I wish I could describe to you the immense difficulty of anyone holding my attention for a full two hours, let alone an elderly, balding man telling me in a fast paced, mumbling tone about Lebanon. But it is indescribable. TWO HOURS IS SO LONG. I miss my quick little fifty minute math classes. Luckily I have to take three of them next semester (bleh). Classes are just so different here, for a number of reasons besides the epic lengths. First of all, my UPF classes have about 70-80 students in them. My art history class is half lecture, half discussion, but both Islam history and poetry are pure lecture. At least in poetry we get a break in the middle. The other, most notable difference for me is that when I am in class or walking around campus, I don't know anyone. At Whitman, it was impossible for me to cross campus (or even walk between two classes on the same floor of Olin) without seeing someone I knew and probably wanted to talk to. But here, I'm taking classes with sophomores and juniors who have all the same classes together and who have been in classes together for more than a year. They're all already friends, and not very friendly. Plus they stand around speaking Catalan to each other, so it's not even like I could awkwardly jump into their conversations. I was talking to some of the IES girls who live in residence halls, and they say they haven't even made friends in their dorms, with the exception of a few kids from southern Spain, where people are actually friendly. It doesn't really bother me that much, since I do have friends - just not at UPF, but it feels so weird to go into the cafeteria or sit in the quad and not know a single person around me. I sort of miss Whitman's tight little community, however suffocating it can be. And I'm determined to go to the south.
In other news, I finally figured out the websites for my classes, only to discover that the art history class is the only one that actually uses it. But I did find information about most of my finals, except poetry. By the way, the real professor still hasn't made it to class. I don't know what's wrong, but he probably should've just not been teaching classes at all this semester. We have a different teacher each week now, which is fine but sort of frustrating. They all seem to be pretty smart though.
Also, people take notes in very odd ways here - most people just sit there writing full sentences, and full paragraphs, of what I can only assume is verbatim from the professor's mouth. True, mine are dented by the fact that I don't always catch everything they say, but still, I prefer bullets and short points to paragraphs upon paragraphs. It seems like it would be hard to study from. AND I have noticed several people taking notes in Catalan. This bilingual world is so odd to me. We will conduct class entirely in Spanish, but someone will ask a question in Catalan, and the professor will (usually) respond in Spanish. They can take notes in an entirely different language. I mean, I could probably take notes in English, but there are still a lot of words I don't know the meaning of, and I would get caught up translating and then get way behind in listening.
Everyone is extremely respectful of the professors at UPF, which is an extremely notable difference from my classes at IES. Not in my Spanish class, but in my Latin American lit class - people talk through class (and this is a class of 15-20 people, not 80, so it's very obvious), and openly talk about the things we do being a waste of time. Maybe it's just because I really like that class, but it annoys me. A lot. The worst is this one girl who spends the entire class asking her friends what the professor just said, presumably because she doesn't understand? I don't know. But it kills me to hear them talk, in English, over our professor for the entire class. And they can be really immature - about half the class was groaning in disgust when we watched an interview with Onetti and he had yellow, rotting teeth. Ok, yes, his teeth were gross. Chill out and maybe shut up so we can hear the interview we're supposed to be listening to? Not that I can ever understand the interviews we watch anyway, since everyone important seems to mumble. Anyway I just miss people who respect their professors, even if the class is a waste of time or the professor isn't deserving of their respect, they still usually shut up when class is in session.
OH MAN in poetry the other week, these two girls were talking and the professor asked them to be quiet and they kept talking through her asking them to be quiet - drama. She got really mad and said that she doesn't care if they don't pay attention, she's only talking for the benefit of those who want to hear her, but when they don't listen when she is speaking directly to them it is rude and disrespectful, not because she's a professor but because she's a person. WOW it was intense. I think they were Americans, and had been asking each other about the meaning of something, and therefore didn't understand immediately that she was talking to them. But it was very intense.
Anyway, now that I have figured out the class websites, I have the list of twelve books which are listed as "recommended reading" for two of my classes. I'm assuming I should read them. My poetry class, on the other hand, doesn't have anything listed but in our dossier, at the end of each poet's section, there's a section of recommended reading that lists about ten books for each poet - that's not happening. We've already done four, and have at least four more to do - I don't think I'll be reading eighty books for this class. Maybe I'll pick one that looks good for each poet or something. I really need to start doing this immediately though, because this "no" work until the exam thing is way too easy to get into, and I have completely forgotten that I will actually need to do work for the exam. Especially since I don't learn a ton in class, since I am either a. spacing out and taking distracted notes (Islam) b. feeling like this class is in media res (art history) c. analyzing a specific poem but learning nothing about the poet. In short, I need to catch myself up outside of class a lot. Also I should be writing my midterm for Latin American lit instead of writing blog posts. But which is more fun?
Showing posts with label IES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IES. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
First day all over again
Up until now everything has been so chill and wonderful that I had pretty much forgotten what it was like to have work. Suddenly I want to be back in Cambridge watching Arrested Development in the white chair, not because Cambridge is cooler than Barcelona (quite the contrary! ha), but because I had decidedly less work to do there. But IES classes started last week, UB started this week, and UPF started yesterday, and now I am taking 21 credits (temporarily - I have to drop one) and it turns out that I really don't want to do homework! Weird. I'm usually so dedicated to school.
I'm taking my Spanish class at IES, as well as a lit class - Barcelona and the Latin American Literary Boom. They're both really cool so far, and I like the professors a lot. In my Spanish class we end up just talking about Spain and politics and other random things like birth control and divorce. I LOVE it. Pep is our profe, and he's really... emphatic. And has a lot of opinions. The Boom class is going well so far, but I switched into it this week and missed the first week, so it's starting slowly for me. I like it a lot though, and it seems like we'll be reading lots of great writers - Borges, Fuentes, Varga Llosa, and Cortazar come up practically every day.
At UB I'm signed up for a Modern Spanish history class that is only 2 credits and only half the semester, and is for foreigners only. I've only been to one class, since Wednesday was La Merce, but so far I am not impressed. The professor was nice but tended to ramble and get distracted, and also talked reallllly slowly so we wouldn't get lost. I was initially annoyed by the pace, but at UPF I learned just how important it is.
My first day at UPF should probably be in a movie, because it was so ridiculous. Not really. But in my head, everything was awkward and overblown, even when they were pretty run of the mill. I had almost forgotten how scary it is to show up, alone, on a college campus, and have no idea what to do. And this time I didn't have Grace to get lost with on the way to brunch. First of all, the classroom numbers were not given to me beforehand, so I had to get there early, find my class on a giant wall of schedules, and find my classroom. As I scowered the list, a guy asked me something in Catalan, and I had to awkwardly tell him I didn't understand. I found my classroom for my first class, Literatura Castellana, which is actually a 20th c. poetry class - another thing which was not made clear to me. A female professor showed up (5 minutes late, after I had arrived 15 minutes early, thank you Spain) and wrote Prof. Jose Maria Miro on the board, much to my confusion. Apparently he is gone for a few weeks (all she said was, we hope he can get back to us as soon as possible), and we are going to be given random professors until he gets back. But Begonna was easy to understand and seemed to be very passionate about poetry. Unfortunately, I hardly slept the night before, and kept almost falling asleep. So after class, I made my way to the cafeteria and got cafe con leche and a croissant (for 1.40! cheapest I've seen yet), then straight up walked down the aisles of tables looking for friendly faces (or empty tables). It was like freshman year at SMA, except without Paige to sit with! So I sat with some random girl who then left after I sat down, and awkwardly tried to not gulp down my coffee (because everyone eats so slowly here) but also not linger too long because I was just looking around at everyone who was sitting with their friends and feeling super awkward. GREAT STUFF. Then I had half an hour to kill before Islam history, and spent it sitting on a bench organizing my planner. Yeeeeeeah. I don't know anyone! What am I supposed to do, walk up to random people and introduce myself? Not in the quad. Maybe in class. Then. I went into class feeling confident, having understood everything in my first class, caffeinated, successfully found my second class, saw another IES girl there, talked to her as well as an Austrian guy, and was excited for Islam history. I don't know how to describe the feeling I got in the first minute of class, except with the phrase "my bowels turned to water." I honestly thought he was speaking Catalan. I had no idea what was being said, except that apparently it was funny, because people were laughing. He could have been saying "That American in the front row sure looks like a skanky whore, huh?" and the laughter could have been confirmation of this sentiment. I couldn't follow ANYTHING. He talked very fast, mumbling a lot, and if it hadn't been for the powerpoint I would have absolutely nothing in my notes. As the class went on it got a little better, but when we were given a break, I turned to the IES student and the Austrian guy to make sure that they didn't understand either - and they didn't. So I'm not alone. The Spanish girl behind me asked us where we were from, and said how hard it must be for us since he talked so fast. I think it'll get better, but Spanish professors don't really do a lot of outside help or working with students, so I don't know if he'll be very helpful. It's so hard though! Imagine that whenever you stop pouring 100% of your attention towards the words coming out of someone's mouth, they sound like gibberish. Even when I would write down what was on the board I wouldn't be able to listen to him at the same time. Damn mumblers. Next time I'm sitting in the front row. Then contemporary art history started today, and besides some classroom confusion (it was in a different room, which I only figured out because another girl was lost and we found it together), it was good. The teacher was easy to understand, even though I was sitting in the back due to my late entry in the class, and that will not do in the future. It was really cool though, and I'm excited to take art history, which is something I know absolutely nothing about! She kept asking questions which I felt completely unprepared to answer, but luckily other people answered things like "When was perspective first widely used?"
Also I have to book it from UPF back to IES on Mondays and Fridays, from my class which gets out at 1:30 to my class which starts at 2:00. They're about a 10 minute metro ride apart, which coupled with walking time makes it nearly a half hour with just enough time to grab a bocadillo and wolf it down outside IES. It's great. AND of course I have no desire to do homework EVER. So, that's great.
I'm taking my Spanish class at IES, as well as a lit class - Barcelona and the Latin American Literary Boom. They're both really cool so far, and I like the professors a lot. In my Spanish class we end up just talking about Spain and politics and other random things like birth control and divorce. I LOVE it. Pep is our profe, and he's really... emphatic. And has a lot of opinions. The Boom class is going well so far, but I switched into it this week and missed the first week, so it's starting slowly for me. I like it a lot though, and it seems like we'll be reading lots of great writers - Borges, Fuentes, Varga Llosa, and Cortazar come up practically every day.
At UB I'm signed up for a Modern Spanish history class that is only 2 credits and only half the semester, and is for foreigners only. I've only been to one class, since Wednesday was La Merce, but so far I am not impressed. The professor was nice but tended to ramble and get distracted, and also talked reallllly slowly so we wouldn't get lost. I was initially annoyed by the pace, but at UPF I learned just how important it is.
My first day at UPF should probably be in a movie, because it was so ridiculous. Not really. But in my head, everything was awkward and overblown, even when they were pretty run of the mill. I had almost forgotten how scary it is to show up, alone, on a college campus, and have no idea what to do. And this time I didn't have Grace to get lost with on the way to brunch. First of all, the classroom numbers were not given to me beforehand, so I had to get there early, find my class on a giant wall of schedules, and find my classroom. As I scowered the list, a guy asked me something in Catalan, and I had to awkwardly tell him I didn't understand. I found my classroom for my first class, Literatura Castellana, which is actually a 20th c. poetry class - another thing which was not made clear to me. A female professor showed up (5 minutes late, after I had arrived 15 minutes early, thank you Spain) and wrote Prof. Jose Maria Miro on the board, much to my confusion. Apparently he is gone for a few weeks (all she said was, we hope he can get back to us as soon as possible), and we are going to be given random professors until he gets back. But Begonna was easy to understand and seemed to be very passionate about poetry. Unfortunately, I hardly slept the night before, and kept almost falling asleep. So after class, I made my way to the cafeteria and got cafe con leche and a croissant (for 1.40! cheapest I've seen yet), then straight up walked down the aisles of tables looking for friendly faces (or empty tables). It was like freshman year at SMA, except without Paige to sit with! So I sat with some random girl who then left after I sat down, and awkwardly tried to not gulp down my coffee (because everyone eats so slowly here) but also not linger too long because I was just looking around at everyone who was sitting with their friends and feeling super awkward. GREAT STUFF. Then I had half an hour to kill before Islam history, and spent it sitting on a bench organizing my planner. Yeeeeeeah. I don't know anyone! What am I supposed to do, walk up to random people and introduce myself? Not in the quad. Maybe in class. Then. I went into class feeling confident, having understood everything in my first class, caffeinated, successfully found my second class, saw another IES girl there, talked to her as well as an Austrian guy, and was excited for Islam history. I don't know how to describe the feeling I got in the first minute of class, except with the phrase "my bowels turned to water." I honestly thought he was speaking Catalan. I had no idea what was being said, except that apparently it was funny, because people were laughing. He could have been saying "That American in the front row sure looks like a skanky whore, huh?" and the laughter could have been confirmation of this sentiment. I couldn't follow ANYTHING. He talked very fast, mumbling a lot, and if it hadn't been for the powerpoint I would have absolutely nothing in my notes. As the class went on it got a little better, but when we were given a break, I turned to the IES student and the Austrian guy to make sure that they didn't understand either - and they didn't. So I'm not alone. The Spanish girl behind me asked us where we were from, and said how hard it must be for us since he talked so fast. I think it'll get better, but Spanish professors don't really do a lot of outside help or working with students, so I don't know if he'll be very helpful. It's so hard though! Imagine that whenever you stop pouring 100% of your attention towards the words coming out of someone's mouth, they sound like gibberish. Even when I would write down what was on the board I wouldn't be able to listen to him at the same time. Damn mumblers. Next time I'm sitting in the front row. Then contemporary art history started today, and besides some classroom confusion (it was in a different room, which I only figured out because another girl was lost and we found it together), it was good. The teacher was easy to understand, even though I was sitting in the back due to my late entry in the class, and that will not do in the future. It was really cool though, and I'm excited to take art history, which is something I know absolutely nothing about! She kept asking questions which I felt completely unprepared to answer, but luckily other people answered things like "When was perspective first widely used?"
Also I have to book it from UPF back to IES on Mondays and Fridays, from my class which gets out at 1:30 to my class which starts at 2:00. They're about a 10 minute metro ride apart, which coupled with walking time makes it nearly a half hour with just enough time to grab a bocadillo and wolf it down outside IES. It's great. AND of course I have no desire to do homework EVER. So, that's great.
Monday, September 1, 2008
host family!
Oh my god. I could not have asked for a more perfect living situation. Granted, it has only been 3 hours, but already I am in LOVE with them. Ana is the mother, and she has three children, Gonzalo and Pablo (or is it Paulo?) are 13 year old twins, and Paula is 18. My room is GREAT, their apartment is not only amazing but also in a fantastic location - I'm less than two blocks from the metro and the bus, and in a great neighborhood. And everyone is so nice! Paula, Pablo and Gonzalo all took me to get a new phone (my Argentine one didn't work, even with a new SIM card), and now Ana is cooking lunch (which is good because I'm starving), and she is so wonderful and welcoming. I understand them really well so far, except when they talk really quickly to each other. They are also doing everything they can to help me learn about Barcelona, including Gonzalo telling me that I can't cross the street when the light is red, and making me practice using the keys, and showing me around the neighborhood. I'm just so happy to be here, and to have a great host family!
I went to the IES center this morning to find out who my host family was, and I got my orientation schedule and all of that. We're going to Valencia this weekend, and I have orientation things starting on Wednesday - including placement tests - we'll see how that goes, since I am definitely still in mental summer. Ok well that's it for right now - I'm sure I will be back for more later.
So far the meals have been humongous and delicious, but mostly humongous. For lunch we had green beans and potatoes, hamburgers, and bread, followed by fruit, yogurt, and chocolate. Dinner was tortilla de pata (potato omelets, sort of), spaghetti, bread, ham, cheese, and the smoked salmon I brought, followed by more fruit, chocolate, and gelatin. Also, I completely passed out after lunch and ended up sleeping for FIVE hours. Oops. I am still adjusting to the schedule, I guess - it was impossible to get up this morning at 9:30. Impossible. I barely made it out of the hostel in time.
I went to the IES center this morning to find out who my host family was, and I got my orientation schedule and all of that. We're going to Valencia this weekend, and I have orientation things starting on Wednesday - including placement tests - we'll see how that goes, since I am definitely still in mental summer. Ok well that's it for right now - I'm sure I will be back for more later.
So far the meals have been humongous and delicious, but mostly humongous. For lunch we had green beans and potatoes, hamburgers, and bread, followed by fruit, yogurt, and chocolate. Dinner was tortilla de pata (potato omelets, sort of), spaghetti, bread, ham, cheese, and the smoked salmon I brought, followed by more fruit, chocolate, and gelatin. Also, I completely passed out after lunch and ended up sleeping for FIVE hours. Oops. I am still adjusting to the schedule, I guess - it was impossible to get up this morning at 9:30. Impossible. I barely made it out of the hostel in time.
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