So today makes three months since I left for Spain!
It's weird because it feels like I wrote my two-month post last week. I know it has been longer than usually since I've last written but I did that on purpose because I wanted to post something today. I also lost track of time! Weeks feel like days and days feel like just a few hours. I know I've said this before but time really is going way too fast and I don't like it. The friends I've made here are honestly some of the greatest people I've ever met and it will be really hard to leave them in 6 months. The people who are only staying here for a trimester are leaving in less than a week which is insane! I don't know what I would do if I was leaving next week. I have so much left to accomplish here before even thinking about going home. I'm so happy I switched to a year program because there's no way I am going to be fluent by the end of the semester. I unfortunately have been speaking way too much English to be even close to fluent. Recently though, I have been challenging myself to speak more Spanish. Kids at school always like to try out their English on me but last week I told them they weren't allowed to do that anymore. People think I'm not serious about learning Spanish which isn't true. It's the main reason I came here. It's just hard because Spanish can be really frustrating at times. I do talk to my exchange friends in English though because it doesn't make sense to talk in Spanish when nobody can correct us if we say something wrong.
Even though I do speak more English than I should, I do think my Spanish has improved tremendously. I can understand almost everything people are saying and I can even understand some of my teachers. The accent here is much thicker than in the Northern part of Spain which has made it harder for me to be able to understand people. The only time I can't understand someone is if they say a word I don't know in which case I just use my dictionary. I also think that my speaking has improved quite a bit too and I even think I'm starting to pick up some of the Andalusian accent. I learned the other day that the reason I make so many mistakes in my grammar is because many of the sentences where in American English we would use the preterite, the Spanish use the past perfect. For example, before I knew this rule, whenever I finished a test I would say “terminé mi examen” (I finished my test). But what I should have said and what I say now is “he terminado mi examen” (I have finished my test) This is a tense that isn't often used in American English but is used much more frequently in British English. Knowing this has made speaking much easier for me because now people can actually understand me.
Next week my school trimester ends and I'll finally get to know my averages for all of my classes. There's no Powerschool here so I've been left to guess my averages. As of now I think I'm passing all my classes except for Math and Economy (thanks to my last test). The past two weeks have been “testing weeks” I've had tests in every subject which has been a nightmare to study for. French and Math have been the worst because I've had not one, not two, but three tests in both those classes in the past two weeks. Thankfully the torture ends on Friday with one last Science test. Once I have my final grades I'll make sure to share them but I'll warn you, they're not good. Grading here is much different than in the United States. It's perfectly normal to fail and most people usually do. Here, instead of congratulating someone on acing a test, you congratulate them on passing. Some people even get 0's.
This weekend I'm going shopping for my New Year's eve dress. New Year's eve is much bigger here than it is in America, or, well, in Maine. Going to bed before midnight isn't an option no matter how old you are. One party I was going to attend requires you to pay 40 euros to get in. It's an all-night party and apparently it's normal for there to be over 500 people going in and out. I opted out of that one though because my host sister told me the 40 euros is for unlimited drinks which to me is outrageous. Instead, I've decided to go with my host sister to a disco for a much more reasonable price of 5 euros. I'm actually more excited for New Years than I am for Christmas which is weird for me considering Christmas is the day before my birthday.
Today I failed a dance test. Yep. A dance test. It's actually my third one I've failed. I just can't seem to get the dance down no matter how hard I try (which really isn't that hard). I'm actually a little angry though because I feel like even though I obviously can't dance as well as my classmates I had improved a little bit since my last test. Apparently my gym teacher didn't think so because he actually gave me a worse grade than he did last time. To add to the embarrassment, I was the only person to fail out of my entire group. I swear, my gym teacher is out to get me. (In more than one way for anyone who's heard my stories about him.) I wouldn't normally write something so embarrassing on my blog but considering it has never really been my dream to become a dancer, I don't really care. Thank goodness I'm a pro badmitten player or I'd be failing gym right now which would be beyond embarrassing.
Anyways,
I actually really have to go study for my math test because I'm pretty sure failing four in a row isn't really setting me up or a good math grade.
Abrazos y besos a todos
-Libby
No comments:
Post a Comment