First day of class
Today was our first day of our classes. We woke up at 8:30 (ugh) and walked over to the Universitat to be there for our first class at 9:30. It’s called “Visions of War in Modern Spanish Culture,” and is taught by Prof. Antonio Monegal from UPF. We talked about war and how we’re going to examine it, essentially. It went pretty quickly and seems interesting. After that we stopped for a quick bite in the cafeteria, which was a mistake, because an hour into the second class my digestion started and I started nodding off. It was less exciting, because we talked about the history of Barcelona’s city planning (snooze) and yeah. I think the rest of the class will be better.
After that we went back to the residencia to rest up a bit before heading out to Corte Ingles to buy some groceries and our books for Monegal’s course. It was a nice walk, albeit hot, and we did get some good food to eat in the residencia when we’re too lazy/cheap to spend 7,5 Euro on a Coke.
We chilled in the residencia a bit before getting started on our huge amount of reading for tomorrow’s class (not many pages in number, at least compared to tutorial, but they’re in Spanish! takes forever). Since the World Cup game between France and Spain happened tonight, we wanted to make sure not to be out when it ended, because it didn’t seem safe either way. So two of us went to the Supermercat to buy some bread and peanut butter to eat sandwiches in the residencia. Walking around at dusk is kind of sketchy around here…
Tomorrow will be a tough day. Lots of class and homework to do. Hopefully the rest of our time here won’t be so heavy on the work.
Thursday three of us are going out with some genuine Spanish college students from UPF for our first Intercambio social event. We’re eating near our residencia and will be meeting some of the student’s friends from the south of Spain, who apparently speak a different way than northerners. They’re going to a club afterwards, but we’re not sure if we want to — sketch factor. Who knows, though!
That’s all for now — tomorrow is a tour of the Barri Gotic, so maybe some pictures will be up tomorrow evening or the following morning, since we have so much work to do. Adios!
Hi, Carrie! Glad to know that you have clothes now. Has Spain gone into mourning for the World Cup Team? It was a pretty even matchup until late in the game, but France got some favorable breaks.
You’re first big dinner sounded like a gastronomical experience… from your description, I don’t know if I’d have eaten the seafood!! Glad to know that if all else fails, peanut butter is available!
In your travels (and since you offered), if you see an unusual musical instrument, not castanets, that is strictly or mostly Spanish in origin and usage, and it’s not too expensive, I’d love to have it for my collection. Only one requirement….. you must know how to play it correctly and show me how when we see each other again.
My other collections are nativities made in different media, the more unusual the better and of course music boxes.
Looking forward to your next installment and some pictures.
Love, Aunt Val 😉