Valencia

Hi guys!

How all of y'all doing?! Since it has been a while I posted something on this blog, I'll try to update you again. Everything here is going so fast! So much to do, to see, so many people to meet...it's great. At least being busy helps you not to think of home too much! But I do miss them of course.
The last weeks have been great, as expected...for starters I've been to Valencia for 5 days! I know a friend there who's there for his internship, so I could crash at his place. I picked (just by chance) a great weekend to visit. Why you ask? Saturday was the Valencian Independence Day with a huge fire works show at midnight and Monday it was a national holiday in celebration of Columbus' (Colón in Spanish?) discovery of America. A long weekend with tons of activities was the outcome!;) For example the Oceanogràfic, the largest water animal park in its kind of Europe, simply gorgeous! There's a whole strip of awesome modern buildings/musea there. By night there were the expected parties of course! Great atmosphere.
Even though it was fiesta all around I did notice a difference between Madrid and Valencia. Madrid néver seems to sleep no matter when and where you are at in Madrid. Valencia on the other hand is a bit less metropolitan, obvious since Madrid is 4 times its size más o menos...
Another thing I noticed is the fact that I am actually starting to think a bit in Spanish and respond in that language even when people talk otherwise...good development(y)!
After these 5 days of Valencia with some good weather (26 degrees Celcius and blue skies in October) it was time to go home..Home? Yeah, even though Madrid is so big it already feels like home, got a whole lot of friends there already and it is starting to feel very familiar. I guess the quote 'Where I lay my hat is my own, I am a Rolling Stone' is somewhat applicable.
On the academic part, I've got 3 Spanish courses and 3 in English. The English ones are very doable and the Spanish courses are a bit more difficult. Just because of the language...but also here I am seeing progress. I am quite confident all will work out just fine.
As mentioned before, fouadinmadrid.waarbenjij.nu for the people that want to read more (just in Dutch, sorry!). Hope you guys are doing well whereever you are and are a little bit more excited to expand your horizon! Get out your comfort zone and experience new things! That is the only way to go if you want to learn more, culturally, academically and just learning more about life in general. Last mentioned is probably most valuable.
Keep you posted!

Adiooossxx