Classes

This week has been great! I've enjoyed my classes and everything else that I've gotten to do.

My first class of the morning is Spanish Art History. I am not interested in art history at all, and I actually thought I was going to be taking Spanish History instead, but I am definitely learning something that I know nothing about. Except, the first day I was able to answer a lot of questions because many of the paintings are religious and 12 years of Lutheran education prepared me for answering questions such as: how is this crucifix (painted by famous Spanish painter Velazquez) different from most? This class is taught by a professora from Spain.

My favorite class is my next one- Spanish Culture. The teacher is so lively and fun. We talk about differences in cultural norms. (For instance, if you see a lot of napkins on the floor of a bar, this does not mean it is dirty. It means it is popular and good because people throw them down on the floor after they finish eating.) She showed us youtube videos of Spanish music artists (such as a guy "Shakiro" who sings just like Shakira on the Spanish Idol show). When this professor was reading off our names, she stopped at mine and said Filomena is a name for an 80 year old Spanish woman. I explained to her that it is my grandma's name who is Italian (shoutout to Grandma!) and now she always remembers my name. This class is taught by a professora from Spain with students from all over the world - Japan, England, Brazil, all states from the US...I was talking to some girls from Auburn college and one told me about how she was shopping in Salamanca and an older woman came up to her and asked if she was American because she likes to practice her English. When they said goodbye, the woman hugged her and kissed her on both cheeks, and when the girl in my class looked down at her backpack, it was unzipped and her wallet was gone. Thankfully, my friends and I have had absolutely no problems with pickpocketing, but you have to be careful.

My third class is with UM students and UM professor. This class is also very fun. Today we are doing a presentation about how our house in Salamanca is different from our house in Ann Arbor. Also, we have been assigned "amigos clandestinos" which are secret friends that we buy little gifts for and put them in a box without telling anyone. We are supposed to get to know the people and see what they like without them guessing who we are. The gifts are to encourage each other and brighten our days. Mine got me a Spanish magazine and flip-flops with a note :) It looks like boy handwriting, but I can't judge because I too have manwriting.

Class is a half hour walk. I usually go early and stop by the library. Then, class is from 10-1:30. I have lunch at 2:30 with Carlitos and Pilar. The other day Carlitos made me eat a peach with him at the same time - and I mean, every bite had to be taken at the same time so when I finished chewing I had to wait for him. It took forever but it was cute.

My friends and I signed up for a Spanish dance class in the afternoons!

We went to the car museum which was awesome. It has models of cars from all over the world throughout history.

Yesterday I went on a great run and found the University soccer fields, rugby, basketball, tennis, ping pong... which we can use for free with our student ID so a group of us are going on outdoor adventures today!

Toledo tomorrow and Burgos Sunday!