My classes didn't start until the late afternoon, but I woke up early and headed over to the Facultad de Derecho (Law College) where I would meet with my International Relations professor. The Facultad de Derecho is one of the of the oldest colleges in the University of Granada. Built in the late 1500's, large stone pillars guard the entrance to a cobble-stone courtyard. The architecture is a mix of gothic and neo-classical and there are statues of famous scholars within the courtyard. Its funny to attend a university that is older than the United States by a couple hundred years.
After talking to my professor, I felt much more confident about the class and what was expected of me as a student. She answered all of our questions and told us about her time in the US (she'd been to Los Angeles and New York) and how one time for a conference in LA she had figured getting a hotel in the center of the city would be the safest place to stay rather than on the periphery. She joked that she had thought she had heard gun fire, but had been surprised that the city center was not the safest place to live like it is here in Europe. I had seen on her website that she had written a few books on nuclear proliferation and I asked her a few questions about them and also if she was familiar with the American Political Scientist, Thomas Schelling.
I still hadn't spoken with my Analysis of Public Policy professor, so I crossed the street to the Political Science college and found her in her office. This had been another class that I had been unsure of, but after talking to her in person I think I will keep the class. She was very impressed with the University of California system and kept telling me how good Berkeley's public policy department was and how she wanted there to be an exchange program for professors, not just students.
I was glad to have talked with both of my professors as they now know my face and also that I'm struggling with the language.
On the way back to my piso, I stopped at the Arab Baths to make a reservation for Friday. My UCSD friends Rochelle and Emily who are studying abroad in Paris are coming on Wednesday and in addition to having a true Granada experience of tapas, clubs, and historical sites I thought the Arab Baths would be a lot of fun and a relaxing break after having partied the last few days.
I had a great lunch with Heiko on my sun soaked balcony overlooking the street and centro. We talked about chauvinism, the current American elections, and the ridiculousness of discrimination. He also commented on how he notices that a lot of times I say I'm from California rather than the United States. Its definitely a cop-out but I avoid any anti-american sentiment as "California" invokes a whole different mental image than the "United States."
I went to see if I could open an account with Deutsche Bank but couldn't as I wasn't working here in Spain. I still hadn't been to the Park of Federico García Lorca, so I walked down Calle Recogidas, stopping a long the way to see where the posh club Mae West was during the day time.
The park was nice with meticulously manicured hedges, winding dirt paths, and scattered benches. There were some cool playgrounds.
I met a lot of new people in my afternoon classes and ran into another group of EAP kids who I hadn't seen in a while. That evening I bought my ticket for Ireland (I'll be going for a long weekend in November) and made a birthday card for Heiko. His 24th birthday is this Thursday.
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