So I haven't updated this blog in a couple weeks... It hasn't exactly been my priority. These past two weeks have been full of activity.
Last weekend everyone went to Carnival in Cadiz. It literally was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Una locura. Truely one of a kind. Carnival here is an interesting variation of Halloween in the United States: Everyone dresses up in hillarious costumes and fills the streets of Cadiz for one huge party. I especially enjoyed the fact that the girls here don't feel like it's necessary to dress up using as little fabric as possible as many girls in the U.S. do. Here the costumes were all unique and whitty. Some of my favorites included bull fighters, a group of pirates pushing around their boat filled with their booty (a shopping cart with their booze), a girl dressed up as a bush... I could keep going. I dressed up as an indian and spent a significant portion of my night standing on a platform shooting people with my bow and arrow. I made a lot of new friends this way. We left Sevilla at 9 p.m. and returned the next morning at 7 after a sleepless night.
This past week was also interesting... It was our second week of our normal semester classes and my first week of classes at the University with Spanish students. This was my week to try out several classes to see which one I would like to take. My first day (Monday) I attended a class called the Modern History of Spain, an art history class, a class about the people of Latin America, and a class about the political structure of Latin America (I went to 6 classes in total that day... including my regual classes... TOO MUCH CLASS! I was running around with no direction. Lost throughout the building all day... You all probably would have had a good laugh watching me...)
I really liked the first class (Modern History of Spain), partly because I was the only non-Spanish person in the room. It was a little uncomfortable at first... but I like feeling a little uncomfortable. The art history class scared me. I walked in 15 minutes late after being extremly lost in the University. The professor asked me to meet him later that day to discuss me taking the class; however, when I tried to find his office later... I failed. A big fracaso. It probably would have helped if I knew his name... O well. I didn't have any trouble understanding what the professor was teaching; however, since I really do not have any prior knowledge of art history, it probably was not the class for me anyway.
The other class I went to about the people of Latin America... well... let's just say that the subject of the course would have been really interesting... but I had trouble concentrating because I could not for the life of me figure out whether the professor was a man or a woman. There also were only about 4 other people in the class. Not enough Spaniards for me.
The last class I went to that day about the political structure of Latin America was really interesting... and the professor was very good looking... however, it met at the same time as another one of my classes at CIEE that I really like.
Tuesday I decided I would try out one new class: History of America in the Modern Age. I really liked the professor. He is an older man and he seems like he's one of those professors that has an incomprehensible wealth of knowledge. He told us that the text book that we need for that class would cost 90 Euro (although that may not sound like a lot for a textbook in the U.S., here text books only cost about 10 Euro on average). As a student in the class explained to me later... this text book is a real treasure. It was written by our professor along with a famous historian, Antonio Domínguez Ortiz. It is only availabe to students at the University of Seville (or at least legally... the professor told us about how one time when he was at a confrence in Ecuador... a group of students came up to him and asked for his signature. They handed him a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of his textbook. When the professor asked where they had gotten the book, they replied that it was sold there in a store).
Although there were about 10 other American students in this class, there were twice as many Spanish students (including quite a few good looking ones...).
After all of my visits... I was leaning towards taking two classes at the university. I really have the motivation, and I think I could definitely handle it. However, after a 1 hour phone call with my advisor at PSU... my intentions got a crushed. To summarize our conversation... a class at the university might not transfer as anything (Not many other PSU students have directly enrolled in a class at the university so they don't have an established process for transfering these classes).
Classes not transfering for me = a problem. With a double major and a minor and a semester abroad... I really do not have a lot of room to take classes that don't count as anything. After this conversation I was really stressed... for the first time here. What's funny is that it's not Spain that stresses me out... it's the thought of returning to the United States and having to organize my life. Spain follows a different rhythm... A rhythm that I could get used to. I wish it could be easier to make this work without penalizing my chances of graduating on time or taking an extremly heavy load of classes my senior year... Taking a class at the university with Spanish students is a once in a lifetime opportunity that will really enrich my experience here. At the end of my conversation with my advisor, she could tell that I was upset. She said, "Don't forget to enjoy yourself." I kind of laughed. I am enjoying myself more than she could ever know. Again, it's just the returning to the U.S. that preoccupies me...
After a minor break down and a long talk with my parents... I decided that I would still take a class at the University. I decided that taking 2 classes was out of the question (again... not because I couldn't handle it... but because it would further complicate my life upon my return to the U.S.). I chose the class about the History of America in the Modern Age. I've come to terms with the fact that it's just too complicated to try and make everything fit right now. For some things, it's just impossible to completly coordinate my life here with my life in the United States. The most important thing is that I enjoy my time here.
One of the many good things that will come out of me taking a class at the University... is that CIEE pays for me to have a personal tutor, someone from the class. Perhaps a new friend? Perhaps one of the cute spaniards in my class? : ) The director said I could either choose the tutor myself or ask the professor for a recommendation. If I choose the person myself... I will most likely choose one of the cute guys. If I let my professor choose... I will probably learn more. Hmmmm, haha.
It's also funny here... Spanish students often just don't go to class. After the first day (when there were about 40 students in total)... the second and third day there were only about 15 (including the 10 American students and a few Spaniards).
On another note, I met Ana's son this morning. He's about 40 years old. He seems like a pretty nice guy and he looks a lot like Ana.
Oh... and I had the funniest conversation with Ana yesterday. She was doing the laundry and came across some of my roommate's undergarmets. "Para que sirve este?," she said as she held up my roommate's thong... She proceeded to tell us how she asked her daughter and her grandchildren what a thong was. What was the purpose? For air? Me and my roommate pretty much died laughing.
I think I've now spent just about enought time writing this entry. I'm now going to go out and enjoy the sunny beautiful day. : )
No comments:
Post a Comment