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Published: September 8th 2010
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The Building the School is In
it is right across from the police station I will use this post to continue to describe what my 'setup' is in Madrid.
While many students go to study abroad every year, for many it is implied that the 'study' part is just a second thought and tend to take very easy classes and usually only take them pass / fail, so that they only have to do the minimal work possible. While I wish this could be the case with my study abroad experience, Syracuse takes their their 'study' part very seriously. I am taking 5 classes plus a lab, which is considered a normal load. My classes are as follows:
- Spanish Grammar Class
- Ecology (with lab)
- Politics and Economics of the EU
- Origins of Christianity
- The World Economy
All the classes (with the exception of Spanish) are taught in English and all count toward my major or minor and I will receive credits back at Santa Clara for them. The best part, however, is that we only have four day week, which leaves 3-day weekends for travel or just exploring Madrid.
I have to say though, that I really am enjoying all my classes! All the classes are small (less than 20)
Inside the Main Lobby
Syracuse operates out of the 2nd and 3rd floors and we go by a first name basis with all the professors who are all experts in the field. My Spanish class is intense, but I know I will benefit greatly from it and my professor has a good sass and wit about her that makes the class fun. My Origins of Christianity professor speaks seven languages fluently (he is currently adding Hebrew to the list) and knows everything you would ever want to know about religious studies or the history of the development of humanity. He also can tell you the origin of any word (think of the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding except he actually knows what he is talking about), and half of our class is eye opening discoveries about words, names, or phrases and where they come from... so interesting! I am really looking forward to going to Rome with a trip that he leads there in October!
My World Economy professor is the most legit guy I ever met! He is the director of the entire SU Madrid program and simply makes things happen, seamlessly and with style. He is an economist who previously worked as an investment banker, so he knows his
stuff too.
My favorite professor by far though is my ecology professor... Fernando Montes. He is a really tall mountain man from the Spanish countryside with a handlebar mustache and full beard who loves nature! I have never met anyone so excited to teach before. He is ridiculously energetic and his entire class is a mix of random noises, charades, voice cracking exclamations of excitement, and fierce and lighting speed writing on the blackboard. Every single class ends with him dripping in sweat (like Bruce Springsteen at the end of a concert) he is moving so much and so fast. The hour and a half flies by. The other reason I am really excited for this class, is because we get to go on two field trips with him for our 'lab work'. The field trips consist of rafting, horseback riding, and lots of hiking (I need to buy hiking boots) to the tops of the beautiful peaks in the north of Spain! This class will really be a lot of fun!
There are only about 100 students all together in the program, so we are getting to the point where we at least recognize most everyone and are learning
THE Bulletin Board
This has all the announcements about upcoming events, class locations, and other information. every ones name. Probably about 80% of the students are from Syracuse with the rest from other partner schools. There are only 5 of us from SCU.
Our classes are in a very historic building that was the first building to hold classes for women in Spain and the first building to have cross gender classes with guys and girls during the years of Franco. Syracuse now rents out the building for the SU Madrid program. There are also programs from Standford, Boston College, and one other small university there, but we are by far the biggest program. Most of the classes take place on two floors. We also have a library in the basement, a cafe, and nice garden. A block away in another building is the computer lab and just across the street is the bookstore. The nice thing about our program though is that we don't have to buy books, but rather bound readers that are only 10 to 20 euros. It is a great system they have for us to save money. We are in a business district with lots of banks, businesses, and embassy's around us but with also a lot of great cafes and restaurants. We also have a Chino Store (think dollar store), that sells school supplies and whatnot for really cheap which is useful.
I will try to do a post about my host family soon. I am waiting until I can get some pictures of them...
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