9 March 2026

Between Fallas and my choir concerts, it was another full week.

One cool new thing was that my friend Travis hosted a language study group on Tuesday. We talked about vocabulary around the house. A lot were words I knew. And a lot was new. Mostly, it was connecting with others who are working to learn this language.

On Wednesday, Vicente and I met to go to the Mascletá. We met after my class and got there early enough to get really close to everything. The energy of these daily afternoon fireworks is palpable.

Afterwards, we went to lunch and shared a shrimp and seafood rice dish (paella-like).

I guess we liked it!

Thursday was our concert in Torrent (a town adjacent to Valencia). The crowd was small. But I think it went well.

On Friday, we sang at a church close to my house. It’s a beautiful sanctuary and it felt like a really spiritual moment when all of our voices combined in s way that I was proud to be a part of it all. Schubert’s Mass in German is a gorgeous work of music.

On a Saturday, Vicente and I went to Patrona, outside of Valencia and saw the caves. For many years (up until the 1960’s) people still lived in these caves under ground.

We also picked some more oranges that day. I love having fresh squeezed orange juice every morning.

Tonight (Sunday), I met some friends to watch the fireworks from the rooftop of their apartment.

Fallas continues until March 19. So lots more fireworks and celebrations to come.