Hola!

Well, I have had my first two days of class at the Fund, and they have been completely exhausting. I start earlier than I do normally at ND and I leave much later than normal. This is going to take some getting used to. I had my literature class, which focuses on Spanish Lit of the 16th and 17th centuries, my art class, my culture class, and my philosophy class. From what I have been able to understand of my professors' lectures, which isn't always a lot, they all seem like they are going to be relatively interesting. At this point in time, the only huge obstacle is that I am not getting every word my professors say, so I oftentimes end a lecture feeling a bit lost and/or confused. I am sure (or should I say hopeful?) that this will improve over time. Many of the classes require long papers, which should be a bit of a challenge, as I have only written 4 pages or so in Spanish, and now they are asking me for 10. The good news is, all of us students are in the same boat, so we'll sink or swim together, I guess!

Another interesting aspect of the classes is that most of them meet twice within one day, so we have a morning session and an afternoon session. This is probably the most marked difference from my typical classroom schedule, except for the langauge, of course. It's kind of hard to come to grips with, as a class I may find a bit boring is difficult to sit through twice within one day, but at the same time, it is nice knowing that I don't have to withstand that for an entire week!

We are beginning to explore the city of Toledo a bit more, day by day, and finding little stores or cafes that are becoming personal favorites. Last night, a girl from the Notre Dame group had her 21st birthday, so all of us went to a little pizza place and celebrated with her. It was really fun, and the fact that we had some good old-fashioned comfort food in the form of pizza definitely was a plus. My group all decided on ordering sausage, and we got a pizza covered in what appears to be hot dog pieces. Close, but no cigar. We were all famished, so the hot dog pizza disappeared in no time, and now we all know not to order "salchichas" if we want sausage!

Now that I have been here for a few days, I am beginning to understand why exactly siestas are so popular here. The days are so long, and at this point in time very hot, that a nap in the middle of the day is practically a necessity just to survive. One of my friends claims that a siesta is great, since it's "all of the nap without any of the guilt." I thought that was a pretty adequate summary of the entire idea.

OK, well I am off to concentrate my brains out in yet another class.

Hasta luego,
Jill