School Enters the Scene (Stage left)

Some of you have expressed to me that you enjoyed reading about all my travels and adventures since I have arrived. However, I know you are thinking "wow, isn't she supposed to be studying too?" Yes! And I'm glad you asked.

School has finally started and I survived my first week. Man! I am experiencing some serious culture shock - school culture, that is. I am slowly finding out the many differences between the school system here and that in the U.S. To begin, the semesters here start and finish later than those in the U.S. Classes just started this week while classes at home have been in session for a month already. I am grateful for the extra time off and starting later allowed me more time to transition. The only down side is that our semester here goes until the first week of July :(

Another interesting difference between the two school systems is the registration process. Back home we register in advance, choosing online classes that interest us. We then visit the classes and decide to keep them or drop them for an alternate class. Here it is done the opposite way (at least for us foreign students). We were told by the department of International Relations that we should first visit the classes for 1 to 3 weeks and then register. What?? That was so foreign to me, but all I had to do was go with the flow. There was one thing, however, that I was worried about; I couldn't get my student ID without registering. And you need your student ID to have access to the library among other things on campus, like the wireless internet. I decided to give myself the maximum of a week to visit classes and then decide on which ones I would attend so that I could register.

Because I am studying Spanish literature, I attend the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, which is like a small college-like component of the entire university (sort of like the College of Arts and Sciences). After attempting to look up classes online, I realized I had no idea how to use the online system. I went to see Maria Isabel at International Relations to seek help. I love her! She knows my program director at Georgia State (Dr. Nichols) so I don't know if that's why she was so compassionate...haha. She sat down with me and showed me how to look up classes and she even told me where to find the cordinator for my facultad. After I left her office I headed over to see my cordinator, David. He too was super helpful! I told him briefly about the 3 classes I am registered for back home and he helped me find 2 to 3 comparable classes for each! I was set. This week I visited classes and made my decision. I registered by the end of the week (yesterday).

I like all my classes that I chose because they are not only interesting, they will challenge me intellectually. I am taking a literature and teatro (theater) class, a literature and cine (cinema) class and a class on Spanish literary movements. I was really excited about my literary movements class because we are going to cover several books that I need to know for my Master's program at Georgia State, like El Quijote. One of my goals while I am here in Spain is to utilize this time to get a lot of my reading done from my M.A. reading list (which is like 4 1/2 pages looong); and what better place to expose myself to more Spanish literature than right here in Spain! However, there was one thing that I almost let get in my way - fear!

The second day I went to my literary movements class we started right into the coursework. I was so excited about the content of the class that I didnt notice the language barrier. For those of you who dont know, I am studying in the southern region of Spain called Andalucia. This region is known for what is called the acento andaluz (Andalucian accent) which is VERY difficult to understand in comparison to other regions of Spain. I find many natives "eat" their words and most people do not pronounce their "s," among other things. My class has one main professor and two other professors, who will share the teaching throughout the semester. The main profesor who gave the introduction the first day was not that hard to understand. However, he was not the one to teach the first third of the semester, but rather one of the other professors. That second day I sat in class confused and frustrated. I could barely make out what he was saying! (Must have been my filtro afectivo (affective filter)). At least if I could listen and comprehend, I couldn't take any notes - una carga cognitiva demasiado pesada! (too heavy of a cognitive load). On top of that, when the profesor, David, started discussing El Quijote, he made numerous references to other literary works and authors that I had not only not read, I hadn't even heard of them! OMG - What was I going to do?? I was so overwhelmed.

Ok, so I turned to one of my profesors from GSU, Dr. del Río Parra, for help. I wrote her the most sincere email I could, asking for advice. I explained to her that I really wanted to stay in the class because the content and material were are to cover intrigues me, plus it is geared towards topics and obras (literary works) that I need to know my Master's program. However, the fear of failing miserably and being completely lost haunted me. Of course, she encouraged me to stay in the class and to do whatever I could to get myself up to speed on the knowledge that I lacked and to get with other classmates to compare notes. She also said that I should not focus on fearing failing, but rather on all the new things that I will learn, which will challenge me to grow intellectually. What great advice! Then I realized that with time I would get used to his form of speaking. From that point on I had to remind myself of my abilities. I CAN DO THIS! I could not let fear or intimidation keep me from something that I truly wanted. I made the decision to work hard and keep going and, by golly, that's what I am going to do :)