Well all, this should be my last post for a few weeks since I will be out of the country and out of the continent for a week or so, but I just wanted to give you my travel itinerary so you know where I am at.
I leave next tuesday (one week) on a train to Paris, France.
I will be in Paris for 3 days and fly out on Friday for Cairo, Egypt.
On Saturday April 11th, I will be making my way to Asuan, Egypt will we will be taking a cruise down the Red Sea (That is the benefit of having a buddy who has family living in Egypt)
We will be there until the 14th when I will travel to Sharm El Sheikh Egypt and we have a hostel booked close to the beach for 3 more nights.
I will then travel back to Cairo on Friday, April 17th.
I will be in Cairo until Sunday, April 19th when I will fly back to Spain.
I plan on bringing a notebook and documenting all of the insane stories and interesting situations I get myself into in Egypt considering there will be a huge language barrier and culture I have no even come close to experiencing.

I don't know why I haven't given this number out earlier, but my number here is (034)-664-551-216. I should have my phone on me the whole time I am in Egypt, but I probably will not answer it if you were to call due to the fact that I will get roaming charges. If I am in Spain and you were to call I am pretty sure it is free for me (MUAHHAHA).
So I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break, as mine is just about to start. I am two days of school and a relaxing beachlike weekend in Bilbao away from the trip of my lifetime.

Hola,
Sorry I have been really busy. I had two tests last week and it was just chaotic. I am horrible at Spanish grammar so I spent a lot of days after class getting tutored on how to use the grammar that we learned. Ok so whats been going on:
Last weekend I went to Madrid to hang out with the family. I booked my flight way in advance so it would be cheap and accidentally booked a night earlier. When I got to the Bilbao airport it literally looked like a tornado went through there. There was garbage all over the place, shredded paper, and just a mess. When I asked what happened I was told that the cleaning crew went on strike, but before they went on strike they decided to make a mess. I LOVE SPAIN! I arrived Thursday night and the family didn't arrive until Friday morning. So I met up with Luisa Thursday night and we went out for dinner. I have lived in Spain for over 2 months and this was my first real Tapas experience. It was delicious, but not quite filling enough. We then left and walked around, I didn't have much money for a place to stay so we started looking for a hostile for me to stay in. I finally found one for 20 euro for the night and experienced my first hostile. It was nice because I did end up getting my own room, but the bed sort of had a musk to it and I woke up at 4AM with a backache, sore throat, and stuff nose. I tried to sleep on my back the rest of the night which didn't work out and I left the hostile at 8 AM in search of the hotel I would be staying at with the family. I knew i couldn't check in before 11 or so, so I grabbed a little breakfast and a newspaper and sat outside in sunny Madrid reading and eating. When I could finally check in I took a shower and immediately napped. I woke up and shortly my family arrived! They were definitely jetlagged so we decided to take it easy that Friday night. We hung around the area walked around and what not. It was great to get some motherly love and comforting, something I do miss from the states. Saturday was another beautiful sunny day and we decided to go to the Palacio Real. I had been there already from a previous trip, but I knew that Mom and Madison would love it. We did that, came back took a siesta and went out to dinner. Mom and Dad had talked to the flight attendant who was from Madrid and he had suggested a Paella restaurant so we went there. We ate seafood paella with calamari, shrimp, clams, all the works it was undescribable. Mom loved it and would entertain us by eating the heads off the shrimp. That pretty much highlights my third and final trip to Madrid.
This weekend I am staying in Bilbao once again. La Rioja is wine country in Spain, where most of the Spanish wines come from. It is known all over the world and a few of my buddies who know wine well have told me that I do have to drink a La Rioja wine. Well thats all they serve here and finally yesterday we decided to go visit a Bodega which is a place where they make and bottle wine. We didn't make a reservation for a tour and completely forgot that siesta is a normal Spanish thing and arrived around 1 in the city of Haro which is part of La Rioja. We saw some bodegas which ended up being closed, and decided to go grab a wine and some lunch. We stumbled upon a restaurant that had cuts of meat. This was the first time I had had a steak anytime in Spain. We had some of the local wine, which is really cheap because they can just get it by walking down the street and then we headed out. We talked to some people and found some bodegas that were open. Tasted a few wines, one that was from 1987, and that pretty much consisted of our time in Haro. We have decided that we will go back, with a reservation next time now that we know a little bit more information.

Hola,
So this weekend I hung out in Bilbao for the first time in a LONNNNNG time. Thursday we finished school and immediately went to the stadium to buy tickets for the Real Madrid vs. Athletic soccer match. We stood in line for two hours to get our tickets. After I went home, took a siesta and went out for the night.
Friday I spent the whole day on the beach. When I say the whole day I mean I woke up and went to the beach and went home around the time the sun was going down. It was a very relaxing experience, but the water was extremely cold. I am so happy that I live 5 minutes walking from the beach. After I went to the beach I came home to eat, took a nap, and then went to walk on the beach for the night. I made it an early night because I knew that Saturday had so much to offer.
Saturday I woke up and went for a run. Once again, along the beach. After the run I ate. A few hours went by and it was time to go to the Athletic game. My friend Alec was bringing his house dad so I stopped by to pick them up. Alec's house dad was probably the funniest spaniard I have ever met. He was so excited for this game and was going insane. We got on the train at about 7:30 and headed down towards the stadium. When we got there we walked around the stadium and found where the players enter. We waited the for a half hour for all the players to enter. It was insane how the crowd was. There was probably 200 people screaming at the busses as they entered into the stadium. No one cared about rules. For security though, they had about 15 men in riot gear. When I say riot gear they had on everything and were ready to go. They had on their helmets and masks to cover their face. It was quite intimidating to look at these guys and made me think twice about any attempts I wanted to make to get close to the players (just kidding the thought never crossed my mind). After we saw all the players we walked around the stadium a little bit more before entering. There were so many people out and about it was insane. It was even hard to walk. When the gates opened we entered and Jose (Alec's house dad) explained to us it is sort of a free for all for seats, so we sat in some seats that were close to ours but weren't exactly ours. We never had a problem. Our seats were exactly what we wanted for waiting in line 2 days early and for 2 hours. We were in the 4th row on the north side of the field. As the stadium started to fill up it just kept getting louder and louder. These people really have a passion for their soccer. Everyone was singing chants and yelling at the players. The cool thing about Bilbao soccer is that everyone on the team is from Pais Vasco. When you put us up against a team like Real Madrid where only 2 people are even from Spain and they are signing out huge checks to their players, you can understand why I knew we had no chance of winning. We went through the first half with the score being 2-2 and I thought we might actually put up a fight. In the second half the game was finalized at 5-2, but that didn't stop the loyal Bilbao fans from chanting. They continued to haze Real Madrid all the way through the 90th minute. I have respect for their admiration of their team. People were throwing half eaten sandwiches, garbage, whatever they could find at the Real Madrid players and the Refs. I have never seen a ref taunted so bad before I saw a soccer match. In this stadium they do not sell liquor due to the fact that liquor is an inhibitor to more drunken soccer hooligan problems. They do allow you to smoke cigarrettes in your seat though. I went to the game wearing an Athletic flag which got me a lot of comments I did not understand and numerous high fives. Since soccer is pretty much the only sport played in Spain fans do have quite the passion for it. It is a memory I will never forget! Here are some pictures from the game.......

To start out my week, my mom came home wednesday with a bag and when she opened it and inside there were 5 whole fish! Her friend is a fisherman and knows I like to eat fish so he caught some special for me. How she cleaned them up was not with a knife, but with a pair of scissors. She took the pair of scissors and just cut off the heads and then ripped the spine out of the back. It was fun to help her prep the fish and it tasted extraordinary with some garlic, oil and salt. Very simple. Very tasty. I believe it was Mackerol.
So Friday we went on an excursion to Bayona, France and Hondarribia, Spain with school. Bayona is the capital of the Pais Vasco of France. To expand on that I live in an autonomous area of Spain where they still speak their own language Euskara and this area in France is part of that same autonomous region. By autonomous region I mean that they still have their own government separate of Spain. Many of the "socialistas" wish to keep this area as separate from Spain as they can. Thats why the ETA continues to bomb places that represent corporate Spain. Many people hated the idea of the Guggenheim coming into Bilbao because it would make the area too touristy. But that is a whole different area. So Bayona was my first time in France. It was really funny because I would try and speak Spanish to people completely forgetting that they spoke French. We visited a huge church called "La Catedral de Santa Maria" and walked around the area. We tried some delicious chocolate and had a crepe....very stereotypical I know but it was awesome. It was a beautiful city right on a river and it was really cool to see all French all over the place. After the France part, we went back into Spain for lunch. We ate at a traditional cider house. A cider house brews their own traditional liquor and we all tried it. It came out of these huge wooden barrels that were installed in the walls. The liquor tasted like nothing I have ever tasted before. It tasted like a weaker whiskey mixed with a ton of wood. I enjoyed it, but a lot of people didn't. We then had some paella and for a main course fish. After lunch we went to Hondarribia which was an extremely small fishing town on the ocean. I wasn't too thrilled with it, but that could be because it was raining. After the excursion we got back to the bus station just in time to leave for Luz Ardiden, France. The Pirinese Mountains are the huge mountain range in the north that is a natural border for Spain and France. They are the best skiing you can get. When we booked the trip I looked up the place and I was a little worried because it had like 6 chairlifts and did not look too big. When we got on to the bus we were the only American kids, the rest were Spanish, so I knew I booked a good trip. I talked to the bus driver for the first part of the ride and he explained that yea this place wasn't big, but it was tall. I didn't quite understand what he was talking about. He was a really nice guy to talk to his name was Manu. So 4 and a half hours later at about 1 AM we arrived at our place to stay. Even at night you could see the huge mountains surrounding us and there was about a foot of snow on the ground!!! We pack 6 people into a place that should sleep like 3 people and wake up 6 hours later to go snowboard! We get on the bus to go get our gear and stop at a market where some lady starts questioning me in French. She must have understood I had no idea what was going on cause she stopped trying and walked away. We then headed towards the mountain. That was the scariest drive I have ever seen a coach bus do. Tons of hairpin turns, cars stopped in the road putting on tire chains......it was nuts. We finally reached the mountain and headed up the chairlift. We got there at about 9:30. The Sun was shining bright and the skies were the darkest blue I have ever seen in my life. So we get up the chairlift and take off as a group of 6 down our first run. It was amazing, such nice snow. We get down and I am already sweating. I had on a hoody and my northface and it was too much. The cool part about this place was that nothing was blocked off and the whole mountain was basically yours. We were going down parts where no other person had gone. So much powder snow that when you turned quick it shot up 10 feet in the air. There was one point I had to take off my board and I took a step and was knee deep in snow. As the day went on the "clouds" rolled in. I say clouds because this was not a fog. We were literally in the clouds. As the clouds rolled in we kept snowboarding. The mountain cleared out because you could only see like 10 feet in front of you. I am not being overly dramatic with this. Literally 10 feet. We were on the chairlift and you could BARELY see one seat ahead of you. We were snowboarding down the hills and with our group of six we had no idea where we were going. We would go only in the direction of down. Literally our conversations would go like this "Where are we?.....Where are we going?.....I don't know down is this way so lets go this way...." So that went on for an hour or so as the clouds cleared out it was time to head back. We got back on the bus and went to the town for a little dinner and to buy groceries for the next day. We had a nice sandwich and sat outside staring at the mountains. We then went back and had a beer and literally went to bed. We were all completely dead tired. Sunday morning I woke up with a sun burnt face. I put on some SPF 15 lotion and headed out for another day on the mountain. We tried soo hard Saturday to keep the group together spending a lot of time waiting for the girls and whatnot. So Sunday we decided to do our own things. Us guys put on our Ipods and just boarded together for awhile, when we got split up. We already said instead of waiting that we should just go on. The mountain was too big to wait for eachother or find eachother when getting lost. So about an hour into it I was split up from the rest of the guys. I was on my own with my Ipod snowboarding and it was probably my favorite part. No one to wait for and no one to be bothered by. I would literally snowboard down a hill, cut the whole line of people at the chairlift, because i was by myself, and go up. I loved snowboarding with my Ipod. It was the first time I had ever done it and it was like dancing in the snow. I was carving to the beats of songs and dancing around. I must have looked like a fool but its ok. So I spent a good 4 hours by myself because I literally could not find anyone else. We made it back to the bus returned our gear and headed home. I got home and opened the door and said hello to my mom and she immediately started laughing at my sunburn. And today all my teachers made comments about my sunburn, but it was completely worth it. In my business spanish all 6 of us that went snowboarding had it and every one of us had sunburn and our teacher completely loved it.
Pictures: The first picture is my attempt at being artsy on the chairlift, and to show you I wasn't lying about the extremity of the visibility.
The second is of me up in the mountains. Beautiful eh?!
The third is of the Ciderhouse. Someone getting some cider!
That is all for now!

Ok, before I get on to Madrid I have my story of embarassment for the day:
So I had class today and I have a block of 100 minutes of class with a 10 minute break in between and I always grab a bag of chips to snack on. The vending machine I go to jams sometimes and I have to shake it to get my chips, whatever it is fun. So today I go and there are a ton of Spanish kids loitering around the vending machines, it must be their passing period. So I put my change in and press number 11 to get my chips. The of course get stuck, and the Spanish kids seem to have a quick fix for it. There are atleast 4 Spaniards yelling at me in spanish and I am like a dog when there are tons of people screaming its name, I have no idea what to do. One girl takes a run and jumps into the machine; my chips don't drop. I start shaking it, the chips don't drop. A Spanish kid comes up with a hanger, but finally realizes there is no place to put it. Finally a professor comes up and starts shaking it with me while speaking directions to me in Spanish on how I should be doing it. (He doesn't know I don't understand) At this point I have 15 Spanish kids around me sort of paying attention to what is going on. I stand around and contemplate my next move for a minute when a girl from my class comes up and is like I will buy the next bag and they will both drop. So she puts in her money, presses the number 11 and the chips start coming out, but get stuck on my bag! The group of Spanish kids that have surrounded us start going "AAAAAHHHHHHHH." I literally feel like I should be getting paid for this entertainment. The girl turns bright red in embarassment as all these Spanish kids laugh at our misfortune. Now I am MAD, this machine has made a fool of me in front of a culture that I can't explain myself to. I try to light heart it and ask the crowd in Spanish who is next to try and buy a bag of chips, they laugh. I come to my senses and bear hug this machine. I am wildly shaking it and finally ONE bag of chips drop. They start cheering! I grab my bag of chips and I go to the girl in English "I think this is enough embarassment for one day." We leave the other bag and head back to class, obviously a couple of minutes late.
So Madrid with Dad was definitely a better time.
I knew it was going to be a good weekend when I got to the airport 2 hours early and they offered me an earlier flight for free! So I get to Madrid nice and easy and navigate my way to Dad's hotel. I am getting really good at this public transportation thing. We put my bags in the room and head out to walk around. We take a bus to meet up with a friend of mine in Puerta Del Sol. A beautiful place. We sit down and hang out with me, dad, Luisa, and a bunch of his working buddies. They are really good fun and seem to know how to have a good time. We then headed to a restaurant where I tried to show them that I was legit Spanish; I wonder what they thought.... Dads coworkers call it a night but we have definitely not gotten enough of Madrid. We stay out walking around the town for a few more hours then head back to the hotel. 7 hours later its up and out on to Toledo. We head to the train station which is HUGE. Definitely bigger then Union Station. We get a number to get into a line that resembles the DMV. Except for 10 times longer. We wait a little over an hour and go try to get tickets to Toledo. Of course they are sold out! What to do?! Lets walk the streets of Madrid. We walked around to some bars grabbed a few drinks and then ate at a nice restaurant which had some outstanding food. Around 3 o' clock it was time for a Siesta. I guess I did teach these people something about Spanish culture. A nap is necessary in Spain. We wake up and decide to go find Mexican food. In Spain there is not a huge selection of Mexican food.....I don't think I know a place in Bilbao. We don't find the Mexican place and settle for Chinese. That completely worked out because I haven't had Chinese here yet. We decide to call it an early night and head to bed around Midnight. I buy dad one of my favorite things in Spain; a Buena Bar, but I don't think he enjoyed it as much as I thought he would.... Saturday we get up and head out to walk around Madrid some more. My favorite part of Madrid is the "SMALL STREETS" where cars can not drive on with the abundance of stores, restaurants, and bars. Dad buys me a scarf in an attempt to make myself look more European and we walk around to the bars and eat tapas and have drinks. We also checked out a ton of hotels, many which seemed really nice. Don't worry Mom, Dad is taking care of you! We finally find a mexican restaurant and eat! I was sooo happy. We head back to the hotel and Luisa calls me and we decide to meet up. We walked around for a bit and I have now found out that Madrid is more beautiful at night. The streets are full of people and the buildings are all lit up. The whole city feels alive at 8 o' clock. She decides she is going to head home around 10 o' clock and I decide that I am not ready. I walk around for a bit looking for a group of people to talk to and make friends with. I head to some bars, make some small talk with some Spaniards and then find a place called Dubliners. Oh there are definitely Americans in here to have a good conversation with. The first thing I hear is some guy trying to explain to his girlfriend who happens to live in Spain how when he says the word "No" he is actually speaking spanish because it is the same word. We start talking and they tell me they are heading to the same club that I went to last time I was there. I deny it on the grounds that I am not dressed up and I don't feel like paying for a taxi (what a smart traveller I have become). I head back to the hotel and find the same bar that dad and I had been hanging out 2 nights before and pop in. It is filled with a bunch of older business men and a group of kids that seem to be my age. I order myself a beer and go and talk to them. They were really cool kids who were definitely having a fun night. I decide its time to head home and get back a little before it was time for dad to wake up. SPANISH NIGHTS!!!! I vaguely remember saying goodbye to my father in my comatose sleeplike state and wake up at 1030. My flight is not for another few hours and I remember dads coworkers talking about a Thai place close to the hotel. So I start walking and find it. It is only 12:00 so lunch service is not started. I decide that I will settle for McDonald's. My first experience of such a sort in Spain so far. Delicious I must say. I take my bags, and head back to the airport and have all the time in the world. Whatever, so I finally get home and the first thing I do is try out the new Nike + Ipod running gizmo dad has given me. What an amazing invention that thing is! It basically forces me to run because it is like playing a game. Lets you know how far you have gone and basically forces you to keep running. Well its time I got back into shape after a week off.
Well this week is pretty relaxing...nothing big going on, but Friday we are going to the southern part of France with school and Friday night I will be heading to the Pirinese Mountains to snowboard for the weekend.
I have uploaded some pictures:
The first picture is of me and dad outside on the street on Thursday Night
The second picture is walking the streets with Luisa on Saturday night
The third picture is just a cool angle that I took of a street in Madrid.
That is all for now I am extremely tired and Much love from Spain!