Time is flying.

So it's Wednesday, which means I'm over halfway done with my school week. I can't believe how fast the time goes by here. I was talking with my friend Kat, who is here for the semester--and there is not a lot of time until the fall semester people leave--73 days to be exact. That's not a lot. I've been in Spain for 3 weeks, and I am so grateful I'm going to be here for the entire year. In case you're wondering--it's 220 days until I go home--which again doesn't seem like a lot. I'm having so much fun here. All the ISA kids are great. I'm going to be sad to see them leave in December--but then in January, we will get a new bunch for the Spring Semester, including 5 lovely Luther students!! :)

The first part of this week was dreary due to 'gota fría.' Gota fría happens when summer changes to fall and the warm waters of the Mediterranean interact with the cooler air. Result: RAIN...and lots of it. Valencia is a city of sunshine (over 300 sunny days a year)--but this week it was rain rain rain from Sunday night until early this morning. It didn't rain consistently--but you never knew when it would downpour. It put a damper on the first part of the week. Everyone was very sluggish in class, and the professors would complain about the rain and then insist that it only happens at this time of year. If you want to learn more--look it up on Wikipedia--though I must say the Spanish entry about it is much better than the English. Luckily, the weather is going to be better now--sunny with a high of 80 most days!

Classes have been good. On Tuesday, my Latin American Lit professor didn't show up, so after 30 minutes, we called the ISA office, and they said we could leave. It worked out well because then I was able to go to the ISA office and book our hostel in Athens. I'm heading to Greece late next week. We have a 4 day weekend due to holidays (5 for me-since I don't have class Thursdays), so I'm going to Athens with Ali and Sam. We're going to see as much of Athens as we can, and we may take a day trip to Olympia or to an island. I'm really looking forward to it. This weekend should prove to be a lot of fun. Marli will be gone, as she is heading to Munich for Oktoberfest with a few ISA kids. But it is a girl's birthday on Saturday, and we're going to visit the City of Arts and Sciences with ISA. Then on Sunday, I am taking a day trip to a town near Valencia that has a castle and a beautiful cathedral. I can't remember the name right now--I'll write about it once I go.

I have a little request from all of you reading this--I would really love to hear from all of you whenever. I know the "commenting" section is a little strange since you have to have a google (gmail) account or another specific account. But feel free to send me an email--I'm usually good at replying within a few days. My email is leppke01@luther.edu. Reading emails from people at home always brightens my day! So that's all for now. Hope to hear from some of you!!