url='/Videos/4211.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/4211.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'San Juan de Gaztelugatxe Today everyone from the program met at the gates of the University to go to Urdaibai National Park. This is not a national park in the sense we think of it. There are towns, factories, and roads that are in and run through the “Park.” Very much unlike parks such as Yellowstone, for instance, there are no gates into the park. Visitors come and go as they please. First we visited the town of Gernika which was bombed by the Germans in the 1930’s. We visited a peace museum that focused primarily on the bombing on Gernika, but also had a section on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From here we went to what I’m going to call the “Government Building,” where the leaders of the different towns in ... read more

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

Today my roommate Dan and I woke up at 8:15 after some much needed rest. We started the day with breakfast at the hotel (the best meal I had eaten so far) before departing at 9:30 for the local city of Segovia (1hr:45min away.) We visited “el acueducto” (an aqueduct built in the 1st century that has no mortar holding it together) , “La Plaza Mayor” where we had the chance to buy items at the flea market (and also where I ate the most delicious pastry I have ever consumed), and saw “La Catedral” from the outside—apparently the best side. After this, we walked a short distance to “El Alcazar”—a half castle, half palace structure build on the top of a mountain situated between two rivers. We took a guided tour (in English, thank ... read more