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Some interesting things I have learned / observed from my classes that have stuck with me:

Political / Sociological: Our teacher was Carlos. Most women in the class had a crush on this 40 year old baldish guy. He explained the information in such a way you actually wanted to listen. He was a great teacher, and his tics were funny. He squinted his eyes when it was information he found profound or ironic that needed to be known, he would grab his belt when he was giving a summary, he would bite his thumb when he wanted us to really think about what it was that he said, and then rub his scruff-beard when he was trying to find the right words. It was pretty funny to watch, but also helped me to know what it was that I needed to write down.

As for information - Spain has a king who is the king of state, and really has 2 political parties. The leader of the political party makes big decisions. Spaniards vote not for people, but rather for a political party. Representatives vote according to the political party rather than what their constituents want. Most of the time, Spaniards could not tell you who their “representative” is, just what party they voted for. They also have to register each time they vote.

History: I absolutely loved this class. Our teacher was a wealth of information. He told history like a big story, with plenty of pictures. He drew the map of Spain so many times we found it endearing, so much so that if another teacher decides to try and draw a map we tell them they needed lessons from Paco! (Our history teacher). Paco is good people with a gentle spirit. You feel at ease with him there.

Paco really liked Carlos V, and it is amazing how he became emperor of most of Europe for a while. His grandparents (Isabel and Ferdinand and the man in Austria) all had multiple kingdoms, including the “New World” (Isabel)…when they all died, he became king, and thus Emperor of the majority of Europe, it just fell in his lap! Insanity I tell you. He travelled much as a king/emperor…his son however, never left the meseta of Spain (Madrid)…and was ruler over ALL the new world in Spanish possession. Insanity.

Teaching and Acquisition of Grammar: That the teacher completely and totally can just sit at their desk and say “dut, dut, dut” while trying to explain the activity. The activities were interesting at times.

Economics: I learned about where wine is made in Spain, that Volkswagen cars are made here, and that fish is a huge industry. As you can tell, not my favorite class.

Saturday morning we went to the Cathedral here and the Royal Cathedral. It still amazes me that the Reyes Catolicos are still buried here, and you can see their caskets. (Queen Isabel and her husband King Ferdinand…think Christopher Columbus) Also buried there are their daughter Juana “la loca” and her husband Felipe “el hermoso” and a grandson of Isabel and Ferdinand. Again, if you are interested in more details check out last year’s blog about the Cathedral in Granada. It is well worth seeing if you know it’s history, but after visiting a few Cathedrals here in Spain I recommend in order from most impressive on: Sagrada Familia - Barcelona, Mezquita-Cathedral - Cordoba, and the cathedral in Seville. Each is very unique and worth seeing. You can most definitely spend hours in each.

Saturday night a group of us decided to go to sing karaoke at a local place. We all sang in Spanish. It was a great wall breaker. Such a random group of people went that we all got to know each other a little better. Some of the quietest people in class were talking a storm on Sunday. It was neat to see people come out of their shell. Well, for week 3…who knows what that will bring!

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