May 16, 2025 – Friday
Friday was finally the day we had all been looking forward to. We went paintballing and go-karting back to back. Yes, both in one day. It was my first time playing paintball and I was definitely a bit nervous. The temperature was around 25 degrees and by the end of that one hour we had all basically lost half our body weight in sweat. The thick full-body suits and masks certainly did their part. It was way more fun than I had expected and we all got really into it.

Afterward we jumped into an Uber and headed to the kart track. We waited around for a bit and then got a super short briefing which basically just consisted of “don’t crash”. That was it. Then it was time to race. The track was fast and the competition was serious. It was an adrenaline rush from start to finish and honestly I’m not even sure which activity I enjoyed more. Both were amazing in their own way.

May 17, 2025 – Saturday
Saturday was a special day because my girlfriend finally arrived to visit me. We took it easy and enjoyed our first day together in Valencia. I showed her around the city a bit and we just soaked in the vibe.

May 18, 2025 – Sunday
Today started early because we had made plans to hit the beach. We found a quiet little spot where we could relax, soak up the sun and dive into the waves. Of course we both managed to get a pretty solid sunburn which we’ll probably regret tomorrow but it was worth it. After all that we grabbed an iced coffee along the promenade and just watched the people and the sea.

This week got a little more active again. Our schedule was actually packed for once!

Remember how I managed to get Tobias a spot as an intern? Well, we were supposed to start a new AI project together. The idea is to build a system that evaluates whether other algorithms are ethically sound and then „certifies“ them.
The only problem: we still haven’t received the proper documentation, even after asking several times. Hopefully next week will be more productive.

Friday was finally paintball and go-kart day! I was the mastermind behind the whole thing, so I decided to just spectate and take photos (I felt like a mum).
The paintball field looked straight out of a Counter-Strike map, and everyone was geared up in full-on paintball suits. It was hilarious.
Afterward, we headed straight to go-karting – also a hit! I’m honestly proud it all worked out.

On Saturday we visited the Hemisfèric here in Valencia to watch Secrets of the Universe. The whole venue felt super sci-fi – like, it messes with your sense of gravity. You’re sitting upright, but your brain is fully convinced you’re lying down.
As for the film… let’s say it wasn’t quite what we expected. We thought it would be full-on space facts and cool cosmic visuals. Instead, we got a history lesson.

Sunday ended on a high note, though!
We woke up early (again) to watch the sunrise, and this time we even managed to convince two other people to join us!

Weekend again. You know what that means? Forced fun with the squad! This time: Paintball and Go-Karting. Because nothing screams “team bonding” like bruises and whiplash.

Now, I only signed up for Paintball, because spoiler alert: I’m not Elon Musk and both activities cost more than my will to live by Sunday night. So we summoned an Uber—straight to the middle of absolutely nowhere. Like, „if you hear banjos, run“-kind of nowhere. Even the Uber driver looked suspicious. His GPS had a meltdown, took us around in circles twice, then onto countryside roads that screamed “turn around, idiot!”

When we finally arrived, our driver just… drove off into a field. No joke. Straight up went GTA mode. No road, no path—just crop chaos. If he disappeared forever, I’d believe it.

Next to our paintball arena? A horse ranch. But screw horses, we had battles to win. Big shoutout to Fanlai, our MVP who wrestled with the Spanish paperwork using Google Translate like a damn UN translator. And then—war.

Paintball was a blast. And by blast, I mean it was hella hot. The sun grilled us harder than the paintballs did. Under the uniform I was sweating like a chicken nugget in a sauna. Not in a sexy way. In a “my clothes are clinging to my soul” kind of way.

But guess what? My team lost. BUT. I had the most kills. AND the most complaints. Apparently, the other team’s walking around looking like a bag of rotten blueberries. What can I say? I inherited my aim from my mother. A woman who never missed when throwing shoes across the living room.

After that adrenaline-fueled shootout? I was DONE. Uber’d home again—except this driver thought he was in Fast & Furious 12: Uber Drift. Nearly yeeted us into a roundabout portal to Narnia. But hey, I survived. I’m writing this, aren’t I?

Once home, I had zero energy left. Shower? Please. I barely managed to change, refill my water bottle, shut off the lights, and collapse like a used piñata. I even went to bed early. A true war hero’s ending.

Moral of the story?
Don’t mess with someone who plays Paintball like a sniper with unresolved childhood trauma and something to prove.

xoxo Gossip Girl

More Gifs, Pictures and Videos, here on my Tumblr Blog: https://afib-in-spain.tumblr.com/

Monday, May 12, 2025
Monday was calm and easygoing. Work was relaxed and the weather was perfect for getting outside. In the afternoon I went for a jog all the way to the beach and back. A full 11 kilometers which is now my personal Valencia record. Felt pretty proud of that one.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Tuesday carried a low-energy vibe. I wasn’t really feeling at my best so I took it slow. The highlight of the day was definitely the afternoon when I played Golf With Your Friends with Thaddäus and another friend. We laughed a lot and didn’t take the game too seriously which made it even better.

Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Wednesday was another quiet one. I had no real plans and wasn’t up for any kind of workout either. After work I just took it easy. Shopping cooking relaxing that was basically the theme of the evening and honestly it was just what I needed.

Thursday, May 15, 2025
The day started with a light jog to get moving. Afterwards I headed to the university though there wasn’t much going on. I spent most of my time working on assignments for vocational school. Later in the day I met up with Apuan who’s currently visiting which was a real highlight. Always nice to see familiar faces around here.

My camera took the week off.

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Saturday, 10th May 2025
Still wasn’t feeling great on Saturday, so I stayed in and rested most of the day.
Sadly, there was loud music playing right outside the door. There was some kind of party outside apparently, but I tried to ignore it.
By the evening, I started to feel a little better, so I went out for a short walk just to get some fresh air.

Sunday, 11th May 2025
Finally started to feel more like myself again. The weather was nice, so I headed into the city center to enjoy the sun for a bit.
I walked around, and just took my time. It felt good to be out again after a few days stuck inside. 👍

Ah yes, dear degenerates of the internet – it’s your favorite accidental tourist guide slash chaos magnet, back with another blog entry from the land of tapas, techno, and total unpredictability: Valencia, Baby.

This time? I did something wild. I left the apartment. I know, right? Character development. But plot twist – I wasn’t alone. I dragged Thaddäus with me. Poor guy didn’t know what he was signing up for.

Our target? The City of Arts and Sciences – aka that futuristic dreamscape where you half expect Iron Man to swoop in and Da Vinci to fly past on a glider. Specifically, we were there for the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition. Yep, the OG renaissance daddy himself – painter, inventor, beard icon. I teased this trip a while ago, and look! Foreshadowing.

So, we get off the train and face a decision:
Option A: Bus. Crowded, chaotic, smells like disappointment.
Option B: A casual 3km hike through Valencia’s massive park like the broke but artsy adventurers we are.

Guess what we picked. That’s right, Cardio with a view.

Along the way, we encountered:

• Odd metal constructions pretending to be playgrounds,
• Men loitering at fences like they were auditioning for a true crime documentary,
• A skatepark, a fake river, and more trees than I’ve emotionally dealt with since 2003.

Then – boom – the futuristic mega-structure appeared. Picture the Sydney Opera House and a spaceship had a lovechild. That’s where the da Vinci exhibit was. Giant. Confusing. Beautiful. We almost didn’t find the entrance because apparently minimalism also means zero signage.

Inside? Pure nerdvana.
Da Vinci’s inventions, actually built. Gears. Gliders. Gadgets that would make Batman jealous.
And for the measly price of 9 Euros – which is like 2 overpriced lattes – we also got access to:

• A Bio-Dome exhibition with tiny animals (very alive, very adorable),
• A Space Showroom with holograms so cool I tried to high-five Saturn,
• And a „Feel Your Weight on Other Planets“ station, where I discovered I would weigh 0.97 kg on Saturn’s moon. Weight Watchers could never.

To seal the deal? I made a montage for my Tumblr blog, slapped on some emotionally manipulative background music, and voilà – instant art.

So yeah, if you want to combine historical geniuses, galaxy-brain science stuff, and a solid leg workout – this place? 10/10 would recommend. Just skip the bus.

Until next time,
Your part-time tourist,

Jacky

THe cool Video i teasered? here to find on my Tumblr: https://afib-in-spain.tumblr.com/

Not much happened during the week, but I did finally take the lead and organize something fun for the whole group: go-karting and paintball for Friday!

Let me just say… trying to juggle everyone’s wishes and schedules is exhausting. I swear I always say never again, and yet here we are.
People had been talking about doing this kind of thing, but no one actually planned it, so I figured I’d just take charge. Shoutout to all group planners out there, I feel you.

Wednesday was cleaning day again! We’ve got a schedule (WHICH I ALSO ORGANIZED) where every „pair“ in the house has to do a deep clean every two weeks, which is honestly the bare minimum when eight people live under one roof. I still find it wild how some people barely lift a finger to keep things clean, but hey… to each their own, right?

On a brighter note – I managed to help another fellow trainee out! Tobias finally landed a placement in my company and starts his internship on Thursday. Super proud of him and also a little relieved!

Ah yes, the weekend. The sacred time when one expects peace, quiet, maybe some questionable snacks, and the existential dread of Monday creeping in slowly—not with a bang. But guess what? Bang it was.

Saturday, 8 a.m. (or was it 9? Time lost meaning): I woke up to what I assumed was either my death or the second coming of Pitbull—Mr. Worldwide himself had apparently reincarnated right outside our front door. But no, it was just the neighbors throwing a Spanish rager that made my walls vibrate like I was trapped inside a subwoofer. I wanted to enjoy my day, maybe do something chill, like not go insane. But noooo. DJ Fiesta decided to play reggaeton remixes that even Spotify wouldn’t dare suggest. And just when I thought there was hope—a few decent tracks hit—he ripped them away like my will to live. The beat dropped, and so did my expectations.

Fast forward to midnight, and the party still hadn’t died. But I sure had, spiritually. My room had turned into a bass-throbbing sauna of suffering. I wasn’t sleeping—I was time-traveling through the layers of hell, and apparently, this was Limbo: loud, sweaty, and filled with bad remixes.

Then came Sunday. Sweet, sweet Sunday. A chance to reclaim sanity. A chance to SLEEP IN.

But Valencia said: Nope.
Because BOOM—explosions outside our window. Not just any boom. We’re talking Böllerknaller-level boom. Like someone thought it was a good idea to recreate a Call of Duty intro sequence in real life. I woke up thinking I was back in Berlin… U8 line at 3am. Trauma. Absolute trauma.

And as if fate hadn’t slapped me hard enough, guess whose turn it was to clean the apartment? Yup—me and Flo. So while my soul was still crawling back from bass-induced purgatory, I was scrubbing toilets.

But wait. There’s more. The cherry on this crapcake?

The toilet seat was nasty as ever.
Because of course it was.
Note to self: Don’t have children. Not because I wouldn’t love them. But because I simply can’t handle another toilet seat incident. Ever.

So yeah. Weekend recap: no peace, no sleep, bad music, loud bangs, scrubbing toilets, and shattered dreams. But hey… maybe next weekend I’ll get lucky and only deal with a mild earthquake.

Fingers crossed.

xoxo,
The Queen of Bass-Induced Trauma

More videos and gifs for this blog on my Tumblr: https://afib-in-spain.tumblr.com/

Thursday, 08.05.2025
We had planned to go bowling on Thursday, but due to some scheduling issues, that didn’t end up happening.
So I decided to head into the city by myself and kill some time.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t checked the weather app before leaving, which turned out to be a rookie mistake.
Not long after I arrived, a heavy thunderstorm rolled in.
I just about managed to take shelter under a doorway before the sky opened up.
I still got pretty soaked, and to warm up a bit, I ended up at a kebab place where I ordered a “Spanish döner.”
Definitely not the best meal of my life, but it was alright.

Friday, 09.05.2025
Friday was a short workday, which meant we got home early.
I went out to grab some groceries and cooked myself a decent meal.
Later I squeezed in a good workout session, then spent most of the evening playing through a bunch of games on Jimmy’s gaming laptop.

Saturday, 10.05.2025
Saturday started the right way, with a proper breakfast.
Thaddäus and I talked about doing something outdoorsy and ended up deciding to climb a mountain.
We took the train to a nearby town, then grabbed an Uber for the last 8 kilometers to the base of the trail.
With no real plan other than „go up,“ we started our hike.
It turned into a fun little adventure with plenty of laughs along the way.
When we reached the top and got our picnic out, we noticed some dark storm clouds rolling in much earlier than expected.
So we quickly packed up and started heading back down.
Somewhere along the way, we took a wrong turn and got a bit lost, which added an extra hour to the descent.
To top it off, there were no Ubers available, so we had to jog the last 4 kilometers through heavy rain.
When we finally got home, we were soaked and exhausted, but a hot meal and a quiet evening made up for it.

Sunday, 11.05.2025
I let myself sleep in on Sunday.
The weather was hot, and I thought it might be nice to head to the beach.
No one else felt like coming, so I went alone.
I found a quiet spot, swam a few laps, and just relaxed in the sun.
The day passed slowly and peacefully, a perfect end to the weekend.

The highlight of the week? Our little weekend escape to Altea on Saturday!

It only took about two hours to get there, super affordable too and totally worth it. The town is gorgeous, with a beach that easily ranks among the prettiest I’ve seen so far. But it quickly became clear that Altea is definitely a tourist hotspot (especially for german retirees). Everything was a bit on the pricey side, and the town had this very polished, picture-perfect vibe.

I also found it super interesting how the town is built. All these winding, uneven stone streets that are admittedly a bit hard to walk on, but still incredibly aesthetic. There’s something about those narrow alleys and whitewashed walls that gives the whole place a peaceful, almost timeless charm.

We noticed a lot of empty Airbnbs though, which was a bit sad. You can really feel how much of the local life has shifted toward short-term tourism. Still, we strolled along the beach for a while and then made our way up the hill to the famous church. And let me tell you – so many stairs. Add the heat on top of that, and it turned into a bit of a workout. But once we made it to the top, the view made it all worth it. It was such a refreshing change from Valencia. Quieter, slower, and full of charm!