El fin

So I'm leaving Valencia in an hour (yes, it is 3:30am here). I'm sad to be going, but ready to see everyone at home. It's bittersweet. However, before I go I have a few more things to tell y'all about. 

Wednesday, after classes were over, Jordan and I went on a mini adventure. We might have gotten a bit disoriented at one point, but that's okay necause we were just trying to kill time before heading to the Catedral. Yup! I went back to the Catedral again, but this time with a class! My Culture and Civ class took a tour, lead by the one and only Professor Valle. Although I've been to the Catedral several times, it was cool going this time and learning more of the history and seeing a bit more. For example, we saw the Chalice that was used during the Last Supper. The one in Valencia's Cathedral at least is the most likely to have been at the Last Supper because a) it dates back to the first century amd b) if you follow the path of the chalice through history, this one had the same path. Pretty cool right?! Something else we learned was that it's Valencian tradition for a lady who is about to give birth to walk around the Cathedral 9 times (and we even saw a lady doing this!).

After my visit to the Cathedral, I got to go to a birthday party :) Inma is Natalia's niece (she also lives with Maggie), and she turned 9 on Wednesday! This party was really cute, and the kids just ran around and played. But the food was quite yummy! Especially the cake. ;)

Thursday I didn't do anything too exciting because I had to study for exams, however I had the most delicious lunch! Natalia's dad came over and made Maggie and I paella, and boy was it delicious! I was super haply to have paella one last time before heading home. After paella I got to play with Pablo some, and that was fun too (way better than studying!)

Friday I had exams (yuck :P) but both were pretty easy and went well I think. After exams, Jordan and I got pastries one last tome (I might have had one before my exams too, YOLO) before I headed home for lunch. After lunch, and after packing up my suitcase (everything fit! Yay!) Natalia and I went to the church where she got married. I saw all her wedding pictures yesterday, so was excited to see the church in person. We walked from our house, getting there around 7 only to see that a wedding was about to start. Nevertheless, we went out for drinks and tapas (had nachos! Yum!) before heading back to the church. And it was gorgeous! Natalia said that being there during the wedding brought back lots of memories, especially because the priest was the same one who married her and José. We were leaving the wedding when crash bang smash, we were hit by a storm! A huge thunderstorm (which is rather rare in Valencia). At first I was a bit bummed because Maggie, Inma, Natalia and I were going to go out for tapas, but we ended up going to Inma and Maggie's house i stead for dinner. Dinner was yummy and a lot of fun talking and hanging out.

After dinner, I went to Sagardi with a few friends (it's near Plaza de la Reina) to spend tome together for out last noght in Valencia. When Sagardi closed, we went to get some ice cream and yhe. Headed fir Carmen. Carmen is the area of the city where most the ecollge kids stay and is the happening place to be on a weekend night with your friends. The first bar we went to was getting near closing, but we were still able to sneak in and stay for a little while! We actually ended up talking art with two other ladies who were sitting in the bar too! Who would have expected that! The next place we went was a lot more crowded, and after trying to figure out what we wanted, we decided that it would actually be better to go home. So Maggie, Anna and I walked on home. And this is where you find me now, at home waiting to go!

I have to say that tonight was a lot of fun! It was just the right combination of friends and family, and the perfect last taste of Valencia before I go. I'm going to miss this city a whole lot, but I'll be back before too long, I absolutely know it! Valencia, you haven't seen the last of me!

So there you have it, my journey through Valencia, from starting as a tourist who got lost a block from her house to becoming a Valenciano (or starting to get there at least!) Thanks for being faithful readers, and I hope you all get to visit Valencia some day! Come with me :)

PS I'll post picutres of these last few days when I'm back in the US

PPS It was really sad saying goodbye to Pablo and José (they went to Alicante this weekend), but I'll chat with them and Natalia on skype! :)