Days 70-80

Que tal?  (What’s up?)

All is well here in Spain, but Taylor and I realized something very depressing just a few days ago:

We only have 20 days left in Valencia!  How sad!

That in mind, we’ve made it our goal to “aprovechar” (seize) as much of our time left here in this incredible, beautiful city by getting out and doing and seeing things and meeting people and experiencing the awesome culture while we still can.

It pains me to admit, though, that the group has become a bit complacent over the past few weeks as the air of spontaneity has worn off to almost nothing, but I've still managed to get out and have fun in my favorite ways: lots of soccer, lots of walking, lots of time spent at the Rio.

The weekly activities planned for the group have also been a lot less exciting, and I’ve sort of chosen to do away with them all together.  Almost all of my free time and days off recently have been spent at the Rio, mostly playing soccer at the futsal court.  I’ve really gotten pretty good at this kind of soccer, as it's completely different from full-field play in terms of spacing and teamwork and style, and I’d like to think that my footwork has improved and I’ve added a few moves to my repertoire.  If not, at least it’s been fun!  One afternoon last week, I actually broke up a fight between two South American hotheads, scored the game-tying goal during the “ultima jugada” (final play) of a very competitive game, and then won the game-deciding coin flip to keep our winning streak alive...all while playing on the most culturally diverse team to ever step foot on a soccer field.   This was our lineup:

The unmistakeable leader and emotional engine of the team was a bald Russian guy “named” Ruso, ("Russian" in Spanish), who, throughout my collective playing experience over the semester, has never taken off his sunglasses once.  Ruso plays like a bat out of hell, relying on his competitive ego to blow past defenders and score goal after goal.  Though he hogs the ball and doesn't pass much, he is actually a very good player and has the ability to completely dominate a game when he wants to.  If he's on your team, you like him; if not, you hate him; and either way, it's best to just get out of his way.

After Ruso, the defensive duo at the back was one part old, short, fat Mexican, one part young, skinny, skillful Bolivian, who strangely enough has been on my team every single time I've played soccer at the Rio.  Though that part is a bit bizarre, Bolivia is a good, smart player who likes to play defense, so I'm always happy to lineup beside him knowing that he'll gladly do the dirty work so I don't have to.

In front of the defense, my midfield partner for the day was a very impressive African kid named Nene, who looked just a few years younger than me, and wore a blue, flowery bathing suit, a black tank-top, and a pair of a old, worn-down cleats held together by three different kinds of tape.  His appearance wasn't much, but the ball sure did stick to his foot!  What a great player he was...

In front of myself and Nene, our striker was a very quick, crafty Brazilian kid named Max who danced his way through the defenders and did the samba after every goal.  Max was easily the best player on the court skill-wise, but he was humble about it and chose more often to make the nice pass and let others get the goal and the glory (Ruso).  When he wasn't scoring, he was smiling.  Always, always smiling.

And then their was me—the big, white, curly-headed American with a soft touch and a hard shot, who answered to the name "Dutchie" because of the Holland jersey he chose to wear that day.  Go figure.

It was a really cool experience playing with such a mix of people, and I found it extremely interesting how each culture’s representative had their own unique style and flavor for the game:  Ruso was definitely the most aggressive and quick-tempered--always getting in fights and contesting calls and gloating after his goals; Nene was both humble and serious, with a distinct calmness on the ball;  the Mexican and the Bolivian stayed on their respective sides of the court, content to play disciplined defense and pass the ball to the attackers; Max was just out there to have fun; and me? Well I’d like to think that I was the most consistent player on the team, as I played solid defense and also managed to get into the attack and net a few fancy goals of my own.   Very cool stuff.

In addition to the soccer, the only other noteworthy thing that I’ve done recently is go with the group to a little beach city a few hours north called Peniscola (be mature and pronounce it with a Spanish accent: pen-EES-cola).  For this daytrip, we left early in the morning and took a coach bus up the coast and arrived before lunch time.  Our first stop in town was the main attraction: a medieval castle situated at the highest point of the peninsula.  We climbed the steep, narrow streets and passed a plethora of great-looking (and smelling) seafood restaurants and paella stands along the way, and when we got to the top, this is what we found:

A MEDIEVAL CASTLE!

We toured the castle for an hour or so and marveled at the breathtaking views of the ocean and the city below.  The castle itself was fascinating due to its age alone, but the architecture and location of it on top of this crowded, beach-side mountain made it altogether spectacular.  Here are the rest of the pictures:

Pirates!

Ready for the view?!

street shops below

 

the group, on the other side of the castle

When we finished at the castle, we were free for the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted, so of course we climbed straight down the mountain and did the only other thing anyone does in Peniscola: enjoy the beach.  We laid out for a good while, then juggled the soccer ball and played a little beach soccer, and finally, after MUCH encouragement from the group, I, along with five others, went for an icy swim in the Mediterranean Sea.  The water was extremely cold, but all it took was one fearless, head-first dive underwater and from that point on it was completely bearable and actually rather pleasant.  The numbness of the water reminded me of the ice baths that we took after soccer practice at VT, but the fact that I was surrounded by a beautiful Spanish beach instead of a bunch of sweaty dudes made it much more enjoyable.  Much, much more enjoyable.

Here are the rest of the pictures from the day:

lighthouse

steps leading down from the castle

Ha!  Wine pourers!

the house of shells

our view from the beach.  see the castle up there on top of the mountain?

this guy is livin' the dream!

the group

So that was a pretty cool day.

As boring as it sounds though, that’s all the interesting stuff I’ve been up to lately.  Like I said, we only have 22 days left here with the program, so from this point on I’ll be trying really hard to make the most of my time.  The thing is, though--not all of those 22 days will be spent here in Valencia…

This week I’ll have my two days of class on Monday and Wednesday, but Thursday begins "Semana Santa" (Saint’s Week) here in Spain, during which the whole country basically has a week off for vacation.  The real Semana Santa actually starts this Monday and runs through to the following Monday, but because of how our program works, our week off starts on Thursday…and runs through to not only the next Thursday, but all the way until the following Tuesday.  So we have a full 13 days off from school to do whatever we want!  How awesome is that?  Everyone in the group has made plans to travel around Europe and visit all kinds of exotic places (Ireland, Paris, London, Budapest, even Nepal) but since I already have plans to see the rest of Europe after the program ends, I’ve decided to do something a little different with my time off…

Very early on Thursday morning, I will get up, shower, eat breakfast, and walk to the train station with a backpack full of clothes.  At 8:25, I will leave Valencia headed for Madrid on a high-speed train called the AVE (AH-vay).  Cruising at an average speed of 190 MPH, I will reach Madrid by 10:30, quickly find the metro/subway and ultimately the OTHER Madrid train station, where I will board an 11:30 train headed for Leon, one of the more historical cities in all of Spain.

But Leon is only the beginning.

After spending what’s left of my day exploring the old city and its many must-see’s, I will find a hostel for the night and hopefully get a good night's sleep, though the excitement of the following day will surely keep me up.

Bright and early the next morning, I will get up and grab my pack and head out to find the bus station, where I will take a 5-euro, hour-long bus ride to the small town of Astorgas, and from there, the adventure really begins.

For the next 10 days, I will walk through the beautiful Galician countryside across northwestern Spain as part of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela: the oldest pilgrimage in all of Europe.  My days will be spent taking in the scenery and the people and the culture as I pass through the many small towns and farm lands and even a mountain or two; and my nights will be passed in albergues (al-BUR-gays), which are pilgrims-only hostels equipped with just the essentials.  What an experience that will be!

To continue with my trip-wide theme of independent self-discovery, I will be making the walk alone.  But  as there will be other pilgrims walking along, sharing the trail with me during the day, I expect to find in them a source of fun and conversation and hopefully some good Spanish practice.  If you’re worried about me getting lost and starving to death somewhere along the way, don’t be—the path is very well marked by yellow arrows and mile markers throughout, not to mention that I’ll have the other pilgrims there with me to follow if I have any doubts.  The cities and towns, too, are basically built around the Camino, so all this in mind, I assure you that losing my way will be all but impossible.

But why exactly am I doing this?  Where exactly am I going?

The end point of the Camino is the city of Santiago de Compostela, situated in the top left corner of Spain, where St. James, the disciple of Jesus, is believed to be buried in the impressive cathedral.  For centuries, people have been coming from all over Europe to make the same journey that he did when his dead body *miraculously* hovered above the ground and traveled thousands of miles to this, his final resting place.

For me, the religious aspect of the Camino is far less important than the spiritual implications.  Just imagine what walking by yourself ALL day, EVERY day for 10 straight days would do for your soul!  I might come back a little crazy, a little weird, or a little different, but I have no doubt in my mind that whatever happens to me out there—physically, psychologically and spiritually—will be for the best and I will come back a better man.  That’s the plan at least and I’m super excited about it!

My teacher has been a big help in my planning the trip since he walked the Camino himself about 8 years ago.  His walk was a bit longer than mine, though, since he started in PARIS.  Can you imagine?!  Now THAT’S a pilgrimage!

These are the routes for the rest of Europe:

It is said that the Camino begins at your front door, wherever you are.

And this is the main route, The Camino Frances, that my teacher did a few years ago:

And this is the bit that I'll be doing, starting in Leon:

The cathedral-looking structure closest to the northern coast is Leon.  Santiago de Compostela is directly west from there, approximately 330 km, which means I'll need to average about 25 km a day.

Here are a few websites with good information about the Camino:
Camino de Santiago = Way of St. James
Cool Interactive Map
Lots of good info I've used in my planning

I also recommend, for those of you who would like to get a glimpse into what the pilgrim's experience is really like, watching the movie The Way starring Martin Sheen.  The movie came out in the late 90s-early 2000s I believe, and Martin Sheen's son, Emilio Estevez, actually wrote, then directed, produced and acted in it too.  We watched the movie in my Spanish culture class and I credit it with fully convincing me to go out and do it myself.  Check it out if you can!

So that's where my head's at right now.  I leave in two days and I have to admit that I am a bit nervous-- mostly about the getting-there part, and not so much the actual Camino itself.  I know that I'll be fine, though, and that this will be yet another great experience to take back with me and have for the rest of my life.  I truly can't wait!  I'm so excited!  I'll have my laptop and my camera with me the whole time, so I'll be sure to document the whole journey, from start to finish.  I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get back!  Until then...

Much love to all.

C