First couple days of school, beach, bikes!

Today was my 2nd day of classes at school.  Everything went really well, changed some of my classes around and now I love all of them.  The professor really makes the class though, as I've learned the hard way that a good or bad professor can really affect your overall experience in a class, no matter how much you want to learn the material.  But that's not a problem now because each one of my profs is passionate about the subject they're teaching and energetic-- that way I won't fall asleep due to my lack of a full night's sleep every night.
I want to sleep more but I have too much energy to lay in my bed or even stay in my room.  It's bizarre, I'll come home and lay down maybe around 3 (siesta time), but about 10 minutes later tener ganas de [want to] explore the city or meet up with friends and head to the beach or grab some tapas at a cafe on some back streets.

I have now explored the center of the city-- which was the original city of Valencia.  I learned in my cultural conversations class today that Valencia used to be a walled fortress during medieval times and there were extravagant entrances with small doors that allowed entrance.  But for this reason the center of the city has tiny streets that zig zag in every direction, which makes navigation from one side to the other nearly impossible without getting lost at least twice.  My own professor (a native Valencian) even said that he avoids going through the center of the city at all costs unless he has some time to waste and patience to get lost.
The university led group walks through the center of the city around the Plazas and cathedrals a couple days ago (maybe 2? I'm losing track of time) which was a great experience.  We also learned of the history of everything we saw which was a great plus.  While on this tour, we walked by the oldest cathedral with a tall bell-tower.  I was told that this is the best view of the city, so will climb the 20 flights of stairs soon and post a pic.  I also would like to attend mass at this cathedral on Sunday.

I have so much to say about so many different things that have happened to me in the past few days I don't even know where to start.
I guess the most recent big achievement of mine was that I rode a Valenbisi bike today for the first time!! [these are rental bikes that are stationed throughout the city and are a great way to get around-- especially because there are bike paths from one end of the city all the way to the beach].  However, I do live far away from the beach, and it took Dan and I more than an hour to bike all the way back to our apartments.
It was great to walk in to a freshly made dinner on the table though.

---- side note: my Spanish is definitely improving.  I was able to translate for some of my friends to some Spaniards, and also communicate for my English friends in Spanish to the professors at my school today.  One of the main things about this school is that we are prohibited from speaking one word of English while indoors.  If we are caught 3 times we'll be sent home, so they're not joking around!  Therefore-- people have been motioning their intentions to me and I've been trying to get their message across.  I learned today that most of the professors can't even speak English.  This had not occurred to me, as I figured they were teaching American international students, they'd surely be bilingual as well.  Wrong, most of them are all natives to España and can only speak a few frases (phrases-- I'm mixing my English with my Spanish!) or words.  Pero a mi me da igual, I don't care/it's all the same to me-- because my intention is to speak Spanish all the time, and not English.
I've been yearning to meet Spaniards my age and become more integrated into the culture, but this will soon become reality as los intercambios [exchanges] are about to start!! This is one of the programs offered through my university in which we are matched up with a Spanish student from the University of Valencia and do fun things around the city while teaching them English and them helping us with our Spanish.  I'm really looking forward to this and hopefully will be paired up with more than one (as I requested).  A friend of mine said this was the best way to meet Spaniards and make real friends here, so it's something I've been looking forward to since the moment I arrived.

I would like to finish this post on a positive note-- mainly- that I LOVE SPAIN more and more each day and am already wishing to spend the second semester here.  I love the way of life, the culture, the language, even their hours of eating and food.  My madre said there's been a great amount of students throughout the years that have gone home to be with their families in the US for Christmas and then returned to Spain in January for the 2nd semester.  I've been trying to organize my credits and requirements, and have come up with the conclusion that if I spent the 2nd semester here I could major in Spanish (instead of just minor) and take the rest of the credits I would need, as well as complete my specialization in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.  Then I could always come back for the next semester to finish my remaining 3 classes to graduate.  No pasa nada, la vida es demasiada corta para vivir infeliz [life is too short to live unhappily].
PLUS-- la festival de las fallas is the biggest festival in Valencia and is held each year in March.  In the Fallas, hundreds of committees are in charge of building an artistic monument of cardboard and wood with images and scenes that satirize and criticize matters of life, which are later burned at night (everyone's said it's an amazing sight).  My professor also nonchalantly mentioned that each of these floats costs millions of dollars to construct, and they are all burnt by the end of the night-- with a laugh.
Además (even more), I'd already know the city and wouldn't spend so much time 2nd semester getting lost, and would gladly help the new students and show them around.
sooo- that's half of my argument.  =)

alright well that's enough blogging for today.  {but I do attempt to blog more often, as my composition professor has inspired me to write more often, and never think that you've completely finished writing.  Honestly, each professor has inspired me in a different way, and I am glowing with happiness before, during, and after each class- because they are teaching things that I've been trying to learn on my own the past few years}

alright everyone, time for me to shower and attempt to get all the sand off of my body before being it into my bed with me (something I plan on avoiding, as it obviously makes sleeping a little uncomfortable!)  I'm going to meet up with some friends in about an hour so I've gotta run,
se cuiden todos!! que se vayan bien! [Take care everyone, I hope you're doing well!]

-Meghan