(El Estadio de Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain)
Yikes! I'm getting behind on my blogging. Let's see if I can remember any of what I did this past week. . .
Monday: My Spanish class was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday (the professor had a family emergency), so I had to inform Julia that I would be around for lunch. Now if you remember, the last time this occurred, it ended with me in tears, so I was a tad nervous as I walked into the salon. But she handled it quite well, I thought, (maybe because Ines was there) and a few hours later we sat down for lunch. I had to head off right away to meet my new Intercambio, Rosy. She is a PhD student in computer science working on her thesis, which she said might be as long as 1,000 pages (I don't know that many words in Spanish and English put together and repeated seven times). It turns out that Rosy is from Mexico, and we ended up chatting for a solid hour about how abrupt and rude Spaniards are. She even brought it up! So there seems to be an official difference in mannerisms between the mother country and all of us poor colonized schmucks. . .
Tuesday: I had Historia del Presente this morning and was thoroughly annoyed that other people were saying that they had already started their essays (due in one week). I hadn't done anything for my paper but bookmark about 17 websites on my Internet browser and print out some newspaper articles about recycling. So after class, I stuck around campus and got all my sources together and made an outline so that I felt accomplished. I got back to Julia's in time for lunch (ham rolls and lentils) and then plunked myself down and started writing. I had planned to write about pollution: land, air, and water, but by 10 pm, I had finished writing about just land and my paper was 3/4 long enough. Unlike the average time-saving student I did not decide to stretch what I had, rather, I decided to delete about half of what I had and go back and write about air and water, too. I think it's things like this that make my stress level so high.
Wednesday: Today was the last day of Ana's class. We we were all hoping for some guidance in studying for the final. We've covered all of Spain's history plus a good amount of the relevant art that goes along with it. She's told us that we will be shown 6 slides and will need to write a mini-essay for 5 of them - in Spanish, of course. Someone asked if the slides would just be paintings we've seen, and she responded that the slides could be anything, from buildings, to paintings, to pictures of people. Gulp. After class, we all had to run to our last 2 hour Historia class. I spent a good deal of the class reading about the economic history of Japan. Historia, as a class, really isn't designed very well. We write an essay about a topic of our choosing as our only grade - there is absolutely no incentive to go to class, (except to learn, I guess, or read economics articles). I ate lunch with Lizzie in Getafe, (I had brought ham rolls and peppers from home) and then we toured the nearby supermarket before I had to run back to Spanish class. The professor told us that the class was essentially finished and that no new information would be on our final, so that was a relief. But then she told us she's giving us back our last tests, but that first we were going to work in pairs, take the test again, and correct those tests in class as review. Now, when I take a test, I like to write down everything I know, hand the test in, and not think about it again until I see my grade. I am very superstitious with tests and have a whole process worked out. I do not like to be tortured by having to take the test a second time and wonder twice whether I had put down the correct answers or not. It was an agonizing class for me. But I did fine, so I just want to get through the final. Then I had my weekly meeting with Jennifer - the Spanish week - a little rough, but still good. We discussed frosting, which apparently is another thing that I am going to have to introduce to the Spanish culture. Jennifer and I decided to have a baking fiesta next week, so I can demonstrate another of the wonders of America to her. We then walked back to the train and got churros con chocolate (they have set up a semi-sketchy churros stand set up in the parking lot of the train station). Then I had to hurry home and change because I was off to the Real Madrid vs. Zurich fútbol game at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium! A bunch of people were going and we were meeting at TGIF's for dinner beforehand. I grabbed my Real Madrid bufanda (Spanish for a scarf) and walked to the restaurant. We all sat and ate - I had chicken fingers (which were exorbitantly priced - 11 euros), and almost felt like I was back at one of the BC football games (I do miss BC's chicken fingers). We then headed to our gate. There were people everywhere - Real Madrid is the biggest team in Madrid and one of the biggest teams in Spain and it was rumored that Christiano Ronaldo (currently the highest paid fútbol player in the world) was playing for the first time since his injury. We climbed to our seats - the only ones we could afford were high enough to make the field look like a fuse-ball table - and started unlayering (although it was pretty cold outside, the stadium has these huge overhead heaters, and we were right up there next to them). The game was fun to watch - it goes much faster than football - and Real Madrid won 1-0. And Ronaldo played, which was probably the most exciting part. Lizzie and I walked around afterwards and ended up going back to Julia's apartment. Julia and Ines were both asleep, but we tiptoed around as I gave her the tour. The house is practically a museum. Then Lizzie went home and I tried to get some work done, but since it was about midnight, not much was accomplished.
Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving! I had my last CEH class today (the classes for Americans) and only have 2 or 3 econ classes left (a Grados class - for Spanish kids - they go longer). After class, all the BC kids met at the Prado for Ana's tour (just packing in another 20 paintings or so for our test which is in less than a week). It is interesting to actually get an explanation of the paintings, though, so I enjoyed the tour. Then when that was finished, it was off to Thanksgiving dinner! The BC program booked us all a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the Cornucopia restaurant (?) so we all had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (2 servings for me - Lizzie didn't like hers), spinach, cranberry sauce, and walnut bourbon pie. Satisfactory, but still not like home. There are quite a few BC families visiting over Thanksgiving break, so it was nice to meet friends' parents and see how similar they look to their parents. It was a good time, but I missed everyone back home. Then Lizzie and I walked to Plaza de España and took the metro to Nuevos Ministerios. We ended up walking to McDonald's for McFlurries and chatting for a solid 2.5 hours (sitting on a bench outside in the rain after McDonals's started to close). I then hopped back on the metro and got to Julia's by midnight and turned out some more of my Historia paper.
Today: I studied. I have not even seen daylight because my blinds have been shut to prevent distraction. I only left the room for lunch, dinner, and bathroom breaks, so I would like to think I was somewhat productive. I studied for my Spanish final (on Monday and Tuesday), wrote more of my Historia paper (due Tuesday) and studied for Ana's final (on Wednesday). Still plenty to do and I don't think I will be leaving the room the rest of this weekend, unless I run out of food and need to go to the supermarket. I'm always a wreck during finals, so it's best for me to just remove myself from society for a few days. But I'm currently in quite a good mood, because since Thanksgiving is over, I can officially start listening to Christmas music. I had started within four hours of finishing my turkey. I have more Christmas songs on my iPod than non-Christmas songs, so I need to get started right away. Sometimes I burst out in song, which probably alarms the neighbors, but since I'm under finals stress, I think it's completely acceptable. Currently playing: White Christmas from "Christmas Sing with Frank and Bing." Love it!