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Activities, Activities, Activities!!!

November 4th, 2010 nmmari12

Yesterday I worked up the courage and went to my first extracurricular activity…alone! In comparison with Holy Cross, the extracurriculars here start much later than the school year. This late start actually worked out quite nicely as I was able to get a feel for my classes, the city and my home life before I signed up for activities. So far, I have signed up for basketball and volunteering (and may sign of for soccer as well).

 Throughout elementary and middle school, I played basketball. Even though I am somewhat short for my age, I have always loved the game. However, in 8th grade I was cut from the school team. I was a bit devastated, so I decided to stop playing. Once I got to Holy Cross, I picked the sport up again. My sophomore year roommate, Caroline and I went to open gym several times during the year, just to shoot hoops or to try and find a pickup game. Therefore, when I arrived in Coruña and learned that there was a ¨women´s basketball class¨ I was excited to join. When I walked into the gym last night, all of the other girls were very nice and welcoming. They introduced themselves and brought me to the other side of the building where I could sign up for the class. For the majority of the class we did layup and shooting drills and while it became monotonous after a while, it felt very good to play again.

In addition to basketball, I am considering joining a community service program. During my two years at Holy Cross, I have loved the emphasis on social justice issues and community service and have missed it greatly while being abroad. Therefore when I walked into the community service office yesterday, and was told of the several different programs available, I was beyond excited to start. I am currently deciding between two programs: working with kids in a poor nieghborhood or teaching Spanish to immigrants. Tomorrow, I have an interview in Spanish (oh gosh!) with the office, so I will let you know how it was in the next post!

I’m currently writing this from the library at the university, which is not as cozy as the HC library as there are no comfy chairs or hidden corners where I can study. Back at HC, I am known to my friends as a library rat, so I have missed the warmness and coziness of that library. Anyways, I have to get back to reading my book on comparative political systems. I had no idea how different each of the governments in Europe are from each other, so basically I have a lot of studying to do!

Dato Divertido: Unlike in the States, many girls do not play soccer as it is equivalent to American football, where the majority of the players are male. I was a bit surprised about this as I knew how big soccer is in Spain (proud winner of the 2010 World Cup!). I was a bit upset when I learned this as I love to play soccer. However, thankfully Kelsey´s host mom found two girls’ soccer teams that we might join, so hopefully I will be able to play this year!

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