La Vida Espanola parte 1

Hola de Espana! Forgive me; I'm using a PC laptop from one of the other students and I don't know how to make it do tildes or accents or upside down exclamation points. So, ghetto Spanish.

So here I am. After one painful, coffee-deprived day of jet-lag, we had our first day of classes yesterday (Monday), and they went really well. I think I will like my classes a LOT. I get to do a project, for example, on a photography exhibition at La Academia de las Bellas Artes the theme of which is the transition from fascism to democracy in Spain in the 1970s during the fall of Franco and the restoration of the crown. Yay! I also get to do a presentation on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) on the smoking ban in Madrid that recently took effect. You'd never know it, though; EVERYONE smokes in cafes, bars, restaurants, the subway, EVERYWHERE.

And as far as Madrid goes, we're here until Friday, when we go to Segovia to meet our host families and begin the second, "Segovia" part of our trip. I'm looking forward to it, because I can really profundizar (deepen) relationships with Spaniards, whereas in the colegio (boarding school) where we are staying this week in Madrid, there isn't enough time or peace to get to know any other the other kids really well. In fact, the students here are really friendly, and there are all kinds of camps going on, in addition to normal classes. There are high school students who live here normally, plus little little kids age 6 to 10, middle school age kids, and then us, Americna college students. I haven't figured out exactly who is in charge, because while there are lots of programs going on, lots of kids, and college-age counselors directing them, there aren't really any 'adults,' you know? It's sort of like Lord of the Flies, if they had managed to develop some kind of stable society instead of killing Piggy. ("Sucks to your asmar.") The camps are for kids to either learn Spanish or English, and they are boisterous, noisy bunches of kiddoes. But that makes it more like home. They are kind of afraid of us KIIS students when we try to talk to them, though, so I stopped trying. The counselors are really friendly, though. There are these two girls I've made friends with, Ana and Consuelo, and they are supernice and cool. They have given us help with our Spanish and recommendations on what to see in Madrid. It's pretty cool.

Meanwhile, I am also slowly getting to know (and like) the people in my KIIS group a bit better; but unsurprisingly, the people I like best in our group are the professors. They are really nice and funny and they like me because my Spanish is good and I am a good student (unlike most everybody else here who is pretty lazy, in my opinion, and VERY American--in a bad way--about a lot of things... how to act in public being at the top of my list, their complaints about the food, their persistence in speaking English, being a few more...). And since I have been able to talk to a lot of the students at the colegio, I am gaining more confidence every day in my Spanish skills. I was talking to one student last night for a few minutes who thought I was Spanish--and it wasn't the first time. I've been asked by various Spaniards if I am Irish, Belgian, Puerto Rican or Spanish, but I haven't yet been asked if I'm American. No one assumes this of me. I consider it a success. :) I understand about 85 - 95% of everything said to me, so I'm feeling pretty good about things right now. And I really like my classes, although there is a LOT of homework.

So. I'll have more to say when I have more time and energy, but right now I have lots o' homework, and only about 8 hours in which to do it. :) I miss you all, and yes, I'm alive, so don't worry. I'm walking a lot, too, which feels GREAT! At least 3 or 4 miles a day so far. Woo hoo!