Complete and Utter Frustration
Wow...been here over week and it already feels like a month. So much is going on I'm surprised I have time to post to my journal. Here's a brief summary of the past week or so...
Last week we took our placement exam for our 3week intensive Spanish course and my close friends and I all tested in the higher level which made us feel awesome...until the class itself started last monday. Our teacher is a drill seargent and intimidates the hell out of all of us. She'll hold up verb cards and say, "Imperfect subjunctive" and you have all of a tenth of a second to answer correctly and if not she makes you feel like an idiot. Definitely sends me into a panic attack everytime she calls my name. We all hate that part of the class. The history and politics of Spain portion isn't so bad but our teacher definitely needs to skip the second cup of coffee in the morning. There's SO MUCH information that he throws at us it feels like we go from the Reconquest of Spain one day to the rise of Franco the next! And I have NO IDEA what's going on in the Spanish art section of the class, so don't ask about that one. But I'm pretty sure everyone else is too.
Between going to class from 9-1:30 and doing the homework we have to look for apartments which is probably the most stressful thing I have ever done. I thought looking for places in B-town was hard! Jesus that doens't even compare! Emili and I plan to share a room so she does most of the searching for something good in the papers and online and I do the calling of the landlords because she thinks my Spanish is better. It's SO nerve-wracking calling landlords because they speak so fast! Most of the time if they find out you're a foreigner (i.e American) they just hang up on you because they don't want to deal with "speaking more slowly." I've been hung up on only twice and praise God when I get a landlord who is patient enough to deal with my broken Spanish. I've successfully made several appointments to see places but when we go to see them, we're definitely less than impressed. The rooms are frequently dirty, small, have no internet access, and have people already leaving in other rooms in the place. There's one place we absolutely love but it's in an ify neighborhood (Chueca-the gay district of Madrid). It's spacious with everything new and utilities included. There are even international students who live there! But of course, we'll probably keep searching because I don't want to feel like I'm going to be mugged on my way to class every day.
It is in my opinion that I find most Spaniards to be pretty damn rude. They don't say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" and don't bother to take you into ANY consideration. Of course, it's probably because we're American that doesn't help. Our student director says it isn't so and that in Spain they're not so focused on polietness and don't feel the need to be extra nice to foreign students. I say bullshit. A huge number of Spaniards have moved into our floor in the dorm and we ALWAYS get shady looks from them when we're around. They whisper about us too! Umm...we're Americans, not deafs and yes, we can understand you! We hypothesize that most of them are freshman. They're loud, obnoxious and inconsiderate. I'm about two seconds away from telling the next rude Spaniard that I encounter that if it weren't for the U.S, they'd be speaking German.
I'll never understand this. Whether I'm on the metro, walking the street or at the dorm, I get stared at, creepy looks, or all out shady death stares from most people here. We feel like second class citizens because Spaniards are ALWAYS preferred before anyone else. We were told that we need to develop a "tough skin" in order to deal with their rudeness and yes, I realize this is probably true. I have found myself on occasion being rude to rude Spaniards but it upsets me all the same. I came here to better my Spanish and to appreciate another culture, not learn how to be rude to a fellow human being. This is ridiculous. And I'm definitely not the only one who feels this way, trust me. From the intensive class, to our drill seargent teacher to homework to looking for apartments (unsuccessfully) and dealing with the rudeness of the culture many of us are on the breaking point. A few girls in my program bought cheap bottles of wine tonight and got drunk before dinner because they're starting to crack from stress. Many of you may read that and say "Gee how pathetic" but don't be so fast to judge. Those are definitely my plans for the weekend too. I would just like you to for one minute put yourself in our shoes and TRY to understand what we're going through....yes, I'd like another glass of wine please...
I wouldn't say i hate it here...yet. I'm still going to get through these rough weeks to get to the good stuff, after all, i have to. But I can't help but find myself wondering what if I had done another program like in England or Germany (yes, ALL Germans speak English). There at least everyone speaks English and they treat Americans with the greatest of respect. Here for some reason, we don't count as humans. Thanks, Bushy, and every moronic president we've had for ruining this for the rest of us.
Yes, I'm officially admitting that I'm frustrated, depressed, and drained. I miss oh so terribly good ol' American hospitality and efficiency. So now everyone I told how much better Spain is than the U.S, you can go ahead and laugh no because at the moment I'm very wrong. If i don't get out of this dorm away from obnoxious Spaniards and terrible food, i think I may need to see a therapist...
Last week we took our placement exam for our 3week intensive Spanish course and my close friends and I all tested in the higher level which made us feel awesome...until the class itself started last monday. Our teacher is a drill seargent and intimidates the hell out of all of us. She'll hold up verb cards and say, "Imperfect subjunctive" and you have all of a tenth of a second to answer correctly and if not she makes you feel like an idiot. Definitely sends me into a panic attack everytime she calls my name. We all hate that part of the class. The history and politics of Spain portion isn't so bad but our teacher definitely needs to skip the second cup of coffee in the morning. There's SO MUCH information that he throws at us it feels like we go from the Reconquest of Spain one day to the rise of Franco the next! And I have NO IDEA what's going on in the Spanish art section of the class, so don't ask about that one. But I'm pretty sure everyone else is too.
Between going to class from 9-1:30 and doing the homework we have to look for apartments which is probably the most stressful thing I have ever done. I thought looking for places in B-town was hard! Jesus that doens't even compare! Emili and I plan to share a room so she does most of the searching for something good in the papers and online and I do the calling of the landlords because she thinks my Spanish is better. It's SO nerve-wracking calling landlords because they speak so fast! Most of the time if they find out you're a foreigner (i.e American) they just hang up on you because they don't want to deal with "speaking more slowly." I've been hung up on only twice and praise God when I get a landlord who is patient enough to deal with my broken Spanish. I've successfully made several appointments to see places but when we go to see them, we're definitely less than impressed. The rooms are frequently dirty, small, have no internet access, and have people already leaving in other rooms in the place. There's one place we absolutely love but it's in an ify neighborhood (Chueca-the gay district of Madrid). It's spacious with everything new and utilities included. There are even international students who live there! But of course, we'll probably keep searching because I don't want to feel like I'm going to be mugged on my way to class every day.
It is in my opinion that I find most Spaniards to be pretty damn rude. They don't say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" and don't bother to take you into ANY consideration. Of course, it's probably because we're American that doesn't help. Our student director says it isn't so and that in Spain they're not so focused on polietness and don't feel the need to be extra nice to foreign students. I say bullshit. A huge number of Spaniards have moved into our floor in the dorm and we ALWAYS get shady looks from them when we're around. They whisper about us too! Umm...we're Americans, not deafs and yes, we can understand you! We hypothesize that most of them are freshman. They're loud, obnoxious and inconsiderate. I'm about two seconds away from telling the next rude Spaniard that I encounter that if it weren't for the U.S, they'd be speaking German.
I'll never understand this. Whether I'm on the metro, walking the street or at the dorm, I get stared at, creepy looks, or all out shady death stares from most people here. We feel like second class citizens because Spaniards are ALWAYS preferred before anyone else. We were told that we need to develop a "tough skin" in order to deal with their rudeness and yes, I realize this is probably true. I have found myself on occasion being rude to rude Spaniards but it upsets me all the same. I came here to better my Spanish and to appreciate another culture, not learn how to be rude to a fellow human being. This is ridiculous. And I'm definitely not the only one who feels this way, trust me. From the intensive class, to our drill seargent teacher to homework to looking for apartments (unsuccessfully) and dealing with the rudeness of the culture many of us are on the breaking point. A few girls in my program bought cheap bottles of wine tonight and got drunk before dinner because they're starting to crack from stress. Many of you may read that and say "Gee how pathetic" but don't be so fast to judge. Those are definitely my plans for the weekend too. I would just like you to for one minute put yourself in our shoes and TRY to understand what we're going through....yes, I'd like another glass of wine please...
I wouldn't say i hate it here...yet. I'm still going to get through these rough weeks to get to the good stuff, after all, i have to. But I can't help but find myself wondering what if I had done another program like in England or Germany (yes, ALL Germans speak English). There at least everyone speaks English and they treat Americans with the greatest of respect. Here for some reason, we don't count as humans. Thanks, Bushy, and every moronic president we've had for ruining this for the rest of us.
Yes, I'm officially admitting that I'm frustrated, depressed, and drained. I miss oh so terribly good ol' American hospitality and efficiency. So now everyone I told how much better Spain is than the U.S, you can go ahead and laugh no because at the moment I'm very wrong. If i don't get out of this dorm away from obnoxious Spaniards and terrible food, i think I may need to see a therapist...