Wednesday, January 12, 2011

El Primer Día de Clases

For all those who do not speak Spanish - today was the first day of classes.  As I stated before I did not have class until 4, but I went to hang out with some friends at noon.  Let me start off by saying Gloria thinks I am CRAZY! I'll explain.  It was suppose to be 50+ degrees here today, therefore being from Wisconsin I thought it was more than appropriated to wear a long sleeved shirt and jeans to school.  As I am saying bye to Gloria she proceeds to ask me if that is all I am wearing to school, because it is cold outside.  I replied "No es frio por una persona de Wisconsin durante el inveranio" (This is not cold for a person from Wisconsin during the winter).  She laughed and let me go to school.  The sun was gorgeous today! I was sitting in one of the open areas at the school with some friends soaking up every bit of sun I could!

The first class I had today was Environment and Development of Latin America.  I was told to take this class by my major (Environmental Science) mentor, because it is not offered at the main SLU campus.  I thought the class would be interesting and it was offered in English... perfect.  Well I am sitting in the classroom waiting for the teacher and the person sitting next to me, Zac, talks talking to me.  I ask him how much Spanish he knows and he tells me he does not know a word of Spanish.  About 30 seconds after this conversation our teacher starts class and proceeds to only talk in Spanish.  I could catch most of what he was saying, but I was like I don't know if I can understand everything.  As the class goes along we find out that the teacher will talk in Spanish and the PowerPoints will be in English.  I thought I would be able to handle it for sure.  However, Zach and others in the class, sometimes including myself, had no idea what was going on.  Half the class wanted the class to be taught in Spanish and the other wanted the class to be taught in English.  Everyone understood English, but not everyone understood Spanish!  Besides the language issue the class seems very interesting!!  After class Zach went to talk to the head of the department and I saw him later and he informed me that the class was going to be taught in English and one of the main reasons was - many non-SLU students got the class approved by their university for being taught in English and not in Spanish and the difference might affect if the class would be approved or not.  That was one of the more excited parts of the day.

The second class and last class I had was History 112: 1600-present.  I was not looking forward to this class at all, but it shouldn't be too bad!  First we did not have to buy a book... saving money!! Second my teacher seems really cool and has a English accent... Success!!! Third the class only lasted about 15 minutes! Fourth and final, one of my friends I have met so far is switching into the class!  Overall first day of classes was a great success!

I also ate lunch on campus with one of my friends today, Elizabeth.  We had pollo y pasta (chicken and pasta).  Dad, I ate meat!! Be proud.  Dad is very worried that I will not be eating meat while I am in Madrid, because Gloria is a vegan, so I thought I would make a special point of stating that I ate meat :) Love you Daddy!!

To rewind a little bit my walk to school is very simple.  I walk to one of the main roads Av de Pablo Iglesias and then take a left on Av de la Reina Victoria and the a left on Av del Valle.  It is about an 17minute walk which is not bad at all. I would rather walk then take the metro on a daily basis.  However, I will probably think differently when it is pouring rain!!

Breakfast was fun this morning! I had toast with jam and an orange, but that wasn't the fun part. Gloria, Maya, and I had some nice conversation.  I was able to ask questions and it was just a really good time.  It was never awkward at all. :) So far I am loving everything that Madrid has to offer me.  I am sure I am in culture shock soon and I will have a breakdown of missing home eventually, but all is well.

This picture is taking from the trip yesterday to the Palacio Real.  Not really sure anything about it - SLU told us to get off the bus and walk around and they never said what anything was.  But it was still a good time!!

Well I think that is all for now.  Paz y amor. God Bless.

p.s. sorry if there are typos I don't feel like reading through it all. 

4 comments:

  1. Do work. Glad you had some meat for dad. Sounds like a good day! :) Glad we could skype for a bit. Sleep well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. haha i love you girl!!

    el palacio real is kinda a big deal!! its only you know.. the royal palace where the kings have been living for a long time and whatnot.. nbd.

    heres more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace_of_Madrid

    love you and miss you babe!

    ReplyDelete
  3. They just told us to get off the bus and walk around. LOL. You need to go shopping at the Plaza de Madrid, some really cool shops there. There is a jewelry store called Tierra there that I spent over 100E at!

    Ciara

    ReplyDelete
  4. First off, we all already knew you were crazy, now so does Spain. Secondly, St. Louis turned you into a southern belle. A real Wisconsinite would be whipping out their shorts and t-shirts if it got into the 50's in January! I have seen you plenty of times in shorts and a winter jacket :) I'm glad you are having a great time. Love you and miss you.

    ReplyDelete