HULLOOOOOO

ahhh so today was fantastic! a complete 180 from yesterday where i sat alone in the lunch room and no one talked to me in class. i had three classes today all in spanish, all direct enrollment, all with only SPANIARDS. it was intense. the first class was my recitation more or less in my Radio Laboratory. I got there pretty early and was talking myself out of going and wondering what the heck i was doing there trying to actually be in an actual class taught only in spanish, but then this really wonderful guy named Victor started talking to me and asking me where I was from and all that and basically like took me under his wing hahaha. and then i met the teacher and he was so nice and undersstanding and i instantly felt better. class started. me and about 20 or so spaniards who all know each other pretty well because of the way the university system is set up here they basically take all classes with the same group of people cause they dont have much choice of classes they want to take. i met another kid named alessandro who was sitting next to me and he was as nice as can be and super cool. we then had to split up into groups that we would be in for the rest of the semester so i am in a group with alessandro, victor, and some spanish girls who thought that it was very "GUAY" that i was from the United States haha. this seems to be a school with lots of internationals so i lucked out that in my direct enrollment class i am the only foreigner so i still am somewhat intriguing and unique. anyways the class was lots of fun and the other kids in the class seemed great, we did this one activity where we basically had to do a 30 second radio show over the microphone in like a recording studio so you know i had to do it. speak in spanish in front of the whole class and introduce myself. ahhhh. then i had my next lecture which was audiovisual narration. pretty much everyone in my little recitation was in the lecture so i sat with alessandro and his friend pablo and the girls from my group. at one point the teacher asked if someone who was a native english speaker could read this like headline thing and alessandro more or less called me out so then i had to speak in a voz alta in front of my whole lecture. later on in the class the professor asked me to translate the word "gutter" into spanish for the class. which i couldnt do and got all flustered and tried to explain in spanish that it was the thing on the side of the road where rain goes. ahhaha. then right after this class was my recitation for the lecture and once again i went with alessandro, pablo, and the girls and we were put into another group and had to do this questionnaire together about a movie we watched in class.. the movie was in english with spanish subtitles.. success. anyways, i felt so happy by the end of these classes that i made it through the day when i began with such butterflies in my stomach. everyone was really understanding and helpful all day so im hoping all these kids will be new friends!! god knows i need them. the classes seem great, given the fact that i probably only understood about 25% of what was being said. however it was amazing how much my spanish seemed to improve after 5 hours of non stop native speaking spanish. it was pretty awesome. lets pray that ill pick it up quickly or else ill be that annoying american always asking for help haha... also: i would say that today i developed such a great respect for anyone who starts fresh in a new country without knowing the language. especially in the United States which is so closed off from the rest of the world compared to Europe. It takes a lot of guts and bravery I think and can get very overwhelming at times. I was almost dizzy with Spanish by the end of the day. So to anyone reading this, if ever you come across someone new to the country or new to your town who seems a bit lost, just take a second and help them out. even any bit of conversation really does go along way...

anywayssss things are looking goood!!!!! tomorrow i have Coloquial Spanish and then my general spanish class. HASTA LUEGOOOO