Xátiva

Depresso is the feeling that you get when you when you’ve had too much espresso and can’t fall asleep-o.  I am not normally a coffee drinker, but I have found that it gives me the illusion of being awake and that just a cup makes me pretty and more likable. Spaniards use it to start their day, manage their day, and end their day.  It is also a tool to connect with friends.  While it gets me going in the morning, said habit is not serving me well at night.

Last weekend was a three-day weekend, or puente, which is the same Spanish word for “bridge”.  Normally a bridge spans water (an element essential for making coffee).  But bridges can also be thought of as connectors, or tools that help you get from one place to another.  An appropriate thought for this week as we finish up our Spanish classes and transition to the academic school year.  Also applicable when trying to bridge an excruciating gap of 10 hours between cups of coffee otherwise known as “night”.

We took advantage of the puente, and went to Xátiva (Ha-tee-va), a town that boasts of being the birthplace of two popes and the first paper manufacturing company in Spain.  Sounds like a snoozer, I know, but there is an awesome castle there that bridges two hilltops.  The walk up to the castle was tiring, but the view from the top got our adrenaline going.  There was also a street fair celebrating something, who knows what, but knowing Valencianos, probably just being awake.

  

This week we will transition from Spanish school to on-line school, from having international students as friends to having only Valencian neighbors, and from regular to decaf.  I don’t need much to motivate me right now, as I still feel alert to my surroundings and happy to be here.  But I do wish I could sleep.  I am confident that I would be prettier and more likeable if I did.  But morning will come soon enough, and I hope there is enough Nespresso left for one more cup.  If not, well, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.