Back to the grind

So new classes have started this week, and I can't help but be amazed at the lack of organization. Now while the University can certainly take some blame, our program is just very different from what all of the other Spanish students are doing, that it inevitably makes things trickier. The issue is that students here are put on a track of classes from day 1. They are enrolled in a certain "facultad" like law, business, sociology, education, etc... and then from there they choose their (what we would call) major. Except they don't get to choose their classes, once they pick their major, all of their classes are fixed for every year of their dgree, and they're split into groups and given their pre-made schedules. And then we come marching in. Holy Cross lovin', liberal arts degree totin', english speaking Americans. I'm taking a class in the first year of the English philology major (which is actually a computer class), another in the second year of the Spanish literature major, and then a class in the first year of the sociology department.

The architecture of UDC is a little different than Holy Cross

The problem then comes because unlike every other Spanish student, we have classes that don't fit together perfectly like tetris pieces. Our courses are sometimes at the same time, or the two facultads organize their schedules in different time blocks, so I'll find courses but they end up overlapping. The other issues is that most of the classes are broken into one "complete group" and one "small group" every week. While this format is nice because it allows a little bit more personalized attention, it definitely makes scheduling more difficult. There was a sociology class that I wanted to take, but only one of the small groups fit into my schedule, unfortunately, when I went to the complete group yesterday I was informed that they had eliminated that one small group. It was frustrating, but I think everything has worked out. As of right now my courses are a computer communications class, contemporary political and social history, continuing my year long Spanish literature class, and our Spanish class with just the 4 other Holy Cross students (Arinelli isn't it in since she's a native speaker).

Another European adventure to come!

The good news about my schedule though is that I don't have classes on Fridays, which means it should make traveling easier! I already have a good amount of plans that I'm looking forward to. I'll be visiting my friends Andy, Emily and Dan who are all in León for the year. Andy and Emily were the ones who came to visit earlier this year, so it'll be really great to see them and explore another small Spanish city. Two weekends after that my parents are coming to Madrid, and I'll be meeting them there. I'm leaving Thursday night and then coming back Monday night so I'll have a good amount of time with them. As of right now March looks pretty free. Hopefully my friend Audrey will be coming to visit me near the end, and then we'll be flying to Barcelona together to see Claire (who I visited in Strasbourg, France). She's going with some other girls from Strasbourg, and they're all meeting other friends who are studying abroad there, so it should be a fun time to meet new people and swap stories.
In April we get a week long break, which happens to start on my birthday, April 15th! Although I haven't bought any tickets yet, I plan on going to Scotland and Ireland. I've never been to either of the places, and given that I have friends in both, I think that should be fun! Unfortunately, just looking for flights has been stressful. I guess Spanish people must not go up there that often because it is both expensive and time consuming. This is when a private jet would come in handy.
I hope everything is going well, and people are staying warm and safe over there in New England. All I hear about is cold and snow, cold and snow. Good news is that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, which means that Spring is near! Just hold on a little longer!
Also a couple shout-outs to Mr. Alex Lucyk and Ms. Kristin Jednorowicz. I had some skype sessions with them the other day, and while despite living in Spain, I contend my life is very boring, it was so nice to see and talk with them!
I love you all!