Day 05

Day 05 – A picture + 5 facts about a special person in your life 

My dad.

From my confirmation - even though I hate this photo on my behalf, I still appreciate this so much because this is the only photo I have of the two of us. I also have it framed.

1. I lost him just after I turned 15.

2. He was the strongest person I know.

3. I was a daddy's girl, completely.

4. He would be 58 years old now.

5. Our names start with the same letter.

11.11.

The day of the most important person of my life. Father's Day.

picture from weheartit.com

I miss you more than anything.

All Hallows' Day

Today we think about all the people who are already stars, angels. We take a look at the edge of a cloud, we wish there deep peace. Someone important, someone precious is sleeping there, someone who left too early. That's why we wish for a bright night, because there - in the sky - he/she is the brightest star.

Publish this text, if there's someone you would like to see, hug or talk to but it's impossible.

mi último día en Valencia

...was yesterday.

I woke up before 9am, got ready, got finally make up stuff etc packed also, and then it was time to leave for the riding trip! The trip was called "ruta/excursión a caballo". We were about 50 persons participating. We left from Valencia at 10am by bus and it took about 40minutes to get to the stable. It was hot already then. We got to the stable - it was a biiig place with many buildings. Some horses were living in a big, cowshed-like building while others had their own, open-air boxes. There were also noisy roosters, hens and some weird birds. I guess we were all a bit confused when the stable staff people led some big, massive horses (that looked like draft horses) to the arena. I didn't believe we would ride those.

After all, we were so many persons that we had to go in three groups. For every group, there was a trail ride of approx. one hour. Sun was shining from the clear sky and there were more than 30 degrees, I guess many of us got a bit sunburned.. My friends went with the first group, I waited an hour and went with the second one. While the first group was riding, I went around the stable area (there were also cute donkeys!!) taking pictures, seeing places and hanging around with some other people. 

first group leaving

aww! how cute is that.

 It was boring to wait so I decided to be ready when the first group arrived so that I could get into the second group. Also, I didn't want to have a massive draft horse (because there were also "normal ones" haha) so I was one of the first ones in the line waiting for my turn. I chose one of the most beautiful ones from the horses. We went for a trail in a natural park, the landscapes were amazing. I enjoyed a lot. I could have stayed there longer! Btw, I almost forgot, I was surprised they didn't give us helmets at all. For the most of the people it was the first time riding, so I think it was a bit strange not to give helmets.. In Finland you wouldn't be allowed to get up in the saddle without a helmet.

After the trail we stayed there in the picnic area to eat while we waited for the third group. After the third group we left the place and we were back in Valencia at 4pm.

Then I had some time at home before leaving for the bus. I left at 5.30pm (my bus was about to leave at 6pm) and the goodbyes with my flatmates.. it wasn't easy. I just couldn't realize that I was leaving and not coming back any more. After all, it was my home for the last 5 months, and those were the people I was living (I think I still haven't completely understood that I'm not going back there..). We sat down for a moment and then I seriously had to rush. I had two suitcases to drag and one to carry. People were looking at me quite weirdly, because already the big, red suitcase is almost bigger than me! I went to a nearby taxi stop and there was NO taxes (usually there's always a line of them..) and I started to panic. It was already 17.35 and I was supposed to be at the bus station 10minutes before bus departure. I was waving there on the street for taxes but they all were occupied. I seriously got a bit panicked. But then, I was soooo relieved when one taxi drove around the circle and stopped in front of me. I said to the driver that we have to hurry and he drove quickly to the station - after all I was just on time. I got my suitcases in to the hold (without any complaints - each passenger was allowed to have one big piece/30kgs of stuff, I had a bit more.....). The bus was a "premium bus" (called supra economy), so we got free bottles of water, salty nuts, candies, headphones... there was also a wi-fi connection and small tv screens :-) nice! luxury bus!

last views from Valencia

The 4-hour trip went quite quickly. It felt sad to leave Valencia, and I started to realize the situation in the bus. It felt so.... weird. But as I said, I guess I still haven't totally realized that this is not just a vacation, I've actually started my journey back to Finland and I'm not going back to Valencia anymore. Maybe it hits me when I get to the airport on Tuesday morning.. I'm sure I will miss Valencia A LOT. I couldn't have chosen a better city for my exchange period. Valencia will always have a special meaning for me, as another home city. Even if I go there for a vacation, it will never be the same again, but still, it will always be in my heart. I <3 VLC.

VLC <3

So, now I'm in a hotel in Barcelona. This is called Hotel Catalonia Aragón and I have a very good impression already. I arrived here at 11pm (I can tell you it wasn't easy to get my stuff here by metro.... thank god there was a very helpful girl who helped me to get the other suitcase up the stairs from the metro station! btw, in those situations, I'm somehow able to speak Spanish, that's weird because otherwise I think I get nothing out of my mouth when I have to speak it..).

Barcelona, I'm here again <3

Today, I have quite a many things planned (as well as for tomorrow) so, I'm gonna go now! Have a great day, at least I'm gonna enjoy my last days in Spain, in my favorite city - Barcelona!

 Sometimes you just miss those times that you can never get back.

me wants.

(from weheartit.com)

I would give (almost) anything to get one of those^ right now. I've been craving those for many days now.. actually I guess it's been a few weeks since I first mentioned to J that I miss those so much. and the craving hasn't gone anywhere.. here in Spain they do have "los crepes" but it's not the same! I need to have one (or a few more) made by my grandma. boooo there are still 3 months to wait 'til I get them! what a horrible idea...

Another one: SALT LIQUORICE!! I already ran out of it. My sister should have brought more of it to me. sojdowijkanjkreds thank god I can get more of it when J comes. I already got (almost) used to not having it but now that i got the taste of it again, I need it! Come on Spain, why can't you fill your markets with salt liquorice already. How do these people manage to live without it (and Somersby apple cider)? (and my grandma's "crêpes" (LÄTTYJÄ!!)?) if they only knew what they are missing...

I still have a few things to write about.

1) The rain was absolutely good for Valencia. Everything looks greener and the nature got freshened up. The leaves are appearing to the trees (even those in our front yard, I already thought they weren't supposed to have leaves..). And it smells a lot fresher outside. As I mentioned one day, the weather collapsed the night between Monday and Tuesday (just after all the Fallas-things had been burned to the ground) but now it has normalized again. It's sunny and warm again.

2) My friends, relatives, friends' friends, randoms, everyone - please - leave more comments! I like them and it's always a nice surprise to see that someone has actually left a comment. It really cheers me up! You can write about anything. About the posts, about Spain, about your country, about yourself, about your dog, about the weather - anything. According to the statistics, I have quite a many visitors per day but I still don't get almost any comments :( Still, thanks to all of you for visiting, and especially to you who have left even one comment! I've answered to each one of them as a reply straight after the comment :) 

more comments would make me almost that happy!! (from weheartit.com)

PS. 19 days to go!

weekend

My weekend with the flu: school work, handkerchieves, sniffling, Pepsi, food, Californication, lollipops, nails, the Body Shop's Coconut products, frustration, sadness, happiness, laundry, Cosmopolitan (Spanish!!).

On Friday I had the morning classes (i HATE 8.30 classes, especially as I don't have any other classes that day, feels so useless to wake up so early just for those classes). I felt terrible (I think I had fever), it felt like I could pass out at any moment. I did a lot of school work that day and still didn't get those notes done (a powerpoint -presentation of 43 pages..). I also visited Mercadona and in the evening some Finnish people came to our place. I would have enjoyed the company a lot more if I hadn't felt so weak and tired. Even though I felt like that, I couldn't sleep until 2.30 or so. Blah.

Spanish economy ... <3

On Saturday I felt even worse. Everytime I wanted to get up from the bed I felt like fainting. Luckily the kitchen and the bathroom are right next to my room. I gathered energy for quite a many hours by eating and watching Californication (one season in one day .. nicely done!) and finally I got up and ready to go to Mercadona (I was about to run out of Pepsi.. and I also wanted something goood). Just a quick visit and then back to home, but I still guess it was good to have even a little bit of fresh air. Then I just continued with Californication.

On Sunday, today, I've been feeling a bit better. Okay I'm sniffling all the time but at least I don't feel like fainting anymore. I have still taken it easy, watching (surprise surprise) Californication and so on. I visited one store (the only one open on Sunday) to get more Pepsi (yea i know.. too addicted) and some chocolate. And I have to say that I actually liked the weather today even though it was very cloudy - still +24 degrees! Cloudy days are rare in here, so I've started to appreciate them more. And on sunny days, I always feel obligated to go out even if there wasn't anything special to do. Today, I didn't feel obligated to go there but I went because I wanted. Got it? I don't mean that I wouldn't like the fact that the sun is often shining but I just appreciate different types of weather in a different way now.

During these quite boring days I've had particularly much time to think about everything. Even too much time, I'd say. My thoughts could also be described as homesickness. Well it hasn't been as bad as during the first weeks here, but the point is that as I've been feeling weak and lonely, I've missed someone to take care of me and to be near me. I've missed my family, my friends and - especially - J. People I love. My own apartment. Someone to hug me. Or to just be near to me. As I said to J one day, I can't wait to see my sister - well of course because I miss her - but also because I just want to get a proper hug! Without even mentioning how much I'm waiting for seeing J himself..! After all, I'm quite physical person and I need the closeness. I knew it before, but not until now I realize how much I need that. M (sister), promise me you hug me tightly then (in 10 days we'll be there, in Barcelona)!

PS. There's one more thing I miss a lot..........

From weheartit.com

From weheartit.com; "down to earth"

Don't take that in a wrong way, I don't drink much, but the fact that ciders are not popular (or good..) here (and I don't drink beer) makes me miss my favorite cider a lot!!

Valentine's day + updating

"Life is Beautiful" // weheartit.com

I hope you all have had a chance to spend this day, Valentine's Day, near to your friends and the people you care about. For me, Valentine's day has never been a special day and I've never celebrated it in any special way. Maybe I've always taken it for granted that I have friends and other important people around me all the time. But today, it hasn't been like that.

"Cinderella in the Making | BELEZA" // weheartit.com

How many times have I heard people wishing happy Valentine's day today? Well, many times. Okay I've also done the same, but on Facebook. Not directly, face-to-face. To anyone. I've given zero hugs, zero kisses. I've got zero hugs, zero kisses. I'm too far away from my friends to hug them or kiss them, or even to wish them happy valentine's day face-to-face. Realizing that made me miss Finland quite a lot. It made me miss my friends, family and relatives even more. It made me miss J even more (how is that possible?). Even though Valentine's Day isn't such a big happening in Finland (compared to the UK, for instance) and it mainly emphasizes friendships, it has still felt a bit wrong that we couldn't spend our first Valentine's together with J. After all, it's called Valentine's day and well, it would have been so wonderful to do something a little bit special with my own Valentine.

weheartit.com

Okay, enough about Valentine's day.

I guess I haven't told about last weekend yet. Last Friday I had the morning classes of Spanish economy and nothing else. I was sitting there with one Finnish girl (from my home university too) and one Polish girl and we ended up talking about all these weird Spanish habits, like not going out (to a bar/nightclub) until 1 or 2am (why so late?!). Weird rhythm for all of us, but we decided that that night was the night we were gonna make it.

Well I got home before 11am and the time went sooooo slowly.

I took a nap.

I took a shower.

I ate.

I went to Mercadona (local market, like S-market or K-market in Finland).

And still - time didn't go any faster. I had a good mood about going out that night and I didn't wanna lose it. It just felt so frustrating that I was supposed to wait so many hours before even thinking about getting ready or going out.

Later I invited some people to our house for pre-drinks and so on, and eventually we were just hanging out and drinking here; me, Ksenia, three other Finns and one Italian girl. It was fun! We left the house after 1am (so late, I would have been ready to go a lot earlier) and headed to Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (<- link) to a nightclub called MYA. The night was fun, a lot of dancing etc. but I kind of lost my party mood at some point because of one incident (not gonna discuss it now). Eventually we took a taxi and came home at 4.30am or something like that. But the club was great!

My hangover wasn't bad on Saturday but I was just tired as I didn't sleep well that night (or should I say "that morning"). Well I'm not gonna even start to write about Sunday because you already know my opinion about Sundays. boring boring boring.

Yesterday I had the classes-i-love-the-most - French. But it wasn't that terrible because I met a girl from Ireland there. We can speak English there and help each other - speaking French is not the only way to survive anymore. My spring became many times easier and more comfortable! Thank god, you can't imagine how relieved I am. The teacher cancelled Tuesday's French classes (what a pity...) so I only had Marketing classes today. That's it.

And a small update: next week we are going to the Andalucia-trip! We are gonna see four cities: Jaén, Granada (two nights there), Sevilla (two nights there) and Cordoba. The trip lasts from Wednesday (or the night between Tuesday and Wednesday) 'til Sunday. Yay!

"tigers" // weheartit.com

"madmguillotine" // weheartit.com

"Placa de España" // weheartit.com

"Dying of cute" // weheartit.com

my first and last, my all and everything

You're the light at the end of the tunnel 

The beacon fire in the dark 

The glimmer of hope and truly the meaning of my life
I say this with all of my heart

You are the only one for me 

Year to year, in words and deed 

In all this chaos the trace of clarity 

You are the only one I see 

My first and last, my all and everything 

You are the one
 

When dusk falls and obscures the sky 

You're the shine of the Northern Star 

No dead of night can fade the brilliance of your light
I say this, holder of my heart

You are the only one for me 

Year to year, in words and deed 

In all this chaos the trace of clarity 

You are the only one I see 

My first and last, my all and everything 

You are the one
 

You are the only one 

In the heart of winter the comfort of the sun  

You are the one, my love

My love, you are the one

(Sentenced - You are the one) 

Happy Valentine's Day, J! You mean the world to me.

And also to all my friends - I love you, I miss you, I need you in my life. Without you all,  I wouldn't be the same.

heading?

Nothing special to write. I'm having a flu - thanks to the lovely fact that it's colder inside the house than outside <3... that's just so wrong!

Yesterday - welcome meeting at the university. got my timetable. Mondays - just 2 hours of school in the evening, Tuesdays-Thursdays - 2 hours in the "morning" and 2 hours in the evening, Fridays - just 2 hours in the morning. not too hard, except for the French course that I'm so not going to pass as my head is already messed up because of English and especially Spanish. talking to J via Skype for almost 2 hours.

Today - my voice was gone. I had to escape the coldness (inside the house) by going out. so i went for shopping. I skipped the library tour as i felt terrible when i came back from the shopping session. fever - i guess not, but my voice is weak and my throat is killing me. talking to J via Skype over an hour with my lovely voice.

That's all for now. I'm a bit upset because of this damn flu and stuff. Tomorrow I have to feel better as it's time for Valencia CF - FC Barcelona.

J, I wish you were here now. Miss you, a lot.

our apartment

So, now you get to see some pictures from our apartment.

our kitchen and the utility room (kodinhoitohuone):

bathrooms:

bathtub

the other (me and Ksenia's) bathroom

our living room and the hall:

the balcony and the view from there:

some laundry drying up there

my room and the view from my window:

and Ksenia's room:

And there are also two other bedrooms as there are four of us living here :) There you go.

***

Today hasn't been exactly the easiest one for me. I didn't get to sleep last night, as it was so noisy everywhere and my room was cold. There were some partying going on upstairs, at the pub downstairs and in "a park" right under my window (okay we are living on the fifth floor but you know what I mean) and the people were yelling and screaming and laughing out loud so I gave up on trying to sleep at 6am (I had slept maybe half an hour by then). In addition, the wind rattled (kolisteli?) my window and the curtain-thingy outside it so it didn't help either. after 8am I started trying again and slept maybe a few hours. So I've spent this day by being tired, being sad (because of tiredness), eating and watching Grey's anatomy.. Now I can honestly say that everything feels at least ten times worse when you're exhausted - today I've noticed it mainly by missing J. a lot. Today I even felt that I would give anything to be back at home with him as it feels like I've been a lot longer away than just over a week. I just can't even express how much i miss him right now :( <3

But hey, tomorrow is a new day and I'm going to sleep now so that I would be in a better mood in the morning as my school starts. at 10.30am we are having a welcoming meeting so.. good night to all of you.