Hola,
Yesterday we went to Pamplona. Which was a really cool city and a beautiful day. It was a 2 hour bus ride through mountainous lands that looked like Oregon on steroids and then through lands that looked like America's dairyland. When we arrived we were all hungry, so we decided to have lunch. We went to a restaurant where I had a caesar salad....which was nothing like...well.. a caesar salad. It had tomatoes, field greens, and a thick creamy dressing; no romaine lettuce or cheese. After I had peppers stuffed with minced cod in some green sauce that I still don't know what it was. Its hard to figure out when you don't know the words. For dessert I had a cold peach soup. After being too full to walk, we decided to walk. We walked to the stadium where the running of the bulls occur, and to the citadel. The citadel is ancient ruins dating back to the 1600's. It was Pamplonas main line of defense back in the day. There would have been a moat and a drawbridge and it was really cool. We sort of used it as our own personal playgroun taking the opportunity to climb things that aren't supposed to be climbed and going to corners that drop off 30 feet. It is really fun dealing with the language barrier: asking people for directions, starting random conversations with people on the bus, and ordering from your waiter. After we got back, we had a Erasmus event. Basically its an event between Spanish students wanting to learn English and English students wanting to learn Spanish. Its fun because you speak to the person in broken Spanish, and the answer you back in broken English. It is organized by our school and obviously takes place at a bar where liquor can raise the confidence of students worried about their speaking skills. Me and my friend had a kid named Felix who was really fun to talk to. We sat there for about 2 hours just speaking to eachother and I can't wait until the next event.
Today I woke up early and went for a run. I live about 10 minutes away from the rich neighborhood. So I decided to run through it. These houses are ENORMOUS and usually gated. So it was an interesting run to see the architecture. I ran for about an hour and made it to 4 train stops over. (Yes, I judge my runs on the ammount of train stops) When I first started running here, I was at run. Just because I was scared to get lost and had no stamina. Now I am a lean mean Spanish machine. It was a great run on a beautiful morning, but it is looking like it is now going to rain. After that I was asked by my mom to stop by the grocery store to pick up some juice (I also bought oreos, cause I love them sorry....). I brought Txentxo (pronounced Chencho, it is a Basque name. Basque is a completely different dialect of Spanish spoken in the northern part of Spain.), my dog, with me. The dogs, and it seems like everyone has one, are very well behaved here. About half of them are not leashed. Txentxo on the other hand is a hard dog to walk. He has to stop and smell everything, has to "mark his territory" on every corner, and gets really excited when he sees other dogs. I will train him to understand that I am has master and he has to do what I say haha.
Mom you will appreciate this. I went to the grocery store a couple of days ago with my house mom to purchase some food. She picked up something and said "Te gusta?" Me not knowing what it was and knowing that I like everying say "Si" She tried to explain it to me but all I got out of it was that it was meat. So she made it for me today, and kept giving me weird looks as she was cooking it. She puts the plate in front of me and it was very weird looking. It was very 3d in the fact that it had many waves. I asked her again what it was...and she explained. That is when I pulled out my Spanish-English dictionary and looked it up. This turned out to be tripe! Well, I told her I like it. So I ate it. After I informed her never to make it again.
That is all for now.
Agur!

Hola.
On a sidenote:
1. I don't know how much justice I can do for this story.
2. I will just say it now so I don't say it 15 times in my story. I WISH I HAD MY CAMERA
3. Lets see how well I do telling the story of yesterday. It might not be interesting to my viewers, but it needs to be written down for my own recollection.

I woke up to my alarm at 7:41 like I do every weekday. Except this wake up was different; I had slept about 3 hours that night. I had so much on my head and just couldn't sleep. I woke up to the darkness of the morning and the pounding of the rain; I live on the third floor of a four floor building so thats got to be some pretty loud rain to hear it from my location. I look out my window and it is DISTGUSTING. Darkness and wetness. If this was the University of Illinois I would say screw this, I am going back to bed, but Hey, When in Spain. I eat my breakfast of 2 clementines as I look out at the downpour that is about to become a true reality. I grab my broken umbrella from the previous story, turn on my IPOD, and head out. Music is blasting to wake me up and pump me up for my day, but I can still here the rain clearly. I get to the Metro Train after a 5 minute walk and am soaked from the waist down. I do not look forward to my 15 minute walk to class.
The train is usually crowded, but this time it was claustrophibically crowded. Everyone is wet and jammed together almost airtight. You couldn't even see out the windows due to the fog from everyones breath. I get off the train and get ready to head out into the street.
The downpour hasn't stopped and I am now in a hurry to get off the street and into the school so I am speed walking. This is why I hate umbrellas, people have no idea that other people are around them. Usually when I walk I zig-zag in and out of traffic; first one to always cross the street. That was impossible as i got stuck behind a line of spheres of various colors. After a long walk, I finally made it to the University. Now there are two ways to get in to our building, through a park, a quad type of thing for lack of better words, or a bridge over the street. I always take the park because its quicker, but as I am walking up the street I get stopped by one of my professors who is also heading in who tells me in Spanish to head the other way. So we go around towards the bridge. As I look at the "park" across the street I notice it is no longer a park and actually a lake. There is a parking lot inside the park that is accessible up a small drive up a hill. This drive has turned into a fast flowing river of brown water about an inch deep. Cars looked so funny going up it as the water washed down their tires. As we walked down the street I had never seen so much water in a road. Cars were driving through splashing water higher then I had ever seen as well. We had to walk far away just so we wouldn't get hit by water. We finally made it into class, and usually they have a strict policy about not being allowed into class 5 minutes after it started. I, of course, made it on time because I am punctual like that, but kids were walking in like 20-30 mins late. Teachers were allowing it, I don't think they even knew what was going on. They kept saying that this was the first time they had a storm like this since 1983. As class went on we could see out the wide windows (they have a lot of windows because then it cuts down on the need for lights, take a hint America) as the rain downpoured outside. The teacher actually stopped class to allow us to watch the rain come down. On Tuesdays I have class from 9:00-2:00, so 12:30 rolls around and someone comes into our classroom and says in Spanish of course, "The metro might not be working its apparently flooded." I think to myself there is NO WAY that I am getting stuck in this building for countless hours on three hours of sleep. After class I took off for the metro praying that it was running. The rain had started to die down, but it was still enough to use an umbrella. I got to the metro and made it home! When I turned on the news all I saw were pictures de inundaciones (floods). It was a crazy wet day.

Sidenote: This was after this weekend we had a tornado touch down that killed 4 people in Barcelona and caused a ton of damage here in Algorta and Bilbao. Sorry for stretching it on so long, but I needed to rant about it!

Hola,
I went to San Sebastian yesterday. To start this story off I read in the newspaper it was supposed to be 60 and slight chance of rain........When we got to San Sebastian it was 50 and POURING. So we get to San Sebastian extremely hungry and start our walk. We arrive at a restaurant SOAKING wet from head to toe. To explain this restaurant there were about 40 ham legs hanging from the ceiling and I was extremely scared one of them was going to drip on me. We have no idea what is on this menu cause, of course, we still don't understand Spanish that well. We both order the Calamari Sandwich which turns out to be fried calamari slammed into a roll......very creative. We finish up our food and realize that we need umbrellas; I am NOT one for having an umbrella! I can't stand them and I can't stand people with them.......when in Espana. We ask our waiter where a place is to buy umbrellas. He replies "AH! La tienda de chino" Which vaguely means the Chinese store. So we embark on our journey to find this magical store. Of course, we get lost on the way and ask a friendly cop where la tienda de chino is? He understands and points us on our way. Little racist? I think so. Continuing we get to the store and purchase 8 Euro umbrellas. Which in this torrential downpour and blustery wind.....my umbrella breaks in 5 minutes. I give up on umbrellas. Never again. So we continue our walk and head into a supermarket to dry off and check out the local food. This was more of farmers market. They had anything you could think of wanting including cow nose. After that we walked down to the beach which is supposed to be one of the best beaches in Spain, but it was really hard to tell with the pouring rain and the blustery wind. Anyways we decided to cut our adventure short and went back and bought our bus tickets back to Bilbao. I get back only to find out that they are expecting a tornado! So of course I go out with my friends and come back; most likely during the calm before the storm. I wake up this morning to SUNLIGHT; something I havent seen in a week. This is a sign from god that I need to go for a run. So as I write I am covered in sweat, sand, and ocean water. I started my run out with the wind to my face; this wasn't normal wind it was the type of wind that pushes you. As I am running many streets are blocked off by police due to objects that have fallen or something. (I guess I did get home last night just in time). So i continue my run down to the beach where I do my normal pier run. This run wasn't normal at all. As i was running I felt like I was going to get thrown into the ocean by the hands of the wind and the waves were atleast 15 feet. So high that the water was hitting me; BUT I LOVED IT and I am sure you could ask anyone walking by me that I was screaming in glee. I was too scared to make it all the way to the end of the pier; never thought I would be scared of wind... To add on to this story I just talked to mi ama (mom) and she said that this morning the metro (which is run by electricity) went down while there were people in it and her friend has to come over to shower because the power is out at her house. I posted 3 pictures. One is the ocean fury in San Sebastian, a huge church in San Sebastian, and the other of the pig nose I was thinking of buying and making Veronica cook for me. Sorry I didn't have a plethora of pictures to choose from cause I was really scared of the mixture of water and the camera; Madison would KILL me if I broke her camera. That is all for now.
Hasta Luego

Hoja,
It has been a busy week here in Spain. I started classes Monday and they seem like they are going to be really interesting. I am taking Business Spanish, Basque Culture, Politics Economics and Culture of Spain, Spanish Grammar, and Spanish Composition. It is a total of 16 hours. It is all in Spanish, but I am with all Americans so they take it slow. There are still parts that get lost in translation though. I start everyday at 9 AM so its early mornings. It is quite the commute to class, I have to take about a 25 minute train ride, but that is one of my favorite parts of the day. I love to listen to the Spanish conversation and attempt to read the newspaper. The weather has been really nasty.....and by nasty I mean rainy and high forties. I shouldn't be complaining I guess; I could be in 10 degree weather back in the states. I am planning on going to San Sebastian tomorrow which apparently has one of the best beaches in Spain (according to one of my teachers). Besides that, I have gotten myself sick with a cough and a runny nose, but then again most of the Americans have a little something from this wet weather. My mom makes me hot milk and honey every night before I go to bed which does help with the cough and it is surely tasty! That is all for now.
Agur!

Last night was my first night out on the town, and this city has a lot to offer. I started by sipping on a glass of Vino Tinto (red wine) in a local bar while watching the soccer game. Bilbao won 2-0 WOOOO! After we met up as a study abroad group and went out with our professors. They introduced me to a new drink called Kalimotxo which is red wine and coke. The head of the program bought me a drink and said, "Tengo una sorpresa para tu!" which means I have a surprise for you. About an hour into the night my old Spanish teacher showed up! It was great to see her and try to speak Spanish to her in a loud, crowded, smokey bar! After a long night of drinking we headed home. I waltzed in the door at 3:30 AM and went to bed. I awoke this morning around 11 with a pounding headache. My mother knew I was not feeling well from the previous night and made me some Spanish concoction to cure my headache. After drinking that I went on a run and found my favorite spot in the city. I ran along the beach to a pier that went about a half mile out. At the end you had a beautiful view of the city. Words cannot describe this view. I could sit there for hours listening to the waves and looking at the city. I have just returned from my run and ready to start my day of adventures. There is supposedly a nature preserve close by so we are going to try and find that and after head to Casco Viejo for lunch where there are local street vendors and interesting eye candy. I have two pictures attached......enjoy....
Algorta tiene mi Corazon!

Hola,
Yesterday I took my Spanish placement test. It was definitely a hard test and made me realize how much I actually do not understand the language. Oh well, I guess thats why I am here. I still have those awkward conversations with my house mom where we don't understand eachother for a few minutes and then end up having to explain thoroughly what we were talking about. (Yesterday I thought my mom's mom was going to the hospital because she hit her head when really she was just trying to explain that she is crazy haha). Today I went to the towns of Balmaseda y Portugalete. It was unbelievable just riding on the bus looking at the landscapes. The first picture I have attached is of a church in Balmaseda. It is over 300 years old. The second is a picture from Portugalete looking on to Bilbao. Also attached is a picture of my dog Txentxo. (Pronounced Chencho) He loves me already. Sorry to cut this short, but I have to nap. The Bilbao Pampolona futbol game is on in an hour and I have an outing with my study abroad group tonight that I have been forced into going to by one of the professors (He promised me a drink). I can get used to this lifestyle of huge laidback lunches and naps in the middle of the day. America, take a hint......

2nd Day

I am still completely Jetlagged, it is 9:00 and its time for bed; I was gone from 8 AM to 8 PM. I have successfully made it to Spain, but I have not quite acclimated myself yet. We went to the University today and it is completely amazing. It has a beautiful church inside as well as a library. The University is about 150 years old. I am excited for classes there as well. We also visited the old part of Bilbao, which had buildings dating back from the 17th century. I have attached three pictures. One is of the University, another of a Bilbao Building, and the last is a picture of the beach right by my house. I can barely form a sentence because my brain is not functioning due to lack of sleep and a completely full day.

It is 10:44 PM and the snow has just stopped coming down. 24 hours from now I will be immersed in a totally new and unusual culture......where the temperature is expected to be 45 degrees. Tomorrow starts one of the biggest adventures of my life. I will be leaving O'Hare at 2:33 PM and arrive in Frankfort at 5:45 AM the next day (Jan 12). I will spend a lovely 4 and a half hours in the country of Germany, yet most likely won't see anything but the airport. I will then depart and arrive in Bilbao, Spain at 12:20 PM. There I will be picked up by a Spaniard and taken to my place of residence for the next 5 months! I am completely excited and nervous at the same time and its an unexplainable feeling.
This is just an opener to the story that I will tell as my life goes on in Europe. This story will be filled with excitement, adventure, and new challenges. People who have studied abroad say that it is a once in a lifetime experience that sticks close to your heart for the rest of your life.
United States, we have had a long relationship, but its time for me to move on........