On Wednesday I took my first and last Spanish university class. It was extremely similar to university classes in the States despite what they told us at orientation. I was signed up to take Historia Medieval (medieval history) with other Spanish students. There turned out to be a lot of English-speaking students in the class as well. Basically the format was going to be half lecture by the professor (for one hour), then a break, then student presentations, debate, and discussion. I would have stayed in the class if it were just listening to him speak (although even that took 100% of my concentration), but I really couldn't understand most of what the other students were saying because they talked quietly, or mumbled, or--most commonly--superfast. Since that was half the class I realized there was no way I could do well.
After my history class Wednesday I had my first intensive Spanish language class, which is at the university and taught by university professors but is with all American students from CIEE. I take this class for three weeks until my regular classes (now all university classes with international students) start.
Then on Wednesday I tried going to the major department store here, El Corte Ingles, to buy a SIM card. They had them but it turns out you have to present your passport when buying SIM cards. So I had to leave empty-handed. That night for dinner I had a very good soup with chicken, sausage, and pasta as well as some fried fish.
On Thursday I had a meeting with my academic advisor here. There is this very confusing thing where they have changed offices but still have the old office on all of the written materials. So basically I went to the wrong office but eventually made it to the new one 15 minutes late (10:45). However I was supposed to meet a tour at 11:00, so I got there 10 minutes late and they had already left. I did some shopping since I was in the area and got a new coat and shirt. Then I was walking back the way I had come and saw a big group of CIEE people with a tour guide. There was a second group at 11:30 and I just joined that one.
The tour was of El Barrio Gotico, or the Gothic quarter, which is where the Cathedral and all sorts of old Roman and Medieval buildings are. The tour was great except that it was one of the coldest days they've had on record in years. Seriously, we came on the global warming year and they have had insanely cold weather. It actually snowed during our tour! Very little, but still. It was truly miserable.
After that I went to Spanish class, then went back home to get my passport, then to the department store. I bought the SIM card and my phone works now, but all the directions are in Spanish and I don't know what my phone number is. Argh. At dinner yesterday I had some really good potatoes and long beans with a little bacon, and I had the first thing I found unpleasant. It was an omelet that I thought had ham in it, but tasted a little off. It turned out to be tuna.
There was a joke one of our first days here that we would get haircuts like the Spanish so we could blend in, but this would require getting a mullet, a dreaded mullet, shaved at the front and dyed lots of colors. Since yesterday I saw someone with a dreadlocked mullet, this is not too far from the truth.
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