"Studying" Abroad

Yes, I am a junior in college. And yes, my homework was a word search for food items.

As you can see above, this semester has been incredibly challenging so far. Jokes. But since I am supposed to be studying abroad, I guess I'll tell you a little about my classes this semester.

I'm taking only four classes/12 credit hours (win). I have each class only twice a week, and only two classes each day -- with a nice chunk of day in the middle for lunch and a nap. And the real kicker --> NO CLASS ON FRIDAYS :)

My Mondays kick off with Cultura de España. La maestra por esta clase se llama Elsa. She is wonderful. Not only is she a great teacher, but she's also very warm and funny. I would describe her as your 'typical' Spanish woman -- she's very fashionable, has a lot of personality, and pronounces her 'j's like she is hocking a huge loogie. The class itself is also pretty great. We study all of the fun stuff about Spain -- the art, music, history, traditions, fiestas, individual provinces, etc, etc. Last week we spent half of the period listening to different flamenco songs, and this week we took a field trip to the brand-new History of Andalucía Museum.

The next class I'm taking is Linguistics with Miguel Angel (our program director). First he is an awesome guy and a great director (he even accompanied me to the emergency room at 1am - but that's a story for later). Second, this is my hardest blow-off class. I have to admit that the material is actually a bit difficult, but probably because everything about it is completely foreign to me. Right now we are covering how people form different sounds and specifically sounds in Spanish.

is this language class or physics??

crazy symbols invade my notebook daily

It is incredibly interesting and I love learning it because it has already improved my pronunciation and speaking abilities. We study sounds and compare them not only from Spanish to English but actually within the Spanish language itself -- Latin American vs. Caribe vs. Spain vs. el norte de Spain vs. Andaluz etc etc etc.

After learning a bit about how andalucians speak, I've come to the conclusion that this is possibly the worst place to learn Spanish because they speak it in a way unlike any other. They "lisp" their 'c's and 'z's; they drop their 'd's and 's's; they don't pronounce random middle consonants. For example -- instead of saying 'He comido' (I ate), they say 'He comio.' 'Él e-tá en Colorao' instead of 'Él está of Colorado.' 'Do mono' instead of 'Dos monos.' 'Mucha grathia' instead of 'muchas gracias.' Luckily, Carmen (my señora) does none of this and speaks so very slowly.

NOT. She drops every single S and any other vital consonant. Listening to Carmen speak is like listening to Charlie Brown's teacher. It's a bit frustrating that 50% of the time I'm not entirely sure what she is saying because 1) my vocabulary is limited (though has vastly improved) and 2) even if she is using vocabulary that I understand, the words that come out of her mouth sound nothing like the words I have learned. I have learned that patience is my best friend. But on a positive note, I am sure that all of this will greatly help to improve my Spanish abilities down the road.

Moving on to one of my favorites -- Oral Spanish. Contrary to linguistics, this class is by far my easiest class. First, it NEVER starts on time... typical Spain. When we do begin, we usually just look at some worksheets of cartoons that are completely politically incorrect. We literally spent two weeks talking about stereotypes of different nationalities -- as if they are all in fact 100% true. Por ejemplo, los japonenes siempre tienen las cámeras. I've found that in general Spaniards are tolerant people, but also incredibly politically incorrect. The following gems are from our actual worksheets. Enjoy.

Russians = vodka for breakfast, vodka for lunch, vodka for dinner.

Swiss people don't drink in bars. They get drunk on their couch with the cat from The Simpsons.

All Germans drink beer and eat sausage. And they're fat.

A typical Mexican can be found laying in the street, wearing a sombrero, and cradling a bottle of tequila.

Basically every class I end up asking myself, "Is this real life??" The informality makes this class very engaging, interesting, and at times both funny and awkward. For example, last week we spent nearly half the period discussing how a fellow classmate spent his time in Amsterdam over Semana Blanca...and how he probably does not remember 95% of it.

Anyway, last but not least is La Historia del Arte. This class is unique because each week we take a field trip to churches, museums, and neighborhoods in Granada that correspond to what we are studying. It has been a great way to explore Granada and learn a bunch about Spanish history. So far we have visited la Capilla Real, la Catedral, la Hospital, los baños arabes, la Alhambra, y la Cartuja.

la Alhambra

incredible details in the estuco

mudejar ceiling in the Alcázar in Sevilla

this was not technically part of a field trip, but i found it while we were walking to one our destinations and i loved it!

Homes without people. People without homes. The street talks...

Our art teacher Mónica is incredibly sweet - and is super stylish (but seriously. I want her clothes). However, I have to say that after about an hour of listening to her go and on about arches, I start daydreaming about what American food I miss most. And that keeps me occupied for the rest of the class period... and my entire walk home... and when I'm falling asleep at night. [I think peanut butter comes in at #1... Pasta with pesto is a close second - though that craving should be taken care of when I visit Italy next month :).] That said, thanks to these semi-boring lectures I have been able to identify every type of column on all the buildings we visit while traveling -- and that's pretty fun, right?!

Alright - so that's a look at my classes... but seeing as studying abroad is really not about studying, this might be the last you hear about them. JOKES.

kind of.