Sofia Somewhere

I left Pamplona Monday evening at around 11 for Valencia. The bus ride was about seven hours, and I tried to sleep during most of it. We arrived in Valencia at 5:30, and it was pretty cold. My cousin Andie picked me up. I haven’t seen Andie in probably more ten years, as she lives in Spain, and it was good catching up. We drove to her place, and went to sleep. I woke up at about nine, thanks to the loud firecrackers going off every five seconds. We had breakfast together, then I showered and changed, and met her husband, Miguel. At about eleven, we went out. Andie lives to the west, out of the center so we took a taxi to the Old Quarter, where all the craziness of the festival is.

I'm going to Valencia tonight so I won't be able to upload pictures from the Javeirada. But here are a few... Some pilgrims on the side of the road. Me with a background Lunch break! (L-R) Lorena (Valencia), ShanShan (China), Bea (Madrid), Carmen (Sevilla), Ofelia (Taiwan), Me

I woke up at about 7:30 on Saturday morning. I showered, dressed, and prepared my food for the day. Then Bea and I went down and met up with ShanShan and Carmen from the other apartments. We walked to the parroquia (parish church) together. There we met with two other girls, Ofelia and Lorena. There would be plenty of pilgrims from all over Navarra, and some parts of Spain, and the parroquia helped organize buses for us to take. The complete pilgrimage is actually 50km, but we opted for option B: to ride the bus and then walk 23 km. There was also a third option, in which you only had to walk 5km. Anyway, by 9:00 everyone was in the bus, and ready to go. We prayed a little first and the priest explained about the Indulgence Plenary. Since it is the Pauline Year, the Pope has granted to the Archbishop of Navarra to grant the Plenary Indulgence to those who, aside from doing to the pilgrimage to Javier (birthplace of Saint Francis Xavier), 1) prayed for the Pope 2) went to mass and 3)

Though it snowed last week here, today was very sunny (hopefully, for good). It was perfect weather; I was able to leave the house in a t-shirt and a light sweater. No more coats and scarves! By midday, there were more students outside than usual, lying on the green grass, basking under the sun. Though the sun was out, it wasn't very hot; it was still cool, about 11 degrees. Though I was really excited to experience winter, I'm glad it's over. I enjoyed the cold and the snow, but I don't think I could live in such weather all year long. I'm enjoying the changing of seasons. I arrived in Europe during the heat of summer, but by the time I arrived in Pamplona, the heat was dying down. Autumn came, and the leaves were truly as pretty as I imagined. By the middle of Autumn I started wearing sweaters and then coats. Early winter arrived, and I added scarves, gloves, and boots to my daily wear. The whole winter I bundled up, dressing in more layers than ever. Late January

I’ve had to get out my hat and gloves last Thursday because it SNOWED in Pamplona. Snowing in March: proof of Pamplona’s weird weather. I enjoyed the snow for a while, but having no umbrella, I got pretty much soaked and cold. Other than that, everything’s been pretty tranquil here. For the second semester, I’ve enrolled in five courses: Spanish II, Spanish Linguistics, Introduction to Global Communication, International Relations, and French. My Spanish Grammar and Linguistics class are pretty much like the ones I had last semester. In Spanish there are two translations for the verb “to be”: ser and estar. What’s interesting is that there are some adjectives that change meaning when you use them with the other verb. For example, ser lista means to be smart, while estar lista means to be ready. And the list goes on and on… It’s actually pretty interesting though I do get confused sometimes because I just go with the one that sounds right. International Relations I have in S