BCA, Barcy, Barcelonaaa

La Sagrada Familia

We (Danairy, Lauren, and I) started off the trip to Barcelona at the airport at 5:30 am on Friday, January 28. We got a little turned around trying to find Hotel Suizo, but after some much needed help from a few kind Barcelonians, we found our way. We checked in and then hit the road. First stop: La Sagrada Familia. Quite a spectacle. This cathedral tells the story of Jesus Christ and was breathtaking, inside and out. We ate a delicious meal at a nearby restaurant then walked along the beach and zoo area. Later Friday evening we decided to walk down Las Ramblas to get a glimpse of the night life. It started pouring rain right as we walked out the door. We walked around for a bit, then settled down at an overpriced coffee shop, boots drenched and umbrellas dripping with rain. We had lots of fun. At one point, the waiter asked what language I spoke and I said French without hesitation. Oh the little things that make you laugh...

Font Mágica

Saturday we woke up and began our sightseeing excursion. First stop: Parque Güell. After a small detour to a castle in the west part of Barcelona, we found our way to the park by taxi.  Taxi's are cheap and we used them lots because the metro was confusing and scary. The park was beautiful, but not what I pictured because I thought there would be more sculptures and Gaudi-esque architecture. We took a cab back to the Gothic Quarter and ate an amazing lunch at 7 Portes. Rick Steves said in his podcast that they have the best Paella in Barcelona--he failed to mention that it is probably also the most expensive! They charged for the water! We ate snails as part of our appetizer and the paella was delicious. After lunch we took a cable car up to Montjuic (we met some funny Czech guys along the way who shared their chocolate with us) and saw Font Mágica. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. That fountain is spectacular. I felt like a little girl watching it. I was in awe the entire time!

After the fountain show we went back to the hotel and freshened up to go out for the night. Night life in Barcelona is great. We didn't stay out tooo late because we woke up early on Sunday to see the Picasso Museum and eat eggs for breakfast! We also walked to Casa Batlló and La Pedrera, two of Gaudi's beautiful buildings. We had a 7 hour train ride back, which, thankfully, felt more like 3 hours! I still cannot find the name of the movie I watched in Spanish, even after googling and re-googling it!

Back in Bilbao... Classes commenced on Monday! The Spanish education system is so weird. I am thankful for the ease of registration at The University of Texas. FOR REAL. It is much easier in America. I am learning how to be more patient and flexible.

Here is some important news:
1. I ate lemon yogurt for the first time yesterday. It is my new favorite food.
2. I am giving Chus computer lessons this semester. It is quite hilarious. This evening I taught her how to open the internet, type "Franco Suizo" into the search bar, press enter, and then close the screen.
3. I'm going to La Mongie Bareges, France to snow ski this weekend!

Agur (that is goodbye in Basque),

Michelle

Frío. Tiendas. Pintxos.

I have been here for 2 weeks already! Wow.

This week I experienced the normal Winter weather in Bilbao: Rain and cold. It is perfect shopping weather. I went to an outlet mall on Tuesday. Somehow I managed to only spend 20 euros!

Chus and I went to a different church last week. I told her I wanted to learn the Lord's Prayer in Spanish so she wrote it down for me! I also gave Chus computer lessons and helped her post one of her apartments for rent on a Spanish website. It was so funny. I wish there was a better word for mouse in Spanish. The computer mouse is the "ratón" and that just sounds weird.

A large group of exchange students went out for Pintxos last night. Pintxos are synonymous with Tapas in the rest of Spain. To Americans, Pintxos are best described as a small, scrumptious appetizer. (Look here for more info: http://gospain.about.com/od/tapasinspain/qt/pintxos_pinchos_tapas.htm) I just drank a glass of wine at the restaurant...I would rather eat the food Chus makes than go out. I have enjoyed everything she has made thus far. We went to a little dessert shop afterward and bought bite size toffee for 25 cents!

Today, I went to a Mexican restaurant and had a margarita with some friends. It was probably the best margarita I have ever tasted. Afterward, we planned on going to a museum but it was closed! We shopped instead. I bought some real European high wasted black pants. I am excited to wear them so that mayyybe I can fool someone into thinking I am from Spain (Ha. Just kidding Spanish people do not have freckles).

Here are a few photos from the week: http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-00d1-a38c-6698?ln. Trip Advisor is awesome!

Barcelona this weekend! YAY!

XOXO

P.S. I watched Hannah Montana tonight and I must say, it was pretttty funny in Spanish! It made me want to watch more.

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

Spainy Story Time: Wolves, Bubbles, and Wind

Time flies by here!!

Even though the weather has been a little damp, it has not put a damper on my experience!! I was expecting to shiver constantly in the cold throughout the semester. So far, the weather and I are getting along just fine.

Chus buying flowers for the balcony!

The Basque accent is so interesting. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between a "B" and a "G" because they are both very weak consonants. I will catch on soon enough. Chus and I went to the flower shop a few days ago, she pointed and I heard her say "lobo". I thought the animal she was pointing at was a wolf! In reality, she was saying "luego". Which means "let's go". Now every time she says "luego" I have to repeat it and remind myself that she is not talking about a wolf!

I met with my buddy, Judit, yesterday afternoon. She showed my how to get a transportation pass for the Metro, train and bus. We also went to El Corte Ingles (the store that has EVERYTHING) and I almost bought a Hannah Montana straightener for 10 euros (HA!)...but Judit remembered that she had an extra for me to borrow. Then we went cell phone shopping! Thank goodness she was with me, I got a really awesome deal.

The kids! Marcos and Uxue

Yesterday after dinner I saw Chus making 2 cardboard cylinders out of something she had around the house. The she poured soap into a little cup and gave it to her grandchildren and they started to bow bubbles (pompas)! So creative. I'm going to have to remember that when I'm a grandma. We went into the bathroom because the kids were making a mess and pretty soon, they formed a band with the cardboard instruments. It was fun. The kids are really intelligent. Their names are Marcos and Uxue (oo.sue.eh) and they are 5 year old twins. They can speak English, Basque and Castellano (Spanish). The first time I met them, the sang the entire chorus of the Waka Waka World Cup song! It was hysterical.

My American friends and I went to the coast today and saw the Bay of Biscay. (See where we were: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=204145249901475562674.00049996740cb9b2bbfd0). It was a 20 minute ride on the Metro and it started raining immediately after we got there! My umbrella almost flew out of my hands several times! It was pretty funny though. We ran up to a little restaurant and drank hot chocolate (coco cao). When the rain ceased and we were dry and warm, we went back out to take a few more pictures and this time the wind almost blew me off the mountain! It was a great afternoon.

The Coast- Bay of Biscay

The intensive language classes start tomorrow! YAY! Hopefully I will meet lots of new people and learn more Spanish. Speaking Spanish in SPAIN is completely different than learning it in an American high school or university. I have learned more here in 3 days than I have in 3 years in the US! (Okay so that is probably a hyperbole but it really seems that way!)

I did not eat lunch until 5:30pm today. Chus asked if I wanted dinner and I told her that I probably would not be hungry. Then she said "Okay, you can just have dessert!" I responded with "Por Supuesto!" (Of course!).

Until next time,

Michelle

Is this a dream?

I embarked on my journey January 7th at 5:50pm from the DFW airport. The last 24 hours felt more like 124142 hours. Let me explain.

The plane ride was not bad, it was just strange. I slept for a grand total of 10 minutes. The weird part was the first 2 hours went by quickly because I was learning about the Canary Islands from my new friend, Sylvia, to my left and journaling, reading, listening to music. Then it got dark and everyone went to sleep and I think I was the only one awake on the plane. And the other 8ish hours were long. We finally got to the Madrid airport- which is huge and beautiful and artsy- and made the 30 minute trek to our next departure gate to Bilbao. And let me tell ya, that was an interesting flight. There are huge gusts of winds coming from the south of Spain right now and our plane almost fell out of the sky! On the bright side, the weather was absolutely perfecto when we arrived, about 60 degrees :)

My buddy at the University of Deusto, Judit, came to pick me up. We got in her European car and drove about 20 minutes to the apartment I'm living in, right in the center of town! She gave me a little tour on the way in, thank goodness she speaks English! Then I met Chus, my host mother. She kissed me on the cheek and started asking questions and made me feel right at home.

I unpacked while Chus made a wonderful salad and revuelta de champinones (like an omlette with mushrooms, except better). I had an orange for dessert and coffee (extremely black and delicious). Then I showered and we hit the town! Chus took me to all the shops and I'm not even kidding it felt like I was in New York City. There is an H&M, Sephora, Zara, Lacoste, Gucci, you name it! We window shopped and went in tons of nice stores/boutiques. The streets were packed full of people. Yesterday was the start of all the sales in Spain (which explains the craziness) and it lasts through the middle of February. Bilbao only has about 300,000 people but it felt much bigger than that today!

We stopped by a little coffee shop, Lepanto, that was playing a soccer game between Malaga and Bilbao. It was intense! I had Rioja wine (one thing I've been looking forward to most!) and we split a torta de arroz. (I don't know how to explain what this was, just think of the most delicious pie-like dessert you've ever eaten with chocolate drizzled on top and there you have it). Then we came back and ate a light dinner at about 10pm. Vegetable soup and fish with salsa verde. Muy bien.

I have learned so many new words from Chus today. Her accent is thick, but not incomprehensible. I understood so much more of what she said at dinner as opposed to lunch, which was encouraging.

Chus and I are going to Catholic church in the morning. I am real excited.

Time to get some much needed rest.

Abrazos,
Michelle