I'm going to Italy!

November 3rd

Monday morning came much to quickly as my alarm went off at 7:45 but I didn't get out of bed until 8:00.  

My first class, International Relations, was interesting as we discussed George Kennan's "Sources of Soviet Conduct," piece about what the US policy should be in regards to dealing with the Soviet Union.  I had read the original piece last year in my National Security Strategy class and had a good grasp of what he was saying.  We discussed the piece in class and then my professor ran with the topic finishing with the more or less intended moral that "the US only helps the international community when its good for its self-interest."  I wouldn't call her anti-American, just very critical and from a different perspective than I have ever seen.  In some cases she is correct, but as I debated with her in class, I know that the US does a lot of work in the rest of the world that may not necessarily return such a monetary or political benefit.  I feel its important for me to hear criticism about my country in order to see firsthand how my country is viewed in other parts of the world.

After my Political and Social Contemporary History class, I walked over to salsa dancing on the Campus of Fuente Neuva.  Initially, I danced the worst I had yet, but with one move something changed and I understood what was going on.  My partner and I nailed it without the help of our teacher and he had the class give us a round of applause.  The rest of the class was really fun and he gave me a mixed CD so that Nathalie and I can practice back home.

In my afternoon classes, I was asked by one of the French girls how I was viewing the election.  I told her that I was going to be on the internet and watching TV for the better part of tomorrow afternoon.  I was a little surprised that there is nothing official going on through the university, as my friends at Sciences Po in Paris had to buy tickets that sold out quickly in order to attend the large event being held to watch the American elections.  Everyone here in Spain is excited to see how America votes.  I've been asked to explain who I voted for and why many times over the past few weeks.

That evening, I walked over to Blake's piso and we purchased our tickets from Madrid to Milan, Italy.  We'll be going for 10 days, December 19th to December 29th, and as of now don't have an exact itinerary.  There are a lot of cities I want to see, Florence, Venice, Rome to name a few, but we're planning on playing it by ear.  One of Blake's roommates is Italian and lives about an hour from Venice.  We may be able to stay with him for a few nights and make day trips to the surrounding cities.