Classes

I have been here for almost three weeks now, and my class schedule is finally finished. I am taking four classes. Three classes are at the University of Havana and all are in Spanish.

Spanish – Thank god for formal Spanish lecture and review! So far my accent and vocabulary have improved drastically, but I doubt I will ever sound Cuban... they talk so fast.

Film – Every Wednesday I head to the Cuban Chapter of the Fundacion del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano located in a gorgeous complex in La Lissa, Mirimar (the next neighborhood over from where I live in Vedado). We watch Cuban films and chat about it. I love this class.

Cuban Society – This is a “core class” that surveys a series of overarching themes in the context of the history of Cuba and contemporary Cuba. We have specialists from different departments within the University come to class each week and lecture. Our grade in this class is based on an independent project of our choosing. I’ll be doing something concerning the environment : )

Cuban Political Thought – This is the elective class I chose. I just had the first class today, since the professor is in Guatemala. For now there is a different professor standing in. I don’t have much to say about this class after only one meeting with a substitute professor, but it should be interesting.

The process of registering for classes follows no logical system at all. Really, almost all things here seem illogical to me. I tend to be a very logical person and like to puzzle things out… I can’t do that here. I suppose in some ways that’s a good thing since it forces me to practice my Spanish because I need to ask people questions constantly.