Second to last group of entries.... 4/15-4/26
4-15 MORE PAPERING
Today I got up and got right on my homework. I finished all of the things that are due for my grammar class for the semester and worked on my research paper for a while. I felt pretty productive, especially since my teacher (who I emailed my papers to) said they looked really good! We had dinner, then I played around on line during some well deserved break time! Then I went to bed since my brain was feeling pretty fried.
4-16 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
Today I got up at 9am so I could go to the library to do some research for my paper. I was at the library until noon which was when I decided to go get something for lunch. I got a really delicious sandwich-jam, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and egg. Yum! then since it was such a nice day, I walked back to school, about 15 minutes away from the library. The sun was out and it was about 75 degrees which made it really hard to believe I had to spend the next 3 hours inside. Oh well. After class, I went to tutoring and we watched the first hour of “High School Musical”. I think it was pretty interesting but I am sure it’s a bit hard to understand for Paula since they are singing almost the whole time. However, she has seen it before, which helps a little bit! After tutoring I came home, ate dinner, did a paper about Spanish literature and the presence of water, and then talked online before going to bed at 1am.
4-17 DAY OF CLASSES
Oh Tuesday, how I loathe thee! Class from 9:30am until 3pm is never fun. But at least I only have this special day one more time. Wow, that’s so weird to say, I have 7 more days of class and one day of finals. It feels like it was a log time ago that I started and I am ready to go home, but it also seems like the 4 months have just flown by. There have definitely been days I wished would have gone faster, but who doesn’t have days like those? Anyways, after class I stopped at Corte Ingles for some pretzels and oranges (my attempt to snack healthier). When I got home I napped for 3 hours. Which, I know I could have been doing work during, but I am definitely needing these naps recently. Dinner was paella at 9pm and then after dinner I did homework until bed time.
4-18 SLEEP, CLASS AND TUTORING
That is basically what I did today. I got up at 11, got ready for class and left for school around 1pm. I hung out a bit before class time then went and got a little bit of education. After school, I went home, relaxed for a few minutes and then went to tutoring to watch the end of High School Musical. PS…I loved it! It was such a cute movie even if it was made by the Disney Channel. Any how, after tutoring I went home, had some dinner, worked a little bit on one of my final papers and rehearsed for my presentation tomorrow. And an amazing thing happened, I got to be before midnight!!! woooooohooooo!!! Good work Christine.
4-19 FINALS HAVE OFFICIALLY BEGAN
Today I had class at 9:30 and had my final presentation for my grammar class, which marks the beginning of finals for me. I think it went very well, so that’s a good start! After that I had free time, during which I went through a paper for editing and such. Then I had my afternoon class outside!! woohoo! it was gorgeous out-about 75 probably and sunny-amazing! So weird to think that when I get back home to Chicago, it may still be snowing. I don’t know if I will be able to handle that cold weather thing. hehe. Anyways, after class I stayed to talk to a teacher about our final paper so I could get that going and then headed home. At 6:30 I left for the library where I was told there was going to be a speaker which we could attend, write two paragraphs about and get some extra credit. So, I got there and saw a sign for auditorium, assumed it would be in there, and tried to get in. The security guard looked at me when I tried to come in and didn’t open the door and ask if I was looking for anything. So, I went to the regular library part and asked the lady at the front desk and she said she had no clue what I was talking about. So, I figured nothing was going on and headed back home. Once home I hung out and listened to music for a while and talked to people on-line. About an hour later I got a message from someone asking if I had gone to the speaker and talking about how boring they were. I was very confused and asked for clarification. Apparently it was in fact at the same library I was at, and at the same time. It had been down stairs in the auditorium part, like I also had thought. So, now I was kind of frustrated because those extra credit points would have been nice going into finals. Next, I emailed my teacher and explained what had happened and asked if there were any other opportunities-still waiting on that answer.
4-20 CLASS TRIP
Today we had to meet our class at 9am, which was way too early first of all, to go to a government building, that was really boring. So yea, a really fun early morning! woot! First we visited Madrid’s Congress and met with Representative Elviro Aranda from the Socialist party. Then we walked over to the office of tourism and talked to Ricardo Iglesias and Jose Enrique Nunez about things that go on in Madrid. After this was all done I walked most of the way home and once I got there I finished one of my final papers and took yet another nap.
4-21 THE STREETS OF MADRID
Today I went on along for Sara’s shopping expeditions and we got to wander around a lot of central Madrid. Around 7pm we came home so we could have some dinner-we got to make it tonight because our senora was not going to be home for a while so we ate super early!! After dinner I worked very hard and got a homework assignment for Monday done and corrected my two grammar final papers. And, even though it was Saturday went to bed at 1am.
4-22 RASTRO
I slept in today since I had done so much work yesterday night and then met Jinah at the Rastro so we could find some real cheap stuff. At 3pm, Rastro closed and we stopped at an outside café for lunch before heading home. Once I got home, I noticed I had gotten a sunburn! How crazy is that?!?! I love the weather here! I began to work on the final touches for my final paper for Tuesday, had dinner, chatted online, and got to bed pretty early-good work Christine!
4-23 LAST MONDAY OF CLASS IN SPAIN
Thank goodness! Only three more days of class to go and only 12 days left abroad. I know I have a lot to do but I really can’t wait to come home. It feels like I have been here for a very long time and I am definitely ready for some good old American cooking, my family, my friends, my own room, and my own BED-boy will that feel good! Anyways, today started with my literature class, during which we watched a movie about the book we had been reading. It was really cute and it helped me figure out what had been going on all along in the book. Then was “History of the Spanish Language” class. Today we only did evaluations and were done for the day. After I got home, I did some papering until it was time to go to tutoring. At tutoring we sang the whole High School Musical soundtrack after we went through some words that she did not know. It was probably one of the most fun sessions we have had. After tutoring I came home for dinner and to finish a final paper that is due tomorrow.
4-24 FINALS AND PAPERS
This morning I got up for class, headed to school and sat through my last day of class for Grammar & Composition. After grammar, I had my literature final. For our final, we had to read a poem, analyze it, and answer a bunch of questions. Next was culture class, and we had our last lecture for the semester!!! woohoo! Almost done! Once class was over for the day I went home and did a bunch of final touches on all of my papers that were due before the end of the semester. I think they are looking good! The rest of the night included internet, dinner, and then bed.
4-25 LOTS TO DO FOR MY ‘FREE DAY’
Today I got up early to study for my exam that is tomorrow morning. After reviewing for about an hour, I got ready for the day and went back to studying for a while longer. I went to school at 2pm because I had to print out information for my trip to Berlin that starts tomorrow at 8pm! Class was at 2:45 and we had another teacher from the schools explain a bit about linguistics and it was kind of like a review of the semester. Class ended a bit early so I went home to relax before tutoring. At tutoring today we started by playing BINGO. At first she called the numbers and the second game I called them, but she had to recognize the number in order to cover it on her board. After that we played pickup sticks and each time she successfully got one she had to tell me one thing about her day, in English of course. After tutoring, I went home for dinner-fries and pork chops and a basketball game on TV (I almost felt like I was at home already). After dinner, I reviewed some more and watched some American TV until it was time to go to bed.
4-26 LEFT FOR BERLIN
Got up extra early so I could get to school ahead of time and look over the few things I was still kind of shaky on. Class was supposed to be at 9:30 but by 9:40 I was a little worried because no one had shown up yet, not even the teacher. I called someone to make sure we did not change anything-like the room or time. he said everything was the same but he was running late because of the rain. I said ok, but thought that it was kind of weird because the bus I was on did not run into any more traffic than normal. Anyways, everyone was there around 9:5-am and we began the exam. it was multiple choice and only 25 questions, so I was don’t after 20 minutes. Since I didn’t have class again until 1pm, and it was only 10:20am, I went home and napped until it was time to head back to school. There were presentations and evaluations during class today so it went pretty quickly. After class I went home to pack and got to talk to my mom (!!!) before I had to leave for the airport. I got to the airport, got my ticket, boarded, and we took off on time at 7:45pm. The flight was pretty smooth and I got to the airport right on time. As I was walking around trying to find how to get home, I ran into some people speaking English and found out they were stay very close to me, so since we were all so tired decided to just split a cab. Once I got to the hostel I checked in, chatted with some people to find out whats good to do and then went to bed.
Today I got up and got right on my homework. I finished all of the things that are due for my grammar class for the semester and worked on my research paper for a while. I felt pretty productive, especially since my teacher (who I emailed my papers to) said they looked really good! We had dinner, then I played around on line during some well deserved break time! Then I went to bed since my brain was feeling pretty fried.
4-16 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
Today I got up at 9am so I could go to the library to do some research for my paper. I was at the library until noon which was when I decided to go get something for lunch. I got a really delicious sandwich-jam, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and egg. Yum! then since it was such a nice day, I walked back to school, about 15 minutes away from the library. The sun was out and it was about 75 degrees which made it really hard to believe I had to spend the next 3 hours inside. Oh well. After class, I went to tutoring and we watched the first hour of “High School Musical”. I think it was pretty interesting but I am sure it’s a bit hard to understand for Paula since they are singing almost the whole time. However, she has seen it before, which helps a little bit! After tutoring I came home, ate dinner, did a paper about Spanish literature and the presence of water, and then talked online before going to bed at 1am.
4-17 DAY OF CLASSES
Oh Tuesday, how I loathe thee! Class from 9:30am until 3pm is never fun. But at least I only have this special day one more time. Wow, that’s so weird to say, I have 7 more days of class and one day of finals. It feels like it was a log time ago that I started and I am ready to go home, but it also seems like the 4 months have just flown by. There have definitely been days I wished would have gone faster, but who doesn’t have days like those? Anyways, after class I stopped at Corte Ingles for some pretzels and oranges (my attempt to snack healthier). When I got home I napped for 3 hours. Which, I know I could have been doing work during, but I am definitely needing these naps recently. Dinner was paella at 9pm and then after dinner I did homework until bed time.
4-18 SLEEP, CLASS AND TUTORING
That is basically what I did today. I got up at 11, got ready for class and left for school around 1pm. I hung out a bit before class time then went and got a little bit of education. After school, I went home, relaxed for a few minutes and then went to tutoring to watch the end of High School Musical. PS…I loved it! It was such a cute movie even if it was made by the Disney Channel. Any how, after tutoring I went home, had some dinner, worked a little bit on one of my final papers and rehearsed for my presentation tomorrow. And an amazing thing happened, I got to be before midnight!!! woooooohooooo!!! Good work Christine.
4-19 FINALS HAVE OFFICIALLY BEGAN
Today I had class at 9:30 and had my final presentation for my grammar class, which marks the beginning of finals for me. I think it went very well, so that’s a good start! After that I had free time, during which I went through a paper for editing and such. Then I had my afternoon class outside!! woohoo! it was gorgeous out-about 75 probably and sunny-amazing! So weird to think that when I get back home to Chicago, it may still be snowing. I don’t know if I will be able to handle that cold weather thing. hehe. Anyways, after class I stayed to talk to a teacher about our final paper so I could get that going and then headed home. At 6:30 I left for the library where I was told there was going to be a speaker which we could attend, write two paragraphs about and get some extra credit. So, I got there and saw a sign for auditorium, assumed it would be in there, and tried to get in. The security guard looked at me when I tried to come in and didn’t open the door and ask if I was looking for anything. So, I went to the regular library part and asked the lady at the front desk and she said she had no clue what I was talking about. So, I figured nothing was going on and headed back home. Once home I hung out and listened to music for a while and talked to people on-line. About an hour later I got a message from someone asking if I had gone to the speaker and talking about how boring they were. I was very confused and asked for clarification. Apparently it was in fact at the same library I was at, and at the same time. It had been down stairs in the auditorium part, like I also had thought. So, now I was kind of frustrated because those extra credit points would have been nice going into finals. Next, I emailed my teacher and explained what had happened and asked if there were any other opportunities-still waiting on that answer.
4-20 CLASS TRIP
Today we had to meet our class at 9am, which was way too early first of all, to go to a government building, that was really boring. So yea, a really fun early morning! woot! First we visited Madrid’s Congress and met with Representative Elviro Aranda from the Socialist party. Then we walked over to the office of tourism and talked to Ricardo Iglesias and Jose Enrique Nunez about things that go on in Madrid. After this was all done I walked most of the way home and once I got there I finished one of my final papers and took yet another nap.
4-21 THE STREETS OF MADRID
Today I went on along for Sara’s shopping expeditions and we got to wander around a lot of central Madrid. Around 7pm we came home so we could have some dinner-we got to make it tonight because our senora was not going to be home for a while so we ate super early!! After dinner I worked very hard and got a homework assignment for Monday done and corrected my two grammar final papers. And, even though it was Saturday went to bed at 1am.
4-22 RASTRO
I slept in today since I had done so much work yesterday night and then met Jinah at the Rastro so we could find some real cheap stuff. At 3pm, Rastro closed and we stopped at an outside café for lunch before heading home. Once I got home, I noticed I had gotten a sunburn! How crazy is that?!?! I love the weather here! I began to work on the final touches for my final paper for Tuesday, had dinner, chatted online, and got to bed pretty early-good work Christine!
4-23 LAST MONDAY OF CLASS IN SPAIN
Thank goodness! Only three more days of class to go and only 12 days left abroad. I know I have a lot to do but I really can’t wait to come home. It feels like I have been here for a very long time and I am definitely ready for some good old American cooking, my family, my friends, my own room, and my own BED-boy will that feel good! Anyways, today started with my literature class, during which we watched a movie about the book we had been reading. It was really cute and it helped me figure out what had been going on all along in the book. Then was “History of the Spanish Language” class. Today we only did evaluations and were done for the day. After I got home, I did some papering until it was time to go to tutoring. At tutoring we sang the whole High School Musical soundtrack after we went through some words that she did not know. It was probably one of the most fun sessions we have had. After tutoring I came home for dinner and to finish a final paper that is due tomorrow.
4-24 FINALS AND PAPERS
This morning I got up for class, headed to school and sat through my last day of class for Grammar & Composition. After grammar, I had my literature final. For our final, we had to read a poem, analyze it, and answer a bunch of questions. Next was culture class, and we had our last lecture for the semester!!! woohoo! Almost done! Once class was over for the day I went home and did a bunch of final touches on all of my papers that were due before the end of the semester. I think they are looking good! The rest of the night included internet, dinner, and then bed.
4-25 LOTS TO DO FOR MY ‘FREE DAY’
Today I got up early to study for my exam that is tomorrow morning. After reviewing for about an hour, I got ready for the day and went back to studying for a while longer. I went to school at 2pm because I had to print out information for my trip to Berlin that starts tomorrow at 8pm! Class was at 2:45 and we had another teacher from the schools explain a bit about linguistics and it was kind of like a review of the semester. Class ended a bit early so I went home to relax before tutoring. At tutoring today we started by playing BINGO. At first she called the numbers and the second game I called them, but she had to recognize the number in order to cover it on her board. After that we played pickup sticks and each time she successfully got one she had to tell me one thing about her day, in English of course. After tutoring, I went home for dinner-fries and pork chops and a basketball game on TV (I almost felt like I was at home already). After dinner, I reviewed some more and watched some American TV until it was time to go to bed.
4-26 LEFT FOR BERLIN
Got up extra early so I could get to school ahead of time and look over the few things I was still kind of shaky on. Class was supposed to be at 9:30 but by 9:40 I was a little worried because no one had shown up yet, not even the teacher. I called someone to make sure we did not change anything-like the room or time. he said everything was the same but he was running late because of the rain. I said ok, but thought that it was kind of weird because the bus I was on did not run into any more traffic than normal. Anyways, everyone was there around 9:5-am and we began the exam. it was multiple choice and only 25 questions, so I was don’t after 20 minutes. Since I didn’t have class again until 1pm, and it was only 10:20am, I went home and napped until it was time to head back to school. There were presentations and evaluations during class today so it went pretty quickly. After class I went home to pack and got to talk to my mom (!!!) before I had to leave for the airport. I got to the airport, got my ticket, boarded, and we took off on time at 7:45pm. The flight was pretty smooth and I got to the airport right on time. As I was walking around trying to find how to get home, I ran into some people speaking English and found out they were stay very close to me, so since we were all so tired decided to just split a cab. Once I got to the hostel I checked in, chatted with some people to find out whats good to do and then went to bed.