Summer Has Arrived

March 11th,

In Relaciones Internacionales at 9:00am we had a new professor who will be taking over for our normal one as she is going to be giving birth soon.  Young, preppy and slightly James Bond looking, Profesor Sanchez knew his stuff.  I think the class will be more difficult and interesting.  

In Historia Política Social Contemporánea, the professor talked about the politics leading up to the First World War, with the web of alliances and treaties.  Interesting, complicated.  After class, I ran into my old professor from Estructura Social Contemporánea and then went to the Facultad de Derecho to introduce myself to the new professor of my Relaciones Internacionales class.  

Outside it was hot and sunny.  I took off my sweater and wondered why I was wearing jeans. Summer has arrived, skipping spring in the process

In the hour and a half between my next class, I did some grocery shopping and quickly put everything away before heading back to the facultad for the Master Tutorial.  I received an "A" on the first exam.  Although slow and a little tedious, I like the class as we go over the finer, more difficult aspects of the language and have the opportunity to hone in our control.  

After class, Melissa and I walked to my piso to work on the powerpoint for our project.  We also talked about the potential Greece and Turkey trip this summer.  Melissa's family is from Turkey and she has invited friends from the program to stay with her for a week in July.  If I went along, we would visit Turkey and Greece.  Our project was interrupted by the call I'd been waiting for from Barcelona.  I talked to the head teacher in an interview that was more of a logistical explanation of the summer camp.  She said that I had a very impressive resume for someone so young.  I am not sure if I will take it as although I would love to have international work experience on my resume and live the summer in Barcelona, I will have to do a lot of logistical coordination here in Granada in regards to moving classes and finishing up the study abroad program.  I also have to pay July rent so I'm not sure if it would be worth it as I have to look for my own apartment for one month in Barcelona.  Lots of thinking to do.

Melissa left and I made a snack before taking my computer and box of strawberries over to my friend Elliot's house in Plaza de Toros.  We hadn't hung out in a long time and Elliot had invited me over for dinner.  Health food guru, exercise fiend and the one American who has maintained true discipline in regards to a regular sleep cycle, Elliot is an exemplary student.  He made tofu, beans, rice and a salad.  We ate the strawberries I'd brought over while discussing the time in Granada, Judaism and future trips.  We want to do the Camino de Santiago together but will probably have to settle for a day trip to Gibraltar instead.  We scheduled tentative dates.

Back home I talked a little with Nathalie and Antonio before finishing the documentary for my Imperialism project.  Today I had recorded the opinions of a girl from Switzerland and another from Russia.  Everyone thinks the United States is an Imperialist state (I would agree so as well), but one of the questions that I plan on asking in open debate is "if that is a bad thing?"  I went to bed and still having a lot of work left to do.