One day of exams down, one to go. Today was Art, Spanish Grammar and Linguistics. I am beyond mad at myself for making two idiotic mistakes. One on the grammar exam and another on the linguistics test. I cannot believe I put that the word for peanut comes from Arabic. I KNOW that it is "indoeuropeo" (throwing out a Spanish term just for you, Leslie). Dumb, dumb, dumb. I am sure that as you are reading, unless you are a utter perfectionist who thinks it is acceptable to have been studying for days on end to the point of a severe hand cramp, you are wondering, "Why does it matter? Who cares where peanut comes from?" The stress lies in the fact that our grade for each class comprises a miderm grade, a final exam grade and a very small participation grade. With the exception of the grammar exam (which had a mere 10 questions on it), each exam is 20 questions. This means that, essentially, my GPA for this Masters degree is based on these tests. Which is why I am killing myself to memorize every little detail. I'm taking a short break from studying Literature and Society/Politics. You should see the little sayings, songs and poems I'm coming up wiht to help me remember this material. For example, "MNHL" stands for "my new house lover" (I hate the word lover, but please bear with me), which represents the authors of the second phase of Modernism - Martinez, Nervo, Herrera and Lugones. Yes, this is what I am doing with my time. I'm drinking Coke Zero for inspiration and my breaks today have consisted of going to our evening class (cinema) and writing this blog. One it's all over, it's right back to it since I need to stay on top of the material each day so that come exam time it doesn't get worse than this. We receive an incredible amount of material and input each day. It is harder for the Americans because we need to pay attention every moment so we don't miss anything. There is no spacing out when it's not in your first language. The native speakers, I'm sure, wonder why we crazy Americans would put ourselves through this. All I have to say is HAH - at least we ROCK the grammar portion. They are all DYING, while my friends and I totally get it because we understand the rules behind everything.
Has anyone made it this far in reading???? On a much more positive note, Nikolai sent me a fun package of treats today! Applesauce, popcorn, tuna... All to help me when I am sick of the dining hall food.
4 comments:
well i like getting the updates from your blog! do you think maybe i just sit here, waiting for you to update it?
we'll see nikolai this weekend. p is helping him move on sunday.
i love that he sent you applesauce, that is so cute :) grammar was always my strong point in spansish too, i was never good at the art stuff. senior year i had to write a 20 pager on spanish architecture...ugh. talk about room for error in spanish...
p.s. i tried to like coke zero, but couldnt get past the aftertaste. i have been liking pepsi one so far..
best hubbie ever. and...cacahuetes? really? like the third word i ever remember from spanish one! that and acetunas. they feel like genuine spanish words to my little brain. ya, i've been totally guilty of claiming that the spanish translation for EVERYTHING is cacaheutes or acetunas.
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