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Published: December 16th 2011
Last week I made the Cádiz version of Christmas cookies with my family. Then are called rosquitos and tasted a little bit like homemade doughnuts. We had a lot of fun making them. The days that followed were gruesome, jam-packed with studying for finals and writing final papers. Last Friday was my first final, the written and listening section of my grammar course. There was a lot of material and not a lot of time to spend on each section, but hopefully I did well! I will find out my grade on Monday. On the following Monday, I had my oral exam for my grammar class. I was extremely nervous, because no matter how much I study grammar, I seem to choke when I have to speak out loud. My professor showed me two pictures and I had to describe them. The pictures were of women and going off of a topic we had discussed in class this semester, I knew she wanted me to talk about women in the workforce and how women’s roles have evolved over the last couple of decades. I was pleasantly surprised to hear her say that I received a high grade with perfect marks in
grammar usage, vocab and fluidity! To understand how exciting this is for me, I will tell you that last year during an OSU final, I didn’t even get full points for reading sentences straight off of a paper because I lacked fluidity.
Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate, I had to finish what ended up being a nine page single spaced paper contrasting six versions of a modern ballad in the oral tradition in relation to their geographic location. If you were bored just reading that sentence, think about how boring it was to write that paper. This teacher is really hard on the foreigners for grammar mistakes too so I spent a lot of time making sure it was up to par. When I wasn’t working on my paper, I was studying for my Literature of Oral Tradition final. Now that the final is over, I feel comfortable telling everyone that I was seriously concerned I might not pass the class, because the material is so unique and difficult to understand. We were still learning new things up until the day of the exam, because the final is in February for everyone but the Americans who have
to return to the states before Christmas. Our professor also decided to change our exam the day before to an oral exam instead of a written exam. Her accent is so strong and has been the most difficult to understand out of anyone here so I was extremely nervous. Fortunately, she tested us on a holistic level and didn’t make us do any of the newer things because we haven’t had any practice (THANK GOODNESS). That being said, my studying all semester paid off and she was extremely pleased to find that the girl she thought was clueless who sat in the front row every day looking confused actually learned every bit of material that she had been teaching. She said I understood everything perfectly and that she was going to give me an extremely high grade on the exam! I was so shocked that I almost fell out of my chair. I had mentally prepared myself for a failing grade because I just didn’t understand how to successfully do the commentaries we had been going over a few weeks before the exam despite how hard I tried. My family cheered as I told them over lunch because they knew
the class had been a struggle for me from the beginning and that I had been really worried about not passing. They said there weren’t worried about it. They have so much faith in me!
I finally got to relax yesterday after the exam was over and I didn’t even know what to do with myself. All semester I have had homework or studying to do and for the first time in months, I could just enjoy Cádiz. I walked around the streets, which are decorated for Christmas with lights. My favorite plaza has set up an ice skating rink, a merri-go-round, inflatable slides, etc. It looks like a carnival! I am really going to miss this place and even though I miss everyone back home, I am not ready to leave my family and the culture here. I have learned so much and my biggest fear is that without practice I will regress and lose my Spanish speaking abilities. I am going to miss walking everywhere (I am actually afraid to drive because it has been so long). Mo left our family last night so he could go back home to Washington. When exchanged cheek kisses (I would
like to bring that European characteristic back to the states), I could feel that his face was wet from crying. He feels like this is his family and his home just like I do and he was really sad to leave it. Josefa said she was okay, but I could tell her eyes were watering too. She said she never tells her kids “goodbye”, but rather she says “see you later” because she hopes they will come back to visit her. The majority of them have and continue to do so. Sorry for the sad moment, for now I am just going to enjoy my time I have left here and make the most of it. I will update my blog again soon!
Briana, if you are reading this, I want you to know that I am very proud of you and I am sorry that I cannot be at your graduation tomorrow. You have worked hard and I cannot wait to celebrate with you in person on December 23
rd. I miss you and love you.
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