Primer dia de los clases

Today was my first day of classes! I had Geografía Humana General from 4-6 then Historia Universal Contemporánea 8-9pm.

The benefit of not having class til 4pm was that I could be productive beforehand, and get my mind off of how nervous I was. I took the fifteen minute trek to the post office so I could mail a birthday carta to my wonderful boyfriend Ricardo...

I wish I had brought my camera, because the post office was just collosal. I even mentioned to the man next to me that the post offices were much smaller in the US, haha. The ambience of the Correos is much like that of the DMV in America. Upon entering, you are prompted to take a number based upon four options (regular mail, banking, business, etc.). Once I figured that out I waited for about 14 minutes. I asked the guy next to me if I needed some sort of slip because I saw that a lot of people had gotten them to put with their letters. He explained to me in a super-thick accent that the slips were a form of insurance (like delivery confirmation) that costs more but is for use with important mail; he showed that he was sending his mail to a bank. So, I didn't need one. It ended up being ,85 per card.

It was such a nice walk back; it was sunny and I felt accomplished for having gone alone and done something a little outside my comfort zone.To reward myself (?) I stopped at the grocery store: 

• "Frosties" (Frosted Flakes, Tony the Tiger is even on them!)
• can of ravioli
• chocolate "digestive" cookies
• soja sauce (soy)
• 2 kinds of pasta sauce
• 4-pack of fresh,warm wheat rolls
• agua
• leche
• honey
• 2 microwave pastas
• powdered ginger
• 2 chocolate pastries
• yogurt
• "digestive" mint tea
• 2 gala appples
• carrots

The most expensive things were the honey and yogurt, still less than 3 euros each.

After I made a cream cheese & banana sandwich (I'm experimenting), I left for class half an hour early even though it only took 5 minutes to get to class (obviously I was pretty nervous). The classroom was already full because in Spain the teachers rotate classrooms and the students stay there! So, that was awkward.

I paced outside the classroom for half an hour, frequently pinning my ear to the door frame to try and hear if the teacher was still talking (I thought there might be a back door where the teachers would leave and enter). I asked the consejería who basically advised me to chill out ("se quedan dos minutos"--'there are still 2 minutes left'). I eventually just waited for the teacher, and a few students, to leave the classroom before I entered.

I sat in the front row, by myself, awkwardly for a few minutes. When I saw that no one else sat there, I moved back a row, next to a seat with a purse in it. The girl shortly came and took her purse and moved to a different row...awkward. Then a guy sat next to me, in the newly-vacant seat. After awkwardly sitting there for a few more minutes I gathered up the courage to converse.

Here is our awkward conversation: 

Me- "Eres de Murcia?" (Are you from Murcia?) 

Him- Si, jah grfkua gyeriuhbadfklj gvblakjrgtiauh
        jhfjdshfkjh ajkghakjhg hmnc mu iu rk (I understood about 40%)

Me-  Oh...pues, soy una estudiante internacional, de los Estados Unidos...

Him- (uhh, why are you talking to me...?)

Me- (oh geez this is awkward)

So I may have dramaticized it a bit, but that's pretty much how it felt. He asked me a few questions (Are you from New York?) but it was mostly just me asking questions that he didn't understand or him answering me in a way I didn't understand. I couldn't tell if he just wasn't interested in talking to me or if he just didn't have the patience. Hey, I was nervous!

It kind of sucked but at least I tried...I would have felt worse if I just didn't say anything.
The good news was that I understood most of what the profesora said and the class seemed pretty interesting! I introduced myself to the profesora (who made eye contact with me at least 40% of the time). Now, to keep myself awake for the whole two hours...

The next class was about the same except that we had no awkward time to wait...class started promptly (late because the last profesora ran 10 minutes late). This profesora was also nice and seemed interesting. Natalia is in this class with me which is okay because I don't think we will have much time to socialize with Spaniards anyway (it's only an hour long & this teacher means business).

Tomorrow I have my first tourism class 9AM-11AM. I'm glad I emailed my professors because I thought we started class next week, but it actually starts tomorrow. The only problem is, I haven't even been to that campus yet and it is a 20 minute walk away. I know I am going to get lost.

Well, I'm sure tomorrow will be just as nerve-wracking as today.... good night!