16.09.2008

el 16 de septiembre de 2008

Today was the last day of classes for the early program I was in. The exam for Grammar went well and my interview (5 minutes or so) for Oral Expression went well also. Overall I think I learned a lot. The presentation of the material is what made the biggest difference. Some things that I already had learned but did not understand were made much clearer simply by studying it in a different way. So now that the classes are over, we're all heading out to dinner and then to celebrate tonight at the bars. I'm quite excited.

For those of you who haven't already seen my photos from the trip to the zoo on Saturday, you should check them out! I had such a blast with my new camera taking all those shots. I'm learning so much about my camera just by taking it out and shooting photos. We had a blast in the zoo! The park used to be a mine, and after a while they converted it to a national park/zoo. The park is huge! and so we took a bus around to each "pen" and then would get off and walk a bit and take photos if we wanted. I would have prefered to walk, but after driving around the park I realized how hilly it was and walking would not have allowed us to see much. Plus it rained a lot. Eso es Santander... But yes, there are loads of pictures on facebook and if you don't want to go there you can see them here! What a fun trip!

I continue to love this city. Once again, just the tranquility of it, the great mix of mountians and beach, and the friendliness of the people I've met have given me such a great impression. A lot of people when home always say "Oh, these people don't like Americans because such and such" or "These people are always mean to Americans." I've found this not to be very true. For sure, there are cases where people are just ignorant and intolerant of other cultures. We talked about this in class today, about the stereotypes from different cultures and how my profesor HATES it when people apply stereotypes to those they meet abroad becuase clearly just by traveling abroad and studying abroad these people have broken the stereotype and are truly trying to assimilate and understand how another culture lives and thrives. I found the conversation quite enlightening.

The other international students I've met I continue to love. We're all such a great mix and really do enjoy ourselves when we're out. Cory is very intent on learning lots of German phrases, and of course our friends only teach him the funnier more interesting ones. "My house or yours?" for example, haha. I'm also very excited because one of my friends from Austria, Martina, is really into mountain climbing and other sports like that, and said she found a rock gym in Santander that we can go to. I'm really excited! I also mentioned that I like to climb to one of the assistant students, Eduardo, and he told me that his friend climbs a lot and he's going to try to introduce me so we might be able to tag along. Sweet!

I'm still trying to teach myself to surf, and it's hard! Especially because these aren't those wimpy waves we get back in Rhody... these are rather intense cross-current, strong undertoe waves that really toss you around. It's quite tiring but really really fun! Plus, I can't really complain about spending almost every day on the beach can I? I got my first sunburn. It's not that bad, and I'm excited to once again be a color other than bleach white. Maybe by the time the winter hits I'll have a tan. Ha.

I hope everyone back in the States, and those soon to join me in Europe, are doing well. ¡Salud!

Atentamente,
Andrew
Santander, ESP