3 days of class. 4 days of weekend!

Life is like a novel...

Our first week of school is over! Yeah, that's right, after three days of class, we're back to the weekend! My, what a rough life! :-) This week was pretty easy. Most of the classes were spent doing introductions, covering the syllabus, etc. Even though this was not necessarily a "normal" week of classes, I can already tell a huge difference between UPV and MSU. First of all, UPV is so much more laid back than MSU. MSU has you make your class schedules months in advance. At UPV, you don't have to finalize anything until halfway through the semester, so if you want to try out classes and then decide, you can. It's also not only possible but normal to schedule overlapping classes; you just skip one and go to the other. Most classes at MSU are mandatory. Classes at UPV consist of two parts: "practica" (lab) and theory. You're not required to go to theory; it's all conveniently posted on the internet for you. You are, however, required to go to practica. However, practica is basically a time set aside for you to do your homework. That's right; you get class time to do your homework, so "home"work doesn't really exist here in Spain. Another advantage of UPV is that you don't have to buy textbooks; it's all either online or in the library! Finally, classes at MSU give tests about every four weeks. That's not the case here in Spain. You have one test: your final. That's kind of a scary thought; that means a LOT of your grade relies on that final, but the professors have assured us that if we do the assigned work, the finals will not be hard! Plus, one class already informed us that there is no final -- yeah! :) Oh, and if for some reason you would fail a final, you can actually retake it. Of course, if you're not ready to take the final when the time comes, you can just delay it. Is that not crazy?? That is SO unlike Missouri State!

I'm taking 12 hours total. I have Spanish Regional Economy, which is basically a history of Spain. Then, I have a Spanish language class, English (mi favorito!), Hypertext and Web Design, and Intro to Multimedia Productions. Those last two probably don't sound very fitting for me; they sounds more like something my brother would take. However, I think they're going to be useful! The Web Design class isn't necessarily about building webpages, although we will. A lot of it has to do with creating organization throughout websites. I do like organization, and this is the class that doesn't require a final! As for the multimedia class, I have to have something like it for my major, so whatever! Plus, our friend Billy is in this class with us, which is probably going to make it much more exciting!

While it does appear that there are a lot of perks about UPV, I do miss a few things about MSU. Of course, I miss Scholars House, my home away from home! I also miss the Bear Line, which is MSU's bus system. I never used the Bear Line at Missouri State because the campus isn't large enough to really need it. However, UPV is HUGE, and I often find myself wishing there was a bus system to make going from one end of campus to the other. Seriously, it's about a 25 minute walk, which isn't the best if you have to be somewhere in a hurry! I also miss free printing. You have to buy "print cards" here that let you have 28 print-outs for 2 euros. I guess 2 euros for 28 print-outs isn't too bad when you remember that you don't have to buy books, though!

As I said before, it only take us about 5 minutes to get to UPV, but the walk across campus is a bit longer. They are doing construction on the edge of campus, and every time we walk by, the Spanish men whistle at us. It's sort of amusing, but then we remember our history with creepy men, and it's not so much anymore! Whatever. :)

We started our job today. It was amazing. We got paid $15/hour to sit around and talk in English to this 15 year old girl, Natalie. She is going to London in July, and she wants to perfect her English beforehand. She's already really good! We just talk about whatever, which turned out to be beneficial for Emily and me because we were able to ask her about Spanish politics, Las Falles, normal Valencian weather patterns, etc. She taught us a lot, and we shared our native tongue. It was neat! Plus, her mom was super sweet! We're really blessed to have this little job. How do I always end up with such jobs? Remember the Sugar Shack? And the baby-sitting job? And the Y? There were all great, easy jobs (minus the whole making snocones bit) that I enjoyed! I'm blessed! This is also good experience for me, considering I want to teach English!

Tonight was our first attempt at using Valencia's bus system. We were fine on the way there. We found our bus stop, rode it to the stop, and got off at the correct place! We even survived the mean bus driver who felt the need to read the paper WHILE driving.. but whatever! Coming back was a different story, although we had a different yet still mean driver. We got on at the same place that we had been dropped off, and we rode it for a while, and then everyone got off the bus but us. The driver then informed us in very rapid Spanish that we would have to pay again to continue riding. Apparently we had gone to the end of the route, and in order to circle back around to our apartment, we had to pay another fee! We were so confused. This sweet little old lady behind us tried to explain it to us, but she, too, spoke extremely fast, and I seriously think she was partly deaf. She thought we had said "San Rafael" when we had actually said "Tramoyeres". Yeah, those don't sound too alike! She did give us these keychains, though, that advertise peace and cooperation for Valencia! When it close to her stop, she offered to let us get off with her and then drive us back to our apartment. Is that not sweet?? We declined, though, because our stop was right there! The Spanish people are so welcoming and friendly, though. Seriously, they shower us with kindness (minus the bus drivers!). It's a very warm environment.

As for now, IT'S THE WEEKEND!! How exciting! We're going out with Billy on Friday night, catching a movie with Abril on Saturday, and maybe hitting up the beach. We'll see. :) I'm just excited to sleep in tomorrow. My parents and Aaron will be here in a month from today!!! Time is flying by! Anyway, love to you all from Spain! y besos!!

...with the end ripped out.