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!

The Last 24 Hours

The last 24 hours have been interesting. After writing my last post, I headed down to the Menjador (dining room in Catalan) for dinner. I was almost dizzy with jet lag and starving so food was definitely welcome and I had some expectations but was curious to see what they were serving us. One of the graduate assistants that flew over with us said that we would get tired of the food, which I quickly understood why.

The dining room is large and luminous with brightly colored tables and chairs, a large, steaming buffet and a self-serve espresso machine at the end. You get a tray and a glass (I've been getting multiple glasses because I require lots of water) and the primer plat (first plate) is salad with lettuce, tomato, carrot, and corn from a can. A very Spanish salad that you put oil and vinegar on. I also had pasta with meat sauce, sausage, and french fries. Jet lag made dinner kind of patchy for me.

The plan was to go to the Festa Mayor de Gràcia which is this huge and amazing festival. So we walked to the metro stop, which was about 12 minutes away, and took it all around the city to the area that the festival was supposed to be in. As I had suspected from looking at the website, the festival had ended the day before, but there were still a ton of people walking in the streets so we just kind of wandered around looking for a place that would hold our group of 10. Spanish bars and restaurants are mostly small, you can have 4 people at a table, and you would never really take a big group without warning the place first. So it was kind of hard to find somewhere, and no one really wanted to make a decision. I was tired of walking around so I just walked in somewhere and everyone followed me.

The bar was tiny. With literally enough space for the bar stools and people to walk past them. Not really conducive to 12 people who want to sit and drink. But we made it work. The bartender was nice. First I had a beer, which was incredibly refreshing after walking around in the sticky heat for an hour. I wasn't planning on getting anywhere near drunk, because all I wanted was really good sleep, and that was never going to happen if I drank too much. But then the bartender pulled out some sort of mystery liquor for one of the waiters and I had to try it. It was called Licór de Hierbas (herb liquor) and smelled TERRIBLE. You're supposed to drink it after dinner for digestion, and it's like 60 proof. So I ordered a chupito (shot) and was of course egged on by the group I went out with.

Everyone smelled it and grimaced, as did I. But I took it. And it was surprisingly good. It had a sweet, earthy taste and it made my tongue numb and my insides warm. And I am positive it aided in my digestion. I stayed a little longer, but didn't drink more, then Adam and I headed back to the Collegio because I was practically falling asleep on the bar. We made it to almost 2A and when I got back I got on the computer and didn't fall asleep until 4A.

At 9A someone stopped by and knocked to see if we were going to breakfast. I woke up but was intent on going back to sleep but I just couldn't, so I trekked down to the menjador for a breakfast of pastries, fruit, juice and milk and coffee, and ham and cheese. It was satisfying but not particularly noteworthy.

After breakfast some people headed to the beach, but I was feeling so sleepy and didn't know how I would fare sitting out in the sun for a long time, so I decided to stay back and read/nap/watch TV. After a couple hours of lounging I decided that I was hungry and should see outside at least once today. I was thinking I would stroll around, check out some shopping, get to know the area a little. I forgot something important. Everything, and I repeat EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday (they call it Fiesta). Particularly in this neighborhood, where there are very few neighborhoods.

I managed to find a restaurant, Pans y Company, where I had a sandwich and fries and Fanta Naranja. The sandwich was definitely the best thing I've had here so far. It was fresh baguette with garlicky mayonnaise, grilled zucchini, caramelized onions, bacon, and sausage. SO TASTY. And I got to eat afuera (outside) on a beautiful day. It was a lovely lunch.

After lunch I hiked back to the collegio, since nothing was open and no one was out. That's another thing, there were hardly any people around. Which makes me wonder what Spanish people do on Sundays. Laundry? Nap? Eat? All of the above? I could speculate for days but I'll try and make some Spanish friends and figure it out instead.

After lunch I read, and then managed a really nice 2 hour nap. At 5P we had an orientation meeting and took a placement exam. I was still hazy from my nap and probably did not do very well. It's just a placement test. They explained some things to us, and gave us some stuff to help us get around the city and navigate the program, which was nice.

After that, I watched the Project Runway season premier, because I figured out how to watch American TV abroad. Now, before everyone gets all huffy about doing American things and such while I'm abroad, I should tell you how I feel about it. I'm American, that I cannot change. And there will be some things that I say and do and are interested in that I blame on my identity as an American. And oh boy, do I love television. However, I definitely think that I should try as much as I can as often as I can and if I have a choice between doing something American or hanging out with Americans versus doing something Spanish or hanging out with Spaniards, I choose the latter. So don't worry, I will gladly abandon American culture if it means learning and experiencing things about the country I'm in.

Back to Project Runway. I can't tell whose going to win, I wasn't particularly impressed with anyone, and I wish they kept that girl on for the drama. Because you know she was going to do crazy shit every single time. We'll see what unfolds.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes, which I will explain more about tomorrow, since this has gotten quite long even though my day was mostly uneventful. Classes are for 5 hours and then I'll probably go to the beach or to buy a few things I need. Not ready for a cell phone yet, need a resident card, but you can add me on Skype if you want to chat (username: scotti.wingfield). Until tomorrow!