Whew... it's been a crazy few weeks. And I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I've posted anything. (Sorry to keep you all waiting! I'm sure you've been sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear the next chapter of my life in Spain ;) haha! only kidding!)
My excuses for no updates are as follows: We lost internet in out piso (which led to a very frustrating skype call with the familia and well, disconnection from the world for a bit), the university system is a bit different here (oh yea, and it's all in Spanish!) and it took some getting used to, my horario (schedule) for classes is terrible, and (my favorite excuse:) I've actually been having a life for the past 3 weeks... I hope you'll forgive me. :)
Also, today marks exactly two months that I've been in Spain. I can't believe it- the past two months have just flown by! ¡Me encanta Granada, pero necesito aprovechar mi tiempo aquí y viajar por España más!
Alright and now to pick up where I left off... (I've been so busy I unfortunately haven't even been keeping a journal, but rather messaging my lovely mama the details of my life via facebook. So I may include some excerpts from those messages to save time and update ya'll a lot quicker.)
(Sunday, September 25th, 2011)
This was the night before classes started in Spain. I ended up getting really nervous (of course) about catching the bus and getting to all my classes that Oscar was nice enough to walk with me to the bus stop just so I would know where it was. Then I returned to the piso and Juampa and I watched some tv before I went to bed. Juampa bought me a popsicle too! So sweet. They both kept telling me everything was going to be fine. I just met these guys and they are so nice to me. I swear something in the water is different here in Europe.
(Monday, September 26th, 2011)
FIRST DAY OF CLASSES IN SPAIN! I woke up and walked to the bus stop to catch the bus and found a mass of people waiting there at 7:50am. I managed to get on the first bus that left- thank god! We were packed like sardines, left people behind, and passed every bus stop along the way with tons of other students waiting! The city obviously wasn't prepared for school to start again. I couldn't believe it... and yet I could- I'm in Spain, after all. I went to 3 classes that day: Lingüistica española del Siglo de oro (Spanish linguistics of the golden age) at 8:30am, Psicofisiología Clínica (Clinical psychophysiology) at 12pm, and Historia de Andalucía de la edad moderna (Andalusian History in the modern age) at 7:30-9:30pm... talk about a long day! Every class in Spain is 2 hours versus the 50minutes to 1hour and 15min that I'm used to.
My thoughts about my classes that day (as messaged to my mother): "The linguistics class seems kinda boring and I will have three kinda long papers to write plus a final exam. I like the professor but don’t know how I feel about the subject matter. (I know you are thinking ‘I told you so’ but classes in Spain are not as interesting as in CA and I had to pick something!) I’ll probably keep this class…" Funny cuz I actually ended up dropping it! :)
"Then I had Clinical Psychophysiology and… I may decide to drop this class. I’m really worried. But then that means I’m not taking a psych class this quarter!!! And I don't like that. There are 3 professors for the class. The main professor (who is the second best shrink in the field right now!) introduced the class for about 10 minutes and then left to let a different professor continue explaining. I couldn’t understand the second professor very well. I did manage to catch that we have 3 classes a week for one hour each and that we are also going to have ‘prácticas’ (like labs) during the week as well but that they will post the schedules for that later… so that worries me too." I'm still in this class and actually enjoying it. It is pretty science heavy (which makes it a bit more difficult for me), but it's very interesting. Sometimes I get lost in class because the professor talks super fast, so thank god for the textbook! Also I met a nice girl in class who transfers her notes onto her computer and she is sending her notes to me. So nice and really helpful. (I've read 90 pages of a psych textbook all in Spanish!!... Sorry to brag, but I'm pretty damn proud.)
After my psych class that day I went to Lauren's piso with some friends (Megan, Sara and Courtney) for lunch. We had sandwiches with turkey, avocado, cheese and tomato! yum! It was fun to get together for lunch. I actually ran into a TON of americanos from our program the first day... we were everywhere! haha
I survived day one!
(Tuesday, September 27th, 2011)
Second round of Spanish classes. I had another class at 8:30 this morning and knew to leave earlier for the bus. The first class was Teatro español: texto y espectáculo (Spanish Theater: Text and Performance), then psychophysiology again, German!!, and Historia de España en la edad moderna (History of Spain in the Modern Age- basically a lot of Franco stories). Within about 15minutes of the History class, I immediately knew I wanted out! No way, no how, would that class be possible. The professor lectured on the first day and the entire class looked like they were writing small books as notes. Uh-uh. I decided to turn and run (well not literally of course, but my friend Jenny and I did make a pretty rapid exit as soon as he announced we could leave.) I also decided, after testing out every class, to drop the linguistics class. So now I'm taking Psych, Andalusian History, Spanish Theater/Lit., and German. As for my other three classes that day:
"I think I'm going to like the Spanish Theater lit class- won't be a fav, but the work doesn't sound tooooooo terrible. Only bummer about that class is that its at 8:30am... but oh well.
I actually liked my psych class today! I understood more and he used a powerpoint which helped a lot I think. I went up to him after class today and introduced myself and asked him a few questions I was worried about. He asked me where I was from and then said oh, okay we can speak in english and I was like 'no no no, necesito practicar!' haha it was an automatic response! I prolly should've been a little less excited in my reaction, but he was still very pleasant and spoke spanish with me. So that's good. I'm going to take it for sure.
Then I had German! wow... I was so scared. haha... but I think I understood more than some of the spaniards... actually I know I did. haha!! I freaked out before class a little because I realized, as an advanced class, I was prolly gonna have to write something in german today for her to read. (And I have forgotten so much! I need to go buy a dictionary!) But I managed to write 8 sentences about myself in German and then talked to her after class. She also speaks english, of course! (Crazy Germans... they speak every language like its their own... not an accent in sight. For the most part.) So I told her my situation and she told me it was probably going to be a bit difficult just because I'll be learning through Spanish and thus dealing with 3 languages at once but she read my little paragraph and said, 'oh yea, you'll be fine. The spaniards tend to have a low understanding of the language anyway.' hahahahaha!! And later, a boy turned in his 8 sentencecs and she goes 'oh nice... three words in each sentence.' haha so I feel excited. Also I met a few people in that class- and they are all Spanish so it should be fun! Sooooo excited! Hearing German just made me happy."
I actually liked my psych class today! I understood more and he used a powerpoint which helped a lot I think. I went up to him after class today and introduced myself and asked him a few questions I was worried about. He asked me where I was from and then said oh, okay we can speak in english and I was like 'no no no, necesito practicar!' haha it was an automatic response! I prolly should've been a little less excited in my reaction, but he was still very pleasant and spoke spanish with me. So that's good. I'm going to take it for sure.
Then I had German! wow... I was so scared. haha... but I think I understood more than some of the spaniards... actually I know I did. haha!! I freaked out before class a little because I realized, as an advanced class, I was prolly gonna have to write something in german today for her to read. (And I have forgotten so much! I need to go buy a dictionary!) But I managed to write 8 sentences about myself in German and then talked to her after class. She also speaks english, of course! (Crazy Germans... they speak every language like its their own... not an accent in sight. For the most part.) So I told her my situation and she told me it was probably going to be a bit difficult just because I'll be learning through Spanish and thus dealing with 3 languages at once but she read my little paragraph and said, 'oh yea, you'll be fine. The spaniards tend to have a low understanding of the language anyway.' hahahahaha!! And later, a boy turned in his 8 sentencecs and she goes 'oh nice... three words in each sentence.' haha so I feel excited. Also I met a few people in that class- and they are all Spanish so it should be fun! Sooooo excited! Hearing German just made me happy."
I also managed to go for a run today... my first run in Spain and it felt oh so good! However, my days are so long here that I didn't go for a run until about 9 and thus didn't eat dinner until about 11. But in Spain, that's pretty normal for dinner time. (I'm used to it by now.)
End of day two, week one.
(Wednesday, September 28th, 2011)
Another day of classes but without having to wake up at 8:30am this time! Whoo! Also, Oscar moved out of the piso today, which means I moved into my room, and Emanuela, my Italian roommate, moved in! She is lovely. Her brother was also here for a few days to help her get settled. Both are very pleasant and even took me out for Tapas tonight! Emanuela is working on her Thesis here in Spain, so she is not attending the same university as I am but rather working... and also, she doesn't speak Spanish!! Yep. Haha So we mostly spoke in English cuz her brother doesn't know much Spanish either. They speak english really well. (As of now... well into October, she has learned a lot. Lucky Italians. They've got the advantage of Spanish being very similar to their native tongue. She is still learning, but she only speaks spanish with me... and occasionally Italian. Looks like this year I'll be learning Spanish, german and Italian! I love my life here! Speaking a every kind of language to be understood. I do need to focus on Spanish though... and German. So far I've only learned bad words in Italian haha of course!)
My package that Mama sent me also arrived today, but I wasn't in the piso to pay for it, so I had to wait until Thursday to go to the post office and pick it up. History class was scary today because I couldn't focus and barely understood anything! It's so terrifying to sit through a class when you just can't think and therefore can't understand a single thing! But things have gotten better since... just wait til you hear about tomorrow. :)
(Thursday, September 29th, 2011)
Today was a fantastic day! Words don't even describe the happiness I felt in myself and in the world around me. I woke up and caught the bus to get to Cartuja (the name of my campus) and two girls sat next to me on the bus with the same german book as me. So I asked them (in spanish of course) which German class there were in. Turns out they are in mine! We talked the whole way to campus and then they told me we'd see each other later. So cool! Then went to my Spanish theater class- where the professor told us that he was going to have surgery the following week and needs one month of recovery time, soooooo.... we just don't have class for a WHOLE month!! CRAZY, right?! We still have homework to get done though... But still, I'm not complaining about not having an 8:30am class for a month.
When I got back to my piso, I asked Giacomo (Emanuela's brother) and Juampa to help me with the package I needed to pick up from the post office, as my mother had advised me I would not be able to carry it myself. So the three of us walked to the post office (all the way across town) and waited forever to finally get my package (which I had to pay even more for even though my mama had already paid a fortune for it! Such a scam.) I still had another class to get to (German), and time was running quickly, so we decided to take the bus back to the piso. However, it probably would have been faster to just walk! The entire city has a traffic jam at around 2pm because everyone goes home for lunch with their families, and also, this bus goes all over the place before reaching our destination. The bus ride was fun
though- just chatting, in Spanish, Italian and English. We finally got back to the piso with my box of goodies- I was soooo excited to see what was inside. I wanted so badly to peak while we were on the bus. But I didn't- I was good. Here's a picture of Giacomo (left) and Juampa (right) with my box :)
By the time we got back to the piso, I knew I was already going to be late for German... so I quickly tore open my package with a HUGE smile on my face, squealed with joy a few times at the things I was able to quickly see inside the box, and then grabbed my bag to rush to German. ...I literally arrived running to the bus stop as the bus pulled away from the curb. *sinking feeling in gut* The professor for my German class told us on the first day that we are to be 'puntlich' as the German say, or punctual. ...And then the next bus was late... I think I was about 30minutes late, if not more, for class that day. As I was waiting I pulled out my spanish-english dictionary, and my german-spanish dictionary to memorize how to explain that my bus was late, knowing full well that she would ask me why I was so late upon arriving to class. (Yes, I have to use two dictionaries to figure things out sometimes.) She did, of course ask me my excuse for being so late, and I managed to spit out a german sentence with terrible grammar. She just looked at me, told me to be on time next time, handed me a worksheet and told me to sit down. Out of breath, I turned and found the girls I had met on the bus that morning and we helped each other. Thank god I knew a semi-familiar face to shrink to! *Enter Maria* Maria is a girl in German class that I sat next to today. She is incredible!! We chatted for a bit after class. She studies English and wanted to talk with me since I'm kinda cool and got that whole "I'm from Cali" thing going for me. She asked me how classes were going and I said... well fine, except for my History class which is really hard to take notes in because the professor just talks about history for 2 hours without using powerpoint ni nada. She then proceeded to ask me when the class was. When I told her that it is at 7:30pm on mondays and tuesdays, she said, "Oh, I only have class in the mornings, so I could go to that class with you and take notes for you if you'd like." ... ... *cricket cricket* ... ... I just stopped and looked at her, and said, "¿porque?" (Inside I'm thinking... I must have misheard you, you're not a history major and you don't need to take this class. Why would you want to sit through it and take notes for me???) She just responded with a "Why not?" and Bam!, we exchanged numbers and upon saying goodbye, said "See you monday in history!" I can't believe my luck! :D She is so sweet! I'm constantly amazed by people here in Spain. Pretty much everyone I've met is nice beyond belief.
I got back to my piso to find Oscar and Juampa playing video games on the tv in my room that Oscar hadn't moved yet. And I finally got to open my package! Inside was a 'montón' (a ton) of goodies: Halloween decorations, mini pumpkins, halloween candy (all my favorites: Reeses, peanut m&ms, red sweedish fish), cards from family with pictures to decorate my room with, ZIPLOC BAGS! (haha Can you believe those are pretty much unheard of here?! I don't know how people survive without ziploc bags...), more peanut butter, medicines, lotions, teas, ...everything! My Mama is the BESTEST to exist on this planet!! She thinks of everything! I was on such a high from opening this package and immediately began sharing my halloween candy with everyone. Thank you Mom and Dad, Bug and Nonna, Leighton and Andrea, and baby Noah!
That night I chatted with Emanuela and Daniel (my spanish roommate) in my room (since it's the biggest room in the piso and has a couch) and then we ate pasta made by Giacomo. Fun! That night we went out to a couple bars and got home late.
I'm in such a state of happiness all the time here. It's crazy to think someone could be this happy for so long, non-stop. But it feels so, so good. :D
Here are the pictures of my room now that it's mine. (I still need a few things to decorate the walls- definitely need to buy a cheap mirror... and maybe a poster. :)
 |
| My bed |
 |
| My room is huge! (and clean! :) haha) See the Halloween? |
 |
| Happy Halloween from Spain! I think I'm going to have a Halloween party to celebrate. My roomies like the idea. Thank you for the decorations Mama! |
 |
| more of my room... |
 |
| My favorite Halloween candies... yum! |
(Friday, September 30th, 2011)
Well after going out and drinking a bit (yes, 'a bit'. I got told many times during the night that I'm "not american" because I don't drink. Well fine by me. I hate that reputation anyway! And I fit in a lot better in the european lifestyle... most of the time), I slept until late today. Then I just cleaned up my room and packed for the weekend. Lauren had invited me to go with her to a Christian Camp weekend retreat with a group of university students. Lauren is very religious so she was totally in her element, and we had talked before about how I'm still figuring things out concerning what I believe in. I said I'd go cuz I was interested to see what I would learn and to meet more spanish students. Juampa also left the piso today, and Chris, the Italian boy (my fourth and final roommate), moved in. :)
So that was my first week of classes in Spain. Full of craziness. There is always something going on. Plus this week was extra crazy with all the moving in and moving out of peoples. There were always people in our piso- it was great! I loved feeling like I had people to come home to and know that I wasn't alone. Plus its just nice to have someone ask how your day was. You know, the little things that
count the most.
count the most.
So now I just have two more weeks to catch you up on! haha oh geeez... so much to type!
More on Bible camp in the next post. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment