Many words, cities and brands seem silly when you read them in another language.  At our child's first school party, I giggled when I asked another parent what we were eating.  Oh - Fartons she mentioned.  Of course, I had to explain why I was giggling.  Fart on.  Ha ha.  Ok - embarrassing that it makes me laugh. 

My sister-in-law laughed when she passed by the town Peniscola.  I didn't get it at first - but then I figured it out.  Penis cola. 

Today I passed a store with pajamas in the window and I saw the brand name that made my Mitch and I laugh a few weeks back.  Assman.  A brand of underwear and pajamas.  Get it?? Ass man. 

Yes, you see how cheap a good laugh is when you live in another country?

Have I mentioned the orange trees in Valencia?  We've all heard of Valencian oranges.  Well, here in Valencia, almost every other tree is an orange tree.  Sure, some of the fruit is large, some small, some clementines and some mandarins - but round and orange is the constant. 

From what I hear, these oranges are not edible, or at least not tasty.  There was a day when I would need to make that determination myself, but now I'm an old fart and a Mom and far too responsible for that.  Calling for all comments from you adventurous urban forragers who have dared to taste.

Can you hear me now?

How about NOW?

Yea.  I'm here riding my horse on Las Arenas beach in Valencia talking to you!  I'm also looking at my Internet Provider 1&1.com's boat out here in the water.  I've been having some email problems and their server has been down for service.  Can you believe it.  Now I know why.  They're out here practing for the America's Cup.  Uh huh....

All I could think about when I saw this scene at Las Arenas Beach today was that cellular commerical - is it Verizon Wireless or Sprint?  (Pretty sad that I can't remember the provider huh?)

So free out there on his horse in the water...and on his cell phone.  Then again, if that's the way he gets his business done, guess who has the last laugh.  I wonder if 1&1 is his email provider.  They have had a few problems in the past week.  Spending all of that server money on sailing huh?

I love the Thursday morning Cabanyal market.  I went this morning with no particular goal in mind.  I simply soaked up all of the linguistic nuances of what the vendors yell and looked out new and interesting items. 

I have begun to notice fallas costumes.  Not just the elaborate dresses for women and girls but outfits for the boys - white espadrilles with ties, smocks, scarves and bandannas.  I was told that before the Fallas, Benjamin would probably dress up like this at school.  Oh good!  I can't wait.  Of course, the idea of me spending the money on the costume and him refusing to wear it - well - I don't want to think about it :(

Something else caught my eye at the market and I immediately knew who I had to get it for.  I have a friend with a new baby.  That two month old baby sent me a telepathic message at the market and told me I had to get this for his mother.  A belated valentines gift. 

Dear Mommy.  Although I am only 2 months old, I wanted to get you the perfect Valentines Day gift.  I searched and searched and finally received a tip from La Leche League that your friend could help me score this gift in the Cabanyal market.  You are so generous with me now.  Will it always be this way?  This gift is for a year or two or three from now, when you may be considering cutting me off.   La Leche League actually designs this bra.  

Architects of Air is part of an amazing exhibition that is presented by VEO - Valencia Escena Oberta - an international festival of visual arts.  From February 14th -February 25th (2007) in the Rio Turia between the bridges of Calatrava and los Flores (right next to the Alameda metro stop), Levity II is open daily from 11 to 17h.  The hours are limited because this incredible inflatable cathedral is created using only natural light.  The inflatable structure was designed by the architect Alan Parkinson and was inspired by both mosques and cathedrals.  Tickets are 3 euros and we waited in line for about 10 minutes to enter.  The structure is designed with a fabric that is 1 mm thick - so we were asked to keep our children by their hands to prevent them from running and jumping.  I did my very best.  I will admit however that I think children were very energized by this exhibt and their natural tendencies - exhibited not so much by my own child but by every one I saw - was to run, jump and bounce against the structure.  Hopefully, no children will damage the structure because I do think it is an amazing experience for them.  One of the guides did tell us that the exhibit is most empty during the week around 2pm so I am considering heading back to experience it in a slightly different time of day. 

If you are in Valencia - please go.  It is truly amazing.

El rio (the river) - or el parque el rio Turia - runs through the center of Valencia.  It was a river until 1957, when, after a devastating flood that killed about 30 people, the city decided to divert the river.  Today, it is acre upon acre of gardens, grass, jogging paths and parks. 

We took a walk in the park on Sunday and enjoyed the variety of views.  There were soccer games in one portion of the park.  It was truly the United Nations of Futbol (Soccer)  We watched one game and it was Ecuador against Peru.  Another one was Senegal I think with another African country.  Of course, the players were all Valencian immigrants from those countries as opposed to players visiting from abroad.  There was also a Spanish team playing from Murcia against another European league.   I loved the backdrop of the old city wall as they played!

It was just another normal weekday morning, sitting at the table together eating our breakfast and then SPLAF!

What was that sound??? - - - What is that on the floor? - - Is the roof caving in???

Poor Ben thought there was an animal moving in.  We were mystified as we couldn't find the hole. 

Finally, mystery solved.

Our new heater was so efficient that it jostled that tiny amount of plaster covering the pipes.

Back went the picture.  We just learned that he happened to the owner 8 years ago and happened to our downstairs neigbhor.

Glad we're just renting :)

It occurred to me that because I write about the streets teaming with filthy caca, you may think that Valencianos are not clean folk.  So, I must affirm that they are indeed quite clean in many, many regards. 

Back home, I never see storekeepers washing their sidewalks with ammonia every morning.  In the supermarkets, the shelves are emptied, wiped down and restacked every single morning.  Shop windows are cleaned every single day.  Basically, everyone has a mop located within 20 feet of them and they are ready to whip it out at any moment. 

When it comes to children and their accessories, they simply sparkle.  I am embarrassed by the sight of our worn looking McLaren stroller.  (But with Ben nearing four, I refuse to buy another one!)  Every other stroller out there is covered with an elaborate, quilted cotton stroller cover that can be removed and washed.  The children's clothes are ironed, their shoes are shined and their hair is slicked back. 

Ben's longish hair sticking up all over the place, his newly ripped jeans and his overall, slightly disheveled look this morning prompted his teacher to say that Ben looked like a hippy.  Oh well, he was clean and his school zipper sweatshirt was recently ironed so I was able to brush that one off!

Another common sight here in the city are the 'sanidad' crews zooming around on cleaning scooters and machines.  On another occasion, I will share with the some pictures.  Why pictures?  It seems like  the Valencian cleaning crews are either middle aged men or "hot" (Mitch's word) young women who look like they model in their spare time.  This is no joke.  Mitch informs me every day whether the blondie crew or the brunette crew are out there. I must admit, with their long, flowing hair, it does look like they are biding time until accepted into America's top model or some similar reality program.  I promise to take some pictures and share them with you.   

Wow.  We haven't seen rain like this in Valencia since our plane touched down in Manises in something similar back in October.  It is cold (36F), windy, and there is lightning and thunder. The sound of the rain is intense as we live on the top floor of our building.   I know it's nothing like the weather the rest of Europe experienced last week, but hey, we've become accustomed to the good life here. Current Valencia weather link.

Monday was a holiday in Valencia in honor of the city's patron saint San Vicente.   (I mentioned him in a previous post as I was quite surprised to see his left arm on display in the cathedral!)

There were several parades in honor of the city's patron.  We caught one at midday near the Plaza de la Reina.  We especially liked the dancing!