Tuesday, October 25, 2011
A spin in the mountains
Finally, I got out of the city and explored the beautiful mountains and pueblos that are outside Valencia. My friends Sarka and Hannah and I took the train to Sagunt with bikes, and from there we biked through some tiny towns and into the mountains. We ended up quite high and had some great views of the surrounding towns and the ocean! (We also ended up on a narrow hiking trail and had to carry our bikes down the mountain for about 1.5 kilometers... I was definitely very very excited to see some bike-friendly asphalt!)
Rotary Club Valencia-Cid
Last week I visited another R.C. of Valencia, Rotary Club Valencia-Cid. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay for the meeting, because I had to leave for class (we met at 2pm, lunch started around 2:45pm, and I had to leave at 3:45). The members were extremely welcoming and accomodating of my schedule; they've also invited me to a Rotary event next week which is a fashion show fundraiser. Sounds like fun!
Here I am with the members, at the Hotel Westin:
And here's some lunch:
Here I am with the members, at the Hotel Westin:
And here's some lunch:
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Día de la Comunidad Valenciana- el Nou d'Octubre
Last Sunday was the Día de la Comunidad Valenciana, a commemoration of when Valencia entered the Spanish kingdom 800 years ago. Because of the holiday, there were various celebrations of traditional song and dance, as well as events that brought up modern issues in Valencia.
On Saturday morning, I tried to go to a gastronomic festival in a nearby town with Brianna, another Ambassadorial Scholar in Valencia. We had seen information online, and at the fair you could buy tickets for 1euro and sample different tapas. What ended up happening is that we went to a completely different town, asked a woman on the street where the gastronomic fair was, and she pointed us down the street. When we got there, we were in a large parking lot with 20+ large groups of people, each cooking their own paella! Still thinking that we were at the fair, we asked around about where we could buy tickets, and a very nice man told us there were no tickets but that he would give us paella for free. Very very kind.
Here's the paella being cooked with leña, firewood (we definitely smelled like leña afterwards!):
There were about 25 fallas, which are groups of friends that have kind of a clubhouse and hold different events (including paella competitions, I guess!). The most famous is Las Fallas in March, in which each falla makes a huge float that ridicules politics or some current event. Here's a falla:
Oh, he also gave us wine, "agua fuerte," and dessert! (The dessert would have been tastier if it weren't soaked in the "agua fuerte.")
That night Brianna and I went to a concert with her flatmates. The concert was called "Concert del BLOC JOVE en benefici de CA REVOLTA" and saw La Gossa Sorda, Orxata Sound System, and Aspencat. The best way I can describe the music, and the crowd, was ska (reminiscent of Sublime). Obviously, everything was in Valenciano so I didn't understand much, but no language was necessary to feel the Valencian pride. From what Brianna's friend explained, there is a movement to unite the languages of Catalan and Valenciano, which are basically the same. Yesterday my classmate's version of the story was that in the language of Catalan, there are 2 main dialects: Catalan Occidental (spoken in Valencia) and Catalan Oriente (spoken in Catalunya). He actually compared them to Texan English and Californian English. Anyways, now changing the name of the language is a matter of politics, history, and pride. What I can say is that in the city of Valencia, Valenciano isn't spoken that much but you hear much more often in the pueblos outside of the city. They definitely have a lot of pride in their language.
Sunday, the 9th of October, I went to the Barrio del Carmen (the old city in Valencia) with Brianna and her friend Maria and we saw a parade representing various groups of Cristianos y Moros (Christians and Moors). We stayed for 2 hours but didn't stay until the end... I imagine that the parade lasted about 3 hours!
On Saturday morning, I tried to go to a gastronomic festival in a nearby town with Brianna, another Ambassadorial Scholar in Valencia. We had seen information online, and at the fair you could buy tickets for 1euro and sample different tapas. What ended up happening is that we went to a completely different town, asked a woman on the street where the gastronomic fair was, and she pointed us down the street. When we got there, we were in a large parking lot with 20+ large groups of people, each cooking their own paella! Still thinking that we were at the fair, we asked around about where we could buy tickets, and a very nice man told us there were no tickets but that he would give us paella for free. Very very kind.
Here's the paella being cooked with leña, firewood (we definitely smelled like leña afterwards!):
There were about 25 fallas, which are groups of friends that have kind of a clubhouse and hold different events (including paella competitions, I guess!). The most famous is Las Fallas in March, in which each falla makes a huge float that ridicules politics or some current event. Here's a falla:
Oh, he also gave us wine, "agua fuerte," and dessert! (The dessert would have been tastier if it weren't soaked in the "agua fuerte.")
That night Brianna and I went to a concert with her flatmates. The concert was called "Concert del BLOC JOVE en benefici de CA REVOLTA" and saw La Gossa Sorda, Orxata Sound System, and Aspencat. The best way I can describe the music, and the crowd, was ska (reminiscent of Sublime). Obviously, everything was in Valenciano so I didn't understand much, but no language was necessary to feel the Valencian pride. From what Brianna's friend explained, there is a movement to unite the languages of Catalan and Valenciano, which are basically the same. Yesterday my classmate's version of the story was that in the language of Catalan, there are 2 main dialects: Catalan Occidental (spoken in Valencia) and Catalan Oriente (spoken in Catalunya). He actually compared them to Texan English and Californian English. Anyways, now changing the name of the language is a matter of politics, history, and pride. What I can say is that in the city of Valencia, Valenciano isn't spoken that much but you hear much more often in the pueblos outside of the city. They definitely have a lot of pride in their language.
Sunday, the 9th of October, I went to the Barrio del Carmen (the old city in Valencia) with Brianna and her friend Maria and we saw a parade representing various groups of Cristianos y Moros (Christians and Moors). We stayed for 2 hours but didn't stay until the end... I imagine that the parade lasted about 3 hours!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Rotary Rey Don Jaime
Last Friday I visited Rotary Club Valencia Rey Don Jaime, one of several in Valencia. This was my first official visit and talk to a Rotary Club in Spain. Anyways, they were very kind and invited me to their meeting, which took place at the Westin Hotel on Friday afternoon. I arrived at 2:30, and after a very long and delicious meal (which was about one and a half hours), they conducted the meeting. The meeting itself didn't take too long; I spoke for about 10 minutes, and the members asked me some questions, and they also welcomed a new member to the club. After the meeting, we sat in the hotel garden area and drank coffee. Because the club is small, there was a very friendly and intimate atmosphere. I was able to talk to all the members and learn at least a little bit about them. Norma, the secretary, is actually from Argentina and she works as an event planner; the other members asked her about her daughter who was starting dance and music lessons. The club wouldn't be holding a meeting the next week because Elias, the president, would be attending his daughter's wedding. The other members held a variety of occupations in law and business.
One aspect I enjoyed was the presence of family which made the club very personable; even though only 7 members were present at the meeting, the son of one member was the chef at the restaurant and came by before our meal to chat about the menu and Elias' daughter stopped by during lunch to say hi.
Here I am with the club:
Rotarians enjoying coffee:
Here's a few photos of lunch. First we had bread and olive oil, then appetizers which consisted of jamón iberico and cheese, mozarella and tomate valenciano, and salad. Of course at this point I was full, since the appetizers were extremely tasty. But of course, we still had the main course (either fish or meat), and then a strawberry mousse for dessert.
One aspect I enjoyed was the presence of family which made the club very personable; even though only 7 members were present at the meeting, the son of one member was the chef at the restaurant and came by before our meal to chat about the menu and Elias' daughter stopped by during lunch to say hi.
Here I am with the club:
Rotarians enjoying coffee:
Here's a few photos of lunch. First we had bread and olive oil, then appetizers which consisted of jamón iberico and cheese, mozarella and tomate valenciano, and salad. Of course at this point I was full, since the appetizers were extremely tasty. But of course, we still had the main course (either fish or meat), and then a strawberry mousse for dessert.
Motors, generators, and transmission, oh my!
As expected, I had my first shock of feeling unprepared for my Master's... and not the language aspect! There are a lot of electrical engineering principles that are utilized in our courses and even though we don't actually DO any electrical engineering, it's good to have some kind of background in that field. Lately I've been trying to quickly learn what could possibly be 1 or 2 years of undergrad electrical engineering in several weeks; not fun. I've also tried out various resources, including textbooks (both English and Spanish, each of which has its pros and cons), wikipedia, google, and my classmates. What can I say? Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Otherwise, classes have been going relatively well. It's becoming more and more effortless to understand the professors, but I still have a tough time understanding my classmates when they ask questions in class. So far the workload has been relatively light, although I know it'll pick up with projects and tests. Some are individual projects, such as designing a low temperature solar thermal installation, and other projects require quite a bit of work, such as performing an "energy audit" for a company, building, or factory to help them better manage their energy usage and save money.
Otherwise, classes have been going relatively well. It's becoming more and more effortless to understand the professors, but I still have a tough time understanding my classmates when they ask questions in class. So far the workload has been relatively light, although I know it'll pick up with projects and tests. Some are individual projects, such as designing a low temperature solar thermal installation, and other projects require quite a bit of work, such as performing an "energy audit" for a company, building, or factory to help them better manage their energy usage and save money.
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