El inicio de los clases de turismo

Today has gone much better so far. I woke up at 7:30AM and said goodbye to my German roommate Annika who moved out today. As I had never been to the Escuela Universitaria de Turismo before, I had my map in hand at all times. I had also never been down to the Rio Seguro (right along the Tourism campus). It was beautiful! I found myself asking if this was real.

Am I seriously studying here?

When I got to class (totally on time), I actually talked to some Spaniards! The people in this class seemed much friendlier...they were all talking and teasing each other when I got there. I asked the students next to me if they knew if tourism classes were hard. I explained to them that I was an international student from the US. They were surprisingly friendly! They said that it was interesting that I was from the US (apparently most internationals are from Europe).We chatted for a few minutes and they helped me decide which classes were harder than others.

Ultimately, the professor spoke with a thick Murcian accent (the characteristic not pronouncing of "s" sounds). This was the 'Gestion de Calidad en el sector turistico' class, the one that I didn't want to take anyway. It was boring and much too theory/table/chart based for me. About halfway through, I whispered thanks to the girl and guy next to me, then I scooted out.

So, I decided that I am going to take the first-year classes after all. I realized that the second-year classes would cause me to completely stress all semester and I probably would've regretted not letting myself take the easier ones (still...in Spanish). While I am here to study abroad, I'm not here to completely end any chance of a social and travel life. I want to explore the culture and enjoy Spain...not be stuck in the library all semester.

The walk back was even more beautiful because I wasn't worried and it was brilliantly sunny. I walked along the river, past some bright, red flowers and plenty of fountains. I stumbled through Plaza Apostoles where the formidable Catedral stands...I was pretty much in awe of everything.

Nope, this is too pretty.

One of my favorite things about Murcia is how sort-of unknown it is. It's this beautiful city with all kinds of interesting, beautiful, historic architechture and there are very few obvious tourists around to marvel it. Unlike Rome or any other very-well known European city, Murcia is like a beautiful person who doesn't realize how beautiful she is (AKA she is still nice and hasn't turned into a "popular girl"). I want to tell people about Murcia, but I also love the undiscovered aura it gives off; definitely one of Spain's best kept secrets.

Plus, it is liveable. I have already gotten a pretty good handle on the geography of the city, people are friendly if you ask for their help and you aren't obviously discriminated against for being a tourist. I have seen almost no one taking photos!

When I got back, I made lunch then took a lengthy nap. I needed to rest up for another awkward set of classes! Also, my apartment was cleaned (the cleaning service is included and comes every 15 days), so awewsome!

I also got an email from NCSU saying that I have recieved my Certificate of Spanish Business from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madrid! So legit!

In my geography classes, I ended up having international students that I knew, so I didn't socialize with any Spaniards. For our practicas of  Geografía Humana General, we took a trip to the biblioteca to check out resources for our primera practica: we have to synthesize a a geography article in 2-3 paginas. I introduced myself to the profesor and he showed me the geography section of the library. He told us (me and Corey, the other American) that we could come to his office if we ever needed help! He also explained that he was a traveler (like us) and that he had been to Israel and somewhere else (I forgot). He said that Spanish students (except in Barcelona) don't really like to travel..or at least aren't interested in it. Hmm!

In my night class, we watched a documentary on the last few years of Napolean's life. How interesting...

This graffiti has hands with spraycans in them!

It was dubbed, so whenever someone spoke, you could hear the English in the background and the Spanish on top of it. It was way more difficult to understand than the teacher speaking. Now we have to write a short paper on the documentary. I'm mostly confused about what the profesora wants us to write about. She talked about history and then she talked about the style of the documentary...essentially, she gave us about fifty things she wanted us to include in the paper...I'm not entirely sure what she wants the focus to be.

Again, I feel like students are somewhat disrespectful here; not that we are perfect in the US, but a ton of students showed up late, left early, had cellphones go off, etc. Some of the students that left didn't even look like they were in a hurry, they just mozied on out of class.

After class, Jenn, Natalia and Kayla came over to make stirfry. I mixed up the sauce (arbitrary amounts of honey, soy sauce, & ginger, with a taste of salt and fruit juice). They cut up the carrots and broccoli and Jenn made rice. It ended up being really tasty! Then we planned our trip to Valencia for Las Fallas festival
( http://offtrackplanet.com/events/otps-guide-to-the-fire-festival-of-las-fallas-a-pyromaniacs-dream/ ). We booked a hotel for about $25/person/night for two nights. I can't wait for Devin to visit and come with me :D

Planning our trip!