Yesterday was my first day of class. At 7:45 AM. I had no idea where I was going, so I left at 6 to be safe.. Two and a half hours after I went to bed. Don't worry, I took a five hour nap today. But anyway, I got the Universidad Católica with plenty of time to spare, so I walked to the different buildings and found out where my classes were. I walked to my aula (classroom) and waited for Psicología de la Personalidad (Psychology of the Personality) to start. Then students started filing in. It was terrifying. It seemed like everyone in the class already knew each other. And how do they greet people that they know? By jumping into each other's arms and kissing one another on the cheek. Sounds like my kind of social situation, right? Wrong. Not when I don't know anyone and I am sitting alone in a chair, trying not to be noticed by anyone. I felt like I was wearing a sign that said "I AM FROM THE UNITED STATES AND I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING." I was experiencing a mental freeze and I forgot all of the Spanish I had ever learned. I was half hoping that someone would come talk to me, and half hoping that they would just see my chair and not the awkward, nervous person who sat there. I didn't realize that being in a room with adolescents who spoke another language would make me feel so vulnerable and out of place.
I soon found out that being in a class where you are learning Spanish with other English speakers is COMPLETELY different from being in a class where you are learning another subject with fluent Spanish speakers. The professor spoke at a rate of approximately 748759012 words per minute and was constantly making comical remarks. I knew this because on many occasions, the students burst into laughter while I stared blankly at him, completely missing the joke. I understood very little of his explanation of the class format, including the differences between the theoretical and practical parts of the class. However, once he actually started talking about psychology, it was a bit easier to understand. Then we all had to go around and introduce ourselves. Great. I was still petrified about drawing attention to myself, so I wrote down what I was going to say before I said it. When the professor indicated that it was my turn, he said enthusiastically, "Intercambio!" which means "exchange student." Everyone was excited that another girl in the class and I were from the States. They all smiled at me when I spoke. We have to do a group project in a few weeks; I hope I don't let anyone down.
For the majority of the classes here, the grade you receive on your final exam ends up being your grade for the class. This is frightening because sometimes I get nervous during exams. I also don't think the exam grades are always accurate representations of what you learned for an entire semester. I suppose the motivation to do the homework is that it will help you prepare for the scary finish. But if I don't have time to complete an assignment, I could just say someone robbed my homework. Not too implausible, either. There are no clocks in the classrooms. Will this 4 hour class be over any time soon? Classes here often only occur once a week, meaning there is a lot of information crammed into one 3-5 hour session. A lot to stay awake for, but at least I can try to make my Fridays free of class. More time to travel! On the digital clocks here, they use military time. This is starting to make a lot more sense to me since you don't need to worry about AM or PM. I'm not quite at the point where 21:00 immediately registers as 9:00 PM, but I'll get there. I went to my second class yesterday but the professor never showed up!
When stores here are closed, they are really closed. Instead of just locking the doors, there are often massive bars in front of the store. Sometimes they are even completely covered by a pull down door (like for a garage), probably to prevent theft. This is confusing because when I was looking for a store that was closed, I walked right past it 4 times without realizing that it was covered by large green panels with grafitti. It's like 12 Grimmauld Place! If you don't know it's there, it's basically invisible. I just randomly made a mental list that I would like to share. This has nothing to do with Argentina but these are four places that I want to make sure to go during my lifetime: India, South Africa, New Zealand, and Cairo, Egypt (because my African story-telling teacher told me that if I am ever going to go somewhere.. go to Cairo). I hope I will be able to travel later in life! I know that it gets increasingly difficult once you have a set job and a family. Maybe I will raise my kids as world travelers.
My trip to Mendoza really helped me to be comfortable with Argentina. It felt interesting to think about "going home" on the omnibus back to Buenos Aires. Home is a fascinating concept to me. Now I have three homes! Buenos Aires (where I'm studying abroad), La Grange (where my family lives and where I have lived my whole life), and Madison (where I study and have made many best friends). It's nice to have many places where I feel comfortable. It gives me more options. The con with so many homes is that I'm always missing someone. The pro is that I'm always with people that I like. As Paul Baribeau says in one of his songs, "Everywhere I go, everyone I know comes with, wonder how many more can fit inside this crowded, crazy heart."
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