I had my first day of classes, and it's my only class on Tuesdays, but with the siesta and all, and the fact that there are only 5 classrooms and no more than two classes go on at a time, we have night classes. So my class isn't until 6:20-7:45. It's a little weird to have class so late, but the days are long and it stays light out late so it doesn't seem that late when I'm in class. The thing I still have yet to get adjusted to is the view from the classroom windows. The windows are usually always open and when I look outside I see old buildings, and tiled roofs, it's amazing. I'll have to take a picture of the view so that everyone can enjoy what I do when I zone out and stop listening to the professor. Just Kidding, I would never do that....
Anyway, this internship class is with all of the students who are doing internships. They range from the red cross, court, teaching English, and so much more. Basically what we'll be doing during that time is kind of discussing the experiences we have and we'll be reading something, which I haven't read yet. Our books are sooo cheap here!! All of my books for 5 classes were only 30 Euros. Granted they aren't real books, they're all bounded photo copies of the real books, and my Society Through Spanish and Latin American Film class has no book, but it was still incredibly cheap! I've spent over $250 in a semester alone at Denison, it's ridiculous!
Anyway, the class was fun, we talked about differences we might encounter in a work environment in Spain versus the U.S. Such things like what to wear, how to introduce ourselves, which I soon learned to wait for the Spanish person to make the move first then I followed suit. When I went in to meet with the head of the tv station, he shook my hand, but when I met Rodrigo, he host of the show I'm on, he gave me a kiss on both cheeks. It's something else that will also take some time to get used to, but interesting nonetheless.
So we sat in a circle in the classroom, and the Professor Miguel Angel told us to go around making introductions. He went first and pulled out this little plush football, that you would never guess had the Ohio State logo! I mean what are the chances that I'll study abroad in this tiny town with 75,000 people coming from the Chicago/Ohio and an Ohio State fan all my life and one of my professors has an Ohio State football. I just had to laugh. The best part though, was that when it hit something hard the song would come on. So as it went around the circle in no particular order, and if it landed hard in someone's hands or it hit the floor, the song would play for a few seconds.
It eventually reached this kid Jason, who introduced himself, said where he was from, what school, what his major was and what his internship was and then he said "No me gusta Ohio State," "I don't like Ohio State." The professor then asked if there was anyone who did like Ohio State and I raised my hand and I said I did, and Jason replied by saying that he was a Michigan fan. Typical, I thought. We sized each other up and then after class when a group of us went to the University Bar just outside of the Fundación to have a drink and sit outside, he asked me why I was an Ohio State fan. I gave him the answer that my dad grew up in Columbus, so I've been a fan all my life, and I go to school in Ohio. And then he said that he didn't think that they would be good because one of the players got hurt, and I proceeded to tell him that they'll probably win anyway. Next thing I know they get beat... and bad by USC. But we won't talk about that. I'm a Chicagoan, ever since the Bulls went downhill in the 90's, I've gotten used to sports teams letting me down. (I'm crossing my fingers for the Cubs though!)
Anyway, the University Bar is great, they give you free tapas with every drink you order! It can range from a basket of chips, to a platter of chorizo and green olives, to little sandwiches. It's great! And Sarah, those olives they have are AMAZING! They're not acidic at all! You were definitely right, they marinate them in something that tastes great.
So the second day of classes, my third day in Toledo I had two classes, one was the Spanish Linguistics class, which I never get homework for, and the other was Women in Literature. The Contemporary Spanish Women in Literature course was twice that day, once in the morning and the other later in the afternoon at around 5. The linguistics course was alright. We're going to be learning the history of the Spanish language in Spain because there are 4 official languages in Spain. Castellano(Spanish), Vasco, Catalán and Gallego. But Spanish is the main language, 400 million people speak it in Spain.
The women's literature class will be really interesting, and the second class we already started reading one of the stories. The only thing is is that each student read one paragraph then we would switch and it went on that way the entire class but at almost every single paragraph, the professor would either re-read excerpts or explain each one. It killed me. So I read ahead and then just went back and caught up with the class when it was my turn to read. We'll see if every class will be that way, but I hope not. The story we're reading is really interesting though, I'll have to explain more about it once we're finished with it.
The professor for the lit class, Benito, is the one who taught at Denison, and is friends and keeps in touch with Profesora Llanos, one of my Spanish professors at Denison so I brought Benito a Denison care package from Llanos and I immediately became her favorite student, on the first day. Yay me! haha
Anyway, my fourth day in Toledo, and third and final day of classes for the week (we don't have classes on Fridays! They do that to give us time to travel) I had one more class but twice. One was Muslim, Jewish and Christian art in Toledo, which will be fascinating to be able to go out and see the actual art in person and not just study it from a textbook. The class is twice in one day, so the morning class will be a field trip and tour to a cathedral, sinagogue, mosque in Toledo and then the second class we learn more of the history and discuss what we saw. I'm really excited to get started on my first field trip!
I also learned that Thursdays are a big going out day in Spain so I had my first experience of staying up until 3:30am and going out to the a bar and club in the town. First, let's rewind and talk about my internship, and my first time on tv! Although I started off with a somber topic, 9/11 because it was the anniversary of the attacks, I thought the whole process went well and I was surprised that I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. I spent the whole day researching and making notecards with talking points about the memorials, the security changes, the political side of it. I was so excited to get into how the Republican party has converted 9/11 from a day of remembrance to a campaign slogan, and how Republicans are focusing on how they have maintained the country and the people so safe since then and are stating that voting Democratic will bring on another 9/11 and everyone will die.
I wasn't able to say all that though. Instead, I was asked where I was on the day of, and what I thought of the memorials, and what the security changes have been. However, I did get to get a little more political and say that now the fear of flying that existed immediately after the attacks has been replaced with discrimination and racism. And that it's become acceptable to prejudge someone based on their name and appearance, especially at airports... But then he moved on to compared 9/11 with M-11, which was the train bombing that took place in Madrid in 2004. So I'll have to save my political speech for when we talk about the elections.
Anyway, later that night, I went to one of the classrooms that is also the Sala, Living Room, and has a tv in it in order to watch myself on tv. It was weird. I definitely need to smile more, which is something I should've already known from watching tv anchors smiling while they talk about a flood that's killed hundreds of people, or a shooting that took place somewhere. Smiling is on my to do list. Other than that, I felt very calm in front of the camera, and I think that I spoke very well, I knew what I was talking about. But some people walked in and watched some of it with me and they were all amazed that I was on tv. And let me tell you, word travels around FAST! I went to O'Briens later that night and it seemed like the entire school was there, but everyone came up to me and was like "I heard you're on tv, you're so famous now!" Haha it was weird.
Now, I know what you're thinking, O' Briens? An Irish pub in Spain? They are very common, and yes, I went there. One of the bartenders actually is from Puerto Rico and he speaks English perfectly. He also loves American kids and gives free drinks. And it was his birthday at midnight, so we all sang him Happy Birthday. The pub is small though, and it was packed fast, so we went walking to look for one of the discotecas that we had heard of, it's called Circulo de Arte. And guess what. It's a church turned into a dance club. As sacrilegious as I felt, it was a lot of fun. The place is huge, with really high ceilings obviously, and it's made of brick. It also has two bars, one on each end, and the DJ is lofted up above everyone. It's pretty cool.
This is the photo of the outside of the club, during the day. It's not the greatest picture, but you can get the idea of it.
Anyway, we all stayed until about 3 and then Maggie called a cab to come pick up the kids who live with families. There were 5 of them. Of course I spoke to the cab, told him where we were and gave him my name, because they you have to give your name when they arrive so they know that you were the one who called. The cab arrived quickly, and I spoke with the driver and asked him if he could take 5 people, but 4 is the limit. So I called another cab and the 5 people split up in regards to who lived in the same area. The second cab came and I went up again and told him that he needed to make to stops. I almost left before the second cab came, but Mark, who had to take it asked me to stay to talk to the driver. Haha. I'm glad I've become so useful.
Me and three girls were the ones left who live in the dorms, so we walked back to the school, and the receptionist opened the door for us, because after a certain time the door is locked and we have to ring a bell to get back in. As we walked through the door, the guy was like "What a late night" Haha little did he know we would be going to Madrid from Saturday to Sunday, stay up all night and walk through the door right on time for breakfast. But that's for another post... I do have to keep you intrigued somehow. :)
Until my next post,
xoxo
D
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