I need a nap.

So I just completed my second day of classes. 5 hours straight with no lunch makes for a tired, grumpy, and hungry Hannah. Starting off my day right, I didn't fall asleep until 3:30am and woke up exhausted. The shower helped wake me up a little and I was off to my first class with time to eat a solitary clementine...you should hear my stomach rumbling.

My first class was Sports & Culture in Contemporary Spain. This is going to be my favorite class without a question. The teacher seems incredibly nice and laid back. He introduced himself and then said, "YOU CAN FRIEND ME ON FACEBOOK IF YOU WANT!". He gave us his cellphone numbers and said if we had any questions about class or even where to find a nice cheap meal then we could call him. Anyway, the class pretty much covers, you guessed it, sports and how they are part of the culture in Spain. They want us to start viewing sports as more than the athletic task itself. We talked a bit about how sports have evolved into so much more than that (sports now involve business, advertisement, politics, etc). For example, you don't want David Beckham on your team purely for his talent (I'd take him for his good looks....). Teams want him so badly because of what comes with David Beckham and his talent. You have things like his modeling campaigns, advertisements, and his celebrity in general, which in turn create buzz for your team...aka money for you. So yea, like I'm starting to realize with all of my CEA classes there will be a ton of work. We have a huge paper to write but it's on any topic of our choosing. We just have to incorporate sports in Europe (ideally Spain) and the United States. I think I want to write about the trend of European players coming to play in the NBA and how we are starting to see a reverse trend where playing in Europe has become appealing to NBA players. I just have to see if we learn anything in class that I can tie in with that. All in all, I think I'm going to love this class.

Now this is where my day went downhill... My psychology class has probably the largest amount of reading I have ever had to do for a class. She says we are guaranteed at least 30 pages of reading a night and that it is mandatory because she gives pop quizzes. Woooo. We spent the majority of class introducing ourselves and going over the rules of the classroom. After that we talked a little about the basics of culture and ethnocentrism. Thennnn she released us from class where I heard nearly half of my classmates saying they were going to drop the class. What will I be doing tonight? Reading.

To end my three consecutive class streak of 5 hours I have class with the most boring teacher I have ever encountered in my life. Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Contemporary Spain could potentially be a very interesting subject. However, I don't believe that is going to happen with this class. I think the man has anxiety with public speaking because he was whispering and getting incredibly nervous looking the entire time (Little did he know his fly was open the entire class). The genius that I am, sat waiting in the wrong classroom for class to begin for about 10 minutes. I realized I was in the wrong class and got to the correct one right before it started. I found myself the only available seat in the back corner. Conveniently, sign ups for a oral presentation started in the front of the classroom on the polar opposite side. You guessed it. I was left with the least desirable slot: first presentation of the semester.

I was just talking with Carly and we're totally surprised with our courses and their difficulty this semester. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, says classes in study abroad are somewhat of a joke. Not here. This is hands down going to be the hardest semester I have taken in college thus far. The class that I was most scared about, Spanish, is looking like it's going to be my easiest. Hopefully I am able to manage time to do my work but still find time for fun, trips, and what not. Maybe all the teachers are just trying to scare us with their syllabi? Maybe the classes are actually really easy? I sure hope so.

Anyway, I love and miss you all! Grocery shopping is calling my name!!!
(Please forgive any and all typos and grammatical errors. First two days of classes and my brain is officially fried.)