School #1 -IES Cabo de la Huerta

As returning readers will know, I am attending a "colegio" here in Spain, which is their version of high school. The thing is though, that here, "colegios" have 6 years of class, instead of 4 like in the US. Basically, if Turner was combined with the high school, putting 7th through 12th grades in the same building, it would be a "colegio." There are 4 levels of E.S.O. (Enseñaza Secundario Obligatorio = Obligatory Secondary Education) and 2 levels of Bachillerato. The second bachillerato is when the students prepare for the "selectividad." The score on the "selectividad" plus the grades from the two levels are bachillerato are averaged to get a combined score, and that is the score that determines where the student can attend for college.

I'm in the second bachillerato, but it's not that bad because I don't actually have to prepare for the "selectividad." One, because I've already graduated from high school, so it doesn't matter what grades and scores I get, although I am going to try to do well in the classes. Two, because I am an exchange student, who will not be here next year and will not be attending a university, so the score doesn't mean anything for me. Third, the combination of the first two is why I don't have to take it, and the stress of being an exchange student, making friends, learning the culture, and learning the language are enough stress for me to deal with this year.

My classes are going well. I still don't understand much, but I feel like I understand a little more each day. It's hard to judge because I can't tell if I'm understanding more, or what the teachers are saying that day, I just happen to understand better than what they said the day before! For the first week or so, I didn't even have two of my classes: Philosophy and Sociology. The teacher was sick and they didn't have a substitute, so we just didn't have class that period. But we have a teacher now, so no more napping during my free period! English is really boring, simply because it is a very basic level, so for me, it's incredibly easy! Spanish class is interesting, learning the grammatical rules and functions and everything. Geography is okay. History of Spain and history of art are both good classes, and the teacher is really nice and fun too. Wednesday in class, Victorino (the history teacher) was talking about something and he began to talk about Egypt, but I don't know why. Anyway, he said that Egypt is split in half by the Nile river and the sun rises, is born, in the east and sets, or dies, in the west. Because of this the Egyptians built all the temples and whatnot on the eastern side of the river to celebrate the living and all their tombs on the western side, where the sun dies. I found that very interesting because I have never heard that before. Then I was even more surprise, because I said to myself, "hey, hold on a minute...you actually understand 95% of that...wow!" Needless to say, I was quite proud of myself for having actually understood a complete story/idea/thought in school. I also have math class, which I hate. Not only does it require a lot of effort, because I have to translate the words to figure out what the problem is (which sometimes is very easy to do and sometimes not), and then I have to translate the problem to figure out how to solve it. The other problem with this math class is that it's a bit over my head. We just finished up a unit on the Gauss method to solve a system of multiple equations. I was talking to my family later that week, and my brother told me that in his Calculus 2 class in college they said he should have learned it in Calculus, which he hadn't. And neither did I. So it's even harder because I actually don't already know some of the lessons in class. But we'll see how it goes.

I'm on the third floor. Many of the other students in my group switch rooms during the day, but with the classes I have, I'm in the same room all day. During the breaks, I usually go down to the courtyard and talk with Alvaro and sometimes Andres, or I go to the cantina with Sofia and her friends. The cantina is nice. It has candy, drinks, sandwiches, pastries, and other things to eat during breaks, for a small price. I can usually get a pastry or sandwich and a drink for 1,40€. It's not bad, but I can't do it every day, so I do like a lot of the other students and I bring a couple snacks or some fruit to school with me. The cantina is kind of ridiculous though. The small bar is always crowded by students pushing to get to the counter, and let me tell you, you have to fight to get to the front, or if you manage to slide up to the counter through a gap, like I do, you have to fight to keep your spot. And even if you're not at the counter, it's still okay to yell our your order and hope they serve you. The two workers seem a bit pressed to me, so I always wait until they ask me what I want, and they seem to appreciate that. Actually, I know they appreciate it, because the third or fourth time I was waiting to order something, a kid came up next to me and started yelling his order. The one lunch lady went ahead and got his order, but she then told him that he should be more "prudente" like this kid and pointed to me. "Prudente" means formal. That day I learned that good manners and being a gentleman is something universal.

My classroom.

The view of the courtyard from my classroom.

The courtyard.

The cantina -with students.

The cantina - vacant and calm.

Currently listening to:
Song: How Far We've Come
Artist: Matchbox 20
Album: Exile on Mainstream

P.S. Soon to come - "School #2 - EOI = Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Alicante"