Dinner with IES Dean & Exams

Last night, about ten of us were invited to have dinner with Leeland, one of the IES deans, who was visiting from Chicago.

I skipped fencing for the night, which was difficult, but I figured it was a good opportunity to talk about the program. Leeland was generally interested in how every aspect of living in Madrid was, from the academics to the living situation. To be honest, I only had good things to say to him. My experience so far has been amazing, and last night I was told my the Spanish kids that I don't speak spanish with a clear American accent. From hanging out with Carlos, I've actually picked up a Canarian accent, which doesn't consist of pronouncing consonents. We'll see how that works out when I get back into classes in the U.S..

After either having the two options of either eating in the dining hall or paying for dinner, it was also nice to have to option of eating good food for free. I've taken a new liking for putting olive oil on my salads as opposed to salad dressing. It's good stuff, and is good for you.


Exams:
Last thursday I had my grammar exam. I feel like I´m really learning the finer points of the Spanish language, and my grades reflect that.

Yesterday was an Econ exam, which wasn't difficult at all, but only because I've read and reviewed everything he's given us. Same deal with my Latin American Literature exam today. Borges is a great guy.

Tomorrow is my Spanish Language usage for business exam, for which I'm 95% sure that I´m 100% prepared. Thursday is another Econ exam, for which I've read everything he's given us, and from speaking with everyone else in the class, I think I'll be fine.

So yes, to my wonderful parents, I am both getting good grades and getting a ton better at Spanish. The difference in spoken language competence between that of other IES students, who live in apartments, and my own, from living in the Colegio Mayor is all too apparent now. So even though I only have to get C's to get credit for the classes, I'm generally interested in everything I'm learning, so there's no plausible way it would come to that.