9-20-11

Well, today was the first day in my new class with my new classmates. I had a really good day learning with all of them, and I really felt I belonged. In my first class, I sat next to a classmate named Charlie. I have seen Charlie around, and I always got the impression that his nose was a little bit higher in the air than everyone else, and that the was always criticizing everyone. Today, I found Charlie to be a very smart, humble, and hilarious classmate to participate with. We did introductions today, only this time, we introduced our friend to another friend- forming a triangle of friendship. I was in Charlie's group, and I was actually preparing to be annoyed, but once we started, I was laughing and laughing from his unique introductions. He has a special gift of goofing off just enough for it to be hilarious, but not enough to lose the focus of what we were doing.

Yep, I enjoyed every single class I attended today...except for the class of The History of Spanish Literature. I walked in five minutes late today, expecting to find my entire advanced 1 class, but instead I only found two classmates sitting, and a teacher that I don't have any other classes with welcoming me in warmly and showing me a seat in the front row. Now, there were three of us sitting on the front row, and a teacher who was very passionate about literature...that spells trouble. In the United States, in English, I don't understand literature very well, and if I don't understand literature in English very well, what hope do I have for understanding it in Spanish? Nevertheless, I did my best to follow the teacher and her lecture. She started off with the history of how Spain was invaded by Arabs, and then she wrote all of our names on the board in Arabic because somehow writing our names in Arabic was related to the subject. I was able to follow for short periods of time, but I couldn't quite get the big picture. About half way through the class, after being thoroughly bored, I realized that I had accidentally highlighted this class on my schedule, but never actually signed up, and I didn't actually need to be there. What should I do? It is half way through the class period, and I realize that I could just walk out right then and there, and get out of this class that made my head hurt for no reason. Should I walk out, or should I be polite and wait for a stopping point? Should I wait until the end, about another half-hour of sheer boredom? I decided that since there were only three of us, I would wait until the end of class. Even though I chose the more noble option, I still had to pay attention for the next half hour on a topic that baffled me not only in the language it was being taught, but the topic itself. Our next task was to analyze a poem and find out what it meant. I can't really even do that in English, so I knew doing it in Spanish would be an absolute joke. Now, after today, I really don't mind analyzing poems in English. Finally, it was time to go, and I explained to the teacher my mistake, and she said that I should just sign up, and of course I was polite, but in my head I was thinking, "there is not a chance in the world I will ever return to this class", and I scrammed as fast as I could get out of there.

After class, Eric and I went on a bike ride. Oh yes, an update; Eric's bike came, and he has been "just itching" to ride (his words, not mine). Today, I borrowed a bike from the school, and planned to bike to the post office downtown and mail a birthday card to my Aunt. The bike I rode was not too shabby, and it certainly was just as good, if not better than anything I could buy here, but I would have given anything to have my bike. Of course Eric left me in the dust today, which he probably would have anyways, but another problem was that the seat couldn't go nearly as high as I needed it too; not only was I slow, but my knees were practically coming up to my chest. The ride down was beautiful, and I found the orchards of nisperos (loquats) that Ms. Mumper was telling me about. Getting to town only took about 5 minutes from the school, because it was all down hill. The bad news is, we never found the post office today; the good news is that we got an unexpected self-guided tour of the town. I asked a couple of times where the post office was, but no one seemed to know except for a man who gave us directions. The only problem was that there was a bit of trouble in the line of communication, and I am talking about me. He talked very fast, just like everyone else here, and I only caught, "el ultimo calle...izquerda". So I did what I think he told me to do, and followed where he pointed, but that still didn't quite get us there. I guess I will have to try again tomorrow. On our way around one of the round-a-bouts, one of the hundreds that are in town, Eric took quite a spill, and when I asked him if he was hurt, he just said that the only thing hurt was his pride. He got up, and we headed home. Remember how I said that it only took 5 minutes to get from the school to the town because it was  all downhill? On the way back, it took more like 35 minutes, and that was quite a workout in itself. Once we started ascending, Eric basically left me in the dust by sprinting up the hill, and away he went. Meanwhile, I did my best Little Engine that Could impression just trying to make it back to campus. When I arrived, the sweat ball I was, Eric already had his helmet off, his bike put away, and was just relaxing in his room.

The rest of the day went pretty well, but I am definitely ready for bed. I am excited because we have a field trip tomorrow to the Roman Castle ruins that are only a stone's throw away from the campus, assuming Superman is the one throwing.