Jamie Clift, The Rotunda's longtime features editor, is studying abroad in Valencia, Spain at the Institute of Spanish Studies dur ing the spring 2012 semester. Having stepped down from her posi tion as features editor for the time being, Jamie Clift has chari tably taken it upon herself to assume the role as The Rotunda's official Foreign Correspondent. In doing so, she will document her traveling experiences as an exchange student in each issue of The Rotunda.
When I left the United States a little over a month ago, I was under the impression that Valencia was a very warm place. It is. But the people who live here don't seem to think so — neither does Ashton. You see, there are a few key differences here that make what would be a very warm day back in Virginia seem like a very cold day in Valencia.
In many ways, Valencia reminds me of Florida. There are orange trees everywhere, we're really close to the beach and the climate is pretty similar. Last night, someone informed me that it hasn't snowed in Valencia in over 40 years. Like in Florida, many people in Valencia do not have central heating, and they are unaccustomed to weather below about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
The people of Valencia feel the need to bundle up at the slightest sign of cold. So, when the "Siberian Cold Front" descended upon us a few weeks ago, bringing a mild chill to the air here, there was a sort of widespread panic. Esperanza refers to February as "Febrero Loco" because of the random and crazy swings in temperature. And after seeing the way locals react to the slightest changes in temperature, I understand why.
Ashton is always cold, anyway, but here this is a much more prev alent problem. You see, our house mom, Esperanza, believes that having too many blankets is bad for your health. Ashton sleeps in a sweatshirt, pajama pants — which she had her mom send her in the mail — and three pairs of socks. I will admit that it gets pretty cold here at night, and I really miss the relatively warm rooms at Longwood.
When I first got here, I wanted to break out all of the spring dress es I had brought with me. It was so much warmer than it was at home. I was really excited, but our host mom's daughter thought I was crazy. In a mixture of Spanish and English, she explained to me that I couldn't go out dressed like that — people would look at me funny, judge me and know I was an American.
My host mom's daughter's reaction might have been a little harsh. There are plenty of girls here who wear dresses and tights with jackets, but I've avoided it ever since. I have a hard time wearing my heavy winter coat and jeans every day, but I do it for the sake of fitting in.
Right now, a sweater paired with my leather jacket is perfect for the temperature. This is a fine outfit, but I only have five sweat ers — three of which I brought with me and two of which I bought here, and I am getting really tired of dressing pretty much the same every day. I just wish I could have had a better idea of what to bring when I packed my bags back in January. I really have no intention of paying 20 Euros for another sweater, so I'll just have to wait it out until I see the Spanish girls wearing something similar.
The temperature here has changed more for me than the way I dress. Anyone who knows me very well knows of my intense dis like of math. But because I feel the need to know the temperature in Fahrenheit, I now do math every day. Celsius can be converted to Fahrenheit pretty simply. You take the temperature in Celsius and multiply it by 1.8, then you add 32.
Yesterday, the high was 20 degrees, so it was 68 balmy degrees here. Had it been 68 degrees in Farmville, I would have probably worn a sun dress and flip flops, but I wore a sweater, boots, jeans and a pea coat like everyone else in Valencia.
If you're planning a trip anytime soon, you don't have to be ill prepared for the weather like me. With my powers of 20-20 hind sight, I've stumbled across a website that takes all of the guesswork out of packing for a trip. Wearevertheweather.com will tell you what the weather is like anywhere in the world at any given date and will show you pictures of what the locals are wearing. It's a pretty useful tool.
For me, this is an instance in which a time machine would come in handy. I'd like to go back about a month and tell myself what I should actually bring. I can't complain too much, though. This has at least given me an excuse to do some shopping.
