Wed. June 23rd
Today we had our oral exam presentation in Literature class. Ashley and I presented our 2 poems first and our presentation lasted about 45 minutes. Our professor said we did a good job so hopefully that will equate to a good grade. We had made plans the day before to be picked up in front of my house by Alice, who was going to take us to her organic farm. She’s not the owner of the farm but she owns a section of the land. We also went with her 2 daughters, Carmen and María.
We got to see all of the organic products in the Farm Shop, look at Alice’s crops, and watch her 2 daughters cut some lettuce and tomatoes to take back home. I also experienced a milestone event: I ate my first real fruit/vegetable. Alice offered us some of the baby tomatoes and when I told her I had never had one before, she and Ashley peer pressured me into eating it. It wasn’t that bad, but I definitely prefer ketchup and tomato sauce. :) We had a picnic lunch that Alice had made. She made a sandwich that had an omelet with tomatoes inside. It was definitely a new food to me. Afterward we played the game Mancala. María showed me her way of playing the game and I showed her mine. Afterwards, I got the opportunity to relive my childhood. There were 2 playgrounds on the farm. One was a tree house and the other one had a seesaw, tire swings, and regular swings. It was a lot of fun!
Our Spanish language class was at 5 PM that day instead of 4:30 and Alice dropped us off directly at the University since it was about 4:55 PM by the time we got back. She also gave us vegetables from her farm to give to our host parents. It was definitely a long day because I never had the opportunity to return to my house during my normal break. After I ate dinner, I had to decide whether I should stay in and study for my Lit final exam the next day, or go out because it was the Festival of San Juan, which is a huge giant party on the beach and in front of the Cathedral. I decided to go check it out since my class is only a pass/fail class and I didn’t want to miss out on this cultural experience!
Ashley and I headed down to the Cathedral around 11 PM and the party was already in full swing! There was fire everywhere: bonfires, people twirling fire on sticks, fire crackers, fireworks, and flame throwers. You’ll have to see my pictures on Facebook in order to see the visual proof of what I’m talking about. I took 2 videos and I’m going to attempt to upload them on Facebook too. I also had the interesting experience of being chased by demon men holding fire. They would literally run into the crowd with fire in their hands and chase the people. All I can say is the Spaniards sure know how to throw a good party! We also saw the opening songs of the Mallorquin rock band that played around midnight.
As I was walking home, I saw a woman that had the same color bag and capris pants as my madre Loli was wearing. She decided to go check out the parties on the beach and was then going to come home. I called out “Loli?” and the woman turned around and it was her! We started screaming, hugging, and laughing about what a funny “Casualidad” it was to meet up randomly on the street. I was extremely happy because now I didn’t have to walk all the way home alone because there were a lot of creeps and weirdos out that night, and everyone had been drinking at the party. I got back home around 1 AM, continued studying for my Lit final exam for a few hours, and then finally went to bed.
Thurs. June 24th
Today was the day of the written final exam in my Literature class. I had studied all of the different periods, knew the characteristics and authors, and thought I was pretty well prepared. And then I looked at the test. There were only 4 questions and it was out of 10 points (because that’s how the Spanish grading scale works). So the first question was worth 2.5, the second one was 3.5, the third question was 2.5, and the final question was 1.5. I knew a majority of the answers but got tripped up on the last one because the wording was very unclear. I had no clue so I made up my own answers…and they were wrong. After the test my professor said, “Don’t worry! It’s over and done with!” but I was still concerned about it.
In order to revive our spirits, Ashley and I went to the café near the school and got some yummy chocolate pastries, because chocolate makes everything better. :) I then went back home and had a glorious 2 hour nap. I very much needed that siesta! Then I had lunch, watched a TV show on my laptop, and began uploading pictures from my camera to my computer from the previous week. And soon it was time for Spanish language class.
Today in our language class, we had our oral final exam. We were shown a piece of paper with pictures on it and needed to answer the questions that appeared on the page. My randomly selected sheet happened to be about food and trying new foods. So I pretty much used my entire Mallorcan experience and, with the help of my blog, was able to say all of the Spanish names of the foods I have tried so far here. I explained to my professor that most of the foods that were new to met were “normal” foods to the rest of the world. I also had to answer the question of “What do you think of people who eat whale, dolphins, kangaroos, and dogs?” Gut reaction/personal opinion? “Eww, gross! People eat dolphins?” How I answered the question in Spanish? “I think it depends on a person’s cultural background which determines what they eat. What is strange in one culture might be quite normal in another.” And my final question was “Do you believe it’s better to be a vegetarian?” I answered that personally, I wouldn’t survive as a vegetarian because I don’t eat vegetables and I looove meat. But yes, it’s probably more healthy and you aren’t consuming as many dangerous chemicals and aren’t at risk of getting Mad Cow Disease, haha.
After we were done our oral exam, we were allowed to leave so I got home an hour earlier than I normally do. The rest of the evening I got caught up on my blog entries, uploaded 213 pictures to Facebook (check them out!), and hung out with my padres. It was a very relaxing evening at the end of an insanely, hectic week.
Today also marks the beginning of my final week in Mallorca / 1 week until I’m back home in the U.S.A. I still have mixed feelings about leaving. Some of my friends on the program wish they were already home while others are staying on for a little longer or wish they could permanently relocate here. I’m definitely going to miss this place and the excitement of my daily life here but when the time comes, I’m sure I’ll be insanely happy when reunited with my friends and family.
Hasta luego, loyal readers!
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