A New Culture

I like the fact that I have classes about Spainish culture, not just about the language. However, sometimes I feel that the profesors are giving us their opinion about the culture. I say this because what my culture profesor might say about the culture, my oral profesor may not agree or have a different opinion about the subject. To get a better idea about the subject, I will take what both profesors had to say and try to put it together to get a broader definition. Also, sometimes when I am out with friends at a restaurant, I will ask the waiter what something means, like a phrase or a hand gesture. I am surprised how a term can mean different things to different people. Still, it is nice not to just be practicing grammer and pronounciation all day.

I am surprised that the people of Salamanca knew that the fourth of July was the day that Americans celebrate their independence. But, I must say the Spainiards seem to be more informed about what is going on in the world than we do. I say this because when I watch the news over here they do reports on events happening around the world, and it is the local news channel! Yes, in Chicago our local news reports on world events as well, but the piece lasts only about two minutes. Also, the news in Chicago reports on silly things like a puppy that was lost and found its way home, in my opinion these subjects are not news worthy. When I go home it will be dissapointing for me to watch our news, I will probably start watching BBC more often because of my experience here.

Cuando yo llegue en Salamnca estuve muy avergonzado cuando yo hable espanol. Pero ahora, me gusta practicar donde es posible. A veces las personas no tienen paciencia conmigo, y hablan a me en ingles. Yo reconozco que es mas comun entre las personas mas viejos. El otro dia mi "madre" dijo que yo hablo mucha mas mejor cuando no tengo sueno. Me gusta practicar con ella tambien, hablando con ella es ayudame mucha.