“He was out in the hall buzz-sawing this random piece of wood…He fixed the bed perfectly,” Ehrlich says. “And I saw him at practice two hours later.”

And as might be expected, American football is nowhere near as popular as in the United States. Games attract only a couple hundred fans.

“When you say football, they think soccer,” Ehrlich explains.

In his first game, a 14-6 victory over the Badalona Dracs on Saturday, Ehrlich was ejected after unintentionally clotheslining a Badalona player.

“It was an accident,” Ehrlich insists. “The refs run a very tight ship around here.”

Ehrlich attempted to say “It’s not my fault” in Spanish but instead said “I don’t understand.”

“Everyone was yelling at me,” Ehrlich recounts. “I was like ‘Lo siento, lo siento, lo siento!’ [but] as soon as it happened I got the hook.”

Ehrlich will be forced to sit out next week’s game.

And, you may wonder, what is a firebat? Ehrlich classifies these mysterious creatures on his blog as “Iberian, heat-seeking, airborne rodent[s].” But the animals carry great meaning in the city as well. Valencia is famous for the festival of Las Falles, or “the fires,” a wild, five-day celebration of St. Joseph. Bats, on the other hand, are a part of Valencia folklore, because, according to Ehrlich, they would fly off and warn the city when an enemy was approaching.

The season ends in June, and Ehrlich may stick around for some time to see Spain and Europe. As for a career in Spanish football, he doesn’t think so.

“Maybe I’ll stay for an extra month,” Ehrlich laughs. “But I’m not ready to commit to being an ex-pat just yet.”

—Staff writer Charlie Cabot can be reached at ccabot@college.harvard.edu.