Els classes de ILP

Forewarning: this is going to be a bit lengthy. That said, I am so happy to finally be here and be excited about it. I was the same way last year. Between the jet lag and culture shock, I was a little turned off to Barcelona the first 2 days. Not that I didn't want to be here, I was just a little closed off to so many new things coming at me at once. Not anymore! I'm almost over the jet lag (I could still sleep for days), and new things and this strange and exciting city are just exciting, and not scary. I hope this is making sense, I did just wake up from an accidental nap.

So the last time I wrote was before classes actually started. Well, they've started. And oh wow.

Monday morning they told us we needed to be at the Universitat de Barcelona (in the very center of the city) no later than 8:40A so we could find out where we placed before classes started. So I woke up at 7A, went to breakfast at 7:30A (more on food later), left for the bus stop at 8A, and made it to the university by 8:30A. They used letters to divide us up and no one really knows which group is the worst and which group is the best. Which is fine with me. I'm in group C, and there's another Illinois student in my group, Tom, and the rest are from California. At 9A, we walked into our first class.

Our first class is grammar with Monica. She talks kind of fast and makes the funniest noises when we say something wrong. Perhaps like a monkey? But I'm learning a lot about grammar. Things I should know but that are slowly coming back to me. Monday we dove right into it, with the usages and structures of ser and estar. Ser and estar are verbs you use to describe things, describe location, and they have all kinds of other uses. They mean 'to be' in English, but in Spanish there are two different types of 'to be' and it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out which one to use, because there isn't a distinction in English. We've spent the last 3 days learning when and how to use both and being honked at when we're wrong.

After clase de gramática, we move to culture and literature class. We don't really have to read books or anything, this class is more about understanding the culture and history of Spain so we can understand things about the country we're living in for the next year. I'm not quite sure the name of the profesora, but she has a lovely voices that I have to fight against lulling me to sleep. So far the score is me: 2, sleep: 1. Monday we talked about languages of Spain, Tuesday was when sleep took over and I don't really remember, and today we got to ask her questions about Spain and why some things are the way they are. I learned that closing everything on Sunday is an old tradition to give people time to see their families and rest, since many stores are small and owned by one family. And also, a lot of things are closed right now because all of Europe is on vacation. Still deciding what I think about this.

Después de cultura y literatura, vamos a la clase de Catalá. Catalan is the easiest hour for me so far because I took an entire semester of it this past fall. Mireia (the teacher) chooses immersion as the best means for teaching us, so she speaks Catalan the entire time. I think Catalan is easier than Spanish personally, but I might be the only one that feels that way. We've learned how to say our names/who we are, where we're from, and our age. I haven't really learned anything new, it's mostly been a review.

After Catalan, we have composition with another Mireia. I adore her. First of all, everything she wears, including her hair, is bright colors, and the woman is 50+ and sweeter than chocolate creme pie. Also, she looks like she belongs in a Tim Burton movie, like The Night Before Christmas. She's tiny, stick thin and short, and she has giant eyes. I think it's her expressiveness that makes me think she and Tim Burton would be fast friends. And she is so kind and helpful. She'll answer any questions we have and is overjoyed to give us directions to places to try. Tomorrow she's giving me directions to her favorite paella restaurant. I think she and I will get along well. Composition is really helpful, since we're going to be in regular classes soon and will have to write. Everyone seems to hate composition, but I Mireia makes it bearable.

Finally, conversation class. Where we talk. And are constantly corrected. Because our Spanish is very elementary and we say things that don't make sense. I like our profesora for conversation, she has a lot of energy and is eager to help us understand. Conversation is a nice way to end the 5 hour repertoire of classes. It's not to heavy, but I still learn a lot.

So class runs for 5 hours straight, we get a couple short breaks, but it is really intense. I'm already thinking and translating in my head, which is a good sign that the language program is sticking. We usually have class 5 days a week, but this week we are going places on Friday so there's no class, which is nice. I'm really glad they do the language program because my Spanish was extra rusty and I would have sunk like the Titanic.

So, what else have I been doing besides class? Well, napping, quite a bit. Between waking up at 7:15 for class and jet lag, I'm a lot tired. And I foolishly stayed up late the other night (like 3A) to finish my book (The Help, which I HIGHLY recommend if you want something about race relations in the South around the time of the Civil Rights Act; it was excellent, I even cried).

Monday I walked around and went shopping for some things. I went to El Corté Inglés and bought a notebook and a planner. And then I went to the cell phone store to ask them some questions. Still no cell phone but I'm hoping tomorrow it will happen. I just need to stop napping and get my shit together. Tomorrow I will not nap, I promise.

So something else I've been getting a lot of questions about: the food. The dorm food is, well, between mediocre and terrible. Breakfast is probably the tastiest and usually consists of pastries like croissants or cheese danishes, donuts, fruit, yogurt, cheese, ham, cereal, and juice or milk or water. The dorm doesn't provide us lunch. But dinner is kind of touch and go. Last night's dinner was really good. We had chorizo baked into croissant dough, which is like the Spanish version of pigs in a blanket, a pork stew, fried zucchini, steamed carrots and peas, french baguette rolls, and this amazing melon that I get to the dining room early for. But tonight, not so good. There was a hot dog in mustard sauce, noodles with ham and a creamy sauce that after an uncivilized amount of salt and pepper tasted pretty good, watermelon, and bread. Another thing that has appeared is fried cauliflower, which is nasty as hell. We have french fries a lot, also. I'm just glad that lunch gives us the opportunity to try really delicious Spanish food.

I've only had lunch twice since my last post, yesterday I chose to sleep immediately after class. A lot of people in the program either don't eat lunch or just eat bread and an apple stolen from the dining room. This is not satisfying for me. I get cranky. So I've decided that it's totally worth it to eat lunch. Monday, we went to the cafe across the street from the University. I had a club sandwich and fries and Fanta Naranja. The sandwich was chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg. It was so good. Today, Eunice and I went to a cafe in L'illa which is a mall near the dorm. I had a guacamole sandwich and a salad. The sandwich was guacamole, thick fresh mozzarella slices, greens, tomato, sprinkled with herbs on a crisp multigrain bread with oats on top. Really tasty and refreshing. The salad was lettuce and chicken and croutons and parmesan with a creamy dressing, I think it was their version of caesar, and it was really good. Eunice and I also had dessert, for the first time since arriving in Spain. I had a tart with limoncello curd and raspberries, it was okay, pretty sweet and not as fresh tasting as I would have liked. Eunice had cheesecake which was phenomenal. It was rich but not too sweet, and I had been having a cheesecake craving so I definitely had a couple bites of that. So lunches have been good and tomorrow I'm going to try the paella place Mireia is going to give me directions to.

For now, I must go do my homework and get to bed at a decent hour so that I can wake up at 7:15A and get to class. I'll try and blog more often, do more, and nap less. Tomorrow is the last day of class for the week and I already have lots of plans for the weekend that I'm super excited about. But I'll make you wait until they actually happen. Also, I'm going to try and post pictures in my next post, but I really have to get homework done now, so you will have to tremble with anticipation until then. Fins aviat!