1st day of class and 1st Rotary Valencia meeting

First day of class...it´s been awhile since I´ve had those first day butterflies! My classes run from 4-8pm Monday thru Thrusday, with labs on Friday. (I think a lot of Masters classes are in the afternoon to accomodate people who work.) There were about 35 people in the classroom, although people are matriculating still so there will probably be around 45 or 50. We also learned that roughly 300 people applied in the first application period, and about 50 students were admitted and 35 enrolled. I had no idea that it was so competitive! After a 30 minute introductory presentation about our Masters, and talking about the Thesis, possible internships, etc., we had 2 courses: Energy Markets and Regulations, and Introduction to Energy Technology.

Last night I attended my first Rotary Valencia meeting. They meet on Mondays at 9pm, and after the one hour meeting they eat dinner together in the hotel. Because I was coming from class, I arrived a bit late to Hotel Valencia Palace. The club has in total about 35 members, and 16 were present at last night´s meeting. After they read a summary of last week´s meeting and mentioned the bimonthly Rotary brochure that was distributed, I briefly introduced myself and then there was a very interesting discussion about their role in the community and what it means to be a Rotarian. A member brought up that, as a club, they should pursue small projects in which the Rotary name gets lost but rather focus on projects of a grander scale that have a big impact. A couple Rotarians were against this idea, saying that small things still make a difference and that large projects are often not feasible for a club of their size. It´s very difficult to collaborate with the 6 other Rotary Clubs in Valencia to contribute something large. After this, the oldest Rotarian in the district, Ignacio, spoke about his experience with Rotary and the history of Rotary in Valencia. He has been a member since 1980 and has held virtually all of the district positions except District Governor (because it requires the Governor and his/her spouse to travel to various clubs, and his wife was against this). He mentioned that friendship is the most important part of Rotary, and that eating together, socializing, and getting to know one another´s families should not be overlooked. For this reason, clubs that are too large lose some of Rotary, because the members don´t know each other. Ignacio also spoke about the type of people who are Rotarians, and the way Rotary is viewed (''Rotary is often thought to be elitist, and I agree- we are elitists in that we look for individuals who have the right qualities and want to contribute to the community.'') Anyways, he had some great insights that allowed me to see how the Rotarian spirit is very well alive in Valencia. The meeting finished late (around 10:45) and afterwards, they invited me to stay to eat dinner with them. I met my mentor/host counselor, Carlos Cases, who is a Civil Engineering professor at UPV as well as the President and other members. Our dinner consisted of gazpacho with bread, then salmon baked with olive oil and peas, and finally fruit for dessert. I was able to catch a ride back to Benimaclet with a member Vicente, who just like the other members was extremely welcoming and told me to ask for help whenever I needed it. Anyways, I´ll be making a longer, more formal presentation to the club in the next couple weeks. More to come!