Colegio

WARNING: this post is really long, and I often get off topic. But it's mostly about school here.

 To begin with, school goes from 8:30 in the morning to 2:10 in the afternoon, with a 25 minute break in between the first three classes and the second three. Classes last about 50 minutes, and we don't change classrooms that often (the teachers do instead). And, to make it just a bit more confusing, every day my schedule is a bit different. There are as many as 36 kids in some of my classes.

Oh, and the bathrooms are so disgusting. It's not even funny.

On Monday I had my first full day of colegio (just a note: they don't say escuela here very often/at all). My first class was English. Lucky, right? No. First off, the teacher talked a lot in Spanish, and I was not prepared for how actively I need to listen to things to understand. Then she passed out an assignment which was basically to read a paragraph (that would actually be very difficult if you don't know a lot of English) and answer some questions. A lot of the questions were about grammar, things like phrasal verbs. I have no idea what a phrasal verb is. (If you're reading this and you do, then please explain them to me). Other questions were about vocabulary and it was at this moment that the enormity of the amount of Spanish I do not know slapped me in the face. Luckily, no one else understood the worksheet either and so instead the teacher told us to write a composition on one of the three common English phrases she wrote on the board. I wrote mine on "Honesty is always the best policy", or at least tried to. I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to be doing.

Next I had Dibujo Artistico. I had to change classrooms for this, which was a little confusing, but man I adore the classroom this is in. It's 20+ easels and a bunch of statues and other things to use as references. And the teacher is really awesome too. He told us what all we needed to buy for the class (because here YOU have to buy ALL of your supplies. The school doesn't provide any. No books, pencils, nothing. This sometimes ends up costing as much as 300-400 euro, so thank god AFS pays for this) and I didn't understand any of it but a nice girl let me copy her list. Then he gave us paper and told us to find and easel and to draw anything we wanted, because he wanted to observe our different styles. He really liked what I drew, and said it was really good. I think he was surprised.  On Mondays and Thursdays I have this class for two periods in a row before break, which is fantastic.

Anyways, after Dibujo Artistico it's snack time! The teens here eat so unhealthy. Basically things like twinkies and such are considered appropriate and suitable snack food. Also juice boxes and bocadillas (sandwiches). ( I usually take a fruit or vegetable and whatever else I can find that won't get smashed in my backpack. On Wednesday I took a red pepper (pimienta) to eat whole, like an apple, like Noor does at FALA. People do not like eating peppers raw here, and everyone stared at me.) Did I mention that my classroom is on the third floor of the school? That's a lot of stairs everyday for someone who is not used to stairs. During break some kids go out front to smoke but most kids go to the courtyard area or like where the basketball court is. The girl who let me copy her list earlier asked if I wanted to eat lunch with her and her friends and I was pretty much like YES PLEASE THANK YOU because eating alone is terrible. Her name is Paula (only pronounced pOWla) and the other two girls are Amanda and Laura (lOWra). They are all very sweet.

Making friends is SO difficult with a language barrier, not to mention that I'm not good at making friends anyways. This first day everyone seemed rather indifferent towards me and didn't talk to me at all, but since then I have realized that this is just the normal "first day of school everyone is scared and a lot of people are new and nervous" type of thing. Since then my classmates have definitely warmed up to me a bit and to each other and people smile at me and say "hola!" now. (Some of the kids in my class are 18 (maybe older?!). Here it is totally normal to have repeated a grade. This makes some people very intimidating, though. Also, everyone has piercings. A lot of piercings. And some terrible, TERRIBLE hair cuts. And fashions. Some of the guys wear these athletic-type pants that are cinched at the ankle and oh gosh it just makes me want to laugh at them. Other than that the styles are fairly similar, SO many people wear shirts with English on them!)

To continue with the first day, though. After break I had Cultura Audiovisual (which I have so much trouble pronouncing). I am so excited for this class, which is basically all about photography and developing pictures and the history of film and comics (?!) and story-boards and things like that. Unfortunately, what with all the necessary vocabulary for this class it can be very difficult to understand.

After this I had Filosofia (Philosophy). I do not enjoy this class very much. Maybe if I understood what was going on I would, but even the other kids in my class are super-confused. Luckily, I moved seats and was sitting next to Amanda, who let me copy her notes, because this teacher just talks and talks and talks and expects everyone to write down what she is saying. Whenever I think I understand something in this class, she says it's wrong. Madre mia.

My last class of the day was Lengua, which I thought was also going to be super difficult. So far, it hasn't been! The teacher is so sweet and nice. The first day she went over some rules but then she just chatted with the class for a good 20 minutes or so, and joked around with them and such.

Unfortunately, the second day I had a bunch of NEW classes to adjust to, because of the weird schedule. It went something like this:

First I had Ciencias del Mundo Contemporaneo, which I did not understand at all. Honestly, until right now, writing this post, I had forgotten all about it because I only have it twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays). First hour has been most difficult for me every day because my brain has been thinking in English all night. I thiiink this class is like Social Studies. We talked about the Universe and what is in the Universe (I think). [After I wrote this my host mom came home from buying my textbook for this class and it seems to be an overview of astronomy/biology/health/environmental studies/etc.]

Next came Dibujo Tecnico. This is taught by the same teacher who teaches my other drawing class. It appears it will involve a lot of geometry, so I'm glad I learned it last year. I understood most of what he said! I have this class everyday but Monday and so far I've liked it and understood it every time.

After that I have Volumen, which I learned is basically like the 3D Art class at FALA. I think it will be good, and the teacher for this class is also my "Home Room" teacher. I'm the first exchange student she's ever had to deal with (I think I'm the first exchange student ever at this school...) but she's really kind. Actually, all of my teachers are really kind, even though I can't talk much. I hope they don't get frustrated with me. Anyways, Volumen. Here I learned that we will do soap carvings and work with wood and things like that. Cool stuff.

Break again.

Annnnd...I have Volumen after break too! On Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Honestly though, on this day I just sat in class and teared up because I had suddenly gotten very homesick and sad. I don't think exchangers talk enough about being homesick, because we feel like we shouldn't be or shouldn't let people know or something. But I get homesick a lot. And this doesn't mean I think to myself  "Oh golly gosh I just want to go home and have the nice American things I'm used to," it means that I miss living a life that is substantially easier, filled with the people I've come to understand and adore. It is really difficult to feel clueless 90% of the time. But I was able to cheer myself up and I think it made some of my classmates take pity on me.

(Someday I will write a post without ever getting off topic, but apparently not today.)

After Volumen I had Educacion Fisica (Gym). We didn't do anything because it was the first class and all, and I couldn't understand the teacher at all because the gym was echo-y. The only thing I understood was something about working up to being able to run 20 minutes (*sarcastic gasp*) and how two gym classes a week was just not enough. I nearly fell asleep because being at school makes me exhausted.

My last class was Lengua again, and I understood a great deal of it. We talked about communication. If I was religious (Catholic) and my family wanted me to, I would have to take Religion as a 7th period class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am glad that I don't have to, not because I have anything against it, but because it's one less class to worry about. Also, by the time I get home, around 2:30, I'm very hungry for lunch and exhausted and I can't imagine having that one extra class some days.

The next two days (Wednesday and Thursday) went pretty well. I understand a fair amount of what my teachers say, and my classmates seem to be warming up to me! I think I made it sound like my teachers are difficult, but they all seem like good people, and the next English class I had was much better. They aren't used to American-English accents here, because they're closer to Britain. English was actually really helpful because everyone's learning English vocabulary and so it helps me learn Spanish vocabulary.

That's pretty much all I've got for now...

In summary: I'm so happy to be taking arts classes. It's so exciting to be learning again. I get homesick but I also am glad to be here glad to be with a family who is so kind and glad to have loved ones back home who are all wonderfully supportive. I'm am trying not to stress about things and just be open to all these new experiences and smile at everybody.

my schedule

proof I'm doing fine