amorousodious (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amorousodious) wrote2008-04-03 08:08 pm
amorousodious) wrote2008-04-03 08:08 pm
Spain Part 66 – Regresa a la Práctica
On Thursday I had my práctica for the first time in three weeks, and if that wasn’t exciting enough our supervisor had invited us to eat la comida (lunch) with him and some other professors afterward to talk about the cultural and educational differences Spain versus the US. In the práctica I finished translating an entire page of one article (I know, it takes a long time, but it is about a psychological study, the vocabulary is hard to master) and about 5 resúmenes (summaries) for other articles.
When it was time for la comida we went into the cafeteria where Francisco (our supervisor) showed us around. It was noisy and full of students eating and studying and I was just wondering where we were all going to sit when he led us into another room where there were tablecloths on the tables and waiters serving food to the professors. That’s right my friends, we dined in the professors’ cafeteria and got our orders taken, and had two courses of food plus dessert and coffee. The food was pasta with mariscos (seafood) in it and then a tuna steak with green beans and broccoli, and then for dessert we had the choice of chocolate mousse or flan. I chose the flan since I’ve never had it here (it’s like a custard) and decided that overall it was almost too rich and sugary for me.
We talked during the meal, mainly about politics, we were asked the same question every Spaniard asks “Hillary or Obama?” and the professors even tried to speak in English some of the time! It was really interesting to hear them try, and they seemed to enjoy practicing. We also talked a lot about the different college degrees that are here and in the US. They don’t have minors here, and they generally don’t do more than one degree at a time which is becoming almost habitual in the universities in the US, but it also takes them only 3 years to finish school generally. I asked a lot about their graduate programs, and all of them started telling me that I should apply to their school because it was so awesome and the professors here were the best in the country etc. I don’t know if I’m coming back to Spain to study, but it’s something to think about.
After la comida we thanked Francisco and then walked back to the centro to start la tarea. I worked on it all day, and then thanks to the fact that there was a movie playing “De boda en boda” (the wedding crashers) I got to keep working on the internet until they brought in pizza and snacks for after the movie. There was guacamole and chips, which Chrysten especially enjoyed, and the pizza was kind of different, they had weird combinations of toppings on them, and one even had French fries! It’s supposedly a specialty of the pizzeria across the street. Unfortunately it was pretty late, about 20,30 by the time we walked home so we got ready for bed right when we got home.
When it was time for la comida we went into the cafeteria where Francisco (our supervisor) showed us around. It was noisy and full of students eating and studying and I was just wondering where we were all going to sit when he led us into another room where there were tablecloths on the tables and waiters serving food to the professors. That’s right my friends, we dined in the professors’ cafeteria and got our orders taken, and had two courses of food plus dessert and coffee. The food was pasta with mariscos (seafood) in it and then a tuna steak with green beans and broccoli, and then for dessert we had the choice of chocolate mousse or flan. I chose the flan since I’ve never had it here (it’s like a custard) and decided that overall it was almost too rich and sugary for me.
We talked during the meal, mainly about politics, we were asked the same question every Spaniard asks “Hillary or Obama?” and the professors even tried to speak in English some of the time! It was really interesting to hear them try, and they seemed to enjoy practicing. We also talked a lot about the different college degrees that are here and in the US. They don’t have minors here, and they generally don’t do more than one degree at a time which is becoming almost habitual in the universities in the US, but it also takes them only 3 years to finish school generally. I asked a lot about their graduate programs, and all of them started telling me that I should apply to their school because it was so awesome and the professors here were the best in the country etc. I don’t know if I’m coming back to Spain to study, but it’s something to think about.
After la comida we thanked Francisco and then walked back to the centro to start la tarea. I worked on it all day, and then thanks to the fact that there was a movie playing “De boda en boda” (the wedding crashers) I got to keep working on the internet until they brought in pizza and snacks for after the movie. There was guacamole and chips, which Chrysten especially enjoyed, and the pizza was kind of different, they had weird combinations of toppings on them, and one even had French fries! It’s supposedly a specialty of the pizzeria across the street. Unfortunately it was pretty late, about 20,30 by the time we walked home so we got ready for bed right when we got home.