This Past Weekend...

Friday was the first day of classes, and I only had two. Both teachers said, "Enjoy your first weekend!" So I had absolutely nothing I had to do :) I love the feeling!

I went to vespers, and after that, everyone kinda just went back to the dorms to bed... I, on the other had, wanted to SEE something, since all I had seen was the airport and the campus. I decided to explore the dorm. I found out we have better laundry rooms here than at Walla Walla, and ROOF ACCESS!!! From the roof, I can see all of Sagunto, the Mediterranean, and the ruins of a castle on top of the mountain overlooking Sagunto. It was beautiful! I took pictures, but the internet is too slow to load them right now...

Saturday was church... of course :) We (Me, Anleah, Emily, Liz, Heather, Julianne, and Becka) accidentally walked out in the middle of the church service, thinking it was over. We had already stood up and sat down for different prayers about 7 times, and we thought it was over, this one time, because everyone was talking, no one was up front, and a whole bunch of the local high school kids were getting up and leaving! oops. We were all too embarrassed, or at least I was, to go back in, so we stayed in the lobby til it was time for Sabbath School.

For Sabbath School, they set up white, plastic chairs outside in relatively small circles. Different people lead out each group. It reminded me of small groups at my own church, and I thought, "What a great idea?! What if my church did something like this during the summer? The congregation would get to know each other soooo much better, and everyone would make new friends and be more connected." Isn't that what church is supposed to be??

In the afternoon, everyone wanted to take naps who didn't go to the beach... how lame is that?! Who naps on Saturday afternoons?? That's the one thing that's always been hard for me. Taking naps during the day, and waiting around. (OK, two things...) I got to talk to my parents instead of nap :) It was awesome! So much more refreshing :)

At 6, some campus group had planned a get-together including ice-breaker games. They thought only 15 would even show up, but it was more like 50... which was cool! I got to meet more people, which is what I love to do. After vespers, everyone hung out and we played tons of games, like Mafia and Ninja. It was actually super fun to see tons of high school and college-aged people all hanging out and having fun together. It's not something I've seen happen successfully at home, which is sad. Think about what a great impact both groups could be on each other!

Sunday, Daniel and I rode bikes to the beach. We invited lots more people, but the girls wanted to go to Valencia, and the guys wanted to sleep... at noon... whatever. So, we hung out at the beach, enjoyed the refreshingly WARM water, and then headed back towards the school. However, we made a stop at the information station, which, of course, was closed, and ended up finding the historical part of Sagunto. It is soooo pretty!!! I finally felt like I was actually in Europe after we walked the old, narrow, cobblestone streets and took tons of pictures. Total mileage on a bike with a horrible seat: 11 miles... :(

Every evening, starting last night, we have open gym! I played indoor Soccer. Yes. It was actually super fun! I never thought I would actually enjoy it. I can honestly say I now want to put effort into understanding the game and improving my skills.

Mondays are my longest school days.. I start at 8:50, and finish at 5, with a few Spanish breaks... haha 30 minutes here, 25 minutes there... you know :) So actually, it isn't that bad.

The first morning I was here, Chandler said, "Every day you spend here you will like it more. It kinda grows on you." The first day, I never thought that was going to be possible, but he was right!

I love this place :) ...Even with the naps and waiting around :)

Day 1

Fun fact: Recaro makes airplane tray tables. How cool is that?

I literally RAN through the airport to make all of my connecting flights. Quite entertaining. I slept pretty well on my flight from San Francisco to London since I took benadryl. If not for that sleep, I would NOT be functioning right now...

I arrived at the Valencia airport a little before 9pm. Unfortunately, my luggage didn't arrive with me. There was definitely a sinking feeling as I saw the gates close at the baggage claim without my bags. I was tired, and very worried about actually having to SPEAK Spanish. I was so good at avoiding the speaking part of Spanish through all of my classes in the US, but now I had no choice. Too bad I didn't take more advantage of it when I had the chance. I pulled out my pocket dictionary (good thing it was in my carry-on! I almost packed it. haha), looked up the word for suitcases, which is "moleta," and proceded to inform the only official-looking person in baggage claim that I didn't have my suitcases. He told me to go to the Iberia baggage claim area, which was through the mysterious automatic sliding doors... "Dang It!" I thought, "Now I have to talk to more people in Spanish." I wanted to cry. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I wasn't going to have all my stuff for my first day of school, and the guy at the counter couldn't track down my bags. He specifically stated that he had no idea where my bags were, and that someone would have to find them tomorrow.(Well, maybe no specifically stated, since he was talking in Spanish and that was a rough translation...) I gave him the information he needed, sat down at the Cafe I was instructed to stay at if someone from the college wasn't there right then to pick me up, and waited. I couldn't figure out how to use the phone, and there was no wifi. After an hour and a half of waiting, hoping someone would be there before the rest of the airport shut down, Samuel and his wife, Katarina, showed up. My life got soooo much better from that point on. We waited for another two hours for some more people to get in, since they missed their flight from Madrid. Eventually, we decided they weren't coming, and left.

I got to the school at about 12:30am, today... I was exhuasted, but couldn't make myself go to sleep! I think I slept 4 hours?? I'm completely running on adrenaline right now, trying to keep myself awake!

We had to take a multiple-choice test this morning, and I actually surprised myself. I remembered more of it that I thought I would! We'll see if the test says the same thing. . . We took a tour of the campus, which was very helpful for me, since I had no idea where anything was. My roommate is very helpful. She's from Mexico and wants to teach Spanish, so she has come to Sagunto to perfect her Spanish. She speaks a little English, I speak a little Spanish, and we get by :) Or, you know, just smile and nod... haha.