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Published: January 20th 2007
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Well, it's been about a week since my last entry, so I will probably have a lot to talk about! Last Sunday, we went to Plaza Mayor which is a huuuge open square between a bunch of buildings. On Sunday mornings, they always have vendors out selling old stamps and postcards, old coins from all over, original paintings, caricatures, and trinkets. Some of the artists' paintings were actually pictures of the Plaza Mayor, and we got to watch some of the painters painting. I bought a postcard and a stamp which both had pictures of Segovia, a really cool city that I went to last time I was in Spain. It turns out that Concha is from Segovia, AND we get to go there next weekend with our group.
On Monday, our classes started. I had three classes the first day, from 11:15 to 4:15. The classes are 1.5 hours long each, and it is really hard to pay attention the whole time! Tuesday and Wednesday I have two classes starting at 11:15, and Thursday I only have one class which starts at 1. Even though my classes are pretty late, I still have to wake up early to make
a lunch and get ready, plus I have to allow 1 hour for the commute! I'm taking 4 classes: History of the Spanish Language, Culture and Civilization of Spain, Cultural History of Spain, and Hispanic Literature. The first three classes are very similar so far, which could make them really easy; but it could also make them really boring. We'll see! We only have 15 minutes between classes, and there is no food or drink allowed in the classrooms. But we have a student room where we can eat and where people hang out between classes so we usually just eat our sandwiches in there really quick between classes. Our school doesn't really have a normal campus. There are only a few buildings, and some of them are like little trailers! Also, the library is very weird; apparently it used to be a residence for female writers and scholars, but it's not like a normal library and I don't know how I will find anything in there! Our senora told us that most universities in Spain don't have a normal campus like we are used to. Most of the students live with their parents still, or if they come from
another city or country, they get an apartment.
In my Cultural History class, there are three professors; one teaches art, one teaches literature, and the other is going to teach us society and politics. It seems like they are not very organized together because the first day of class they kept interrupting each other and changing what the other person was saying. Everyone was sooo confused as to what was going on! Plus, they gave us this history reading in Spanish that was REALLY hard. It took me like 3 hours to read 4 pages because I had to look up almost every word, and we were supposed to read 21 pages!! It would have taken me 17 days! It turned out that everyone in the class was jusst as confused, so we told the professor the next day. She said she wanted to expose us to University level reading, but I think it's pretty useless if no one can understand it!! The reading was about Francisco Franco and the Second Republic of Spain, which is somthing I know nothing about. But Rachel and I asked Concha about it and she said she doesn't like history because it isn't
impartial. She said the Republicans are the ones who write the history, and they fail to mention all the things THEY did wrong. Then she told us that during the time of Franco, the Republicans destroyed many many churches and that her grandparents' family was killed by the Republicans because they (her relatives) were very religious.
Oh, I also forgot to mention that on Monday a new girl moved in the apartment with us. She is from Wisconsin and she's studying here until June or so. Her program is really different from ours; she is going to live here for a month, and then she can decide whether she wants to get an apartment on her own or if she wants to stay here. I think she wants to stay here, but she said it is a lot more expensive than getting her own apartment. She seems really nice, and her Spanish is pretty good. She is taking classes at a different University in Madrid, the Complutense, which is enormous! And her classes aren't just with other Americans, they are regular university classes with mostly Spanish students. The nice thing about our school is that all of our classes
are with Americans, and the professors will slow down for us if we aren't understanding.
Tuesday night we went out with a group for Churros and Chocolate. It was pretty good, but when we got home and told Santiago, he said the place we went to was for tourists and it wasn't real churros and chocolate. He said he wanted to take us to a real Spanish place to get them for breakfast over the weekend. Thursday night we went to a futbol (soccer) game. It was Real Madrid vs. Bertis (a team from Sevilla). The atmosphere was really cool! First of all, the metro was PACKED on the way there. There were soo many vendors on the street outside the stadium, and I bought a Real Madrid t-shirt for 3 euro, and Mary Kate got a cool Real Madrid scarf for only 7 euro. The vendors also sell candy and peanuts and drinks so you don't have to buy them inside the stadium. The actual game was really cool. Our seats were really good for only 30 euro! We could see everything, even though we didn't always understand what was going on! For a lot of the game it seemed like the refs were calling fouls on Madrid but not the other team, so at one point people started throwing trash at them!! Then it was really sad because the players had to pick up the trash off the field so they could play. In this book I have, it tells you how to insult the ref in Spanish when he is making bad calls, so I tried one phrase. Then I just decided to say it in English ("Your Mom wears army boots") and apparently that was a good phrase because all the Spanish people around me looked at me and laughed!! The game was a 1-1 tie. When we got home, we found out that the other team actually won because their goal counted double since they are the away team. I still don't understand that part, and Santi told us that soccer in America isn't real soccer so that's why we don't understand! haha. One of our friends got a really close picture of David Beckham - he was sitting behind them in a skybox because he doesn't play anymore (since he's getting transferred to the US).
Friday we have no classes, so we all slept in pretty late! When we woke up, Mary Kate, Rachel, and I walked around our neighborhood to look for a post office. It was so much more organized and faster than our post offices here, but I felt stupid because I couldn't even figure out how to fill out the address label! Eventually I figured it out, and then we walked around some more. Rachel decided to sit on a little kiddie squirrel ride (the kind you put quarters in) and this guy came out from the building and yelled at us telling us that it was obvious that those were for children! Dang! He was mean! Later, we met with Sarah and Ian near the futbol stadium to go shopping in that area. It was much less busy and less picked over, and there were some really nice stores. I got a pair of straight leg jeans (very popular here) and some other stuff.
Later on Friday night, we went to this club called Kapital. It is a really crazy 7 story club that is extremely expensive, but everyone says you have to go try it at least once while here. Us three girls met up with two guys in the area, and we went to Kapital together. It cost 15 euros to get in! It turned out to be really fun. There were a lot of people but it really wasn't too crowded! We got home really late and then in the morning we woke up to go get churros and chocolate with Santi. The place we went was pretty cool, and you could watch them make the churros while you sit there! Well, that brings me to now...soo I guess I'll write again later! I'll try to make entries more often so they aren't so long! Thanks for the comments and messages!
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chicalocadad
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I'm hungry
I want some lentil stew with chorizos and bacon. Yummm! You are making me hungry. I asked Mom if she would make that today (Sunday) and she just gave me a blank stare. Can you get the recipe from Concha? It looks like you are having a good time. We miss you. Love, Dad