July 20 (day 22)

Looks like the homestay came and went. I am now on the bus that will take us to Barcelona.

I definitely learned a lot during my time at the homestay. What I thought was going to be an easy blend into the Valencian culture, ended to be a lot more difficult. I had no idea Valencia had its own separate culture that was so different to the parts of Spain I knew. They're a different people with a different language, different food, and different customs. It was like visiting another country.

The Valenciano language was what especially made it difficult to blend in at first, but by the end of the 16 days, I could understand most of it if I paid close attention.

Throughout the course of the homestay, I came to realize that my host family members were very regionalist. They corrected me a few times saying that "Valencia is not Spain". To them, the government in Madrid is a corrupt dictatorship that should give Valencia its independence.

In the end, I think I established a pretty good relationship with them. I hope I taught them a bit about my culture as they did to me. Now I am off to one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in my opinion: Barcelona.