PUNCTUALITY: Our first classes started on the 10th, but apparently the first week of class is optional for some professors. Out of four that I went to, only two professors actually showed up. And one of the two was a half hour late. The culture is a bit different here.
CLASSES: I have decided to "try out" five classes, but I need to drop the two I decide I don't want. It's extremely difficult to try and translate in my head while also understanding material. Fortunately, the directors here are offering an advanced Spanish grammar course that is tailor-made for our group. They are bilingual in English and Spanish so it's helpful that they understand the struggle.
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| Another beautiful image of the campus |
In addition, they don't offer as much flexibility when choosing your classes. My schedule is basically all over the place with huge gaps and class Monday-Friday. Also, the classes here are two days a week but two hours per class, so actually for the same amount of credits, I'm going to class for 4 hours extra per week.
PEOPLE: We also sat in a couple of classes of Spanish students trying to learn English. Many of them were very shy but very interested in learning about American culture. It's amazing how much people know about U.S.A. here. Many of them are fascinated with our culture and our music and movies. When asking many students' favorite movie, many of them told me an American movie. Odd.
DIVERSITY: It's super easy and cheap to travel on this side of the world, so there's a ton of people from all over. I've met some Irish people, Belgian people, English people, French people, Russian people and Algerian people.
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| Our new Irish friends. We watched soccer at their apartment |
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| Sharing tapas in Villena |
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| Montaditos |
The one thing I really miss though is junk food. They eat super healthy here and eat fruit with EVERY meal. My host mom got mad at me one day when I didn't eat fruit after lunch because I was already too full. So she made me eat twice as much the next day. They also drink coffee which I was afraid they wouldn't have, but it's all mostly espresso.
As many of you probably know, lunch is the biggest meal of the day (during siesta) where everyone comes home, eats together, and everything is closed between about 2-5. Then dinner is optional or they eat something small around 9 p.m.
OVERALL: I really enjoy Spain. It's different, it's beautiful, and the people are super friendly. I also have a beach in walking distance. There's never a dull moment (unless I chose to sit at home and relax). I'm still trying to get used to taking public transportation and walking everywhere, which does eat up a lot of time, but it's pretty darn convenient to get around. My host mom is nice, I've been making friends and have gotten closer with my CMU group. Now, all I need to focus on is passing these classes and trying to make the most of my time here!
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| They have "American parties" here! I had no idea that was a real thing. |
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| City landscape near the beach |
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| Downtown is just gorgeous |
