Classes

We started classes on Monday and first we had to take a placement test at 8 in the morning to see what level classes we should be taking. It was funny because 8 in the morning is early over here. Most businesses start at 9 and there was hardly anyone on the metro or on the streets on the way to our school, Don Quijote.

I have the morning classes so I start at 9 and then have a half our break at 11:45 and then go back to class again from 12:15-1:00. After 1, I am home free and since Kelli and Nik have the same class times as I we normally go to a plaza or a park and eat lunch. Our classes are incredibly small and there is a maximum of eight people in a class. My class has 6 students and it is very laid back. We normally chit chat about plans for the weekend, good movies that are out, where in Spain we want to visit, what our homes are like, and really nontrivial things like that. Sometimes we talk about grammar and vocabulary, but normally even then we get off topic and end up talking about the madrileno lifestyle or something.

It took me a while, but I am slowly warming up to my classmates. One girl, Mandy, is from Germany and so when she speaks spanish she has a thick German accent and it is practically impossible to understand her. Don’t get me wrong, she is a nice girl and everything; it is just that I can’t understand a word out of her mouth. Ironically, the professor often can’t understand her either and she is constantly asked to repeat herself.

There is only one other girl from the US in my class and she is from Miami, other than that the other girls are from Holland, Germany, the Ukraine, and Norway. We make for a pretty mixed group, but it is great to get to know people from all around the world.