Unfortunately, due to my crazy amount of sleeping in the day before, sleeping Sunday night didn't go well. Monday I missed my alarm, but made it to school no problems. We talked in grammar class about all the different things between the US & Spain, which was kinda neat to sort of organize all the various differences we had each noticed. One I forgot about because I don't pay much attention to them, is how crazy the drivers are here. They go so fast, and then stop all suddenly-like! Maybe it would be less crazy-seeming if I were from Chicago or something...UE class was less interesting than usual, as we finished the brief history overview of the UE, then split into groups to help us remember all the countries in the UE, etc. We did get to color though! We colored the UE countries on the map based on when they joined, then labeled a separate map with the names of the countries and identified the countries that have adopted the Euro.
My siesta of course lasted longer than I intended, and I didn't have a chance to browse shops or relax in the library. One of these days...! In art class, our profesora told us about the Spanish ID card that all of them are required to carry from age 14. It's like a combination driver's license/birth certificate/social security card. They all have their own number along with their full name and picture, and then on the back it lists who there parents were, when and where they were born, and where they are currently living. They apparently have to renew this every 5-10 years, depending. I wonder if that means they don't have to worry about any other identification, other than perhaps a passport? That'd be neat. In the actual class, we began our study of El Greco, starting with his birth and beginnings as an artist in Crete. Suuuuper exciting. He's apparently a "cocktail" of all the best artists of the 16th century: Tintoretto, Tiziano, Michaelangelo, and Veronés.
After art class was Intercambios! We all went to El Oso Blanco and in a fairly chill setting mixed with Spanish students. The first half hour was English, the second half our Spanish, and after that it was pretty much whatever. The first half hour, I was the only American with 4 Spanish women who had heard about the event but none of them were students and they were all older and working. That was pretty awkward. Luckily, their director saved me when we switched to Spanish and took me over to the group of Spanish students, one of whom I'd met when getting my drink earlier. That was more fun, and I was joined by Sarah, Gurbaksh, and Rachel. We all had such a lovely time that we didn't even notice that everyone else left! Next thing we know it's after 11 and we're the only ones still at El Oso Blanco. We decided to go to the concert playing in the plaza mayor and then at 12 I finally decided to leave because I hadn't yet had dinner! It was a lot of fun though and we friended them on Facebook so hopefully we'll be able to catch up with them again sometime.
I was pretty tired so went to bed more or less on time, but I think my alarm hates me. I think I've developed a cold and wasn't feeling too hot, so I took a shower and skipped breakfast so I wouldn't have to hurry to class. Today's UE class seemed pretty short, as we just briefly reviewed and then went over the basic governing structures of Europe. She kept comparing Parliament to el Senado, which I for the life of me can't figure out if she meant Senate or Congress as a whole. I'd guess Congress, because that's the proper comparison, but it looks like a cognate of Senate. I suppose I could look it up...Huh. I guess it can mean both. Seems weird that our Congressman would be called senadores though...*shrug* Anyway. After that we went on a mini-excursion to this cute little shop that among other things sells plates and such made of colored glass that they make there. It was pretty neat. I saw this beautiful little clock, but I couldn't think of who to get it for, so I didn't get it. I may be revisiting this shop in the future though, cuz it was very cute. We also went to some gardens that overlooked the northeast(?) side of the city that were really pretty.
Once again my siesta took too long, and I barely had a chance to eat an orange before dashing off to class! I probably would've been late, except that class didn't start for almost 15 minutes because the profesora was talking to some students in the office. We talked about various paintings of El Greco, and how he combined the techniques of byzantine, venician, and roman art. On my walk home from class, we walked by a gypsy (Amie's classification, not mine) selling these really cute bracelets, so I bought this really cute one with bells! Now every time I move my wrist, it makes bitty jingly noises :D I wonder how annoyed Lauren would be... *mischievous grin*
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