Prueba

So I just took the placement exam, and it really wasn´t that bad. Of course, that is in itself maybe a bad thing-- they could pretty easily overestimate my capabilities. The last part of the exam is a brief conversation with one of the administrators, and I was peeking at the evaluation sheet while talking to him. I think they have me slotted into one of the advanced levels (probably the lower of the two). That makes me a bit nervous, because I don´t know if I´m really at that point with my speaking, even if I appear that way in a multiple choice evaluation. At the same time, I´m inclined to trust their methods of evaluation and placement, and I´d rather have classes that are a bit too demanding than ones that I can coast through.
Now I´m waiting for the handful of Americanos with whom I´ve struck up a friendship to finish the oral part of the evaluation and come downstairs. We´re going to go get cell phones together, so that we´ve all got the same company and it´s cheaper to get in touch with one another. That seems like a good idea to me, but I want to make sure I avoid hanging out with them too much. Having a Spaniard living in our house should make it easier to meet Granadiños, but who knows? He´s not from Granada, and I don´t know yet if he´s been studying here for a while. If he has, he can presumably introduce me to some people. I think it´d be great to have a regular group of Spanish friends, mostly just ´cause it´ll make it easier to learn street Spanish as well as classroom speaking.
I´ve got to say, having this ipod is terrific (bigups Pop). The battery life is impressive, and it has its own alarm settings and clock so I probably won´t bother to buy a wristwatch (the cell phone will have its own clock too, so the watch would be a waste of money). Anyway, right now I´m listening to a band called Los Delinquentes that my friend Jeanne introduced me to last year at school. She discovered them working in a bar in Granada her junior year, and they´re awesome. If I can figure out an easy way to post mp3s from my ipod through an internet cafe machine, I´ll start putting some of their stuff up. You won´t understand the lyrics, but neither do I half the time-- I´m hoping I will by the end. The problem with song lyrics in general is that I´m still thinking in English, so when I hear a line that makes sense I miss the next in processing the first. The key is to start thinking in Español; after that it´ll be a breeze.
We´ve got a walking tour starting pretty soon, and then some tiempo libre. Probably that will all be taken up with buying a movil, but if I´ve got a couple hours I´m going to check out the Garcia Lorca museum, which is the Parque de Garcia Lorca, which is very close to my apartamiento. There are pictures of the man everywhere, mostly the same, famous picture--he´s leaning back in a chair, pensive, pen in hand, wearing a suit, looking every bit as wistful as you´d expect from reading his poesia. I haven´t asked Sebi about him yet, but I´m guessing she´s a fan, as there´s a poster with that same picture above my bed. According to Paula (our resident director), Sebi is something of a cinephile as well, so I think we´ll get along just fine. I´m going to go track down mis Americanos. Hasta...