Day 47: Valencia

Yeah - I wasn't sure whether to look forward to the group trip to Valencia or not. I'm not much of a group girl. The only groups I've ever thrived in were DUHS, Speech & Debate Team and Hooters. Groupthink just isn't for me. I can't justify being herded like a sheep in one direction and hours later being herded back to square one and pretending to enjoy the company of those around me whom I barely know and whom I don't much care to get to know -- because I'm jaded against people roughly my own age and younger because they almost always come off as inept.

There must be something to this whole "go with the group!" thing that I'm just not wired for...? These people genuinely seem to LOVE spending their every waking moment with "the group" and won't eat or sleep or go out or potty without at least one other member of "the group" being there to hold their hand.

I just don't get it.

In small doses, sure, okay. I can do that. But please, if I'm given the option, I'm going to want to spend the majority of my time solo because not only do I get to do just what I want, but I get to be fast about it, not have to listen to stories I'm completely uninterested in and not have to waste energy being fake.

This is not to say there aren't people I enjoy - Dave has been a hoot, Megan's always good for a rant session, getting to know Erica was sweet, Dillon was enjoyable and Laura's impersonation of the Muffin video from youtube still has me giggling - I'm just saying that it'd be a lot better if I could hang out with these people one on one or in tiny, fun-sized groups. 10, 20, 30 people is too many. The end.

Anyway, the four hour bus ride set a great mood for the trip. Dave and I sat next to each other and while we fully intended to pass out for the ride, we had such a hoot talking (Dee Dee Pickles? Haha. Awesome.) and listening to music and making up Dinosaur Dance that we never even had time to snooze! Megan, on the other hand, did:

Upon arriving in the city we had a free two hours to explore (aka check out rebajas around our hotel) and then it was walking tour time with Fausto. Check the pics:

We stumbled upon a wedding along our journey through town, too! The little ring barer was so adorable! I'm going to try to photoshop this picture into perfection and might try to turn it in to the Study Abroad UW photo contest!! ^_^

After the tour it was high time to try some of this infamous Valencian Horichata. It's pretty much like sweet rice milk? I'm not sure. They are passionate about their rice in this city, though! Anyway, I liked it a lot and downed mine in seconds! Oopsies! The only time I'd tried it before was at Opus (my favorite, uber swanky/chic martini bar in Madison) when the bartender made me a Horichata martini - DELICIOUS.

Released to explore the city on our own, Gretchen and Dillion and I went in search of the Gay District. Along our adventure we encountered a really really random Renaissance market!?! ^_^ Sweet!

Also on our journey: a really cute sign for a barber shop and some pretty awesome graffiti!

 

I'm too tired to recount the scandalous happenings of the evening... there are some things that just cannot be recounted on my blog anyway. Let's just say that for a large amount of people, "Study Abroad" seems to be code word for "DTF." Oh, so classy...  ;)

Night night for now,

Jet-set Cupcake