Una Semana de Exámanes

(The view from inside El Palacio de Cristal in El Parque del Retiro)

I have only one exam and one paper left. Yippee!! I have had a constant stream of essays and tests for the past three days, therefore, I haven't seen sunlight (quite literally) for about a week as I have been closed in my room with the blinds shut to prevent distraction. Oh, finals week - how you deprive me of Vitamin D.

Saturday and Sunday: I legitimately did not leave my room, except to take exciting trips to the kitchen or bathroom. Memorizing all of Spanish history in Spanish is not fun - they have much more history than the US does and have been conquered way too many times. Plus, all the Muslim Emirs have practically the same name: Abderrahman I, Abderrahman II, Abderrahman III, Alhakem, Almanzor, and Almudatar, to name a few. Plus, since this class is an art history class, I needed to memorize all the art and architecture styles, important people, and dates of every time someone took a paintbrush to lienzo. And, as a matter of fact, I don't even know what lienzo is in English! Linen? Canvas? Can't be sure.

Monday: I had my Spanish grammar test today. I had memorized all of my tenses, (which were taking up valuable space that was needed for El Siglo del Oro) and was ready to go. I took a couple of online quizzes for practice and then noticed that I hadn't yet taken the Commands with Pronouns section. So I quickly answered the 20 questions and submitted my test for scoring. I got 15 out of 20 wrong. I nearly had a heart attack. With about 3 minutes until I needed to leave for my test, I had no time to further cram these answers into my head, and was now hyperventilating. I ran to the metro with notes in hand, trying to memorize the rules for the conjugations, which I had thought were already filed away nicely in some corner of my brain. I got to the test in a panic and decided to stop studying and gave myself a pep-talk, instead. We were handed our tests and for the first three pages I couldn't remember anything as my heart rate was way too high for concentration. By page four, I started to calm down and concentrate, and I think by the end of the test, I had figured almost everything out. Commands with Pronouns wasn't even on there.

Tuesday: I had to get up pretty early to go hand in my Historia del Presente paper. Six pages, in Spanish, on pollution and recycling in Spain. It's some pretty scintillating stuff. Next was my Spanish composition test. The test consisted of 5 essays to be written in Spanish, which were conveniently phrased so that we had to use all our different tenses. Teachers can be tricky that way. Luckily for me, the test was open-note, and two of the test essays were very similar to ones we had written earlier in the semester (which had been corrected and handed back to us). I simply had to re-copy my notes. I can only hope that the test went well, because it is my personal belief that one cannot just magically change their writing style; in their first language and especially in a second language that they can't even remember the conjugations for. So I went home afterwards and studied for Ana's final (the art history one) by pacing around my room and memorizing my study sheets. I made it to about 2 am (having slept for only 4 hours the night before, as well) before deciding that I needed to sleep and could finish studying the next morning. So I set my alarm for 4:30 and went to bed.

Today: I woke up with my alarm, turned on the light, and fell back asleep. Shoot. I woke up at 7:23 and needed to leave for my test by 7:30. Shoot. I skipped a shower, breakfast, and most importantly: studying! I passed another stressful metro ride pouring over my notes. I got to class just in time and Ana handed us our test packets, which consisted of 6 photos (paintings, floorplans, and photos of buildings). We needed to write a short essay about the artistic and historic context of 5 of them. We only had an hour and a half, which would have been barely enough time for me to write those essays in English, and this test needed to be in Spanish, por supuesto. So I just put nouns next to verbs next to some random conjugations and prepositions. I hope it's at least readable.

I then took the train with Kevin to Carlos III, because I wanted to print out some sources for my Economics paper that's due next week. But first, I had meetings with two of my Intercambios, Rosy and Ivy. Rosy and I had lunch, and good thing, as I was starved. She asked me for help with her English homework - of which I knew very little. She asked me why we say, "Having played sports for 10 years. . ." and then, "I would have liked if my parents had taught me. . ." and I had no idea where to go with that. So learning English is hard, too, (it made me feel somewhat accomplished). I then met with Ivy, and she took me to a hot chocolate café. Yay! I got a white hot chocolate and it was delicious - it came with a cookie (a cracker) and gummy bears. The only problem was that everyone in that place was smoking, including Ivy, and I came out of there smelling like an ashtray. Eek.

I had to go to the library quickly, because I realized my books where overdue (by only a day). I checked the online system to see what the fines where, and it said 2 euros per book per day. I thought that was a bit steep so I scurried on over to the library to hand in the one book I had with me (I have three out altogether). Turns out it's not a 2 euro fine, but a 2 day restriction on taking out books in the future. If I had known that, I would have kept it for another week. I then went to the computer lab in an attempt at productivity, but it wasn't happening. I switched to a different building, to see if I could focus better there, but no such luck. I walked back to the train and I've not done much since. I worked on some internship applications, studied 2 chapters for my economics test next week (a subject in English - hurrah!), and eaten dinner with Julia.

Tidbits I've learned about Spain this week:

1.) Catholic Spain refuses to acknowledge the existence of Santa Claus, so Spaniards do not get presents on December 25th. Rather, they get/give presents on January 6th (Epiphany) that are delivered by the Three Wise Men. And instead of leaving out cookies, they leave out shoes filled with straw for the camels. Maybe that's where the whole cookie problem started.

2.) Spaniards don't believe in heating their homes. It is frigid outside and I have a huge bay window in my room with a metal frame (that acts like a big ice cube). Therefore, my room is frigid, as well. The radiator is barely on and the other day, I came back from Carlos III and found that Paquita had left my window open. It was probably 50 degrees. This was good in that it kept me awake while studying, but bad in the fact that my hands were so purple I couldn't write anything.

3.) The Christmas light displays in Madrid are extensive, but are not kept on for very long. This is because there is a currently an energy crisis and they need to save money. But what I don't understand is why they then turn the lights on at 6 pm, when everybody is still at work.

4.) Foreign credit cards cannot be used to purchase metro passes. The ticket machines will reject your card no matter how many times you attempt to force it into the slot. If you do not have enough cash on you to purchase your month pass on the first of December, you will have to count your coins until you reach 4 euros which will buy you a round-trip ticket to Parla. Also, you should note that if you are going to Carlos III, you do not need to buy a round-trip ticket all the way to Parla, because you get off at Las Margaritas. A round-trip ticket to Las Margaritas is only 2 euros. Some of us have learned this the hard way.

I am going to sleep now. Finally.