The last two days have been pretty crazy! Yesterday, February 8th, was my first day of classes at La Universidad de Sevilla (US). How my program with ISA works is you schedule 7 classes, attend all of them the first week, then pick 4 or 5 to take for the semester. My first class on Monday at 11am was Mythical Figures in Spanish Literature. There was a change in professors and the new professor didn’t seem too excited about teaching the class. He introduced us to a few of the very famous literary figures in Spain such as Don Juan, Carmen, Don Quijote and La Celestina. However, the class was so dry and boring I could barely stay awake! After that, I had to choose to either go to The Image of Spain Through Cinema or The History of Slavery in Latin America. Believe it or not, I chose the History of Slavery. It turned out to be a great choice! The professor is very friendly and speaks very clearly…we started some of the material and it seemed very interesting. So, I will most likely keep that class. After that, a few girls from my class and I went and ate lunch, then came back to US for my final class of the day, which was Cultural Anthropology of Latin America. My friend, Megan Smith, had taken this class last year and told me it was great. The professor was hilarious and the class seems like it will be a lot of work, but I will learn a lot.
Today I also had 3 classes. My first class was about Don Quijote and Cervantes. I barely made it to class because I accidently slept in til noon today! But I got there just in time. There were about 60 students, so we had to move to a larger classroom. We spent a lot of the time playing an icebreaker to introduce oursevles and also got some background info on the history of Spain during Cervantes life. Next, I had Culinary Habits and Diet in Ancient Mediterranean Times. It seems interesting, but both of the professors are a little hard to understand. The final is making a traditional Med. dish and eating dinner together! In Spain, pretty much of all of student’s grade is the midterm (if there is one) and the final. There isn’t as much homework, and grades are on a scale of 1-10, and you must get a 5 to pass. My last class was Literature and the city: The case of Sevilla. It’s basically a class about literature that mentions or takes place in Sevilla or whose author is from Sevilla. We’re taking field trips around the city to see the places firsthand, so that class seems pretty enjoyable!
My friends and I are planning on going to Cadiz this weekend for Carneval, which is basically the Mardi Gras of Spain! Everyone dresses up in costumes and there’s a huge festival.
Hope all of you have a great week!