Well, this week I finally got back to school. It didn't really feel like it though. It still doesn't feel like it. Maybe that's just because I only have four classes and an abundance of free time. Anyway, Monday and Tuesday I had a class that is for me and the other people from CMU to help us improve our Spanish in general and more specifically help us with our classes and how to handle all the Spanish that will be thrown our way.
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This is probably the most iconic thingabout the
University of Alicante's campus: La Mano (the hand) |
Wednesday was the real start of classes and all I can say is that it was an experience. My first class was at 8am, I showed up around 7 so I knew where I would be going and such which means I woke up at 6am. So, I get to my class maybe 15 minutes before class and I wait. And wait. And wait. When it's about 8:30, a professor shows up, yay! But then, after some technological troubles, she says that she's not actually our professor and she doesn't know if our actual professor will show up. So I stay in this class until 9 when some students come and tell us that the professor won't be coming so we can leave. I was exhausted, to say the least. My next class was at 12, so I stayed on campus and sat with other people from CMU while I waited. By the time I was all settled in the next class I was ready for a long nap. My professor showed up for that class and it successfully woke me up. It was my first class in Spain, completely in Spanish. I was not prepared for that. I followed most of what he said, but I still missed a good chunk of what he was talking about. The classes here meet for four hours a week, one two hour block is what they call
teoría, which I've gathered is like lecture, and then they other two hour block is what they call
práctica, which is where you do homework, work on labs, that kind of thing. A lot of what the professor talked about was about these two different sections of class, which I didn't really understand because I've never had any class like that in my experience at CMU. Much later, at 5, I went to a translation class, but I wasn't a huge fan. When I came here, I had picked out five classes to try, and then I had to pick four to actually take. The translation class didn't make the cut, it's just not what I'm interested in.
Thursday, I got to campus around 8am to go to my class at 9, which I was nervous about because it was the second section of my first class the day before and I wanted to know what it was about. If the professor didn't show up again it wouldn't be a good sign. Luckily, that class went a little more smoothly, after we actually found a class to sit in on (no one showed up to the room that was supposed to have the class so one of the directors took me to a different section to see). I like this class a lot. I was more prepared for the Spanish and such, so I understood a lot more of the class and I was really excited about the class. I was supposed to have another class at 12, but it just so happened the the professor was in Paris, so there wasn't class. That was probably the most surprising thing for me, last week, the fact that the professors just didn't show up to class. The directors said that that happened sometimes, but not frequently. Apparently this year is odd because classes started on Wednesday, so that could contribute to the fact that the professors weren't around, I don't know. It was really different.
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This is the building that I went to on
Friday for intercambios. |
Friday I was supposed to have class, but that was the one with the professor in Paris, so it's safe to say that there wasn't class again. Instead, I visited a couple of classes of one of the directors for
intercambios. Basically, me and the other CMU students met with Spanish students in these classes so that we can work on our Spanish and they can work on their English. It's a really cool idea. I got some new Facebook friends from it, so hopefully they'll want to hang out at some point. It just needs some time. And I'm sure I'll meet people in my classes this week, once things are more settled. Overall, I have a pretty positive outlook on things. I'm ready to get settled into a routine.
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There I am with a group
of Spanish students! :) |
Monday, I have my last new class so it'll be interesting to see what I think about it. Then I'll have gone to all my classes (except for the one on Thursday and Friday) so I'll be able to decide what I'll continue taking for the rest of the semester so I can get into a more solid routine. Hopefully I'll have more positive things to say about my school experience next week, as long as the professors come to class!
