Written by Bartolome Cisneros

Wrapping up week 2 in Valencia, the city is starting to feel more like a home as I settle into the rhythm of living. From the mundane tasks, like going grocery shopping, to social events, like going to the beach with friends, I can feel myself getting used to roaming around on my own, needing to consult a map less and less. It is a really cool feeling to be living in another place, knowing that your residence there is not permanent, yet still feeling at ease and comfortable in the day to day.

Last Sunday, my brother and I went with our roommates to their home town of Manuel where we celebrated my brother’s birthday with their family. In Manuel, Mar and Ana made a Valencian paella which is a traditional rice dish that consists of various vegetables, rabbit, and pork. Afterwards, we took a walk around Manuel as we walked off the massive meal we had just eaten.

On Tuesday, I was invited to attend the Club de Enofilos which is a weekly meeting where an invited local wine-making bodega brings a sample of some of their wines and the professors and research of enology (wine-making) ask questions and give comments on the wine. This week the invited vineyard was a small bodega from Alicante which was trying to revive the old, native wine grape variety called Monastrell.