It has been quite a busy last few weeks in Madrid. With class projects, midterms, Thanksgiving, and a program-sponsored trip to Córdoba have been more than enough to make it so. Let´s go in that order; otherwise, the head cold I have right now will prevent me from making any sort of sense.
As I wrote in my last post, I had to read many picaresque novels within a short period of time so that I could successfully write and present my literary commentary to my class full of Spaniards. Although the entire process leading up to the actual presentation was exhausting (i.e., reading so many novels written in medieval Spanish), the presentation itself was not. I decided to present first since I didn´t want to have the added pressure of going after some of the Spaniards—with their fluidity in speaking their native language—in the class. Nevertheless, the professor was so warm and inviting. She actually introduced me to the entire class and told them my entire life history—where I am from, what I am doing in Madrid, and how good she thinks I am at speaking and writing Spanish. Embarrassed, I began my presentation and when it finished, I was quite proud. I was able to do it without letting my nerves get the best of me and the professor told me that I did a great job.
Even though the whole process with writing and presenting my literary commentary had kept me busy for a few weeks, midterms in myreunidas classes (alongside fellow U.S. students) did not help the matter. While many of my classmates suffered through three, four, or five midterms exams in these classes, I (fortunately) only had two since I am taking two classes outside of the program to push myself that much harder to learn Spanish. Despite this, I still had to prepare for the exams, as they are very different here. In the U.S., exams are less about how much you remember of the facts or what the professor told you in lecture and more about applying what you have learned throughout the semester. Here, it is quite the opposite. To be successful, you must learn—by memory—everything the professor has said to you and, depending on the question the professor asks you on the exam, repeat that information in the form of an essay or short answer question. While some classes here do value free expression and personal analysis in an academic setting, most follow a didactic approach to learning. Admittedly, this is different, but I hesitate to call it weird since I do not believe such a label is ever appropriate to describe another culture. Returning to the topic, however, everyone seems to have done well on midterms, with results trickling in every day. I should have mine by next week, I hope.
Once midterms ended, Thanksgiving festivities started! Thanksgiving here is, obviously, not a big event since Spain has a different history than that of the United States. Nevertheless, the Program sponsored a deliciously satisfying dinner the night of Thanksgiving at a Spanish restaurant called Casa Adolfo. Eating anything and everything from fried eggplant as an appetizer to a delicious red-pepper steak as my entrée, I truly enjoyed myself that night. The food, the company, and the atmosphere were so pleasant that it helped a lot of people through what would be a difficult time of culture shock (since so many miss their families). Despite what could have been a very emotional evening for a lot of the program participants, it ended well and helped everyone in the Program—including the administrators—the opportunity to bond and develop a sense of camaraderie that we otherwise would not have had.
No matter where I travel, seeing how much pride others take in their culture makes me learn and discover that much more about my own. This whole process of exploring another´s culture really does make it so that you explore more of your own. I hope to continue this process of self-discovery, as cliché as it may sound, as I continue with my year-long stay in Madrid.
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