First week of school!

So, I'm about 85% better but I'm still kind of stuffed up and my throat's dry. I'll just keep hydrating myself with water, and hopefully I'll just get over it naturally. Today I woke up at 12:10 pm (I know, super late), so I slept a good 11 hours. I think my body just needed to recuperate from being sick all weekend.

Exploring my neighborhood
I had a late breakfast of greek yogurt and a banana, showered, and did some exploring in my area. As I've mentioned before, it's very expensive here in Europe and I'm getting tired of spending a lot of money for lunch. I explored the local area and found a lot of really nice (and affordable!) shops, markets, bakeries and restaurants. I stopped by a local market and bought myself a salad and peach for about 3 Euros ($4.50), so not too shabby! I also discovered a nice Thai restaurant down the street and a mouthwatering bakery a few blocks down.

Class at IES
I arrived at IES about an hour early and caught up on some news with the Wall Street Journal (they get daily subscriptions! YAY!). I read a few interesting articles on Greece's new property tax to raise revenue and 9/11 Memorial in NYC. From 5:30 - 7 pm, I had my second econ class (Spain's Development and its Impact on the EU). The professor seems very good, but her accent's not too good. The class will be very interesting I believe because it's kind of a nice mix of macroeconomics and microeconomics. We'll be focusing on how Spain's economy affects EU economy and how the EU economy at large affects Spain's economy. We didn't get into too much class content today but she did make some interesting notes about Spain's economy. For instance:
- Spain's current unemployment rate is 20%
- Because of the formation of the EU, Spain has lost control/power over fiscal and monetary policy
- Spain does not have a competitive advantage in any sector (previously it was housing but the financial crisis hit them hard)
- When companies must lay off workers, they do not lay off people who are least productive but rather those who are the "cheapest" to lay off. In other words, when employees are asked to leave the company, the company pays them to leave. So, generally, it's the people who have been there the shortest amount of time
I like that she seems unbiased - she's just straightforward and to the point. She also mentioned a few cultural notes that have impacted/explain certain Economic aspects/issues. My other professor seemed very Pro Spanish Economy, but I may be too quick to judge.

A quick bocadillo
After class, Bianca and I headed off to meet up with some other friends for a small bite to eat. Her and I split a tortilla espanola (NOTE: Tortilla here in Spain does not mean a Mexican tortilla, but rather a sandwich/baguette!) It was DELICIOUS - two slices of bread rubbed with tomato and drizzled with olive oil and fried potatoes in between....mmmm. The photo below does not accurately represent how good it was FYI.

Tortilla Espanola

My first Paella in Spain
For dinner, Isabel  prepared for us homemade Paella with shrimp and chicken. To be honest, I wasn't crazy in love with it...but it may be because the tortilla espanola I had earlier filled me up a bit. But it was still good! No complaints here. I think what threw me off was the the shrimp with heads (Yes. You read that correctly. WITH HEADS and FEELERS!) I'm not normally a shellfish kind of person,but when I saw the eyes...I think my jaw dropped. I had to ask Isabel how to eat them because I don't normally eat them. I tried them, they were alright, but let's just say I'm not in love with them or anything.

Isabel's Paella with chicken and shrimp (see the heads?!?!?)

Well, I didn't do too much today. But I'm ready for bed now. I have a VERY long day tomorrow. I have 3 classes:
a) Internship Seminar (9 am - 10:30 am)
b) European Regional Economies (12:25 pm - 1:55 pm)
c) Mediterranean Oceanography (3:45 pm - 5:15 pm)

But technically, I won't have a class for Mediterranean Oceanography because we're going to the AQUARIUM! Yay for field trips! I'll be sure to take lots of photos (not that I don't already or anything...)