Classes begin...

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So this is hopefully the most boring entry I will ever write because who really wants to hear about class? Most people I know (hi rachel) don't even enjoy going to class! Now that I write that, I hope I didn't send my blog to any of my professors.... but I digress.


So classes started last Monday. I am taking four, one required by Duke, two more through Duke offerings, and one through the Spanish host university (Universidad San Pablo CEU).

The core class is called something like Spain in the 21st century, and our field trips (like those week-long ones to Galicia and Andalucia) count as part of our class work, which is basically awesome. The class is also taught by the director of our program (affectionately referred to as Ramos) and we all (43 of us) attend the class together.

My first Duke-offered class is called Spanish Communication and basically I get to show up and learn whatever I want. There are three/four other people who show up for the class when they want but are not taking it for credit. The other day the professor came in and asked us what we wanted to learn and we were like HOW TO ORDER FOOD AT A RESTAURANT THAT IS EDIBLE and so she literally spent the whole class telling us about customs for eating as well as drawing and describing different food. So hopefully I will learn a lot in this class, plus it counts for my spanish major.

My other Duke-offered class is called Recent Spanish Cinema and you guessed it, is about movies. One day a week all we do is watch a movie, although I found out that can be not as awesome as I had anticipated. The movie we watched this week was called "El día de la bestia" (The day of the beast) and was a horror film about a priest whose best friend was a huge heavy-metal fan who go to find this TV guru, and then all together they try to contact the devil because it is Christmas Eve and the priest believes he has solved a cryptogram which says the anti-christ and the apocolypse are coming that night. At the end though you realize that they were on drugs the whole time and it is unclear what actually happened in the movie. I knew when writing this that I simply couldn't do it justice and that probably nobody would believe me. Seriously, that was for class.

My last class is at the Spanish university and is called Sociología de la empresa which translates as The Sociology of Business. Sounds interesting for a Sociology major with a Markets & Management certificate, right? Well, sort of. The main problem is that I don't understand pretty much anything the professor says, but she gives us great print-outs of her powerpoint slides so I at least have some notes to go off of. If nothing else, it will be a great opportunity for me to get some work done. I also met two Spanish students in the class (Isabel and Bella- no seriously Angie, I think this is really her name) who can tolerate my sub-par Spanish enough to help me figure out what I have to do for homework, so it should be okay.


So that is pretty much a summary of my life right now, just school as usual but with a little ( I mean HUGE) Spanish twist haha. As to my next adventure: Going to Málaga this weekend (a beach on the Mediterranean Coast) with Cameron Oddone! We leave tomorrow so hopefully we will have fun and I will get a tan so my señora will stop talking about how white I am. Until later thanks for getting through this long post about classes (kerry...), I know I am an uber-nerd. Don't worry, I'm in a 12-step program to combat it.

love love love
mere

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Comments

[kristi]

thanks
Again, thanks for sharing. Sounds like you are combating your awkwardness well in Spain! The whole time I read this I am imagining what it is like for you each day. So please bring home some pictures that look like what I am thinking. OK, thanks! Miss you!

[Jessica]

Yay!
First off, I can't believe that yall just started classes. That's hilarious. Midterms are killing people round these parts, and we miss you like crazyyyyyyyyy! I wanna see pictures, and keep us updated! Love ya girl, jess.