Hey all,
I don't even remember the last update I made but hopefully it wasn't too long ago...heh.
Classes started awhile ago, and my classes are good so far. I have four courses that I am taking:
Interpreting (like translating orally) - this is my elective, I know, a bit masochistic. It's been ridiculously hard so far and we haven't even been graded on anything or given hardly any homework. I'm presenting with this guy Jon tomorrow so we'll see how we do, but for the most part it's fascinating and excruciatingly difficult at the same time. Lovely combination for a competitive driven individual such as myself, no? haha.
European Union - This is a 400-level International Relations course about the EU and regional integration - it's crazy interesting. It's taught in English by a Dutch professor with red hair and I am going to write my 10-12 page term paper in Spanish. Somehow the head of the Spanish dept. at Eastern decided that this would count for my Spanish civilization requirement (God only knows why), so that's cool.
Society and State of Latin America - this is my other International Relations course, but it's only 200-level, so that's easier. I am enjoying it so far, the class is taught in Spanish but the book is in English, haha, so it's cool and not cool at the same time. The professor is really cool because he talks like he's young (curses more than most for sure, but it really isn't offensive when people curse in your second language - like at all, or at least not for me), and he's also really passionate about latin america. He's not so cool in that he makes fun of religions and makes Mexican Catholicism equivalent to Christianity in general (which is a crazy thing to do IMO) and his excessive use of slang at times makes it really hard to understand him. Haha. But I think over all he's pretty wicked neat. He's so smart. In my reading for this class I found myself so upset by a story in the book that I actually cried, like legitimately, for awhile. And I think if I were to tell that to my prof, he'd be like, dude, it's cool, I cry all the time when I read stuff like that. And then I'd be like, you da man. He also speaks like 7 languages, it's nuts. lol. I might have exaggerated, but a lot.
19th Century Mexican Literature - This is a pretty chill class. The only thing that really frustrates me is the book situation. Here in Mexico the students do not buy their books. They go to the local copy center and buy copies that the professors have asked be made for the students. It's pretty awful. I am not going to lie though, it's really hard to buy the books here, so I mean, I guess I get why they do that(?). In any case, he tells us to like buy some books because I mean, the man's a lit professor how could he live with himself if he didn't tell us to invest in literature and personal libraries and what not, and I would love to do so, but it's like, where? Where do I get these books that you want me to buy? Because let's be honest, buying books in Spanish is ridiculously difficult in the U.S. (if you want a certain book) and the only place it could possibly be easier than Mexico would be Spain, but who goes there just to buy books? I mean really? No Americans. I would go there to see my cousin and Aunt and Uncle, but books? Especially not for just this class.
So yeah, that's been a struggle.
In other news: I will be going to an orphanage with the youth group from my church (high school age) and the missionaries that live near by on Saturday, we are going over early to make cupcakes (EEEE! :D)
The following Friday and Saturday I am going to go with the missionaries and a mission group from (you'll never believe it) Church of the Vineyard in PA (like right down the road) on a white water rafting trip, so that should be totally fun. I am going to bring one of my suitemates with me, because Liz didn't want to go.
Last night I went to "LA CASA VERDE" which everyone's been telling me about for years, and it's basically a youth group for college kids and it's totally fun. I liked it a lot, and then you get free food afterwards, which is the best ever. So that was awesome. And they also have lunch for us on Thursdays, so that's exciting. And the house is open everyday to go in and hang out and play games and do homework and whatever. (I think I could even use their oven to bake sometime if I wanted) They gave out brownies las night to the new comers and they were literally to die for. Seriously.
I also have been toying with the idea of joining a worship band, either at my church or at la casa verde. The only thing is I'm not used to singing with an acoustic drum set, which makes it really hard to hear yourself (this only applies to la casa verde) and so I would be scared I sound bad. But I think it would be a really good experience and would totally stretch me. We'll see.
Pat and I talked a lot yesterday/last night. I am glad we did, because I think we both had the opportunity to kind of get our lives in order and figure out what we're really going to focus on during this time apart. I think we're doing well, at least I hope so. :o)
I opened my new bank account and I think it should all work out as planned (I hope so).
So yeah, that's my life. In 20 minutes I am meeting with Jon to work on our Interpreting project, and then at 7pm we have a meeting with our RA (equivalent, lol).
Tons of love! Besos y abrazos,
Norita
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