Exam Time

The semester has ended.  Exams have commenced.  Let it be over soon.  Please.  I had a total of five exams.  Yes, yes, I hear your confusion.  I have four classes.  Apparently they really expect you to study for studying abroad.  Two of my classes are actually year long classes, but since I am only here for a semester, I was told that I would be required to complete the work assigned within the semester and my grade would be the average of these grades.  Our final for this class was termed a "parcial" as it was half of the class, so we would have a partial exam.  I worked diligently over the course of about a week and a half and proudly turned in my 5-page paper at the end of our last class.  As I handed it to the professor, she looked at me in her cute, slightly nerdy way and asked me, "We need to talk about your final--when would you like to turn that in?"  I glanced down at the paper in my hand, and then back into her spectacled eyes.  She must have sensed my confusion because she quickly clarified, "Oh no no, this is your parcial... you have to do the final exam."  Shocked and without words, I numbly nodded and left the classroom--somewhat fuming.  Over the next few days, I fought the power--insisting that since it was only a semester class I couldn't be obliged to do the work that the other students have a year to do.  Sure, the professor said it didn't have to be quite as long as theirs, but they also have three more texts from which to use and divine ideas.  Eventually, I gave up the good fight and resigned myself to do the essay.  What's another 6-7 pages in my life?  It's not so much the word that bothers me but rather the lack of notification.  Would it have been so hard for them to mention during orientation week that we are required to complete a final exam to finish the course?  Or at the beginning of the semester, when we were going over the plan for the next few months?  Notifying me a week before it's due is just bad business people.  Just bad business.  But I suppose, it is just all part of the cultural experience, no?  It is obvious that they don't hold the students in quite the same esteem as we do in the US.  Here, the professor's time and feelings are paramount to whatever the student might have going on in their life.  Perhaps this is a good lesson for us--perhaps the real world won't have such a satin cushion as do the universities in the US.  Slight favoritism, and discrimination, things that are usually peremptorily squashed in the US are all but common here, or so it would seem.  Contrary to all appearances, I'm not complaining.  I am actually thoroughly amused to find this cultural difference.  I was upset about my essay--I know studying is the reason I am here, but at the same point, I feel like the real lessons learned during studying abroad are not gained in the classroom.  But I'm not going to worry, because as a very wise person once said, "If something is wrong, fix it.  If you can't, then don't worry.  Worrying never fixes anything."  So true, so true.  Deep breath, chest out.  Here we go Argentina, I love you too much now.  Let's finish this essay.