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)