No More Carrots in Class

This week, I completed my second week of school! The first week was a bit discouraging and I felt lost in all the Spanish, like I was not making friends, and I did not get a chance to talk to my professors. However, this last week, I calmed myself down a little bit and had a much better week. I understood more in my classes, talked to more people, asked my professors questions, etc. So, I am more relaxed and excited for next week.

My history program is capped at twenty students and I am one of two foreigners, the other foreigner is from Mexico. Classes here are similar in a lot of ways to classes in the U.S. We show up for the lecture, do readings, take notes, etc. However, I realized there are quite a few differences as well. Here are a few:

• Food. Students don't eat in classes here. If you know how much I enjoy eating in my classes you can understand why this is a huge disappointment to me. The first day of class I went armed with carrot sticks and apple slices only to look around and realize no one else was eating. I learned later that eating in class is considered extremely rude. So sad. Also, no gum is permitted. 
• Time. Most of the students actually show up pretty much on time. The professors, however, can be a different story. 
• Noise. Students do not talk in class or make noises at all. In these two weeks, I have not heard one phone go off. No one texts in class, gets on facebook (only one person brings a laptop), or works on other homework during class time. What a change!
• Technology. Only one of my professors occasionally throws up a couple PowerPoint slides (sorry no Keynote here). Once in a while the white board is used for diagrams that contain way more arrows than necessary. 
• Books. No one buys books for classes. We either read journal articles on the computer or photocopy one book. 
• Gringolandia. Being the only American in the program is sometimes a strange experience. I realized that when people make a comment about the U.S., they tend to look at me. Yeah, about those coups in South America...

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Some colorful street art!