9/15/10 First Day of Class

Today was the first day of classes.  My first class of the day was La Guerra Civil en España (Spanish Civil War).  The professor was really nice, and he spent the class learning our names and letting us ask questions about him.  I had no trouble understanding his accent.  The class was pretty small, probably because it starts at 9:30.  After that class, I had a break before I went to the Historia de España (History of Spain).  The professor was hilarious, and I would have to call him the Spanish version of Mr. O’Reilly—but a little older and a little less fit.  He also spent the class learning everyone’s names and where we are all from.  I was surprised by how much he knew about the different states in the U.S.  My next class was La Union Europea, which is taught by a professor from the law department.  He was younger and spoke a lot faster than the other two, but I still had no trouble understanding him.  My listening skills have been increasing exponentially.  This class was short and he explained what we would do this semester and how the grading system works.  All of the classes that I had taken up to that point are with other BCA students and taught by professors at the University. 

I finished those 3 classes and then hoped on the metro to go to the bigger campus.  (I also bought my 90 day metro pass!)  The big campus is about a half hour away by metro.  At the bigger campus, I’ll be taking an economics class.  Daven, the other BCA student from Bowdoin and Jack from Bates will also be taking the class—Organizaciones Economicas Internacionales (International Economic Organizations).  The class had about 40 people in it and they appeared to be of various ages.  Some young guys came in wearing suits, making me think that they were taking the class for some sort of higher degree, and others were just regular students.  The class was pretty interesting, and I understood most of it.  I definitely can’t lose focus or else I’ll stop following what’s going on.  It was also easiest to follow when the professor was writing notes on the board.  The classroom had stadium seating, but it is hard to hear the professor unless you’re sitting in the first few rows, so I’ll have to move up next time.  After class, Daven, Jack and I went to see if we would be able to take the final exam early.  The University students take their final exams after their winter break.  Since we won’t be in Spain until mid January, we have to take exams for University classes early.  The professor was understanding, and there was a German girl who also asked if she could miss class the following week—she had to return to Germany for an exam.  He asked her to bring back a snowball from Germany and I got really confused as to what he was talking about.  Then he took us to his office which was covered with snow globes from all different places.  I might have to get him one from New Hampshire or Maine (since he doesn’t have either).  By the time class ended and we left his office, it was 8 o’clock and I was exhausted.  Luckily, my apartment is only 2 metro stops from the main campus.  I pretty much relaxed for the rest of the night.