Program planning is over and my schedule is now set. I have decided to drop Essay Writing (there is enough essay writing in my other classes, thank you very much) and Contemporary Issues in Education (there may be time to take it later), holding on to the three other English classes (Early Modern Women Writers, Junior Colloquium, and Major English Texts), my Stats course (SO. EASY.), and my Spanish class (no texts to purchase! Fun professor!).
Of course, since I am still not quite done with my reverse-culture shock, an hour after my presentation on Chilean folklore music and Violeta Parra’s “Gracias a la Vida”–getting ice cream at the dining hall–I unconsciously switched to speaking in Spanish with someone who doesn’t speak Spanish at all. It was only a few words, and I realized my mistake right away (something that I can’t always say I do), but still. It can’t be good to have the mental language wires this crossed.
Speaking of all things Spanish, the start of my search for the Chilean empanada in New York has gotten off to a rocky start. I’m assuming that empanadas just aren’t the same outside of South America, but there are places in Queens (and Brooklyn?) that, as rumored on the web, may hold some potential. Time to go adventuring into the outer boroughs again! After all, what better place is there than an hour-long subway ride to catch up on Enlightenment-era reading?
