Midterm week, or rather weeks, have arrived. At Pablo de Olavide, we have a period from October 19th to the 29th where we take our exams. And unfortunately the one I’m most worried about is on the first day, this Monday... Tomorrow. The rest of mine aren’t until the very end, go figure.
Tomorrow is the exam for my History of Spain class, and history has never been my best subject. I used to have a pretty good memory for dates and events when I would take the time to study, but it seems like it takes a longer time for me to commit these things to memory now, and there’s always something I would rather be doing than sitting and re-reading the same information over and over. And now that I’m living in the center of this exciting and beautiful city, can you blame me for feeling this way?
It’s not that history doesn’t interest me. In fact, when I went to see a Flamenco show on the 7th of October, I met another girl from Spanish Studies Abroad who asked me what my favorite part of studying abroad was so far. The first thing that came into my mind was how cool it was to be learning about the history of some things and then getting to see them in real life. Like the Roman ruins of Italica, which I just saw this past Friday. And we had just learned about Abderraman the third and the Emirate changed to Caliphate of Cordoba the week before our day trip to the city. I think it makes me appreciate seeing these places more.
She told me that was probably the best answer she’s heard. If I remember correctly, her favorite was learning the different idioms specific to Spain, and even some specific to Andalusia. I like that a lot, too.
Anyway, I’m happy I decided to take my History requirement abroad, even though I’m panicking now about how well I’ll do in the class. I’ve always known that life is about balance, but actually achieving a good balance has always been a little hard for me, which is probably why I’m writing this now instead of reviewing my notes again. Oh well.
I’ll get back to studying soon enough. But again, it’s been frustrating trying to balance everything while abroad, and from what I’ve heard from other students, this is a common struggle. It can be even more frustrating to hear from students who go on amazing trips every weekend and stay out late all the time having a blast while you’re just struggling to simply get some of your homework assignments done.
Although to be fair, I have gone on some pretty amazing trips. Most recently and probably my most favorite so far has been my trip to Morocco. We visited Tangier, Chefchaouen and Tetuan in one weekend with We Love Spain, and even stopped at Gibraltar along the way to see the monkeys.
But coming home from such an amazing weekend was rough, in more ways than one. Luckily, we had that Monday, the 12th, off from school for Dia de la Hispanidad. But I spent most of the day doing the homework I needed to get done, lying in bed with terrible stomach pains and possibly a fever, or running to the bathroom (TMI?? Hey, it happens to the best of us.) Was it worth it? I think so, but the stomach problems did make this past week especially hard to get through.
I’m not really the student to go into things with the “Well, I just need to pass” attitude, but I’m finding that this semester has been bringing that out in me. Do I want to go watch my first professional soccer game instead of study? Heck yes. (But come on, Betis!) Do I want to walk twenty five minutes to find a study-conducive café, and end up stopping in three different stores on the way? Sure, seems productive to me! But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking the time to enjoy my time… as long as I pass my classes.
A semester abroad seems like so much time when you’re considering it at a distance, but then you wake up one day in your host country and think, “Wow, I go home in two months, I’m just about halfway through.” I can’t begin to explain how short the time really is, you just have to trust me that it flies. And with that being said, I better get back to the books.