And Let Las Clases Begin

While touring various Spanish cities last week, it was easy to forget the real reason why I am actually here: to take (and ideally excel in) two classes.  Yesterday was the start of the four weeks during which we will be in class here at the University of Cádiz.  On the first day of school each summer, all of the mothers typically walk us, their "children," to class.  We had breakfast, put our backpacks on, and were escorted by Charo to the University.  Upon reaching the group of our classmates waiting outside the school, we each exchanged kisses with Charo and she went on her way.  This scene greatly reminded me of my kindergarten days; it was so heart-melting to see all the mothers arrive with their kids, kiss them goodbye, and leave them at the school.


Side note: For all of you adults out there, you should highly consider Cádiz as your retirement destination.  As soon as Charo dropped us off at school, she headed for her daily couple of hours at the beach.  Basically everyone who lives here goes to the beach every day.  And might I add that the beach is absolutely gorgeous.  So gorgeous, in fact, that it is a cruise destination: Yesterday we saw a Holland America ship pull into port.  This place must be something special.  What a life that these people have.  Florida is overrated anyway.


Back to the first day of classes.  The schedule is set up so that we are in our first class from 9:30 to 11:30 A.M.  We then have a break from 11:30-12 and then have our second class from 12 to 2.  Then we are free for the day!  I am taking Spanish Literature with an actual professor from the Universidad de Cádiz and Hispanic Cultural Studies with Prof. Nagy-Zekmi, the program director and Villanova professor who traveled with us to Cádiz.  This class is also taught by the two graduate assistants who are traveling with us.  Both classes promised to be very interesting.  I found the Universidad de Cádiz professor to be more difficult to understand, most likely because she is a Spanish native who speaks both quickly and with the Spaniards' accent that is characterized by a sort of lisp.  In that class, we will be covering Spanish literature from the Romantic period up until that of the present day.  Not my usual cup of tea, but trying new things usually yields great results, right?


The second class, taught by our Villanova professor, is also great.  I've found Cultural Studies to be very similar to the Sociology course that I took during the first half of this summer.  I have no problem understanding Prof. Nagy-Zekmi, which makes it even better.


So the first day, "syllabus day," went by very quickly.  We returned to the house for lunch, which Charo had waiting for us (no surprise; she really does spoil us): pasta, which she referred to as "macaroni."  It was delicious and had a sort of spicy Spanish twist to it.  We chatted with Pepe and her and then worked on some homework (yes, unfortunately, we have homework) until our group walking tour of Cádiz later that afternoon.  It was nice to see the local sights, but it wasn't nice that I conveniently forgot to bring my camera.  Pictures to come once my wise friends who brought their cameras upload them to Facebook so I can steal them.


After the tour, we returned to the house and did homework until we went to bed.  


Today was even better.  We went to class in the morning and then about 25 of us met up at one of the beaches and hung out for a few hours.  The weather was beautiful and the temperature was in the mid-80s.  The beach was very hot and there was not a cloud in the sky.  Mom, if your next question is about what this means in terms of sunburn, I'm afraid that I don't have an answer for you yet.  Even though I reapplied, it could show up tomorrow.  The sun here is so strong.  Good thing the ocean is a little cooler!  It was so refreshing and so clear that we could see our feet on the sandy floor.  


This evening we had a "Copa de Bienvenida," a welcome dinner at a restaurant sponsored by the University. We had many different types of tapas (appetizer-type food) with all of our classmates.  It was a nice time!  After some exploring and  un poquito of frozen yogurt, we are back at our houses to do homework and relax.  It's been a great two days!  All of us expatriates here in Spain are looking forward to celebrating the Fourth tomorrow, but I'm sure that I speak for everyone when I say that nothing compares to a good summer barbeque.  Though our attempt to find a burger joint tomorrow will likely be fruitless, we will most definitely find a way to celebrate for ourselves.  Happy Fourth to everyone!  Feel free to send leftovers to this side of the Atlantic.


IMPORTANT UPDATE: I am excited to inform you that you will be able to sleep peacefully tonight because Minn and I finally remembered to ask Charo to re-demonstrate how to turn on the hot water.  We could tell that Charo and Pepe had realized that we didn't know how to turn on the hot water since they sort of chuckled when we asked them.  But that doesn't matter because therefore, as of this morning, we are now able to take hot showers!  My advice on the matter: Never take hot showers for granted.