Study Abroad 2005...

So I began day 2 here with my family in Cordoba. It was kinda nice to wake up this morning and have everyone still sleeping so i could get myself ready and not have to concentrate too hard on forming a sentence, which takes lots of work!

So off to school I went, its about a 20 minute walk or a short bus ride, but as the lady at the bus stop informed my, i had just missed the bus and didnt know how long until the next one. Punctuality isnt really a big deal here in Spain for public transportation schedules, or store hours which can be frustrating. So the walk was nice, its cool here in the mornings and warm and sunny in the afternoons here (save for today when it was/is raining). Got to school, found the classes, sat down, answered the same questions they ask on every spanish exam: how long have you studied spanish? why do you continue to study? why are you studying abroad? why in Cordoba? and the lot....then off to more placement testing with an oral examination with much of the same questions, but in addition we had to describe some art. Needless to say, enought questions was enough and i welcomed the orientation that came next. To my dissappointment was boring as all hell, and the professor, a Poli-Sci prof from UCSD was the culprit. This man was literally foaming at the mouth (you know those people that have spit at the corner of thier mouth the entire time they talk, well that was him) and proceeded to repeat himself a ridiculous number of times.

I was relieved to finally get out of there and head home for la almuerza (lunch) and my siesta, which I had filled up with plans to meet friends at el centro (the city center) and get a cell phone, which I had to figure out the plans and what i wanted entirely in Spanish (uugghh) but hey, im finally connected to the rest of the world.

After that some of the other guys in the program and I met up in the Plaza de las Tendillas at the middle of the city to hang out where it proceeded to pour, yeah, thats right, in the middle of the heat, in summer, it was pouring! So we ventured away from the city and walked around through the small cobblestone streets just wide enough for one car and three college kids jumping out of the way as it whips around the blind curve.

The streets are beautiful. The city is very old and all the old builings and churches and walls are still erect and you weave your way inbetween all of them in a maze to find your way to some plaza or outlet. Its great, and being lost was never so fun and exciting!

I am definitely ready to start school here, there is a lull in the day for siesta and im (a) not used to it yet and (b) dont like it too much cause i feel like i waste valuable daylight hours. Ill either adjust or find something to do with that time... hoping to find a gym asap, this not working out thing is killin me.

Well, school officially starts tomorrow with classes and the like, then thursday is a holiday and if the weather is nice there is talk of going to Cadiz,a gorgeous city on the western coast of Spain just south of Portugal. Back to class Friday then the weekend..yeah!!!