Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Universitat de Barcelona

I just got back from my Introduction to United States Literature class (this class is a total joke). I probably shouldn't be enrolled to take this because it is targeted at Spaniards who don't really know English and are only in their second year of college. But Davis agreed to give me credit for it, so I'm taking it.

Today, we spent the third consecutive class section covering Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle." Classes here are an hour and half long - which means we have spent four and a half hours discussing "Rip Van Winkle" (also, we never actually look at the text in class). The teacher's English is horrible and her views on American literature is incredibly skewed (she's convinced that everything we do is a reflection of the Revolutionary War in some way).

Another thing I've noticed about Spaniards is when the teacher rhetorically asks "Do you get what I'm saying?" they have no problem responding "No." So, we usually spend an average of 2 hours on each concept because there's always someone who doesn't get it.

I haven't yet made it to a Thursday class since I keep going out Wednesday nights (class sessions are Tues/Thurs), so I may be consistently catching her on her "off" days. My goal for the week is to actually go to all of my classes, so we'll see.

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