Well school here in Spain is finally DONE! I finished my presentations last week and had my last two exams yesterday. Now all I have is my class from Calgary which will be finished by the time I get home on June 30. The presentations we had to do were interesting to say the least. Not so much the topics, but having to do them with people that don't speak English as their first language is a group experience that I found to be extremely challenging. Lots of the students here are good with English but in my one class, I was in a group with two girls (one from China and the other from France) that didn't speak English hardly at all. We were trying to translate our idea to the Chinese girl and it was quite a task! First, I tried in English. That didn't work. Then we tried in Spanish. That also didn't work. Then she found another girl from China who we spoke to in Spanish and then she translated what she could understand in Chinese. Which also didn't work very well. It was probably the single most frustrating time I've had in a group before. As frustrating as it was, it was hard not be understanding. One of the things I've learned here is to be accepting and patient with cultural differences. Some of my friends are the same way with me and my Spanish.
In other news, the goodbyes have started. We had a Finnish friend leave yesterday and another good friend is leaving on Wednesday. And more are just to follow. It's really sad knowing that I've spent four months with these people, seen them everyday, and now I probably won't ever see some of them again. Especially the Europeans. But, as I learned a couple weeks ago, a friend from Vic, is actually going on exchange to Mount Royal next year! It'll be kinda nice to have a reminder of my exchange. Plus, I can practice my Spanish!
Anyway, as for what I'm doing in June since there is no school, I'm traveling! On June 3, I fly into Seville and am hoping to catch a night bus to Portugal until June 6 and then back to Seville to see some flamenco dancing and eat some tapas! Tapas in the south are the best. If you go to a pub/bar and order a drink, you get a free tapa (which is like an appetizer). It's definitely a way to eat cheaply, dinner and a drink for around 2 or 3 Euro. Then on June 9, I fly back to Vic. On June 12, I have a friend that's coming to visit and we're going to go to Paris from 15-18 and then Ibiza from the 20-25. Ibiza is the last Balearic Island that I need to visit so that I've seen them all! All this traveling will make June go by super fast for me. I can't believe I only have a month left here. I'm excited to come home but at the same time, I'm going to miss it here a lot. It's going to be really strange coming home.
Anyway, at this moment, I'm laying in the sun on my balcony and the thermometer reads 33C! I'm going to go enjoy this weather while I can!
Adios mis amigos!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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