Today I started my second session of classes. The good news is I have improved SIX levels! Louisa has improved EIGHT levels (thanks to a new romantic interest who can't speak English). The new kids arrived on Saturday and Louisa and I met them Sunday. They all seem pretty nice but unfortunately not as interesting as our last group. Luckily there is a group from IU that arrived last weekend as well and in general there are so many new students! Literally Salamanca is flooded with new students from all over the world, it's really cool. I ran into some friends form IU yesterday, which was so bizarre to finally see familiar faces half way across the world.
I actually think I will enjoy this month even more than last month, which I never thought could be possible. In my grammar class there are a couple professors from Africa, Chinese students, French students, students from all over the world. There is only one other American that is my age in my class! I really enjoyed talking to the people in my class this morning and it was so interesting. The best part is we all speak different first languages so we can only speak to each other in Spanish. Looks like I will be practicing speaking even more so than last month because I can no longer resort to English!
My elective class is a business class and also has an extremely diverse group of students. Like my grammar class, most of the students are older and were sent here by their company for a month to improve their Spanish. The class seems like it will be really interesting and I know I will learn so much about the Spanish business world but also a lot about global markets and economies due to the diversity in the class. It is funny to be in a classroom with older students who have families and have worked 20 or 30 years, but I think it will be a wonderful experience.
Today in my business class we talked about how Spain has such weird schedules for work. Many people work 9:00-2:30 and then go home for the day or occasionally 10:00-2:00 and 5:00-8:00. It is funny how different things are here in Spain, even from other European countries. We read an interesting article about the importance of human contact and relationships in Spain and how it affects the business world. They would never dream of having a business lunch or dinner, because la comida is such a sacred time and it is so important to go home and eat with your family. People also don't really work from home here or utilize email, Skype, and other technologies like we do in the workplace. Obivously my first reaction is that it is often easier to send an e-mail or multitask and have a business lunch, but part of what I love about being here is a break in the middle of the day to forget about school, work, whatever, and have a relaxing lunch with Marianna and David, talking about anything and everything BUT school and work!
Yesterday there were restaurants and bars that flew the American flag for 4th of July! Louisa and I went out to celebrate the day of our country and it was hilarious how many Spaniards were running around with the American flag tied around their neck. We never expected them to know it was the 4th of July, let alone celebrate it! The Spanish people will have a fiesta for anything though. Either way Louisa and I enjoyed it and it made us feel more at home here in Salamanca!
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