The Studying Aspect

People have been asking us "are you studying abroad or are you on vacation?" Well if there was any doubt, we are studying! Yesterday we took a 3 hour placement exam. It was hard! Well not all of it, but the listening activity was picking at my brain and everyone else's. It seemed like every time the answer was approaching the guy sped up, which caused the entire sentence to sound like "caderjsheijhahdikj." Did you get that? Exactly, neither did I. Thank God for the oral examination!

As we waited outside we hummed the jeopardy song, waiting to see who would be the next person to get called into the room. I was so NERVOUS! I was fanning myself and trying to calm down but the only thing I could think about were my credits transferring. One of the staff members of ISA said as long as you get a 4 or 5 you are fine.  We watched the native speakers and the fluent speakers go in and come out, they tested into levels 7/8 which are advanced. So there I was standing outside thinking "these people have been taught in Spanish their entire life, they have Spanish as a first language and English as their second. What am I going to do?"

There were 3 test proctors. One guy and two females, one older and the other middle-aged. Everyone loved the guy. Some said the older lady kind of helped you with her expressions, so you know if you had said something correct or incorrect. The students that had the guy and the older lady came out and they knew their levels. And then there was the middle-aged lady. Everyone came out saying she had a horrible accent, she told some their levels, others she didn't. We waited and waited outside that door for the next victim lol.

...And then there were four, "Malikah Morris," said the middle-aged lady :-{ ... Why me?!?!?! I was standing right behind her. In the most disappointed voice ever, I answered "I'm right here." And so the oral examination began. It wasn't hard at all. I forgot a few words when I was trying to express myself, but she clearly knew that I understood everything she said and I told her that the listening part was the most difficult. We finished pretty quickly and she was quick to tell me how well I had done. BUT SHE DIDN'T TELL ME WHAT LEVEL I WAS IN!!!!!!!!!!!! So I had to wait and be nervous all day. We went to the Alhambra after we ate lunch and once we returned they said "check your emails, your schedule will be there, classes start tomorrow." I placed into Upper Intermediate/Advanced, Gracias a Dios (Thank God)!

Hasta la proxima,

Malikah

No Turning Back!

Is anyone afraid of heights or riding roller coasters? Have you ever got on just to face your fears? Have you ever had second thoughts once the ride attendants came through and secured you? You ever wanted to scream stop as the roller coaster is taking off but you know it's too late because the ride is already in motion?  Well, that's the feeling I felt when the plane took off. People kept asking me was I excited and things of that nature, and my response was always "no, I'm just ready to get there!" After my flight was delayed for an hour and a half we finally departed for Madrid.

The ride was good; there wasn't much turbulence and they fed us. The food was, what I expected but the service and luxuries surprised me. We had free TV, games, movies and so much more the entire ride. I didn't know prior to my flight but I discovered during and shortly after that there were about four other students from my program on my flight. We waited for about 45 minutes and then we were picked up by the ISA Staff and taken straight to the hotel.

Updates and Change of Plans

When I first created this blog, I established that it was for 2 reasons: to keep my loved ones up-to-date with what I'm doing, and to inspire and assist those who are thinking about studying abroad or who wish to study abroad. However, I don't have time to do both. So here's what I'll do, I'm going to keep everyone informed on what I'm doing, and upon my return or approaching completion of the program, I will focus on all aspects and concerns of studying abroad. Vale(Okay)?

Talk to you soon,

Malikah

Updates

These first few days have been busy. We spent the first two days in Madrid. I will upload pictures soon. I was so sleep deprived that I was nodding off while standing up in the Prado Museum. We had late nights, early mornings, and jet lag. I haven't been able to post much because each night I've gotten less than 3 hours of sleep.

We visited Toledo today and it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The architecture is amazing. Tomorrow, we go to Granada to meet our host families (thank God, I can stop spending a ton of money on food)! Monday we take our placement test and tour of Granada. Tuesday classes begin. If I'm a little slow or delayed in my postings please know that I am out doing things so that I can have something to tell you about.

Thanks for your patience,
Malikah