Today was a good day. Why? Mainly, I didn't have to use my AK, but a few other things were great too. I had my dreaded philosophy midterm and think I did a reasonable job, but given my lack of experience with the Spanish grading system, much less this professor's criteria, it's impossible to estimate my grade. I walked in and he asked--are you going to write in English or Spanish? I had no idea that would be an option, and seeing as everything was in my head in Spanish, I told him Spanish. (Besides, English would be cheating.) Unfortunately, that means I won't get the Erasmus treatment for lack of writing fluidity.
I also found out that I will most likely guide Outdoor Adventures' Grand Canyon trip over spring break. This is excellent for so many reasons: obviously, I finally get to go to the GC (and get paid for it!), it will be a super positive reintroduction to the states, hopefully easing reverse culture shock, and Joel, Patrick, and Lindsay are all signed up as participants. It's going to be hilarious to act professional and guide-y with those three around.
Next, our Intro to Traditional Music class switched professors, and I learned more today (and had more fun) than I did in three months of class with dumbass Manuela. We spent the last half hour learning a folk song and dance from the north of Argentina, then practicing while the professor played the tune on the recorder. Even without that, it would have blown Manuela's classes out of the water: we analyzed a couple of well-chosen pieces of music, which he replayed a few times in between discussions of how to listen and what elements to pick out so the commentary could solidify, as he seamlessly mixed in theory and culture. Also, he's from Buenos Aires. For me, porteños, particularly older ones, exude familiarity and comfort with their accent, communication style, and mannerisms. With a name like Victor Neuman, he's clearly Jewish, and he's just a bit older than my parents. I wonder if his story is anything like my family's? And more importantly, why couldn't he have taught the whole semester?? I just did a bit of google creeping, and aside from his incredible qualifications as a musician and music scholar, he's done loads of work in primary education. No wonder he's good. Universities all over need to realize that the highest honored scholar is not necessarily the best educator.
Another exciting moment was picking up Cien Años de Soledad. Two years ago I tried to read it to brush up on my Spanish. I gave up after looking up every third word for maybe six pages. This time, I could read it as fluidly as English. Hooray for measurable language progress!
Second to last but not second to least, and last but not least: I got another awesome birthday present, this time in the mail, from Alek: an In-n-Out gift card (damn you for teasing me!) and a hilarious, heartwarming written card. And it's just past 7 AM on...wait for it, Wednesday! That means, with slight fudging of time zones, that Joel is getting on a plane to come see me TODAY!!! It was so hard to concentrate on philosophy studying when I was thinking about this, and now I can finally let my mind go wild with anticipation.
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