Alucinante!

Word of the week: Alucinante. It means amazing. El fin de semana alucinante!

I went to a party at the Guggenheim museum Friday night with 5 other exchange students (all from cool places such as Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Holland and Pennsylvania!) It was really strange to see beer on the floor of a great museum. We did not stay for long and I do not have the stamina to stay out until 6am...yet.

From the top of San Pedro de Atxarri

I went hiking with my buddy, Judit, on Saturday. We drove about 40 minutes east of Bilbao to a place called San Pedro de Atxarri. It was great and the weather was perfect. The view of the ocean from the top was simply amazing. The pictures I took definitely do not depict the beauty!

After hiking, we went to a beach called Laga and walked along the sand. I asked Judit to take a picture of me with the water in the background and a huge WAVE came out of no where and soaked my shoes and jeans (almost to my bottom!) in saltwater. It was funny and somewhat refreshing. I am thankful that the wave did not take me back into the ocean because the water was freezing. I took my shoes and socks off in the car and walked the 20 feet to my house with bare feet!

Attacked by Ocean

Saturday night a few other exchange students and I went out for wine (or wine and coke like the Spanish drink). We encountered some men celebrating a bachelor party and they were definitely having fun. They tried to speak English with us and teach us how to dance. At one point they were sliding in across the floor without shoes! One guy told me about a great type of wine called Txakoli (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Txakoli) that is only produced in the Basque region so I had some...and it went on their tab!

Sunday our group of 7 went to San Sebastian. It was only an hour away from Bilbao, and an awesome day trip! We stood at the top of Mount Urgull and took amazing pictures. Then, we played in the sand on Playa de la Concha. The weather was perfect- a breezy 60 degrees :)

With my American friends on Mount Urgull

             
Just when I thought I had mastered the art of closing the toiled seat after using the restroom, I left it up again today. Chus has reminded me at least 10 times. She says she does not care but I need to learn good manners. Chus also told me that my Spanish was improving yesterday! Woohoo! The intensive Spanish class has been very helpful thus far. My teacher is great at making noises and hand gestures to help us understand words.

Surprise of the Week: Tons of people in Bilbao cycle and run! Especially in this beautiful weather. This makes me happy.

Hasta Luego,

Michelle