It's all up hill from here: Senderismo

This weekend I did something that I never thought I would enjoy. I went HIKING. I know. I don't seem like the hiking type. I'm out of shape. I have a touch of asthma. I don't really do the outdoors. I don't even own hiking shoes. A few months ago I would've said absolutely not. But I think after all of the trekking and stuff I did in Peru I can do just about anything. So I went hiking. Again, it was a group activity and I did make the committment.

We went to a small town about an hour and a half away.

Huge rock. Pretty view.

Ruinas Italicas

As part of my committment to trying to absorb everything about Spain this semester, I have decided to attend all (or most) cultural activities offered by my program. My program organizes and offers cultural excursions. They're generally very interesting, well lead, and most importantly, paid for whether I go or not. So I decided to go and considered it a productive way to procrastinate for the test I had the next day.

This is the entrance to the theatre.

Spanish Grades!

So I got my mid term exam back yesterday and was thrilled to have made a 9.06! a) That's out of 10...chill out. and b) it's better than I thought it would be.

The Spanish grade system is based on 10 being the highest grade possible. According to my professor (and the exam grades posted publicly all the bulleting boards) the average student makes about a 6 or 7. This is definitely something that'll be hard to get my mind wrapped around. In the states there is usually a curve and atleast a few students make a near perfect score on exams. Most of the grades that I looked at outside of class rooms were about the same. Maybe there were a few 9s but there were NO tens. Most students made about a 6 or 7. And there were a few lower than 4.

I say it's better than I thought because honestly I didn't study for the exam. I also had a paper due the next day and I'm not good at all nighters because I don't want to fall asleep on the test. I only left one spot blank and anything else I got wrong was just minor things like accents.

Classes start next week and I'm getting kind of nervous. I'm ready to start classes but the reality of all spanish classes, homework, projects, etc is starting to settle in.

A WEEK!

I can't believe I've been here for a week already! It feels like I've been here longer. So much is going on that time just kind of flies. In the past week I've bought a phone, toured a palace, explored my neighborhood, started intensive classes, done too much homework, interviewed for an internship, recieved the internship, and walked millions (or just tens) of miles.

10 Interviews. 2 Hours. VAMOS!

So on Tuesday I had the most frightening experience of my life so far. I had to interview for an internship, en ESPAÑOL. I have never really had to interview for a job and then to have to do it in spanish after being here for less than a week?!



The way it works is CIEE has a network of business, about 30, that want interns. We went to a hotel banquet room where most of the businesses were gathered to interview on the spot. It was like a career fair... or speed dating. Beforehand we were given a folder with short profiles of all the businesses so that we could have a better idea of what we wanted to do before we got there. So I went in with a list of 10 businesses that I was interested in, thinking that I would only get to do maybe half.

I generally hat einterviews and anything where I have to talk about myself. That's pretty much what an interview is: you brag about yourself and tell them why you deserve the job. That's easy for some people never for me. So imagine the apprehension and nerves you get when you have to do an interview, then multiply that exponentially when it has to be done in spanish. I was nervous out of my mind. Would they understand me? What if I said sometihng wrong? Would I be able to think of anything (right or wrong)? What if they think I'm a complete imbecil???

I won't say that all of that went away but I somehow managed to turn it into positive and productive energy. I interviewed with about 5 companies that I wasn't originally interested in just to warm up and then interviewd with 5 that I originally was. Just as any interview goes, some of them were really nice and we clicked well, and others not so much.

I got a practica (internship) with Instituto San Fernando!

I'm not sure how I managed it but here are a few tips:

• Smile. Do it when you meet them and periodically through out the conversation. When appropriate of course.
• Nod your head to show understanding or at least attention. Alot of the interviewers spoke too fast or were just really boring. I nodded my head to show I was paying attention even though they had lost my attention.
• Make eye contact. This is something that you should master for everything. For me, it's the most important part of communication. It helped to show that I was engaged in the conversation and is kind of a sign of respect.

That's pretty much all I remember doing. But I guess I did it well! I'll give more info on what the business is and what I'll have to do when I get it!

A Note about Diversity...

                 THERE IS NONE.

 There is not really alot of diversity in study abroad. We all know that there's not alot of diversity on most college campuses anyway. But take whatever the most recent statistics are for study college/university attandence are for minority groups and shove that out the window. I don't mean this as a negative thing but it's just something that you really can't help but notice.

There are approximately 4 african american students out of about 1,500 from CIEE.

I am the only one in my program,business and society.

I'm not usually the one to point out the diversity (or lack thereof) but I couldn't help but feel my heart sink a little bit when I looked around the orientation and didn't see one face like mine out of 90 students. This is heart wrenching not just for me but for "my people." I put that in quotes because I mean only the african american group. I ran into a girl on the street who is in a different program under the umbrella of CIEE and we literally hugged and talked about how happy we were to have each other as a little community. I don't want to always focus on the color of my skin (of my afro) but they make me stand out in a different way from others. It's nice to have someone to talk to who shares the same concerns and who will have similar experiences as me. I'm not saying she's my new bestie but there will be times when only a black person can relate.

*People of Asian descent and of South/Central American descent are also represented but don't make up much more than blacks do. I've also seen some middle eastern descent students.

The point is that ALL minorities have dismal numbers. Like really sad, depressing, disappointing numbers as far as study abroad. I don't know why but I though that more minorities would come to Europe. It's the top destination for study abroad plus it's more "developed" than some countries. I didn't expect to see alot of black students in Peru and I didn't. But my group in Peru only had 25 people and there were two of us. Sin a group of 100 I thought I would see 8. I guess that's an ambitious number though...

Bienvenidos España, Besitos Perú!

I have arrived!!! I'm in Seville!!!

I realize that I didn't do anything to close my time in Peru. But it's ok because I know that I'm not done with Peru so it was more of a hasta luego and less of a chau....

I got here 3 days ago and the 7 hour difference has killed me. Of course I didn't get a good nights sleep before I left so I was exhausted when I got here...And we went from the airport to the hotel for orientation. There has been a lot of orientation which I will not bore you with. I will say that I'm getting more excited as I get more relaxed. Not that I wasn't excited before I got here but I'm starting to adjust and I think that this semester will be more awesome than I really could have hoped. It's a big statement but I tried to come open minded and with not alot of expectations. Atleast with the program itself.

Orientation has be really great. I'm trying not to compare this to Peru but as far as orientation this is so much more organized and interactive. It's because there are 90 in my program and 1,500 with CIEE plus they've been here for 20 years so they have no choice. We have guides, mine is Marta, who are our age and go to the same school that we'll be going to. They take us everywhere we need to go and we can talk to them about everything. We've been going to different restaurants and parts of the city and it's been really interesting. In the restaurants Marta tells us what's good or her favorite. She lives kind of outside of the city where most of us live but she knows everything and it's been really helpful.

The city itself is beautiful. More than I could have imagined. There are palm trees everywhere and everything is so...old. Like in a good-antique-historic way. The city is so organized and clean and even though it's cold the skies are blue and the sun is shining. The air is...crisp. Like I can breathe! I was so surprised. At first I couldn't figure it out but there's no smog. We got 2 maps and transportation is so easy. Not to keep comparing everything to Peru but it's definitely easier to get around Seville. We got two maps of the city: one of the streets and one of the buses. The streets are really curvy and narrow like alleys but the maps are great! There are buses with actual routes and no cobradors. There are underground and above ground metros. There are even bike rentals and bike lanes. You get a ticket for walking in them. I've been lost twice already but thanks to maps, I figured out where I was going and got to where I needed to be in no time.

There's been alot of academic talk and this semester I actually will have work to do, that will get done because these classes pertain to my major. One thing that I've been surprised about is that alot of the people in my group aren't as advanced as I thought they would be. I know that I have a bit of an edge because I was "immersed" last year but it's still surprising that some people look at me like I'm super advanced. I guess I did improve alot in Peru and just wasn't giving myself credit for that. I definitely understand more than I thought but I haven't run into a true-speed talking Sevillano. I got into one of the higher levels of Spanish so I don't have to take a spanish class during regular classes but I think that I will anyway. My main goal is really just to improve and increase fluidity. I want to be almost fluid and really conversational. I plan on taking advantage of every opportunity to learn about the city. Everything has been in Spanish so far and I'm actually doing great. Just need to speak spanish more...poco a poco I guess.