Bigger and Better....Las Fallas

First off, my apologies to my faithful followers who have complained about lack of updates..I've been so busy traveling I haven't had the time to blog....actually, I've just been too lazy but to each its own...so here it is, a little delayed, but better later than never...although, as always, words cannot come close to explaining our adventures, clearly you just need to come over and visit us....you only have a few weeks left!

Ngoc and I just returned home from our most recent adventure to Valencia and Alicante. This trip was a little different from previous travels because for the first time we decided to "couchsurf." This decision was, of course, due to the "crisis" that is our 700 euro a month paycheck. When your traveling as much we are on such a limited income you just don't have the type of money to be throwing away on 13 euro a night hostels with complimentary cockroaches as cuddle buddies. Besides the wasted money, cockroaches just don't do it for me in bed, so staying with strangers it is! We were both very hesitant and skeptical about this idea, for the obvious reasons--showing up at some random persons house you found on the internet and crashing on their couch? But it's free, so we thought "vamos!" Lets be honest here, grocery shopping that should take 20 minutes, max, takes Ngoc and I an hour as we ponder what is cheaper, a 1000 ml bottle of milk for 2,99 or buying a pack of five small cartons of 125 ml for 0,67 cents each. If only I were joking. Needless to say, the appeal of the money we could save triumphed over our safety or security. It sounded like a great idea for the poor and adventurous travelers like your truly :)

Let me explain what couchsurfing is for those unfamiliar with the popular website for travelers throughout the world. There is a website in which people list their couches online and travelers can search for people in any given city looking for a couch to crash on for a night or two while traveling aka "surfing couches." Only slightly sketchy and or potentially dangerous....now you know why I saw the appeal of this great idea. I frequently find myself in scary and/or stupid situations while abroad and think "this is gonna make for a great story, if I only make it out alive!" I justified the idea of couchsurfing by thinking, "sleeping with one stranger seems safer than a dorm full of strangers in a hostal," and plus I thought if something bad happens at least I won't have wasted any money. However, God and Buddha were on our sides and we were lucky enough to have 2 very nice places to stay for our first couchsurfing experience! Aw, the advantages of having 2 people up top helping you out. Actually, the two places were like 5 star hotles in comparsion to our lovely closet on Roque Barcia that we call home.



Valencia, the third largest city in Spain, is beautifully situation along the eastern coast on the Mediterranean Sea. Every March the population swells to over 3 million as people from around the world flock to the city to celebrate one of Spain's largest festivals, Las Fallas. In a word, it's chulisimo (super cool). During the day time everyone is out and about checking all the Fallas and setting off fireworks like its there full time job. The noise is incredible....its a testament to my eardrums that I'm not deaf after subjecting myself to that. The city is full of paper mache monuments that are inspired by political satire and are usually commentary on peoples view of the government. On the closing night of Las Fallas all of these monuments (called Fallas) are burned. From up above the city looks like it is being set to flames and the streets are packed with drunken observers. Only in Spain. I had heard about Las Fallas long before I even studied abroad in Spain (2006) and have always wanted to experience this festival after hearing all the hype. Rather than try and explain the atmosphere and sound...just watch the video of the fireworks, flames and crowd and you will have a little better idea of what you're missing out on. You cannot apprecaite what its like to be in Valencia for closing festivals of Las Fallas from pictures but take my word this festival put carnaval in Cadiz to shame. Can't wait to see what Sevilla is like during Semana Santa, Spaniards say its even bigger!


On Friday, once the city returned to normal, we walked around and did some sightseeing. Valencia is home to a world famous science center, housing an IMAX, science museum and aquarium. It always fun to see something that isn't a cathedral, although beautiful, you can only see so many churches before they all start to look the same. Moreover, after going to the Vatican in Rome no cathedral can compare. Nonetheless, Valencia had a beautiful cathedral along with several other buildings which have been standing for quite some time.

After Las Fallas ended we headed down south to Alicante. Another beautiful city in Spain. For a country smaller than Texas its packed with beauty. Alicante is also right on the Mediterranean and has a beach in the heart of the city center. We had a relaxing day of sightseeing and enjoyed a lesuirely stroll along the main road lined with palmtrees. We were pretty tired from Las Fallas and weren't up for any more sightseeing by nighttime. As we were sitting on some benches enjoying the view of the ocean we decided to go see Slumbag Millionaire. It was our first movie we have seen in a theather and I understood it perfectly which was so exciting. When I arrived I couldn't understand TV or movies but now I can watch the TV and movies in Spanish and actually laugh when I should (aka, I understand) might not sound exciting but its a milestone in my quest for fluency.


For all of you who are already planning Spring break 2010 forget about Cabo, Cancun or Maui....Valencia is where the worlds biggest party is for March!

Besos

Ally