Today Diana, Autumn, and I went to a bilingual mass. The church is more modern, similar to what we have back in the USA instead of a grand cathedral. Also at this church there were lots of little kids, which is not common here. The priest had them involved in the homily, and for the sign of peace they all walked down the aisles, so precious! Happy to say I understood basically all the Spanish, and even some random, basic Basque words. It's also useful that the songs/responses are on a screen, so even though we don't know Basque we read along.
After mass there was a choral group singing. We stepped into the cafe across the street, and I got some chocolate and churros. I ordered the chocolate in Basque, but when she asked me questions in Basque we had to switch back to Spanish. She was pleased by my efforts though. :-) As an added bonus, the tv in the corner was showing
"Mighty Ducks" in Castellano! What fond childhood memories hehe. By the time we finished there, the choir was dispersing across the street and it was time for the
Merkatu Txikia (little market). It was a sort of rummage sale with the proceeds going to build a well for the church's mission in Lima, Peru. And since I have an amigo peruano, I felt extra interested in the cause. We each bought a little something, I got a joke book in Spanish. I'm sure the teenage girls working the book and movies section were confused as to why 20-somethings were checking out children's videos and books, pero no importa. I also got a little pintxo of tortilla de patata, which is becoming my favorite food here I suppose. This wasn't the best specimen I've had, but still good stuff.
Yesterday we took a daytrip. Originally we were going to Getaria, which is Donostia's neighbor. But then we couldn't find the bus stop, and instead took one at random. It was a double decker to boot! The busdriver asked where we were going. Then he offered the reply of Azpeitia, so we agreed. Adventure time! In Azpeitia we wandered the city a bit, got some pintxoak while enjoying the view of the mountains and little river. Then we decided to follow a road out of town, it led us to the Basilica of St Ignatius. We weren't able to go in (it was the lunch hour) but took some pictures outside. I'm just very contenta with the amount of activities this weekend. Back to school tomorrow.
