Today was a cloudy day in Santander...kind of a letdown after all the sun we've been having! I knew it wouldn't last though, I was just choosing to believe that this weather everyone was describing as "not normal" could stick around. I walked to school in the rain and arrived to class soaked - umbrellas only do so much when the wind blows the rain right at you.
My classes were somewhat challenging today. My grammar class was difficult because the professor's teaching method doesn't work very well for me. I was spoiled to have great professors for my entire college Spanish career - I didn't realize how spoiled until now. Isabel is very nice and does her best to explain things, but sometimes it feels like we're being thrown into doing something new without much help. Hopefully it will get better, but until then I'm going to keep peppering her with questions during class until I have a better handle on things.
Today's grammar class was challenging because it was so tedious. I'm a person who absolutely despises conflict, and the class just felt conflicted today. We started off talking about movies, which slowly progressed into talking about censorship in the media in Spain versus the United States. I love that our professor allows the conversation to flow naturally, going where it goes, tying everything together perfectly, but today our class turned to a debate. Sort of. I say that because no one was disagreeing with everyone else, but a lot of people were voicing their opinions as if everyone else opposed them. There were only a few people participating at this point, and they all kept saying the same thing, but in tones that made it seem like they were arguing. This dragged on for a while, leaving me bored and frustrated.
We had an interesting culture class in which we focused on the Roman influence on architecture in Spain. I understand everything my teacher says, but I always leave class concerned that I didn't quite get everything she said. I take notes from her powerpoints, but it isn't like taking a class in English where you understand what's being said while writing at the same time - I have to do one or the other, which leads to more studying in my time away from school.
After class we went to a different university building to receive conversation partners - Spanish students who are willing to converse with us foreigners in order to help us learn the language. Most people in my group were put in pairs and then given one person for the two of them, but a few people (myself included) got their own, personal partner. Sara suggested that it was the chatty people of the group, which I denied profusely because I am not very talkative in Spanish.
My partner seems nice, but I understand only about 1/4 of what he was saying - he speaks very quickly and very quietly. We have to meet with them at least once, and how often we see them after that is up to us. It's a great opportunity to talk to a native speaker, but I'm not exactly comfortable with strangers...I'm taking Sara along with me for reinforcement when I meet with him on Friday.
I came home for a lovely black bean soup for lunch and have been studying for the past few hours. I'm meeting up with Sara, Kyla, and Becca in a bit to wander around town before dinner. I hope you all have a great Monday!
♥ abigail
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