the city that never sleeps! for real!

Ain't going down...

Talk about a rollercoaster day!! We woke up late today (Lucia was coming at 10:00am to pick us up, and we didn't get out of bed until right before that) and totally missed the free breakfast at the hostel. Lucia took us to the university, though, and we walked around it a bit. We went to the International Exchange office, but they informed us that we needed certain documents before we could proceed, so we will have to go back later. UPV is huge! It appears to be a lot bigger than MSU, but I guess that's to be expected since they have about 15,000 more students. There is a lot of modern art everywhere on campus, and there are also lots of palm trees!

After walking around UPV, we drove to the beach, which is very close to campus. We didn't get too close to the Mediterranean water because we didn't want to get sand in our shoes, but from a distance it appeared to be very clean and much bluer than a lot of the beaches I have seen in Florida and California. I'm definitely looking forward to going back when it's warmer!

We did a bit of apartment hunting before coming back to the hostel, but the one we looked at was fairly dirty and small. Lucia thinks we can find something a lot better, so we gave up for the day and decided to try again later. This was really disheartening; we had hoped to find a place to call home today. Needless to say, by the time we returned to the hostel, we were feeling a little down regarding Valencia. We took an extremely long nap (siesta!!), though, and I got to talk to my mom later in the evening, which helped a lot. There were also quite a few other people encouraging us via IM, and that helped the situation a lot! (Thanks, guys!)

Lucia was coming to pick us up at 10:30pm, and we were not really looking forward to going out, so we decided to pray before going. We prayed to have good time and feel better about Spain, and we also decided to pray for Em's computer. Well, God answers prayers!! When Lucia picked us up, we instantly felt better as we started to drive around Valencia. It's all so pretty! We were also able to communicate a lot more with her and her boyfriend, which helped tremendously.

People in Spain don't eat dinner until after 10:00 (crazy, I know!!), so we all went to McDonald's for dinner, where we met a lot of Lucia's friends. The McDonald's here are pretty much the same as in the U.S., but there are fewer menu options. They have all of the basics like Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, Chicken McNuggets, etc, though. They also have a euro menu!! Ha! I'm pretty sure the McNuggets I had to night were the best ones I've ever had, but maybe that's just because I was extremely hungry! We had a really good time at McDonald's, though. Lucia's friends are very nice and also very funny. We had a fun time teaching them English (tonight we taught them how to say cool, and we explained what "Oh my God!" means), and they taught us new stuff in Spanish. When we told them that we are from Springfield, they automatically thought of the Simpsons! They think that the Springfield in the Simpsons is factual, and they asked us if we have a Moe's bar or a nuclear power plant. Later, when I was trying to explain what profession my dad has (They didn't understand the term 'principal', and apparently I don't know how to say it in Spanish.), they asked what Simpsons character he is! How funny! They're also pretty amazed at American money, and I am impressed that they can recognize some of our presidents on the bills! However, everyone over here dislikes the current president, but as you know, I tend to agree with them, so that's ok!

We all headed to a bar after McDonald's, and Emily and I legally consumed alcohol for the first time. We also ate corn nuts (I don't think they have peanuts here!) and played Jinga. They had some American music playing in the bar, which was funny. Apparently most people don't end up leaving the bars until 5 or 6am over here, which I also find to be crazy! We, however, left a bit early - around 3:30 - because Lucia's boyfriend had to go to work early in the morning. Overall, my first experience in a bar as a legal adult was very fun. :-)

When we returned to the hostel, something amazing happened! While I took a shower, Emily talked to Aaron on Skype about her computer, and when she went to turn it on, it WORKED! It was amazing! God definitely heard our prayer and answered! He is so good to us!

As I'm sure you can assume, we are now much, much happier! It was very good for us to go out, and a working computer is always a plus! Thanks to everyone who's been supporting us with emails, comments, facebook messages, instant messages, Skype calls (by the way, if you have Skype, add me!), etc! You all have definitely helped us with our transition. We are very fortunate to have the friends and family that we do. I know that this will be an amazing experience; we just need to get through the initial overwhelming parts. Tomorrow (or I should say today! It's 5:45am!) appears as if it will be an exciting day. Emily and I are going to venture off on our own to explore Valencia! Hopefully we won't get too lost! Our hostel is right in the center of the city, though, and there is a lot to see around here. I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures tomorrow when I will feel free to be a super tourist, but for now I'll just leave you with a couple from tonight:

My bed in the hostel. Doesn't it look inviting...?

This is the [very narrow] street that our hostel is on! Isn't it cute?

McDonald's in Spain!! That is Lucia's boyfriend behind me and three of her other friends. One of them is named Aaron!!

Basically, happy 21st birthday to us! Ha! See the Jinga?

Anyway, considering it's 6am, I should head to bed! Adios!!

...'til the sun comes up.