Thursday, June 12, 2008

What about class?

So I tell lots of people about my trips but I often hear the questions, "aren't you studying abroad?" and don't you ever go to class? But you have to know I am learning more about life and myself through each day here than I ever would at home in my own comfort zone. But now I will tell you all about my classes so you don't think I am just here getting free credits.

Economics: I am taking Econ to fulfill a Social Science credit. I don't really know how it is a social science credit but I thought it wouldn't be too hard. However, it being in Spanish and all the terms being vocab I never learned, its a little more difficult than I thought. Fortunately my professor is from the U.S. and so her accent isn't hard to understand. She also gives us quizzes in English to help with the vocab. However this Saturday, yes Saturday, we have our first test. We went over some old test questions in class yesterday and I can tell I have a lot of studying to do. The test questions are nothing like the quiz questions or anything we do in class. In class we talk more about the concepts but we aren't taught how to apply them which is what we are supposed to do on the tests. Oh well, all I need is a C.

Poetry: I am usually lost in this class. She talks about a lot of concepts in poetry that I could really care less about. Also I just don't understand poetry or like poetry in any language. So why did I take this class? Well I need a literature class and this had the best times. I know, not the best reasoning but I am pretty useless at 8am or on a Friday when the other literature classes are. Our grade consists of 4 papers and a group presentation. So when I write a paper, I just do more research online instead of relying on class lectures and notes from class. Also my friend Thea is in this class so she pretty much saves me from the boredom that fulfills this class.

History: This class only meets once a week at 8 am but its supposed to count as 3 credits (a normal credit amount for a class). Its the history of Valparaiso but we don't talk about Valparaiso too much. I also have a hard time paying attention at 8 am to a Chilean professor who I have a hard time understanding. I have 1 more class and then our final exam is at the end of June. Wish me luck! Also I have to climb up to this building at 8am!

Chilean Culture and Conversation: This class is my favorite because I usually understand and it seems the most useful. My professor however gets stuck on one thing and just goes with it for weeks. For about a month and a half we have been listening to newscasts and filling in the blanks of the script. Its quite difficult. Chileans speak really really really fast. But its good because we learn new vocabulary and become aware of current events in Chile. However we had a change in pace, yesterday we walked around the hills of Valpo to look at graffiti. I forgot to take my camera but I will go back and take pictures. The graffiti is really good here. However, I don't think its too cool that people just graffiti wherever and think everyone wants to look at it.

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