Hendaia: or The Time A Public Bathroom Attacked Me

Saturday we experienced Carnavales in Iparralde (French part of Basque Country).
It was pretty similar to that of Irún (which I will elaborate on some day, honestly). There were less people in the crowd though, and no cabezudos. Also, the giants were smaller, and carried by children: thus they were called gigantillas. My friend Kelsey didn't get a chance to participate in Irún, so she and I paraded in Hendaia. I was justice and she was the bishop with a big belly. After the parade, people gathered in a square where they did readings in Basque and French (thus I understood nada de nada). According to my culture class, they were talking about all the problems they want to rid themselves of in the future. Which is why they lit one of the giants on fire. (I should note they removed his head, because it took a lot of effort and would be sad to see it in flames.) After the fire, many people headed down the street to a sort of warehouse/gym. There we had the very Basque txistorra sausage in corn tortillas. Yummy, but not my favorite ever. My friend chatted with the mayor of Hendaye, no big deal. He's trilingual. The Basque folk bands played some classics and some modern songs as well. We hopped along, and even immitated the dance of a pair of women who knew how to folk dance. The night concluded with a Celtic band concert. Except, most people had left by that time, and the area for the audience was filled with little kids in costumes jumping around. Cute. :)

Bathroom humor:
Kelsey went into the public bathroom first, but told me she couldn't figure out how to flush it. No worries, I shut the door behind me and proceeded to the toilet when suddenly it flushed by itself. Well that's handy! But then as the light was dimming, water started spraying above the toilet. Yikes, so I moved back towards the door. Then the water began spraying at foot level, all over my shoes, and it was soapy too. I tried opening the door, but it was locked so I started banging on it yelling "Lemme outta here! OPEN UP!" I could only imagine myself like in those adventure movies: only an inch of water away from the ceiling, struggling to breathe. Luckily the water stopped before things got so out of hand. :D When I got out, we realized that after using the bathroom, you are supposed to close the door because then it automatically closes itself. I'm sure that useful information was posted on the outside, except somebody tore the sign off! Amusing story if I do say so myself.

Yesterday in Basque dance class the teacher was critiquing and offering advice for improving the polka. When he came to me he said "I don't think I can help you. I don't know what your problem is. 1-2-3, 1-2-3..." I told him 3 is just too much for me. Haha I'm just bad at the polka (embarrassing because I'm Polish and Czech!) and my partner has to drag/shove me along, even though technically I am the man in the set-up. After class I had dinner with my friends Diana & Atún. Their host mom said I could come over, probably because they talk about how pathetic I am living without a host family. ;D We had tortilla de patatas (which I had been craving) and quite a selection of prepared vegetables. First truly healthy dinner in quite some time.

Carnavales was great, in fact we are going to Hendaia, France very shortly to enjoy theirs. But this is not the blog about Carnavales. That'll take a lot of effort since it was pretty much a 5-day extravaganza. This is just to state random observances. I had lunch with my familia yesterday. That was pleasant as usual, got to practice* Basque with my brother, although he has a different dialect from what we are learning. :| Yeah, Basque is pretty frustrating simply because it's starting again from the beginning. So if I can't explain myself in Euskara (which is inevitable) I revert to language #2 castellano.

Oh other noticias, in class we are subtitling the film Dirt. It's a documentary, I've heard of it before. Pues, really all we are doing is taking the script which has already been translated into Catalan (and soon Euskara), and using a subtitling program to insert the words in the film. Pretty sweet. Tedious, but gives me a sense of accomplishment. Not to mention, our names will appear somewhere in the credits. AWW YEAAAH! :D Pretty fly for a resumee.

Observation: People here are really good about lining up for the bus. I probably shouldn't have gotten a bus pass, because although it makes it half as expensive to ride the bus, it makes me lazy. I haven't walked home from school in weeks.

*By practice, I mean say hello, how are you? I'm good. qué significa? I have a book. Poliki, poliki as they say! Or poco a poco. Or little by little :P

que empiecen los carnavales

First day of student teaching was fine. The regular teacher is only 23 and very friendly, plus she is fairly new, so we're in it together. The students were like regular teenagers, some of them paid attention and seemed interested in asking questions or practicing English, while others were more content talking amongst themselves. At least some of them like Extremoduro too haha. It just caught me off guard because my advisor told me it's a very serious school, but it seemed relaxed to me. After class the teacher dropped me off at the university so I wouldn't have to take the bus. Qué maja!

Last weekend we had practice for Carnavales, which we will participate in Irún tomorrow and Sunday. Here is a sneak peak, guess which one is me!

14 de febrero

Well it's just another martes here in Donostia. The cool thing about being abroad is that American holidays are null. In some cases they are catching on slowly, like Halloween, but overall they are too busy celebrating their own holidays to mind the American ones. I don't mind Valentine's Day, but it is a nice change to not have to deal with people sulking or overyhyping it. There is a similar holiday celebrated only in Catalunya: St Jordi's Day. They give books and flowers to loved ones (and hopefully chocolate). What's more is the Basques are stereotypically inexpressive folks who keep to themselves. As my professor was explaining, it's almost awkward for them to say Maite zaitut--I love you. As always, interesting cultural differences.

Tomorrow is my first day teaching. It will be at a Jesuit school (what a coincidence!) with 15- and 16-year-olds, so apparently they have a good grasp of the language already. Excellent. Not doing anything on Wednesdays was nice while it lasted; I'm sure it'll be a positive experience.

Foto by Atún, in Zumaia

I seem to be suddenly busy with all sorts of Spanish obligations....translations, transcriptions, and such. Is this what it's like to be over 21? ha ha ha

Itxas-Ondo : my name! and meaning good sea

My birthday was quite chill, just the way I like it. I had a delectable croissant filled with chocolate mousse for breakfast. The cashier called me guapa twice, and even though she didn't know it was my bday it made my day hehe. Mmm qué más...my padres from last semester called to tell me happy birthday (in English!). Later my friend Diana and I had some absinthe and she bought me another pastry.

Thursday I had lunch with my Spanish parents. After the meal, they brought out little chocolate lava cakes with numbered candles for their other host student and me. Her birthday was last week. It was just so precious, they sang feliz cumpleaños, and it meant a lot to me even if they thought it was just a small gesture. After the other American went to school, they said it was time for the siesta, and that I could have it there since I had class in a few hours. Just like old times!

Friday we had a school excursion to see a caserío (farmhouse), a unique church, and the geologically wondrous coast of Zumaia. Last semester, my friends and I went to the same farmhouse to see the apple press in action. This time of year it was bloody cold, and hard to imagine surviving without more than a small fire in the whole house. At Zumaia we first took a boatride out to the ocean, to observe the rocks from afar. Unbeknownst to me, the Iberia peninsula used to be an island separate from continental Europe. When it finally decided to join the party, it crashed into France forming the Pyrenees. In addition to that, in the town of Zumaia, the rock/crust was flipped vertically instead of horizontally, so that geologists can study the layers without even digging. The rocks along with the ocean in the background made for some wicked sites. This trip also confirmed my belief that País Vasco has a bit of all countries rolled into one (except it lacks a desert). There are green hillside like Ireland; beautiful coasts and beaches like in Brazil or Greece; mountainous regions like Switzerland; and ancient rocks reminiscent of Western USA. 

Autumn aka Atún. Artistic foto by moi

Ni ez naiz Kerry

It smells like fresh laundry in my room. Pleasant! The reason behind it: I did laundry without looking to see if there was space on the clothesline. There isn't. Now I've got clothes hanging all over the place. I'll remember next time.

Today we learned the verb to be in Basque. I kinda already knew it since before coming I studied some Basque on my own. :P Ni Itxaso naiz. Ah, I forgot to mention I have a new identity...my Basque name! Itxaso, meaning mar (sea, ocean). I even have an authentic last name: Agirrezabalaga. So, ni Itxaso Agirrezabalaga naiz. I'm really enjoying that class. Makes me feel clever when I recognize words on signs written in euskara. I mean, millions of people speak Spanish, but Basque speakers are fewer and therefore more elite haha.

Other main class is a seminar in preparation for the DELE. I know in the end I will be glad I took it (and hopefully delighted that I passed the Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) but for now it's daunting. The class consists in many practice tests. A 70% is passing, but some of the exercises seem hopeless. On the bright side, my profe told me she thinks I'm doing really well. It is just me & another dude in the class. He's been sick the past 2 days, so it was just mi profe y yo. First I had to give a little presentation, and then came the section where you are given a topic and 15 minutes to prepare a 10 minute talk. I managed 2 minutes. On 2 different attempts of the same exercises. :\ BRUTAL!


This week seems longer than usual, and it's only Tuesday. On the plus side, I don't have any obligations tomorrow. No class, no teaching class, nada de nada! :D It shall be a grand day.


Os dejo una canción que cantamos en la clase de euskera. Espero que sea agradable para vuestros oídos.
I'm leaving you a song we sang in Basque class. Hope it is pleasant to your ears jeje.

This week in Euskal Herria

Stuff happened. A ver si me acuerdo...

lunes/Monday
In Dance class we learned a "march" and worked on the dance we started last week. This week the locals and other international kids joined, and I was pleased with myself for not flocking to pair up with my fellow Americans. :P

martes/Tuesday
I don't even know.

miércoles/Wednesday
No classes. Went shopping with my friend Diana, who doesn't have (teach) classes los miércoles either. I bought a green americana (jacket, like woman's suit jacket) to match my green pants. Bahaha I don't think I'll be wearing it as a pantsuit, although maybe for St Patrick's Day. Perhaps this was my final free Wednesday.

jueves/Thursday
It snowed!! Anarchy! There was even snow on the beach, but unfortunately when I returned with my camera it had mostly melted. It snows maybe once a year here, and rarely enough to stick to the ground because of the sea salt. However, there were pictures in the paper of snow on the ground in communities throughout Gipuzkoa.

viernes/Friday

Because I'm working with the sumario this semester (sort of like a yearbook but with more cultural activities), we got to interview a guy who makes Cabezujos for Carnavales. Cabezujos are huge heads that people wear in parades and such. The mouth is where the person looks out, just to give an idea of the size. Anyways, this fellow has been making a living making the cabezujos and also giant's costumes for the past 30 years. Because the other girls working with sumario are in tracks 1 & 2, and I finished the ultimate track 4 last semester, I tended to do all the talking, and asked the interview questions. And that also means I'm the only one who can transcribe what was recording. Isn't that delightful? :D Pictures to come, but for now here is an example from his website.

sábado/Saturday
Yesterday we took a little trip to Tolosa, about 30 minutes away. We went to the museum of confectionary. The tour was in Spanish and I understood it for the most part, woohoo. Although our guide would tell us random words in English, like beehive which I had no idea of its Spanish counterpart. Anyways, that was an interesting activity. We learned how they used to make chocolate in the olden days, and even tasted some raw cacao. We also learned that cacao was used as food, a grain instead of chocolate sweets as it is used today. But it wasn't all just chocolate, we also learned about making spirits, marmelades, and even candles. Quite a variety is contained in the word confitería apparently. And before the tour we got hot chocolate that was so think, I assume it was just melted chocolate and nothing else. Mm mm mm! Tolosa is a nice town, with especially great views of mountains, snowcapped at this time of year.

When we came back to Donostia, it started snowing again. Yippee!

And tonight we're having a get together to celebrate our friend Diana's birthday. It's USA/SuperBowl themed although I'm assuming the game starts around 2 am over here. Ah well, we can always watch the commercials online tomorrow.