How was school today?

"How was school today?"
"Fine."
"What did you learn?"
"Nothing."

The American daily high school routeen.  And then I would go shut the door to my bedroom and hide from my embarrassing parents and go on leading my cynical and angsty pre-college life.

Now I live in Spain. I am two months in and still, everyday feels like some new mental overload. The world here is utterly different, new, exciting, and weird.  I just learned that you can't wear religious clothing 'that gets in the way of sports' in school in Spain - and you haven't be able to since 1990. And, that public policy is allegedly quite consistent with the motto of the European Union: "United in Diversity."

Such fun facts may seem inconsistent or irrelevant at first to the American mind. I'm learning to just go with it, even though I still am not sure about what makes the euro so great these days. Meanwhile, as I get more worldly and learn all of these random eurothings, I have almost no homework. The homework I do have, mostly commentaries of Arab-Spanish literature, I really like doing - it's simple and straightforward and intellectually stimulating. In America, you get comments, rewrites, Medill Fs, and obtuse guidance in comparison. One assignment is worth five points and the next, 25 percent. Every class is different and you often can't recall what was said ten minutes prior... where was I again?

Right, so today is midterm day. I had one exam: two hours to write a single-page 'essay' about how Carmen reflects the romanticized image of Spain. It took me 45 minutes and then 15 more to marvel at the fact I was writing the exam in the very building, the old tobacco factory, that inspired Prosper Merimee to write the famous novel in 1845 (opera by Bizet in 1875 - see, learning!).  Quick, painless, awesome.

As I pick classes for next quarter at NU next week, I'm hoping to get this much out of academic and everyday life as I move forward, with a new outlook on how to study and learn and live - without the language barrier.

At the very least, I'd like to leave Spain still able to have a really good answer even though my mom stopped asking those two questions a while ago.