3, 2, 1, BUNGEE!

Since the past couple weeks have already disappeared faster than they came, I think it's about time for a little update...

To begin with, my internship is still going really well. I am actually enjoying it more now than I was before. Since I have gotten better at Spanish, I have been able to work on more challenging projects. I am having a lot more fun and I am learning more as well. The past couple weeks have been pretty tough though, because I have been working longer hours in order to make up for the hours I would miss for taking 3 days off to go to Barcelona for an extended weekend. Which brings me to my next update....

This past weekend, Maalia and I took a little trip to Barcelona to meet up with some friends and have a little 'vacation' (I know what you are thinking, a vacation from a vacation. But we are working hard here in San Sebastián, I swear!) We left early on Friday morning and took a plane from Bilbao. We got to Barcelona in about 3 hours total, I think. (Flying was a huge time saver!) We all stayed in this cute little apartment in a great part of town just for blocks from the beach and walking distance to a bunch of good restaurants and cool bars.

The first night, we went to a couple bars about 10 or 15 minutes away from the apartment. It was a lot of fun. At one point, we were hanging out in a big plaza and we saw this big group of people dressed in funky costumes. They were sitting in a line on the ground and one person would stand at the front of the line and fall backwards. Everyone would put their hands up and catch them and then 'crowd surf' them to the back of the line. So, of course, Maalia and I ran over to join in the shenanigans. They were perfectly excited to let us hop in on the fun. After that, we started playing another game, however when Maalia fell on the ground causing everyone else to tumble down after her like dominoes, we decided that would be a good time to peace out....

The following day, we went to see a bit of the town and do a little site seeing. First we went to Barcelona Cathedral (also known as La Seu). If I remember correctly, I think it said it was built in a style called Catalan Gothic architecture in the 14th century and the site where the church is located is referred to as 'the spiritual center of Barcelona'. We went up onto the roof and enjoyed the pretty view of the city.

From there, we headed over to Parque Guell, which was designed by the famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi for Barcelona's aristocracy. He was an interesting architect who was able to think way ahead of his time. The park is full of really cool rock structures as well as really unique buildings and figures decorated with little pieces of colorful ceramic. I sort of felt like I was walking in a dream world.

That evening, we met up with some other friends in town and we went to this club called Carpe Diem. Unfortunately, none of us really knew that we would be going to such a swanky place and we were all wearing tennies. Well, that didn't fly with the bouncer who was strictly enforcing the dress code.... We were thinking about where else to go when one of our friends comes bursting out the door informing the bouncer that she had paid for a VIP table downstairs and that we were all on the list. We whooshed by the bouncer, who was staring at our shoes as we passed with a pained look on his face. And from that moment on, i'm pretty sure the rest of the night was a dream (because i'm still not convinced that it could have really happened....). The VIP section had this big black couch with big colorful pillows. As we were sitting down, they were just bringing in a bottle of champagne for our table. We danced the whole night and they just kept bringing in more bottles of alcohol (which were quickly disappearing). I can't count how many rounds of Redbull and bottles of Vodka with big bright sparklers shooting out of the top that they set on our table (but we were hanging out with a bunch of Australians, so maybe that explains the disappearing alcohol??). We had so much fun. We felt so spoiled. We literally didn't have to do anything accept enjoy ourselves. And that definitely was not hard to do. We stayed until the club closed down, but I felt like I could have danced forever! It was a great Saturday night, to say the least.

The following day we slept in....we needed it! When we were finally ready to head out around noon, we went to have a big breakfast and then we were off to do a bit more site seeing. We went to one of Barcelona's most famous landmarks, La Sagrada Familia, which is an unfinished Catholic basilica. Like Parque Guell, it was also designed by Gaudi who worked exclusively on this cathedral for over 40 years. Construction began in the late 1950s and is still unfinished today. I think I remember our friend saying that it still has about 20 years to go! Anyways, the design is super detailed and super trippy. I kind of think it looks like it's melting or something. And parts of it are a little bit creepy. But it really is astounding that someone could design something so complex!

Later that evening, we went to a pub to watch the Barcelona-Valladolid fútbol game. During the game, the streets were absolutely dead. But after Barcelona won, people went crazy. It was really cool to see.

On Monday, Maalia and I took a little adventure to a town called Lloret de Mar to go bungee jumping! The entire day was a blast! It was just Maalia and I that went and it was a very memorable adventure. When we got to the bungee jumping site, we were the only customers there. We had hoped that we would get to watch some other people jump first just so that we could see that we would most likely survive the jump.... But that wasn't happening. So we just had to go for it. It was the most exhilarating feeling I have ever experienced! I had absolutely no control over anything and then it was like I blinked and it was over! It would have been cool if it lasted just a bit longer....I guess i'll just have to try sky diving next. ;)

After bungee jumping, we had an awesome evening with good beer, good food, and good friends. And just like that, our adventure was over. Now I am back in San Sebastián, back at work. I feel completely re-energized and I think I can safely say that my weekend in Barcelona was one of the most exciting, enjoyable weekends of my life!

Now, with just over 2 weeks left in San Sebastián, I am going to try to enjoy every last second of it!


Besitos! <3

Life is a party

The past couple weeks here in San Sebastián have absolutely FLOWN by! The month of April seems like a big blur and it made me realize how precious this last month will be. I am trying to really enjoy every minute of every day that I have left.

I have moved into my final piso (apartment) and I feel like a spoiled little brat! My bedroom is amazing! I have a huge closet, a huge bed, really pretty wood floors, a desk, and floor to ceiling french doors that lead out onto a little balcony that looks out onto a cute little plaza in a very charming part of town. My friend Nana and I moved into this apartment on the same day and it has been so much fun living with her! We have been doing so much together: cooking, shopping, watching movies, taking walks. It's really nice to have a friend around all the time.

This past Friday was Nana's birthday. To celebrate, we went to a Sidrería with a bunch of people from our language school. A Sidrería is a place where they make sidra. It is made with apples and it's like a mild cider. Sidrerías are a huge part of Basque culture and it's a really cool experience! You pay a flat fee and you get a 6 course meal and all the sidra you can drink! It's a great deal.

When we got there, there were big long tables set up with baskets of bread and empty glasses. We sat down and waited there for someone to tell us what to do since none of us had ever been to a Sidrería and didn't know what we were supposed to do. They came to our table and were like "what are you all sitting around for?! Get some sidra!" They showed us into a room with huge barrels of sidra. They tapped into a barrel and the sidra started pouring out in a big arc. We all stood in a line and caught it with our glasses. They told us that the best way to do it is to hold your glass down low and slowly bring it up closer to the spout. (For some reason it tastes better that way. I'm not quite sure why...they told us but I can't remember).

As for the food: best food I've had since I've been here - hands down! We started off with a little sausage. Simple but really good! Then they brought out something called 'tortilla de bacalau' which is sort of like an omelet with a really good white fish. Then they brought out 'Bacalau frito con pimientos'. This is the same fish that was in the omelet, but they fry it with these green peppers on top that are very typical here. The fish was my favorite part of the meal. It was so fresh and so yummy! Next they brought out something called 'Chuletón de buey a la parrilla'. This is basically a (hardly) grilled t-bone steak. It was soooo rare! I've never been a huge fan of rare steak, but I tried it anyways. It was really tasty, but I could only manage to eat about 2 or 3 bites. After the steak, we had 'Queso, membrillo y nueces', a cheese platter with this sweet pear 'jam' and walnuts. Then to top it all off, we were told to go upstairs to a lounge for coffee and desert. We were there for about 5 hours, drinking sidra and enjoying good food and good company. It was such a cool experience and I would love to be able to go back one more time before I leave Basque country.

I am still really enjoying my internship and I have really noticed an improvement in my Spanish since I started! I don't love waking up so early, but it's nice to be done with work my 2 and (since my new accommodation is so much closer to the bus stop) home by 2:30! The weather is getting so warm and sunny so I like having a good 4 hours left of quality sun time after my work day!

My friends and I have been spending most of our free time hanging out at the beach. There are 2 beaches close to where I am living: Zurriola and Play de la Concha. Zurriola is where most of the younger people hang out and Concha is where a lot of older people and families go. We usually hang out at Zurriola since that is where our friends go. However, we discovered that Concha is so relaxed and private (and by private I mean: people can see you, but they are all old anyways so they don't really count.... ;] ) that it's a great place to tan topless! Since making this discovery, we have enjoyed Concha so much that it's been difficult to talk ourselves into going to Zurriola!

I am enjoying my time here now more than ever and it's only making it fly by even faster! I'm meeting new people almost daily and I still feel like I'm living in a dream world.

Besitos!

Apparently, all the handsome guys come out with the sun!

A lot has happened since the last time that I updated my blog! I am done with Spanish classes and I have started my internship. I am working for a business called Fegemu. They buy from companies in other countries but they only sell to businesses in Spain. They sell lighting systems, security systems, and equipment for machines. (That is the very simple description of what they do. I won't bore you with details).

I absolutely love the people I work with. They are all so friendly and appreciative (I am working for them for free after all...). I am learning a lot of Spanish! For one, we only speak Spanish in the office (of course) but also, my boss has me translate emails and letters for her. It is such a good way to learn! I love it. That is probably my favorite job! I also do a lot of data entry and organizing. I'm just the little tad pole and I'm pretty sure they give me all the jobs that are easy enough that I couldn't possibly mess them up.... However, one of my bosses did tell me i'm "muy listo", which is a way of saying that i'm smart! I was pretty excited about that. :)

Due to various reasons, I ended up moving into a new living accommodation. I am living with a 73 year old woman named Miren. I'm pretty sure she is the sweetest, craziest old woman I have ever met. I love it here! My first day here, she told me that I will be like her daughter for the 3 weeks I am living here. She meant it! I came home one evening and she had washed and folded my clothes and made my bed up with fresh sheets! She is always telling me that I don't eat enough and that I need to eat more. She says that i'm young and if I don't eat more, I won't sleep well. I will be getting ready for bed at like 11pm and she will come in and try to talk me into eating something before I go to sleep.

I have been sick for the past couple days and she is taking very good care of me. When I woke up from a nap yesterday she had made some soup for me and she forced me to drink some tea. This morning, she informed me that in a half hour, I need to drink some fresh squeezed orange juice. I'm not quite sure what I will do without her when I move out of her apartment!

Miren has some nieces and nephews around my age. This past Sunday, I went to see Real Sociedad (San Sebastián's fútbol team) with her niece, Garazi and her friend Maider. They are both my age and it was so much fun! They are from Basque country, so they speak Castellano (Spanish) as well as Basque. It was fun because we spoke the whole time in Spanish and I was able to see how much I really have improved in the past month! Also, Real Sociedad won! They are in the second division right now and they are hoping to make it to the first division for next year. That would mean that they would play the really good teams like Real Madrid. They are doing very well this season and it is likely they will make it. The win this past Sunday was big for them; they were playing the number 2 team! The crowd went crazy. It was so much fun! Garazi and Maider told me that they would love to hang out again and introduce me to their friends. I'm excited to become friends with more Spanish speaking people because I will be forced to practice more! (all my friends speak English!)

While I love living with sweet old Miren, I am also looking forward to moving into my next accommodation. I will be living much closer to the bus stop that I have to walk to every morning to go to work, I will be living 5 minutes from the beach, and I will be living with young people including my new Greenlandic friend, Nana. It will be completely different from my living situation now, but also really fun. Nana and I get along really well and we both like to cook. We are excited to have 'sleepovers' every night and get to cook together all the time. Not to mention - have someone to walk home with all the time.

The weather is finally starting to change and Spring is in the air. I love it! Maalia, Nana and I spent the day on the beach a couple days ago. It's so relaxing and we just kept looking around and wondering how we got so lucky to live in such a beautiful place for these months. And apparently, all the handsome guys come out with the sun! We were wondering where they have been hiding! ;)

I am having so much fun and there is a part of me that wants to stay here forever! But I also really miss my family and friends. I talked with my auntie Mary last night and she was telling me about all the fun things that everyone is up to at home. This is a good time for everyone and I just feel so content.

I miss you all! If you have any questions about anything, feel free to send me a message! I didn't want to go into too much detail about any one thing because it would turn into a short novel.

besitos!
<3 Sierra (Eli)

Last week of classes!

This week is my last week of Spanish classes! I have my first interview on Wednesday for an internship. I don't even know anything about it yet; I will receive more information tomorrow morning. Things are pretty relaxed here. I discovered early on that it doesn't do much good to stress about things because it always works out - even if it feels completely last minute...

This evening I am meeting my language exchange partner. This is someone that speaks Spanish as their first language but wants to practice speaking English. You can meet as often as you want to and you switch off speaking in Spanish and English with each other so that both people can learn. It's a really cool little program. It's a great way to learn the language and it's also a really easy way to meet people. Since you often get paired with someone who lives here in San Sebastián, they can introduce you to their friends and show you cool places in the city that you might not have discovered without the help of a native! I'm really excited!

After our meeting, I am going to a Jazz concert with some friends. This month, they are having free concerts every Monday evening. A bunch of the German students went last week and really enjoyed it. I love jazz, so it should be fun. And it's free!

This is exciting: I found someone who will teach me how to surf - for free! I just have to rent a wet suit. (However, i'm sworn to secrecy and cannot divulge this mystery surf instructor's name....so sorry) I'm really excited to give it a try. It looks really difficult. But the waves have been pretty tame and I've been told it's a good time for a beginner to surf.... We'll see about that.

Other than that, life is pretty simple for me!

Besitos y abrazos,
Sierra (Eli)

Snow in San Sebastian!

Hello, all! The past few days have been very busy! The pinxtos tour was so much fun. As I mentioned in my last blog, San Sebastian is famous for it's 'pinxtos'. Basically, they are very fancy, elaborate appetizers. It is considered a very highly regarded form of art here. We went to 5 different bars on the tour and had one pinxto at each bar. It's also customary to have a 'small' glass of white wine with each pinxto (dangerous for a lightweight like me...). We started off the tour with a pinxto called Foie. Foie means duck liver.... it was....interesting.... I'm glad that I tried it, because it is definitely a delicacy here. It was a little much. The texture totally threw me off. And it was very greasy. But it also had very good flavor. Then we continued on to other famous bars and all the other ones were really delicious. We ended the tour with a piece of cheese cake! It was so incredible. I am such a cheese cake lover and this cheese cake was special! It was super creamy inside and the outer parts were a little bit more cooked and there was this sweet syrup over it that tasted like it was some sort of vanilla mixture - Mmmmm! Delicioso!

At the beginning of the tour, 2 girls that I had never met before walked up just as we were leaving. Their names are Maalia and Cristi. Maalia is from Greenland and Cristy is from California! It was so exciting to meet them. Since then I have pretty much been hanging out with them every day; they are a lot of fun!

After the tour that night, everyone went out to go dancing at one of the local bars called Tas Tas. It was so much fun! (Until we had to wake up for class the next morning!) That night I also met 2 guys from the U.S. who are living here in San Sebastian. One of them is from California and the other is from, guess where....SEATTLE! Such a small world! He's actually the owner of one of my favorite restaurants. So it's been fun getting to hang out with them a bit as well. The night after our tour, they cooked an amazing meal for us girls (there is a picture of my enchiladas on facebook). Everyone here is very friendly. Every time we go out to eat or out for drinks or to go dancing, we end up making new friends.

This past Saturday I went on a little excursion with my school to (even more) Northern Spain and then to France! It was really fun. It only takes about an hour to get there. We took a little tour through a really pretty old town in Northern Spain and we came upon a really cool wedding ceremony. There were all these people dressed up in these traditional costumes and they started doing this really cool dance together for the bride and groom when they came out of the church. It was really cool to see! (And the bride had a gorgeous dress!!!)

After the little tour we had a fabulous lunch outside in the sun and then hopped on a boat to France! We played on a nude beach there (even though it was pretty cold!) It was so much fun. However, it was way to cold for anyone to be nude!!! Then we walked through a really cute little town and took a tram back to San Sebastian. I'm happy that I can say that i've been to France now, but I still want to see more of that country!

Yesterday I went to a soccer game! San Sebastian has a soccer team called Real Sociedad. I went with a bunch of friends and we had great seats! Really close to the field. It was so much fun! And Real Sociedad won 2-1. The fans were going crazy and it was packed! It's such a huge part of the culture here; I'm so glad that I got to experience a fútbol game in Spain!

Then later on that evening it started snowing!!! It was absolutely beautiful, however I definitely was not dressed for snow! It has been snowing off and on today as well. Just when I thought this city couldn't get any more beautiful, I see it snow. Yet again, I have to pinch myself to make sure it's not just all a dream!

Miss you all! Besitos y abrazos,

Eli ;)

Germans, Mullets, and One Way Streets!

Hola, buenas! I have been in San Sebastian now for 3 full days. I still feel nervous that I'm going to wake up any second and realize that this city couldn't possibly be real!

This is funny - In Spanish, the word 'sierra' means 'saw' or 'close'. For this reason, my host and her boyfriend have given me the nickname Eli! haha. They came up with this by taking the first three letters of my middle name, Elizabeth Ann. Everyone here calls me Eli, even the people at my school. And I actually really like it. (Although I think I'd like to go back to Sierra when I get home.)

San Sebastian is very small and is basicall broken up into two different parts: the "old part" and the "new part". Yesterday I took a tour of the old part of the city. As we were walking through the streets, I felt like I was on the set of a movie. There is such an interesting contrast between the old buildings and the modern things inside them. I don't know if you've seen it, but I almost feel like i'm in the movie "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street". I don't know, something about the architecture or something.

Anyways, the pace of life here is very calm. I love it. It's on the coast so there are a lot of surfers walking around with their wet suits and surf boards. (I might even give surfing a try! But no promises!) Since the town is pretty small, a lot of the people know each other. My host owns a cafe very close to the center of the town. There are tons of really yummy pastries and the coffee is really good! I never drink coffee at home but this morning, I had 2 lattes!

Today was my second day of Spanish classes. All of the other students in my class are German! It is difficult to understand them because they speak Spanish with a German accent! Yesterday I didn't really understand anything they were saying, it was really bad. Today, it was much easier. Hopefully that means i'm getting used to it. Maybe tomorrow I won't have any trouble at all....? (Probably wishful thinking, but I'll keep you updated.) Even though it's difficult to speak Spanish with the German students, I am constantly using the language and I can't believe how much better I have gotten already! It's exciting!

The people here in San Sebastian are very fashionable! There are so many cute shops and walking to and from school is torture! It's like i'm forced to window shop! There is a certain style here that I guess I would compare to what we would call "emo" in the U.S. But here, apparently it's trendy, or "scene" to have a mullet....! It's so funny! In Washington, when you see people with mullets, they usually aren't the most trendy people....But here, the people with the mullets are the fashionable ones! So don't be surprised if I come home in June with a trendy mullet in an attempt to bring the fad to Seattle! ;)

Every street in San Sebastian is a one way street. In theory, this makes it very easy to cross the streets, right?? WRONG! It is so confusing for some reason. I just can't bring myself to believe that I only ever have to look one way! And as a result, crossing the streets here is even more scary than it is at home! But lets be honest, I've never been very brave when it comes to crossing the street.... Travel to a foreign country by myself?? No problem! But someone better hold my hand when I cross the street!

Tomorrow I am going on a "Pinxtos", or tapas, tour! I am really excited because San Sebastian is known for it's cuisine and they are famous for their pinxtos! :)

besitos y abrazos,
Sierra

Madrid, take 2

I had a lot of fun walking around the city this morning, getting a feel for the culture of Madrid. I had a couple errands to run and in about 3 of the shops I went into the people told me to be careful not to get pick pocketed. Apparently there is a high theft rate in Madrid because there are so many tourists. This wasn't the most comforting thing to hear as I was planning to spend the morning walking through the city, alone. But I didn't have any issues at all (don't worry dad!). One of the guys that works at the hostel i'm staying at told me that the door guys at the bars let the Romanian gypsies come in and prey on all of the drunk American's who aren't paying close attention to their wallets! It's a sketchy business!
So I learned today that the city is broken up into 2 parts, the 'old city' and the 'new city'. I took a tour of the 'new city'. It was really fun and interesting. Learning the stories behind all of the buildings and sculptures gives them so much more meaning. I really enjoyed it. Spain has so much history!
I also feel lucky that I have 3 really cool roommates! 2 Chinese girls and a German guy. None of them speak Spanish, so I've had to be the translator a time or 2 -- which is good practice because I am heading up to San Sebastian tomorrow and on Monday, I will have an oral examination to place me into the proper Spanish class for my level. :)

besitos y abrazos,
Sierra