Second Week of Class

October 7th

I was up at 9:00 even though I didn't have class until 4:30 as I did not want to waste my whole day sleeping.  I spent the morning and afternoon rereading the packet that I had been assigned for my class "Estructura Social Contemporanea" (Contemporary Societal Structure).  We didn't have to turn anything in, but we would discuss the packet in class and I wanted to be well versed in the material.

Since I'm living with two Germans and have been hanging out with all of their friends, I thought it would be fun and beneficial to try and learn some German.  Heiko spent 1 hour going over the basic tenses, sentence structure, numbers, and basic vocab.  I don't plan on becoming fluent in German but it was fun to begin studying the language and learn something new.

For lunch I tried to expand my cooking ability my cooking the fresh ravioli I had bought from the store with my self-made pasta sauce.  It was pretty good.  I'll keep practicing.

My first class ended up being canceled but I did meet a group of French students in my class.  I took the extra time to read the syllabi and look up the words that I didn't know.

My next class at 5:30 was "Teoría del Estado."  I really enjoy the material and I like the professor.  At first I wasn't able to answer any of the questions as I was having a hard time following the material, but as the class went on I was able to become actively engaged with the discussion.  The professor asked me to read all of the names of the English and American authors and book titles that he was referring to outloud to the class as he was not pronouncing the english words correctly.

After class I walked with the professor to his office for office hours.  He asked me how I was coming along with the language and also thought that I spoke very well for having not been in Spain for that long of a time.  He gave me advice on what to do to better understand the class and language and recommended a book from the library that would help me better visualize the class material.  He was very excited to have me in his class as I was the first American student he had ever had.  He told me to be prepared for questions about the political system in my country and I replied that I was ready and would answer any and all questions as best I could.  I had watched the presidential debates earlier that afternoon, so even though I'm abroad, I'm still up to date on the issues.

I walked back home, stopping by a "papelería," office supply store, to purchase another journal as I have already filled the one that I brought from home.

Back home (my apartment really does feel like "home") I made a frozen pizza in our tiny oven and watched the Spanish version of the daily show.  I never watch TV back in California but here in Spain its great practice for my Spanish.

Antonio, Heiko, and I started to brainstorm where we would like to go and what we like to do this weekend as we have another four day weekend.  We're thinking another road trip to Seville.

I've been partying it up on the weekends so I make sure to focus and study hard during the week.