An element of Valencia that I have really been able to enjoy so far is exploring the various museums all over town. On Tuesday I went with a friend to the fine arts musuem (Museo de Bellas Artes), where there were pieces from the fourteenth century up through the eighteenth, or so. Everything was so ornate, and especially with the earlier pieces that were hung in churches, all the frames were golden. My favorties were probably some of the paintings from later eras, but it was particularly interesting to ponder how the church artwork from centuries ago in many ways reflects how they thought about Christ and God, and why certain techniques were used. Later in the week, we went to an exhibit that was only pieces from Picasso, and while I can say I did like a few of the works right when we walked in, the majority of works on display were quite crass. Needless to say, it was a much quicker visit to there, but I am looking forward to several other places to explore in the coming weeks!
During class the other day, I made one of my first really big language mistakes; as we were discussing various occupations, I meant to say "panadero," the word in Spanish for baker, but what I actually said was a word for a type of very large drum, yet primarily is is used to describe large bottoms. Oops. Fortunately, I wasn't too embarassed, and it's because I have been trying to speak a lot (without fear of making mistakes) that my Spanish conversational skills have been improving quite rapidly.
In fact, my intercambio says that she there has been noticable improvement just in the last week! Through my school I arranged to meet weekly with a student from here who is studying English, so we can speak half of the time in one language and half of the time in another. The first two times we just grabbed coffee near the school, but this week she invited another one of her friends to join us, and it was really great conversation! Since they are both from outside the city, they were talking about what are some of the need to see places not too far from Valencia, and they even offered to take me and another one of the Americans to some of the sites! There were a couple that sound really great, and while walking or biking around the city is has been going fine, it would be great to have some friends with cars to get to some of the locations on the outskirts.
This morning I played my first game of fútbol here in España with my host brother and some of his friends, and while I'm pretty sure I was one of the worst players on the pitch, it was a blast and I'm looking forward to playing again! Hasta luego!