Go time!

I should be in class right now. But the professor of my first class of the afternoon told me I could leave (for a reason I don't entirely understand he basically told me I would be wasting my time by staying). The professor of my second class never comes on Tuesdays (and never got around to hiring a substitute). The professor of my third class (which ends at 9:30 and is followed by a commute) has been showing up about half of the time lately. Suffice it to say I wasn't going to hang out for three hours to see if he felt like showing up today. So now I'm one Prado tutorial away from Christmas break! I'm pretty pumped.

I'll be home just over a week, which in retrospect isn't much time at all. The abbreviated Christmas in Chicago should be more than compensated for by my trip with Patrick. We are in London for five days and Glasgow for two. Then I'm off for Paris for four days and back to Madrid, where a whole pile of papers to write will be waiting for me. I don't know how I feel about all that nonsense being after Christmas break. I guess the real bad is that it means that my summer will be screwed up and I most likely won't be able to land a good job/internship.

It's been an interesting three months here so far. I've learned a lot of things, like that it's totally ok to smoke indoors in front of non-smoking signs, that European notebooks are full of graph paper, etc. I've also adjusted my expectations because I think that I thought I would come here and be able to leave speaking like a Spanish native. Certainly, my time here will improve my Spanish ability, but I'm pretty sure I will always harbor that pesky American accent. And because I am tall and non-Spanish looking, I would stand out a bit even if I did speak perfectly.

Apparently the two-day class week is about to end (I have class on Wednesdays!!) because of some silly policy that I certainly didn't sign onto in my agreement before coming here. My plan is to take my filology class on Thursdays and Fridays (assuming I don't drop the English major), get a tutor whose notes I can copy, and learn not to care when I have to miss to go somewhere more interesting.

I'm really excited for the spring people to come here! They come the week of my 21st birthday, which is on a Friday when I have an exam, so I expect to have wicked good times.

Updated list of places I want to go in Europe (and don't already have trips planned):

1) ITALY - I'm dying to go to Italy. Holy week in Rome and Florence and potentially other cities as well? Sounds divine.
2) BARCELONA - I'm sure I'll make it there at some point, possibly with my dad who apparently really wants to come back to Spain.
3) MOROCCO - I've decided that Morocco moves up on the list of places I really want to see. I feel like it would be a shame to be in a country that borders Africa and not take the opportunity. I've heard it really it is a whole different world.
4) PAÍS VASCO - I've heard great things about San Sebastian and of course there is the Guggenheim in Bilbao. I also really want to hear Euskera.
5) THE BEACH - Yay Mediterranean.
6) Germany - Berlin, probably. The German airports were lovely, but it would be nice to get outside them.
7) Switzerland - Interlaken is supposed to be amazing. So is the chocolate.
8) Bucharest - I think Romania would be cool.
9) Amsterdam - To be honest I'm not that interested in going but everyone says it is a must-see when in Europe.
10) Ireland - The ancestral homeland would obviously be higher on the list but I am confident that one day I will go there, possibly with my mother since she was so very against my going ever so briefly with Patrick.

Obviously there are lots of other places, but that seems like a realistic goal, right? Let me know if I'm missing something important.

Also, I think I quit my English classes today, but then Miky tried to reel me back in by saying, well, what if it were only one girl... I feel kind of bad, she was trying to make it sound like one girl is absolutely out of control and the other two are angels, which isn't exactly the case. But it is hell. Also my personality certainly doesn't help. Somehow I find myself dominated by a trio of nine-year-old girls. It is frustrating because every week I am optimistic and end up doing a horrible job. Even though the money bought me lunch for a week if I didn't go out, I decided it was just too much. I'll talk to Miky again in January and I guess if she asks me to give lessons to just the one girl I'll do it.

Feliz Navidad!