Wait. I actually have to go to class here too?

Since I arrived here on the fourth, this has seemed like a vacation.  I've had to go to a couple of orientation things, but they've all been out in the city and very enjoyable.  Unfortunately, this feeling only lasted a week.  That's right folks, I did actually come here to study and classes did start this week.  But that didn't happen until Wednesday and that still left Monday and Tuesday for more exploration!

Monday morning was probably my favorite day of orientation so far.  We got a tour of Barcelona's gothic quarter.  Barcelona was founded in 15 BC by the Romans and there are still some ruins of the original city around.  It is absolutely amazing for me to think that I have touched the same walls that were touched by ancient Romans.  I also really liked that even though these ruins are over 2000 years old, they're not kept behind glass.  They are a functioning part of the city.

I love this picture because it shows the different eras of the city.  You can see the remains of the original aqueduct and the larger blocks on the bottom are from the original walls of the city.  The smaller blocks on top of that were added in the middle ages and then you can see the modern wall right next to that.

These are the steps outside of the old Catalan king's palace.  They used to hold city council meetings on these steps until they got their own building.

This is one of the governmental buildings in Barcelona.  On the top you can see the Catalan, Spain, and Barcelona flags.  

This little square didn't have too much in it besides a restaurant and a fountain, but it has a very sad history.  When people learn about WWII, they don't hear too much about Spain, but that doesn't mean Spain wasn't a part of it.  This is all shrapnel on the wall of a church.  The bombs that went off in this square killed thirty three children that were out at recess. They didn't repair the markings on the wall so that they would be remembered.

 After our tour of the gothic quarter we got a couple of hours off before orientation at our university, La Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, or UAB for short.  We found a cute little sandwich shop where I ordered "Un cafe con leche y una bocadilla con jamón del país y queso" (A coffee with milk and a sandwich with ham and cheese).  This meal incorporates a lot of what Spain is known for.  Go into any restaurant or bar and you will be able to get a "cafe con leche".  Spanish coffee is actually what we call espresso.  You can't get American coffee anywhere, but I don't know why you'd want to, cafe con leche es muy delicioso!  The sandwich was delicious as well, the ham was more like prosciutto and the cheese was great as well. Spain is known for having great ham.  The only problem with it is that whenever you order a sandwich in Spain, they rub tomato all over the inside of the bread, leaving a ton of tomato juice and seeds.  For anyone that knows me well, you know that I hate tomatoes with a passion.  Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking and forgot to order my sandwich without tomato, but I was able to scrap most of it off and still enjoy my sandwich.

After lunch we finally got to see one of the campuses that we will be having classes at for the rest of the semester!  I'm not actually at this campus at all, but it's still a beautiful building!

The building is over 100 years old and the inside is absolutely gorgeous as well.

The university orientation was for all of the different study abroad programs that bring students to UAB.  It was a basic introduction to how classes are going to work this semester.  One interesting part of the Spanish education system is that they don't have GPA's.  They grade out of 10 and a 5 is a passing grade. So if the students get a 5, they are happy.  On the other hand, if an American student were to get a 5/10 in a class, we would flip out. Not only would that be a failing grade for us, but it would also ruin our GPA.  Luckily the professors here know this and so they've devised a system where a 5 in a class here will equal a C in our home universities.  Spanish students also have a deal where if they get a 10 in a class (the highest grade possible), they get a free class the next semester!  That would be a great motivation to do well in classes for me!

Classes started on Wednesday and so far I think I'm going to like all of mine!  My first class was called Cultures Without State: The Case of Catalonia.  I really like the professor, which is a good thing because I have him for two classes.  He's really funny and I think he's going to make the material interesting.  We're learning about nationalism throughout Spain and the rest of the world.  The other class I have with him is Mediterranean Culture and History.  Our professor, Toni, introduced the class by telling us that even though the Mediterranean doesn't have much of an effect on the rest of the world today, Western cultures owe almost everything to them.  We will be studying the Greeks and the Romans and every other civilization that made an impact in the Mediterranean until the Atlantic took over as the important body of water in the world.

I also have a Spanish Civilization and Culture class where I'll be learning more about the history of Spain.  I learned a brief history of Spain in my AP Spanish class my senior year of high school, but it will be nice to get a more in depth look at it.  Then finally I have a Spanish language class. My professor is pretty young and he seems really enthusiastic about teaching us.  I think it will be a fun class and hopefully it will improve my Spanish!