Hola, Sueca. Mucho gusto.

This morning, I woke up around 10:00, got ready, and then at 10:40, headed on up my street, Calle Sapadores, across Peris y Valero, across Gran Vía, and to the junction of Colón and Xátiva, where I walked over to the Estació de Nord (Valenciano). Here at the train station, I met up with Macy and Jessica. We bought our Cercanías tickets to Sueca! We were going to visit our sweet German friends, Anne, Muriel, and Anna, and also the Germans who were born and raised in Spain, Robin and Phillip (who is actually out of town).

So we hopped our train and rode the 30 minutes out to Sueca. When we got there, sweet Anne was waiting on us at the stop. We walked around the town some,

seeing such sites as the Ayuntamiento, the most prominent Catholic church (of the 3) in the village,

and the mercardo.

It was all so beautiful. It was really neat getting to experience small town Valencia as opposed to the big city I'm used to.

Next, she showed us their house. The organization that they are here through basically provides everything. The house was given as a gift by one of the older women in the church several years ago. And it is SO nice!

We went to buy food at the market, and then came home and made lunch. Anne cooked the chicken and rice,

Jessica made the vegetables, and I made the fruit salad :)

We also had, for dessert, nut bread and oreos. It was absolutely perfect.

Everyone in attendance included Jessica, Macy, Anne, Muriel, Anna, her boyfriend Shiggy (he's German and I have absolutely no idea how to spell his name... but it sounds like that), and Robin, Phillip's little brother. We sat down to eat around 2:00 and didn't disperse until 4:30! I love this!

After la comida, we sat around the living room and sang worship songs while Anna played the piano and Robin played the guitar. It was so ideal.

Anna, Muriel, Macy, Jessica, Anne, and me

We left around 7:00, and got back to Vtown around 7:30. From there, J&M and I explored some of the parts of the city around the train station, then headed home.

For dinner tonight, we had broccoli and fish! Also, we had pastel de calabaza, again, but she made it different tonight. Instead of a texture closer to flan, it's more like a cake we would have in the States. It was absolutely delicious. I had a piece, and then another baby piece.

After dinner, I came up to my room and worked on my second project a little bit, and then at 10:40, left to meet up with Jess and Mace at our meeting point, the Aragón bridge. It should be noted that there are about 20 bridges all across the river, and each one has something notable about it. For example, the bridge at Alameda is the most famous and has a huge white arc over it. There is also the bridge of flowers, that is completely lined in GORGEOUS flowers on both sides all year long. The Aragón bridge is the second closest bridge to my house, on the city side. So we meet there.

We headed on to Café del Duende (translated: Café of the Genie) to see Flamenco! This is one of the best places in the city to go, from lips of my host brother César. It's the real thing - real gitanos doing what they're best known for doing. It's a really intimate setting, and the audience, minus the three of us, were all Spaniards. It was legitimate. We stayed there until about 2:00, listening to Spanish guitar, gitano songs, and of course, watching the Flamenco dancing.

It wasn't what I expected. The main dancer was a man, and when a woman did actually dance, she wasn't all dressed up in what you imagine Flamenco dancers to look like.

It was so enjoyable, because you could almost feel their passion as they danced and sang and played. You could tell this form of art is intrinsically weaved in their blood and bones. I was mesmerized.

After the show and hanging out for a bit, we all went home. What a day well spent.

Queriendo ser una bailarina,

Leigh