking to my internship every day.

This city, or at least this area, seems full of life. Maybe it’s just because I was near the marina, or because it’s a Saturday afternoon, but people walk much slower here than in the US. So far, Valencia is unlike any major US city that I’ve been to (Chicago, New York, and Boston) - on my walk today I saw mostly couples returning from the waterfront, friends out shopping or yendo de tapas, kids on scooters and bikes, and old folks, even those in wheelchairs or using walkers, accompanied by spouses or children. In major US cities, the typical resident walks alone, dressed in business attire, and dragged along by the ferocious grip of a tight schedule. And therefore they walk fast. I have always known that the stereotypical American believes they are wasting time if they are not busy, but now I think I am starting to see that maybe we are more obsessed with the idea of “going somewhere” rather than being where we’re at in the present moment.

Noticing all of this, I began to consider what a city’s foot traffic could reveal about its strength of community. If anything, I’m speculating that it’s more important to notice who is not out walking. Someone who feels safe, supported, and successful in their community will inevitably participate positively in it, for instance, by taking a Saturday evening stroll. On the other hand, someone who doesn’t experience the aforementioned sentiments in their city is less likely to do so, perhaps due to a lack of time, resources, or motivation. With this in mind, who is not out on America’s big city streets? Two groups of walkers that stood out to me in Valencia but are infrequently found in the US are children and the elderly. These are two of the most vulnerable populations in any community, and therefore some of the most likely to fall through the cracks of any given society. I’m no expert on public administration and social politics, but I think there is a telling observation to be made here in regards to America’s cities.

In any case, mi paseíto makes me eager to get to know more about the Valencian community. Apart from my people watching, I also enjoyed scoping out cafes and tapas bars to visit, smelling gorgeous purple blooms from some type of tree I’ve never seen in America, and hanging with pigeons at the Monument a Joaquim Sorolla (pictured above). The rest of the day I’ll be relaxing and getting work done, and tomorrow I'll try and figure out the metro because I should hopefully be able to pick up my luggage at the airport (it was lost by the airline somewhere along the way here, but it is currently in transit to VLC). Stay tuned for more thoughts and pictures! 😋

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A clear view of the Mediterranean with France(?) in the background

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This is most of what I ate throughout my approximately 24 hours of travel.

Top Left: Dinner served on the overnight flight from Chicago to Zurich.

Top Right: Breakfast as we neared Zurich!

Bottom Left: I'm not normally a fan of milk chocolate, but I'll take that Swiss chocolate any day 😋

Bottom Right: The response to me saying "tengo un poco de hambre." I feel so spoiled!

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Hello everyone, and welcome to my travel blog! Here I'll be sharing photos, doing some journaling, and sharing some assignments. I'm glad you've decided to join me ☺️

Posts are ordered from newest to oldest (except for this one, which is pinned). I switch post colors every day so it's easier to see the timeline.

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