Cena española

Last night we had a very Madrileño meal...meaning it looked typically Spanish. So of course I photographed the occasion.

Croquetas (homemade, de atún) Jamón, y Pan

And Real won 4-1 last night in the Rey de Copa game. I think I'll wear my jersey today, perhaps it will bring me suerte. Two finals today, two tomorrow. Aupi!

Un Jour en France

Well, it was more than just one day, but the song is "Un Jour en France" so yeah.

I'll be home soon enough, so in summary, France was great! I went to Nîmes, Toulouse, et Lyon. In Lyon I visited my penpal Alexandre. That was fun, he speaks perfect English, so it was easy for me jeje. We saw Les Fêtes des Lumières. It was magnifique, but my pictures are very blurry, so I recommend clicking ici. And yeah, I saw a lot of nice views in my time there. Stereotypical French activities: wine and cheese after lunch with his family. And I even had a bowl of coffee with breakfast, accompanied by bread and homemade marmelade. Ah and crêpes as my first lyonnais meal. Very French indeed!

Alex et moi enjoying a view from castle ruins.

Gettin stuff done

Bueno, it's Monday, time to be productive again! But not in the scholastic sense, since we don't have class at all this week. ;D I leave for France Weds morning so had to accomplish some things today.

Primero, I got a new cellphone. I lost my first one dancing womp womp womp. Upon returning home, I realized that the menus were messed up. For example, when I clicked "Change date," the response was various profile selections en vez de date/time options. I showed it to my madre, who didn't know what to do about it, then my padre who thought he would solve it but also didn't. They said to ask my hermano, but it seemed an error that could only be fixed by the store, and since there was no line before I returned. Seriously, the minute I walked in the door and looked down at the screen EVERYTHING WAS FINE. Arghhh!!! Thus I looked like an idiot when I told them woman it hadn't worked, bc due to my less-than native Spanish abilities, she thought I just didn't know how to change the date. Yes I know how to reset the date! But the buttons didn't work that way before! Anyways, when I returned home and told my padres, they had a good laugh. They know I'm not tonta jajaja. It was magic. Qué clase de brujería es! What kind of witchcraft is this!

Oh and the other thing I did (fascinating really) was scanning a document at a local librería. It was quite an accomplishment--well, not really because my host hermano was kind enough to accompany me...and do the talking. Jejeje just another thing crossed off my to-do list. The rest of today's schedule includes going to the mall (my friend wants to get someone nail polish as a gift. I mean...when I think of Spanish souvenirs, nail polish is probably the 3rd thing that comes to mind) and researching Federico García Lorca. Olé!

Pronunciation lessons with madre gesturing

Today's weather: Rainy, but nothing overwhelming. Just enough to be content with mis botas de agua, rainboots!

Día de Euskera!

Today is National Basque Language Day! Hip hip hooray! To celebrate, they had some activities in Basque on the Boulevard. Including --but not limited to--karaoke sung by little kids. It was cute. And then they put on a pretty hardcore song by Berri Txarrak (Basque band I know a few of their songs). Pretty entertaining, these little tykes trying to sing along to hardrock. Then we went to the Basque handmade shop, where they have some souvenirs and traditional clothing. Then I heard the little karaoke kids singing my jam, an apparently classic Basque ska song. Presenting....SARRI SARRI (with Spanish subtitles). We're headed back in a bit to hopefully hear some Latin beats (in euskera of course). Oh and I've had a pintxo, which I haven't had in a long time. Tonight, tortilla de patatas with jamón. Ñaamm!

Last night all the ladies had dinner at Jenn's house. She made us fettucini alfredo. I'd say we all enjoyed the food and company. And then Jenn thought it was a good idea to give me a makeover. Quizá "luckily" after chatting a while none of us really felt like going out.

Ya di gracias

(Finally) gave my presentation on Extremoduro. YESSSS! I didn't exactly prepare it well, because I knew it would be rushed and really only wanted to be sure that the class got to listen to some of their music. Well first of all, as soon as I pulled up my file titled "Extremoduro," one of the Basque guys in the class did the fake praise motion because he really likes them apparently. Score 1. Then my professor commented on how interesting it was that I am an American, presenting on a Spanish band when everyone else presented on English-speaking artists. And he appreciated the metaphor in the song I played--"the spiderwebs of your heart." Score 2. This isn't the song I shared, but it has a video which demonstrate the lyrics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f6OTiLL26c

On to Thanksgiving. Buenoooo I prepared mashed potatoes and stuffing for my host family. The mashed potatoes were incredibly easy to mash, I think I will have to make them again because I have missed such heavenly delight! The stuffing was dry, but the stuffing that we put in the chicken was actually good. Oh yeah, we had chicken because the only turkeys they sell are HUUUGE and it was only for a family of 4. Anyways, my padre made me put on an apron and 'modern chef hat' for some photos. Host brother was amused by that. It was nice having a real family dinner, since the bro usually doesn't eat with us. I'd say it was the 2nd best way to spend the holiday, apart from at home with my family. They seemed to like the food too, not just saying they enjoyed it through barred teeth haha. Although they surely exaggerated. My madre said it smelled exquisite, and it did smell like Thanksgiving back home! Dessert was a delicious chocolate mousse cake. Yummm! Adding a bit of Basque culture to the meal, we accompanied it with cider. And after-dessert mojitos for a Spanish twist. Wouldn't be a Spanish holiday meal without a filosophical debate. Yeah, I just spelled that with an F. That's how it's done in Españaaa!

Sacré bleu, in less than a week I go to France! That is very exciting for obvious. But also sad because it means the semester is just about over. Gah! After returning there is barely any class before finals and then I ship back to the States for a while. Bittersweet symphony.

Just another typical Friday

Day after Thanksgiving, and nobody is running around like a maniac looking for Black Friday deals. Todo tranquilo, how pleasant! I was quite productive here in el País Vasco. I went to the police station to renew my visa without being completely confused, and I went to the bank. Taaaakin care of business! After a scrumptious lunch including giant white beans (feves or something), ciabotta bread (which we haven't had before), and lambchop, my host madre realized there was chocolate cake  for dessert. This little commentary cracked me up:

Madre: There's only a little piece left

Me: Okay, halves.

Padre: Well I don't want any

Madre: Even if you did we wouldn't let you have any. Chocolate is ours! 

And there you have it. Thanksgiving post when my padre gives me the fotos. For proof ! :]

Ocupada

Hola a tod@s!

This week I am quite busy with schoolwork and other responsibilities, but taking a break to update the blog. Ohhh yeahhh.

This weekend was a gay old time. Friday night a bunch of friends and I went to a huge fiesta of college students at the discoteca. Found out about it thanks to my intercambio Txetxo (awesome name, right?). That was a good time, and we got home around 4:30. Kind of early by Spanish standards, but impressive by my standards. =) Saturday night Gianna and I went to the concert of my host hermano. I liked it more than expected; haven't been to a concert in a while. They play pretty well, except instead of singing it's more of screaming. Ehhh....but it was in a cool locale at least.

Schedule for tomorrow is pretty jam-packed. I'll write it in Spanish first bc I'm sure Uncle Wayne would love to practice...
Despertarme a las 8
Ir a la comisaría para renovar mi visado
Asistir a clases de Cultura, de Idioma, y de Rock
Quedarme con mi intercambio Miriam
Ir de compras al supermercado
Terminar trabajo de solsticios

O sea: wake up at 8; go to the police station to finish renewing my visa; go to Culture class, Language class, and Rock class; meet with my intercambio Miriam; go shopping at the grocery store; finish my paper on solstices. Then that brings us to Thursday--Turkey day! It doesn't really seem like it without attending the annual feast, pero bueno. Hopefully I won't burn dinner.

Gora Euskal Herria!

This Last weekend included DOS (2) day-trips in the Basque country. And for that I say Gora Euskal Herria! Go Basque Country! Fun fact: The words for Basque stem from the Basque word for sun, eguzki. [I reeeeally hope to learn more Euskera next semester!] Visited the following cities, Basque name in capitals, Spanish name in lowercase.

GERNIKA/Guernica
Considered a sort of capital of Euskadi. Basque Country was probably the first to govern with democracy. Back in the day,  town's had a representative in the fueros, which were hosted in Gernika. They'd meet yearly (or more? no sé) in an oak forest to discuss problems affecting the Basque Country (PV from now on). So to the Basques, the oak tree is a symbol of these fueros, and their democratic tradition.Officers swear in under the official oak tree. While in Gernika, we saw the 300+ year-old oak tree. It's now dead, but has it's own pavilion for display purposes. It's "grandson" is the current Oak Tree of Gernika. It's 21 years old, and was officially planted 3 or 4 years ago. They grow a few saplings from the acorns at all times in case anything happens to the current tree.

Gernika is also very important to the Basques because of its bombing by Franco. Not going to go into too much detail, because I'll just end up cursing in Spanish, but he was a total jerk and thousands were killed on the day they bombed. It was market day. It was also the first civilian-town attack. Pablo Picasso has a very famous painting based on the bombing of Gernika. (We saw it in Madrid at the Reina Sofia Museum I believe)




BILBO/ Bilbao

Aghh spider!

We took a boatride to Bilbao. People waved to us from the shore. Because WE WERE ON A BOAT. The highlight of Bilbao was the Guggenheim. Actually I'm quite sure the only thing we did in Bilbao was eat and visit the Guggenheim. Oh and enroute, there were 2 girls walking around with 'abrazos gratis' signs, so I jumped right on that. Who doesn't appreciate an international free hug? We had a guided tour in Spanish which was convenient because without that insight it would've been boring. One section I did like was giant sculptures which wound around, and you walked through. It was a desorienting experience, but that is what the artist wanted, I suppose.

The Gug

IRUÑA/ Pamplona
On Saturday Gianna, Janelle, and I took a bus to Pamplona. Well funny thing, I was a bit lost, but in the general area of the bus station when I ran into one of my professors. Aupa! Well anyways, he took me where I needed to go and turns out he and his brother were on the same bus as us. What are the odds? Anyways, Pamplona is a cool city. It's very tranquila...except of course, for that week every July where bursts with people there for the encierro, running of the bulls. Enfin, I can imagine myself living there some fine day. Not that Donostia isn't magnificent. Well, maybe it's because Iruña has a lot of older charm whereas Donostia doesn't due to a fire long ago. And it seems to have more parks, which I enjoy.

Our main activity there was looking at architecture, most notably the main bullring (which unfortunately had some food festival in it, so you couldn't just walk around inside). For lunch we had pintxos at the Ernest Hemingway Bar. Got my picture taken with a statue of Papa. That delighted me most, that I was in the city he loved so much and central to one of my favorite novels.

Enfin, seems like we got a good dose of Basque Country

Aizkolari

Agh I still have to recap the weekend day trips, but it'll be faster to just talk about yesterday. Pues, 2 days ago I was the only person in our level 4 class that didn't have plans for yesterday morning. Therefore I got the "task"  of going with students from the Basque class to interview a well-known Aizkolari. It was a bit intimidating, because it was with 2 level 1 students, and my friend Jenn who is in level 3. Not bad, but then I felt sort of responsible for communicating.

Anyways, we got off the bus at the right stop, thanks to some help from the locals. Btw it was on the mountain with a tremendous view of the ocean. We found Joxe Mari Olasagasti outside, with his apparent trainer carving the wood he would later chop. First he gave us a demonstration of the oxen he trains. They were very well trained and followed his Basque orders very well. Then Jenn interviewed him about Aizkolari while I filmed. Jeje I felt useful at one point because I explained a question that didn't make sense. And he would look at me to check that we understood him.

After our little interview, he did a demonstration. And I'm sure your wondering what is Aizkolari already. It's Basque competitions of chopping wood the fastest. I've seen it on tv and they stand on a little log, and chop it in half between their feet. Joxe Mari demonstrated by chopping in half one such logling (although it was placed on a stump, not under him). You can't just chop the same spot several times until it goes all the way through. For your information, you essentially have to chop a big V on either side of it until the top finally falls off. The process includes plenty of flying wood chips. With every swing he makes a "AUUUUAAAAGH" or "SHHHHF" sound.

We were quite impressed by this demo, but that was not all. According to his trainer friend, we were lucky because he was apparently in the mood to cut wood. There were two longer logs lying on the ground, and he went at them, chopping them both up. Everytime he swung down, sweat and saliva would fall down too. Now that is a Basque sport! And then he told us what made it even more impressive: he's 52 years old. AI AMA!

 

Then we walked over to the stable by the sidreria. There's where he houses 3 oxen, 1 horse, and 1 bull. On the short walk Jenn and I each got to carry an axe he had used. I'm pretty sure I could barely swing that thing from over my head without knocking my leg out, let alone chop all those logs to bits. Then it was the oxen's turn to show off. They also compete in heavy lifting concursos. A rock probably one foot high, and 3 feet x 3 feet was tied to them. At first the rope broke. But then they dragged it along on the cobblestone driveway so that we could smell the burning of the rocks. It was nuts!

After the deportivos, we went into his sidreria where he gave us all a sample. He told us to come back at the end of the semester to celebrate. And that we should send a photo that we took of us all (which I don't have yet). Then his trainer/friend drove us down the mountain so we wouldn't have to wait for the bus. What started as an intimidating meeting ended in besos, a sign of informality and friendship.

omnomnom

Yesterday was extra neat-o because we went to the new Basque Culinary Institute. Whoa-ho-ho! It just opened in September, and is the first place in Spain that will offer a sort of degree in Gastronomy. Pretty sweet. For some reason I assumed all the 'students' would be middle-aged, but in reality they are our age. They divided us into groups and gave us a tour. The facilities are great! There is a different room/kitchen for each type of food: meat, fish, bread, pastry. And there is a room just for wine-tasting. After the tour, we stopped by the Food Fair that was being hosted. Free samples galore! The guy carved jamón serrano just for us. :) Then all the American and culinary students gathered to have some snacks and dessert prepared by the students that day. Delish! In general, they wanted to practice their Inglish (haha I wrote that, and I'm leaving it that way. English/inglés), but some didn't really know any English. There are students from throughout Spain, and even one from Mexico. Fancy that! I chatted (in Spanish) with a girl from Murcia. Our Spanish teacher reminded us it's pretty cool to have contacts at this school, because their teachers are top-knotch y "tienen futuro." That is to say...they aren't just going to be cooks at Fosters Hollywood (like a Spanish TGIFridays, if you will). I think it's cool because I am a fan of food in general. :D

Speaking of food, I told my host family I'll try to cook some typical Thanksgiving food for them when the time comes. Since I'll be missing the big feast back home. Key word is try. My host madre doesn't know how to make turkey either, but she said the butcher has a sort of 'pre-cooked turkey' so we may cheat jeje.

Then last night after a tasty tortilla de patata dinner, I decided to practice for today's oral exam (already happened, think I did bastante bien). I asked if I could read the examples for my madre while she put away dishes so as not to disrupt her. Oh, but this was not enough. Because then she got really into helping me, so we ended up sitting at the dining room table for a while, her having me read the sentences, then she'd reread them and mark a comma where a native would pause (I rush through sentences in Spanish when I have to read aloud). Then I would read the sentences a few more times. Profesora Marga, as my host padre called her haha. It was really useful though.

And for the academically curious, I have a 7 page paper to write in Myths & Legends. Topic: Summer solstices. Oh yeah! I'm excited, because the celebrations of Midsummer in different cultures have fascinated me for a while. Qué más... I think I get to write a paper about my favorite Spanish band (Extremoduro, claro), but maybe not. Por lo menos I have to give a presentation and analyze 2 of their songs. Must I pick only 2! Haha. And yeah, then there's regular classwork stuff. It seems like we learned a bunch of Basque words today. Aupi!

Lisboa Parte 2

Little Vasco de Gama in the background, Oceanario

Sunday night we went to a Fado performance. Concert? I don't know. But it was so authentic, Rick Steves would have flipped out! We got the address from one of the hostel workers, so it seemed legit. When we arrived there were a few people standing on the street, in the doorway because the inside was packed. It was located in a family-run bar/restaurant, presumedly below where the family lived. The owner whose image was on the restaurant sign was running around inside delivering drinks and yelling "SILENCIO!" when the show started. There were 2 guitarrists and a drummer, plus various singers, one at a time. Fado is a typical, sad Portuguese song. Really beautiful, even if you don't speak the language, because the guitar is amazing. It seemed like it was electric, but it was a plain little Portuguese guitar. One local talked to us; he seemed excited to practice his English because everyone else inside was from the neighborhood. Then some older gent asked our British friend if she sings. It may have been in Portuguese, but I understood it in Spanish. When we explained we were just there to listen, he told us he was a Fado singer. Apparently some of the best Fado singers perform in this restaurant, entonces..we talked to a well-known Fado singer! Woohoo! We didn't see his performance though, because we had to catch the last metro home heh.

I fit right in!

Monday we rode to a part of town called Belém. There we saw the giant monument to exploration, Monumento aos Descobrimentos, and the grandiose monastery. And to top it off, of course we had to get pasteles from the famous Confeitaria de Belém. Their masterpiece is little egg tarts, and the line perpetually goes out the door. They were pretty good, but I prefer chocolate treats :P

Monastery of Belém

Also, it was Halloween. We didn't expect much festivities-wise, because it's more of an American holiday. But the Spanish people we know have told us lately it's becoming more and more common to celebrate in the American traditions. In the evening, while we had an after-dinner ice cream and stroll, we witnessed a parade of zombies! How fun is that! It seemed to be neverending...people dressed up in all sorts of dead/bloody costumes. One zombie couple even came towards us pretending to grab at us, saying "Mmmm! Santini's!" (ice cream company we were eating). At night we went to a Halloween Hostel Party.

New friends celebrating Halloween

Tuesday was our last half day in Lisboa. We went to a noted literary café, A Brasileira. Tried to eat lunch, but en fin Gianna and I just got some pastries at the counter. Delicious chocolate, fudgy goodness to be specific.  For lunch we went to a fancier place, and ate outdoors (on November 1st!!). There was a Portuguese school group performing in front of the café. Yeah entertainment! We wandered around town for a while, said our goodbyes, and then caught the train back to San Sebastián. Really enjoyed my time there, but after 5 days I was glad to be back in mi hogar español.

A note on the Portuguese language: To me it sounds like Russians speaking Spanish. They pronounce "s" as "sh" which gives it an Eastern-European effect. (Apparently they don't do this in Brazil). I knew some useful phrases like bom dia, boa noite, obrigada, é thanks to my pal Marlon. And from what I have picked up from signs in Portugal, I am a fan of their contractions! (Spanish only has 2 contractions: del & al) It seems for their 2 definite articles there is o (masc) and a (fem), so many prepositions that go before them get mashed together like ao, da, no. I dunno, I just find it interesting. Me fascinan las lenguas!!!

Pastelerías, librerías, y vistas

In three nouns, that is what Lisboa is composed of: bakeries, bookstores, and views. Such beautiful views! Well, maybe it should be architecture, but there are great, hilly views of lovely architecture. I took a boatload of pictures, so I guess these are what I consider to be the best of the best. Anyways, here goes my thorough travelogue...

Initiatic Well, Quinta da Regaleira

Alison, Gianna, and I left on the Thursday night train to Lisboa. The guy directly behind us fell asleep early on. Good for him, bad for us because he snored and remained asleep almost the entirety of the journey. Bah! It wasn't so easy to get comfortable, but we all go sufficient sleep to be able to consciously get off on the right stop. We were able to maneuver the Lisbon metro system enough to get to the hostel, even though the kiosques are in Portuguese. Bam!

Indiana Jones would appreciate this grotto in Sintra

We stayed at the Lisbon Poet's Hostel. Appropriate, no creís? It was such a nice hostel, it will probably be the best I ever stay in. It was all of our first time staying in a hostel, and we definitely got spoiled. We were in a room of 4, and oddly enough they paired us with an American for all of our stay. We had dinner at the hostel for only 8 euros the first night, which was not only a good deal, but it allowed us to make friends with our fellow travellers. Hooray! There were 2 cousins (an Aussie and a Brit) who just happened to be staying the same days we were. Plus our American roommate and a Norwegian fellow. The first night we all went out on the town, getting to hear some great live music. The first place had a guitarist/singer and drummer in the corner, and not much standing room aside from that. The second place had a live jazz band with a really animated singer, which we all danced to. They played old songs like "You Never Can Tell" by Chuck Berry. Now that's class!

Beginning our Sintra adventure

Saturday was spent in a day trip to Sintra. Maybe that was my favorite part. It was a small town about 30 mins by train from downtown Lisboa, noteworthy for its Palacio and Castelo dos Mouros. First we went to the Quinta da Regaleira (my choice and certainly my fav part). It contained the former summer house (and by house I mean mansion) of the Carvalho Monteiro family. Clearly, people with style. We didn't even bother with the house, because the grounds were most interesting. I seriously wish it were my yard. You could wander in it for hours. Most notably was the terrace of the gods, which had statues of Greek gods all lined up. Especially relevant since I'm taking a Mythology class hey hey! There was also a labyrinth grotto which Gianna and I dared to enter. Not going to lie, I got kind of scared at times because it was so dark and we only had our measly cell phones to light the way. Not to mention there was an actual underground tunnel that led to the Initiatic Well, which basically let you feel like you were in a well, without the water. The gardens also had a tower with a nice view of Sintra. It was a mythic place. After lunch of the menú del día (not much different from Spanish travels) we went to the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle). We intended to walk to it before realizing it was at the top of a fairly steep hill. Gotta love buses! The views at the very top of the castle were tremendous. Joee! It was really difficult to ascend them though because after so many centuries, rock stairs tend to get out of place. Definitely worth the hassle though. Unfortunately the Palacio was closed when we arrived, but para mí, we definitely saw enough wonders to make it worth the trainride.

Terrace of the gods, Quinta da Regaleira

Explorer pose, Castelo dos Mouros

Dinner that night was at a Brazilian steakhouse, so skip ahead if you're a vegetarian jaja. I've never eaten at a Brazilian restaurant, and it was a sweet experience I hope to repeat. First, I said "tresh", so the waiter assumed we spoke Portuguese, and started talking and pointing. We understood enough to sit at the right table. The deal is first you go to a salad bar/buffet, and then the waiters come around with sticks of meat and cut you off a fresh slice. So you get to have various types of meat in one meal...steak, pork, some other beef, sausage, etc. And the seasoning was super-rico! Plus it cost us 10 euros. Qué locura!

Sunday we went to the Oceanario. It was pretty cool, all of the oceans were represented. Bueno, it wasn't my favorite part, but it wasn't too painful. :P Although, the restaurant there had really satisfying donuts (Spain is lacking in quality donuts btw). And we did get to see them feed the otters! So precious! After the Oceanario we went to the Parque das Naçãos, Park of Nations, which had the flag of every country. From this park is also a splendid view of the Puente de Vasco de Gama-- longest bridge in Europe. It is ridiculously long. 17,2 km...I don't even know the equivalent but just looking at it you could tell it was tremendous.

View from Castelo dos Mouros

Um, well I think I went a bit crazy with the pics and details, so I will finish recapping Lisboeta adventures after dinner. :)

La vida cotidiana

My host madre has returned from Morocco. And she brought me back red slippers with beading on top. :D How agradable! And perfect because I didn't bring slippers to Spain. She said it's very different there, and she didn't adore much of the food--except for the couscous. And she said there are no rules to driving, essentially people will suddenly pull out wherever they feel the need to turn. I don't think I'll be making that trip any time soon.

We got our midterms back today...both over 92%, no os preocupéis! In Rock Class we listened to Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, and David Bowie. The terrible 70s as it's called. Next class will focus on punk! =D After class I had a little chat with my host hermano and then watched Columbo (in Spanish obviously) with my padre. And we talked about the Spanish and English treatment of the natives when trying to conquer the Americas...always an interesting/agitating topic en mi opinión.

Tomorrow night Gianna, Alison, and I leave for Lisboa for the weekend. So, hasta la próxima!

Can't stop listening to...

"Si Te Vas," a song by my favorite Spanish band, Extremoduro. Except this song isn't very rock, IT'S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL. And melodious.

Today I made the most of our day off by not doing much of anything. Ah, to lack obligations is something grand.

Txuri-urdin, txuri-urdin maitea!

Sunday we went to the Real Sociedad game vs Getafe. In la Liga standings, Erreala is in 13th place, and Getafe in 17 or algo así. We decided to meet at the Churrería across from the stadium since we were coming from different buses. I wasn't exactly sure what bus-stop to wait at, but the handful of people in their Real Sociedad jerseys gave me a good idea. I love the fraternity that team spirit builds. The bus was packed with people heading to the game. When I got the the Churrería, my friends barely noticed me because I blended in with my jersey. Ohh yeahhh! Our seats were in the 7th row, behind the goal and only cost us 25 euros. Sure, we couldn't se their faces very well, but we got a good view of the action coming at the goal. And I was sure to jump up and yell --in Spanish of course-- when the ref made a bad call. Didn't learn any of the chants really, except for the most basic "Real! Real! Real!" It ended in a 0-0 tie. Not bad...but not good. It was a good first game experience though. Hopefully next time I go we'll bring home a victoria.

Today I had 2 writing midterms: in Cultura y Civilización and Track IV. That was a real joy. I wrote about Don Quijote, The Basque Calendar, The Basque Home/Etxea in olden days, and Witches vs Inquisition. At least the topics were interesting to me. And tonight our friend Jenn who lives in a piso (apartment) is cooking us her grandma's spaghetti. Precious! Afterwards we'll hit the town to celebrate a classmate's birthday, the end of Midterms, and tomorrow's holiday-- Día del País Vasco/Euskadiko Eguna!

Today a few of my friends and I took a bus to el Estadio Anoeta, home of Real Sociedad de Fútbol, to buy our tickets. Wheee! I also bought myself a jersey. Now I feel quite Basque jeje, and I'm sure it will come in handy staying here for the academic school year. Aupa erreala!

My host madre is in Morroco (I think) for a few days, so it's just me and the fellas left to fend for ourselves. :0 That's an exaggeration, because both my padre and hermano know how to cook well. The only thing would be whoever shall iron our underwear?! Troubling, really. xP

Also, the ETA has officially called off violent acts. Woohoo!! ETA is a Basque separatist group that wants a free Basque Country, but uses acts of terrorism, so this is quite a victory. Certainly it's awesome to be here at this time. I'm living history!! Gora euskadi!

Here comes the rain...

It's finally starting to act like autumn here, how tragic.

 In other news, I finished my 10 page paper on Calderón de la Barca. "La Vida Es Sueño" is one of my favorite Spanish classics, but I just didn't fancy writing a 10 page biography/stylistic summary. And my presentation and story on witches are complete. Takin care of business! 8)

 And here we have a picture from last weekend of a fellow making great sand sculptures.

In linguistic news, I think I've been chatting more with my family lately, muy bien. And I asked for a band at a music store, which they didn't have, so then I followed directions to another store where I could buy it. And somebody thought my friend Gianna and I were from Bilbao based on our accents. Haha it was cool that they assumed us to be from the peninsula!

Tomorrow is Thursday. That means pintxos!! The weekend is already upon us, hooray!

Shazam!

Ok I've got a lot to recap, and plenty of photos to add, so here we goooooo!

Funicular sign. Tower peaking over is Torreón  de Monte Igeldo

Yesterday my friend Janelle and I rode the little funicular up to Mt Igeldo, which has the most beautiful view of the city. Seriously, it was amazing. There is also a kiddie park up there, but we weren't really interested in that. Also at the very top there is the Torreón de Monte Igeldo where you can get an even more expansive view.

After that little outing, I came home for lunch: steak! I don't know if I've mentioned it, but they barely cook meat here. It's because they're vampires. ;) After lunch I felt the need to act Andaluza and take a siesta. But not just a siesta in bed. Oh no--because this is Spain, and although it is the middle of October, I took a nap at the beach! It was such a beautiful day I had to go to the beach. So I guess I can cross of sunbathing in October off my list of accomplishments.

My city, not like it's gorgeous or anything

Friday/Viernes

Basque pony grazing!

That was our excursion to the Pyrenees, and it was really cool! (Literally as well, jojo!). First we went into France (hooray!) and road Le Petit Train up La Rhune, 905 meters. The mountainside was nice and meadowy, there were even some wild ponies grazing. Once at the top we could see the general area of San Sebastián, as well as Biarritz, and other nearby cities. Yeaaah! On the otherside of the view was just mountains with clouds. Las nubes! It looked as if the clouds were a waterfall spilling out of two of the mountains.

In Spain and France a la vez. But it's all Basque Country to me!

Inside the witch museum

 After descending La Rhune in the little train, we went on a hike, going through France and Spain. We stopped at the border for a photo opp. Haven't been hiking in a while, reminded me of my days as a camp counselor hehe. After lunch in a little Basque restaurant, we went to the Museo de Brujas--witch museum. That was interesting, as you could imagine. Basically during the Inquisition, a lot of people were called witches for the benefit of others. The Basques were especially victimized because they speak a completely different language (and at that time most Basques didn't speak Spanish too), and their culture includes a lot of relation to nature, which was seen as witchcraft. We also learned about their cave parties called Akelarres. That also was assumed to be based in witchcraft, but it was really just a good time, like the botellones that kids do nowadays. They claimed kids as young as 9 were witches. What the dickens! After the museum we walked in the caves. And that concludes our excursion.

Lazy weekend

Not much to recap since this weekend was really chill. I only went out one night and came home by 12:30--practically antisocial by Spanish standards. However, today we went to a Cider house where they make it and have a little museum. It was really interesting to see the movie because it's relevant to my Culture/Civ class. It talked about ancient Basques and how many country homes now are built over ancestral dwellings 1000 years old. 

And that's the story, morning glory. Agur!

Dirty laundry

When I returned from Barcelona, all of my laundry was done. Even though I hadn't put any with the family laundry. Weeeird. Just like magic! And today I talked with my madre about ironing. She irons everything, including underwear haha. I told her it really isn't necessary to iron my t-shirts. She responded that when I have my own place next year, I can do what I want, but I will think of her when I need to iron something. Jeje.

Got our grades for our Track IV midterm. 93%. Suckaa!

The Authentic Barcelona Experience!

Weekend trip to Barcelona a clear success (and how could it not be?!). Lo pasé fenomenal. And I got to cross a bunch of things off my lifetime to-do list. So here's a nice and thorough summary, with images so you don't fall asleep.

VIERNES/FRIDAY

I left my place in SS at 6:30. The trainride was an uneventful 6 hours--I slept most of the way. Gerard picked me up at the train station, how kind! He is shorter in person, which kind of made me chuckle. Then we took the metro to his house and had a lunch of lentejas with is mom. It was kind of like pea soup and tastier than one would expect from the appearance. Later we went to a street in "downtown" Barcelona, filled with rock music shops and fun stuff like that. I bought myself an Extremoduro CD. Gerard made me talk to people to practice, even though it was kind of embarrassing. And I think one of the clerks started talking in Catalan because he told the guy I was American so he should talk to me in Spanish. For dinner we went to an American/bluesy place. He told the waitress I was American and would be judging the quality haha. Hamburger was satisfactory, I'm not really particular. To end the night we watched Torrente (famous movie character who is obnoxiously Spanish and a bit disgusting).


SÁBADO/ SATURDAY

Ramblas street performer dressed as Don Quijote

Gerard had to work in the morning, so I went to some touristy places near Plaça Catalunya with my friend Mireia. Hooray for guiris! The nice thing is she's very good at English, so we got to be lazy and talk Spanglish. :P We walked down las Ramblas, saw the statue of Colón (Columbus), walked around the Port of Barcelona, strolled in the Parc de la Ciutadella, and saw the Arco de Triunfo. Not bad, eh?!

Regal, like a león

BCN's Arc de Triomph

With Mireia in front of Columbus

With Mireia in the charming Parc de la Ciutadella

Saturday night was reserved for fiesta, obviously.  It was certainly an authentic Spanish fiesta experience haha. I think at 2am Gerard was still saying "The night is young!" Because he and his friends are metal fans, that influenced where we spent the evening. One of the places had a really nice ambience, even if I didn't love the music. It had really high ceilings and just a ton of tables and chairs filled with people. Every once in a while you could the crowd singing along--especially when it was by a Spanish metal band. Luckily I had Gerard's best friend Josep to explain things to me. He is also fluent in English which was so useful for my lazy self. The next place we went was more mainstream, but I enjoyed it because they played songs by 2 of my favorite Spanish bands! In a row! :D It's like they knew...

Some cool Spanish dudes: Lluis, Gerard, Josep, Kalimotxo

As is usual for Spaniards, we arrived home just in time to see the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea. What a lovely end to a grand night!

DOMINGO/SUNDAY

We woke up just in time for a family lunch (since lunch is the big meal here, not dinner). His mom prepared paella. My first taste of authentic paella and it was good stuff! His sister said their family is kind of crazy, but I think they're just a regular Spanish family. His madre was always making sure everyone was well-fed, and that I knew how to eat the shrimp jeje.

Then in the evening, Gerard's padres drove us around some noteworthy Barcelona sites. We got to walk around Sagrada Familia. It is enormous and so detailed, you pretty much have to see it in real life  to appreciate it. It won't be done for years either. We saw a model of what it should look like once completed, and it seems they are only 1/2 way there. We drove past some Gaudi buildings, which are always fun to look at. We ended by walking around some park with a terrific view of the city. I don't know what it's called, but it was right by the Olympic Stadium

I think that about covers my Barcelona adventure. I had to wake up for the train at 5 am Monday. And was welcomed back by 2 exams and 1 presentation. But I can't complain too much, because I got to go to BCN. Livin the dream. Muxus!

Mañana, mañana!

In 24 hours I will be in BARCELONA, hangin with my original Spanish friend, Gerard. Gaahhh it's going to be terrific! I promise to take plenty of pics, since I have been slacking on the home front. Today I had an exam that I actually studied for (Studying for Spanish--what an odd concept!) and hopefully did well on. Ah and yesterday I wanted to buy floss, but couldn't find it in the dental hygiene section. So I asked the clerk for "hielo de dientes" (while making a flossing motion). Hielo is ice, hilo is thread. Oops. Guiri coming through! At least it wasn't offensive...

 Bueno, hasta la próxima! Adeu! (Catalán for adiós haha)

Hoy en España...

Today in Spain...

My madre said I'm going to start having homework aka doing errands where I have to go practice my Spanish. Hooray! Today's was quite simple: I just had to buy 2 baguettes. When I didn't understand how much it cost, I asked "cómo?" and she answered in English. Jo! So I explained "estoy tratando de practicar" (I'm trying to practice), so that she repeated in Spanish. Mission accomplished, anyways. Apparently by the end of the semester I will be able to ask for a precise type of meat at the butcher's. Vamos a ver...

Also today, somebody asked me where the correos (post office) is. He asked in Spanish, which clearly means that he thought I was a local! Victory! I guess I have the Basque pale skin, dark hair. Plus, I was able to direct him pretty well. :D

Since this is the week before San Miguel's feast day, it's called el veranillo de San Miguel--St Michael's little summer. Accordingly, the weather has been stupendous. We're making the most of it by going to the beach daily. Not swimming (perhaps mañana), just lounging around. Yesterday, I bought a 'tattoo' from a couple of little kids. They asked really fast in Spanish so I told them we don't speak it that well. Then they slowed down and I understood that they were selling stamp tats, little entrepeneurs!

Yesterday for lunch I had a cheesburger...and 2 hotdogs with a huge piece of bread. I could never eat so much back home, but here it is possible apparently. My hermano made it, and I commented that it was like an American meal since we have hotdogs and hamburgers at summer gatherings. I think he took it the wrong way though, because he said his mom was the better chef. Ah well. One of my favorite dishes thus far is ensaladilla rusa, essentially tuna salad, potato salad, and egg salad combined. Mmmm.

Hasta la próxima. Agur!

First day of fall

Such lovely weather, I spent the afternoon napping on the beach. Then I bought the last tickets to see La Voz Dormida tonight at the San Sebastián Film Festival. Wahoo! I'm really getting accustomed to these 3 day weekends...

Speaking of getting accustomed to things, I'm already used to having pan (bread) with every meal. It's so tasty! Not the pre-sliced soft stuff you buy for weekly in the States, but daily-made bread with a nice crunchy crust. I'm also getting semi-used to red meat. Not that I didn't eat red meat before, but here they actually serve it much redder than I am used to. That's because the Basques are hardcore! :P My family cooks my hamburgers more than their own, but it's still medium rare. Oh and everything served in this place is homemade fresh. One time my padre asked if I wanted fries, and so he sliced the potatoes to make fries. What a concept! And when there wasn't much oregano left to put on the spaghetti, he reappeared with a bundle of oregano from the patio and picked it off the little branches. In the words of mi amigo Gerard, "but our food has a disadvantage...WE DON'T HAVE AS MUCH FAT AND CALORIES AS YOU GUYS" Point taken. Viva la alimentación española!

Besos