Blogs from Basque Country, Spain, Europe - page 46

Today after “classes” I went with a group of people to the beach at Sopelana, about a 30 minute Metro ride away. It is the most beautiful beach I have ever been to! I have some pictures that attempt to do it justice. I didn’t bring any kind of a beach towel to Spain, so I was forced to use the only towel I have—the one I use after showering. It almost got destroyed by the fastest tide I’ve ever seen (literally, it came 10 feet in 5 seconds. Ok…it was a huge wave/the tide…but still) but it’s doing ok! I forgot to mention: Today I was taking a nap in the lounge on my floor when the maid came in and decided to start talking to me. She wanted to know what state I ... read more

Had my academic orientation session today. They talked about what classes we can take and the hours they are offered. I’ll have one class that goes from 5:00 - 7:30 at night on Monday (because classes aren’t offered during Siesta). We also took a tour of La Universidad de Deusto so we would know where all of our classes are. After this, we took a bus ride to Plentzia, a town to the north where we, of course, took a tour. Then to a restraint for Lunch (I’m starting to like this big lunch, small dinner thing.) After lunch, we were free to do what we wanted, so we went to the beach that is right there in Plentzia (right by the sea.) After burying some people in sand and playing a little futbol, we ... read more

After a European breakfast (aka small, but good) this morning, my fellow students and I took the short walk to La Universidad de Deusto for the first time. Here we were introduced to the CIDE program and took a placement test for language classes. We then were given an orientation session for Bilbao after which we had lunch at a hotel—Italian, finally! From there, a tour of Bilbao, including mention of the parts of the city that we should not wander into at night. We then had the rest of the day to do what we wanted. I went to the bookstore in “El Courte Ingles” and bought Harry Potter in Spanish (a difficult task, because the person who I was talking to spoke mostly Basque—very different from Spanish. Also, I could only find HP ... read more

Not very much to report today. Got on the bus with our luggage this morning. Headed to Museo del Prado, a large contemporary art museum here in Madrid. After lunch back at the hotel we started the 5 hour journey to Bilbao where I will be staying for the rest of my trip. My ears were popping the entire time because of the fluctuations in elevation as we went through the mountains. Bilbao is strikingly different from Madrid. Bilbao is located in a valley between large mountains and is much larger than I had imagined. The pictures will help most in describing how different Bilbao looks and feels compared to Madrid. Out of the front door of my residence hall is the most beautiful view you could imagine. Tonight the city was sprawled in front ... read more

Sooo it's the day after my 21st Birthday and let me tell you my head hurts! But it was totally worth it, I'm 21 now! 21 is not a big deal here, because you can drink straight out of the cradle, but all the people at the bars know it is a big deal for an American, so i got free drinks anyways! I will make a list of everything I drank, because it was amazing! at the apartment: Champagne, the cheap stuff that cost 3 euros, but hey I'm not picky yet Sex on the Beach, basically a fruity delicious mix with juice Sangria While playing Kings (a drinking game) we mixed the sex on the beach with the sangria and to our surprise it was quite deilicious Corona with lime, or as they call ... read more