Living in the Basque Country, you can't go a day without hearing something about the Basque conflict and the differences in culture and ideals or even appearance. Reading articles on Bilbao before I left the United States, I thought I was going to be killed over my lack of knowledge on the issue, but Bilbao is really the safest place I've ever lived. Here is as much as I know and understand about the Basque history:
Historians, archaeologists, and pretty much everyone that is qualified to study the Basque people are confused on their origin. Most of the original tribes of people in Europe can be traced back to some location in the past, but scientists are finding that impossible to do with the Basque people. The only explanation they can come up with is that the Basques are the original cave people of Western Europe. Though this isn't proved, it still seems insane! They have trouble tracing them back to any specific tribe of people because Basques are traditionally taller than other Europeans with a different bone structure. The blood type is very different too.
What makes it most difficult is the Basque language, "Euskera." Euskera isn't based on Latin like Spanish and English, so it would be very difficult for an outsider to pick up on. Linguists have decided that Euskera is most similar to Japanese, though it is nothing like Japanese or any other Oriental language. Currently, Euskera is one of the first languages children learn to speak in the Basque Country. Either their family speaks it at home, or half of their classes in school are taught in Euskera. Many people older than 20 do not know how to speak Euskera. This is because during Franco's dictatorship, it was illegal to speak Basque. The language was preserved by the people that fled to France during the dictatorship or by the people who illegally spoke the language in their homes.
Also illegal during the reign of Franco were Basque names. My teacher, whose name is Begonia, had to be named Maria Begonia at her birth. Begonia is a Basque name, but Maria Begonia is the name of a saint. Her parents would have been arrested as they tried to leave the hospital if they didn't include the name Maria on her birth certificate. And even though she has never been called Maria, it is still part of her name to protect her family.
From the beginning of the Spanish civilization, the Basque people had their own type of independence. Though their land was controlled by the lords and kings in Spain, they were given autonomy. Throughout the years and many wars, they often lost some of their powers, but their independence was always respected to a degree. After the Spanish Civil War, Franco eliminated the Basque independence. It pretty much became illegal to be Basque. Now that Spain is a Republic, the Basque Country has regained a lot of its independence, though there are many people that want to be a separate country.
As I understand it, the most intense push to be an independent nation came in the 80's and 90's. A Basque terrorist group called ETA was formed. Their most devastating attack was in Madrid in the 90's. To the Spanish people, this is considered as devastating as 9/11 is to us. After the attack, the government decided to give the Basque people a little more freedom in exchange for a cease-fire. ETA is currently inactive and all the jailed members of this terrorist organization were put in prisons outside of the Basque Country to make it more difficult to fire up the group. (Not all Basques are extremists. It's just like American extremists.)
Right now, to explain the Basque Country is one big contradiction. They are called a country but they aren't a country. They are independent but they answer to the Spanish government. They have their own language but the majority of people speak Spanish on a daily basis. They are Spanish but they are Basque. They want to be their own country but they also want to be part of Spain. Basically, if you are an American visiting the Basque Country, don't share your opinion about the conflict because it's too complex to fully understand unless you yourself are Basque. I personally find the whole situation fascinating and I'm so glad I choose to live here even though everything on the internet tried to scare me away.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Gernika, Mundaka, and More
Yesterday was a pretty eventful day for everyone in the CIDE program because we went out on another excursion. This time, we weren't missing 20 people, probably because we didn't have to leave until 10 am. We started the day in Gernika which is part of the providence Bizkaia, the same providence as Bilbao. This city is famous for the 1936 bombing the suffered at the hands of Hitler during the Spanish Civil War. Hitler and Franco were bros. The city wasn't particularly pretty because they rebuilt in a hurry but there was history everywhere. First, we went to the World Peace Museum which is basically just a museum about the bombing. I thought this museum was pretty cool because the floors were made out of glass and under the glass was real rubble from the bombing. Though most of the rubble was rock and wood, there were also a lot of random items that they had excavated from the rubble, like a women's shoe, playing cards, and charred books.
After the museum, we went to visit the Bizkaia Assembly House, where the Bizkaian government meets. Right outside of this building is the tree of Gernika. This was the tree where all of the Bizkaian lords met to discuss laws in the middle ages. I was pretty disappointed that the original tree is no longer standing (even though the tree survived the bombing). Every time the tree is close to death, they take one of its seeds, cut down the old tree, and plant its child. I believe the current tree was the great-great-great-great-grandchild of the original tree. The tree and the town of Gernika are considered to be the historical symbol of the Basque Country.
After Gernika, we visited Mundaka which is a fishing village right on the ocean. For some reason, we weren't allowed to go onto the beach, but we could go on the stairs that lead right down to the water. We had plenty of time to look around the water before our trip back to Bilbao. This trip was way better than our last excursion.
On Wednesday, we were given our Spanish partners for our conversation groups. Since there are more of us than there are of them, we are actually in small groups instead of partners. I am in a group with two other American girls and two Spanish girls. They are super nice and I can't wait to talk to them more throughout the months. I am also participating in the Tandem program, so I will have my own partner outside of class to practice speaking with. I have been assigned my girl, but we haven't had a chance to meet yet.
Yesterday when I got home from my trip, our French girl was here. Her name is Deborah and she is super nice. I got to go with my family to show her around a bit and get to know her. She is only here for the week.
Today was quite eventful for a Saturday too. When I woke up this morning, it was snowing! It does not snow in Bilbao. Ever. It didn't stick since it was 40 degrees but my family was still pretty excited about it. They were trying to figure out if there had been snow in Bilbao since Martin had been alive, so it's really a treat that I was here for the snow. Lunch was a catastrophe. I had been planning on making Cheesy Potatoes and Meatballs (the best food in our family) for quite awhile and today ended up being the day. Writing out the ingredients for Perico to buy was difficult enough since there weren't translations for half of the stuff in the recipes. I knew that he would come back home with something besides hash browns.... the frozen french fries he bought did the trick. Then after that, I had to make a dish that I had never made before while only getting help in Spanish. I tried to do as much as I could on my own because explaining was taking way too long. At some point I gave up on having meatballs in the shape of balls and decided it was just going to be a meat dish. I added a little more than the recipe called for in the potatoes, too, since they were thicker. I'm not sure if it was really necessary since I do not cook, but I was in a hurry and really didn't care. In the end, everything turned out okay but it definitely wasn't anything like how my grandma would make it. I would like to add the the hamburger has a different taste here. It kind of tastes like crap! Only eat Nebraska beef!
After the museum, we went to visit the Bizkaia Assembly House, where the Bizkaian government meets. Right outside of this building is the tree of Gernika. This was the tree where all of the Bizkaian lords met to discuss laws in the middle ages. I was pretty disappointed that the original tree is no longer standing (even though the tree survived the bombing). Every time the tree is close to death, they take one of its seeds, cut down the old tree, and plant its child. I believe the current tree was the great-great-great-great-grandchild of the original tree. The tree and the town of Gernika are considered to be the historical symbol of the Basque Country.
After Gernika, we visited Mundaka which is a fishing village right on the ocean. For some reason, we weren't allowed to go onto the beach, but we could go on the stairs that lead right down to the water. We had plenty of time to look around the water before our trip back to Bilbao. This trip was way better than our last excursion.
On Wednesday, we were given our Spanish partners for our conversation groups. Since there are more of us than there are of them, we are actually in small groups instead of partners. I am in a group with two other American girls and two Spanish girls. They are super nice and I can't wait to talk to them more throughout the months. I am also participating in the Tandem program, so I will have my own partner outside of class to practice speaking with. I have been assigned my girl, but we haven't had a chance to meet yet.
Yesterday when I got home from my trip, our French girl was here. Her name is Deborah and she is super nice. I got to go with my family to show her around a bit and get to know her. She is only here for the week.
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| My sad cooking attempt |
Monday, February 18, 2013
Random Spain Facts
**In Spain I'm considered a blonde!? My host mom will always say things like, "Oh that gorgeous blonde in the pretty dress," and it takes a minute or two to realize that she was referring to me. :s
**There aren't any jobs in Spain; it's worse than the American job market. Kids here my age don't work. Most peoples' first job is the job they go to college for. Since that's the case, parents support their kids' partying habits and pay for them to go to the clubs every night.
**Because kids don't work, they rely on their families for lots longer than American kids do. You are basically considered a kid until around the age 26 or 27 and most people are still living with their parents at that age. You only live in the dorms at school if you go to a college outside of your town (which isn't common).
**A dinky apartment the size of about a classroom costs around 800,000 euros, which is close to a million US dollars. You don't rent apartments here-- you have to buy it. I haven't seen an actual house since I've been in Spain, only apartments. Instead of calling your apartment "my house" you call it "my piso" which translates into "my floor."
**Since people are so much older before starting work and buying a house, families start later too. It's common for "starting a family" to mean buying an apartment with your boyfriend since getting married can cost so much money. Kids don't come until the woman is well into her 30's because maternity leave benefits aren't as good here and women want to have an opportunity to work their way up in their jobs. Since they are so much older when they start having kids (and since the homes are smaller and money is tighter) most families only have one kid-- 2 kids every once in awhile.
**Women's Rights are actually taken seriously here (Mom, can I move?). Besides the whole maternity leave thing, the Spanish government does everything they can to protect women and girls, especially from violence. I'm not sure if you have every heard of being charged with Attempted Rape, but here people can get 6 years in prison for that. And getting charged with actual rape will put you in prison for longer than you could imagine. It's amazing how great a country is when there aren't loonies running around preaching about "Legitimate Rape." A few years ago, the Spanish government noticed that there were many more cases of spousal homicide and decided to take matters into their own hands... this one gets a little extreme. To eliminate this problem, the Spanish government has outlawed any kind of language spoken from a man to a woman that could make the woman feel superior to the man. If a man calls his wife (or any woman for that matter) the B-word and the woman can prove it, the man will be sentenced to jail time. Luckily, the courts have given the men a 2 strike policy. If the first offense gets the man less than two years of jail time, he will get off with community service or some type of anger management. But the second time he is being tried for this crime, he will go to prison.
**Barack Obama is considered a conservative by every European that I've met.
**Everyone loves the universal health care system in Spain. Maybe we need to look into their model.
**Criminals don't carry guns here. The only guns my host family has seen are the ones that the guards have in front of the government building when important visitors are there.
**McDonald's is where you go to work if you need a job while you are getting your education. All the workers have their teeth and are bilingual. They don't smell either. McChicken sandwiches are 6 euros which is probably around $8.
**We don't drink our water with ice...ever!
**Moms here are obsessed with the nutritional content of everything, and know what each type of food is good for. Martin is not allowed to eat oranges after supper because they keep you up or something like that. She is also certain that if the food is shaped like a certain organ, then it is good for that organ. I can't remember which food exactly but she always tells me it's good for my skin. I've been having an allergic reaction on my skin since I got here, so I think she's wrong!
**The death penalty is not allowed an any member states in the European Union (including Spain) because it is a form of denying people of their human rights.
**So far, about half of the dogs I've seen have been neutered. I'm guessing the other half are female?? Gross!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
16/2/2013
We are finally almost to the end of a very boring week.
Thursday night after class I was sitting in my room doing my homework and minding my own business when the dog walked in playing with one of Martin's gloves. I took it from him and went to put it in Martin's room. The door was wide open and the light was on and he was talking to his mom. As I took a step toward the door, the worst possible thing ever happened. Martin was laying on his bed changing into his pajama pants full moon toward the door.... and I saw EVERYTHING!!! I was mortified and didn't know what to do, so hoping he didn't see me I threw the glove into his room and hurried back to mine (well, ran actually). I didn't come out of my room until I knew he was asleep. I was pretty sure that he hadn't seen me because he hadn't said anything crying or yelling to Isabel. But Friday at supper I realized that he probably had seen me. He wouldn't eat with us, so I'm assuming it was because he was too embarrassed to be in the same room as me. Last night I gave him a Fun Dip, so I'm assuming that means we're friends again.
Yesterday I got a huge box in the mail from my aunt and uncle Heath and Amanda (and Cooper and Charleigh, of course)! I couldn't break into the box fast enough. I was beyond relieved when I found FOUR jars of peanut butter (along with Valentine's candy, wing sauce, and a "dirty" diaper from Coop). It was a matter of seconds before I had a jar of peanut butter open and was eating it by the spoonful. I probably ate peanut butter for 15 minutes straight (happy dancing the whole time) before I decided it would probably be smart to save room for lunch. I definitely over-did it because I had a stomach ache the rest of the afternoon.
I decided to get out yesterday and walk down to Casco Viejo (the old part of Bilbao) and check out the shops. Everyone says the shopping there is great. After wandering around the neighborhood for two hours, I would have to disagree with everyone. The only store I liked was a make up store, which I was so relieved to find since the only make up I've seen so far is at Sephora (expensive) or the Chino stores (too cheap to wear). Hopefully I'll be able to remember how to get there when I run out of make up.
Here's my shout-out to BBHS Cheerleaders competing at State today!!! I showed my host family videos from my senior year at State Cheerleading and they hadn't seen anything like it before. I think Isabel was really impressed. She kept saying something about how difficult it would be to have so many people in sync for that long. Anyway, Go Indian Cheer! Bring home another State Championship!!!
It's days like today that I wish my family didn't feel like they couldn't wake me up when I've slept past 10 am! Today (while I was still sleeping at 12) I kept hearing the doorbell and voices in the kitchen. I ignored it as long as possible, but then decided I should probably get up and get ready if we were having a dinner party or something. Of course, by this point I hadn't realized that all the voices had disappeared. I took my time getting ready and when I was heading back to my room, Isabel stopped me and asked if I wanted to go have pintxos in Plaza Nueva with the rest of the family. (That's where all the voices went-- they had already left) Isabel was going to stay at the house and clean so I had to hurry along by myself to catch up with the rest of the family (Perico, Martin, Tia Cristina, and Tio Jose Augustine). Plaza Nueva is the oldest plaza in Bilbao, which is just open space surrounded by walls and shops. There are lots of restaurants with outdoor seating in the plaza and plenty of benches and free space to play soccer. Luckily, I had half a clue where I was going and was able to find my family right away. We had potato chips and coke, and wine for the "adults", and then came back home for lunch.
Thursday night after class I was sitting in my room doing my homework and minding my own business when the dog walked in playing with one of Martin's gloves. I took it from him and went to put it in Martin's room. The door was wide open and the light was on and he was talking to his mom. As I took a step toward the door, the worst possible thing ever happened. Martin was laying on his bed changing into his pajama pants full moon toward the door.... and I saw EVERYTHING!!! I was mortified and didn't know what to do, so hoping he didn't see me I threw the glove into his room and hurried back to mine (well, ran actually). I didn't come out of my room until I knew he was asleep. I was pretty sure that he hadn't seen me because he hadn't said anything crying or yelling to Isabel. But Friday at supper I realized that he probably had seen me. He wouldn't eat with us, so I'm assuming it was because he was too embarrassed to be in the same room as me. Last night I gave him a Fun Dip, so I'm assuming that means we're friends again.
Yesterday I got a huge box in the mail from my aunt and uncle Heath and Amanda (and Cooper and Charleigh, of course)! I couldn't break into the box fast enough. I was beyond relieved when I found FOUR jars of peanut butter (along with Valentine's candy, wing sauce, and a "dirty" diaper from Coop). It was a matter of seconds before I had a jar of peanut butter open and was eating it by the spoonful. I probably ate peanut butter for 15 minutes straight (happy dancing the whole time) before I decided it would probably be smart to save room for lunch. I definitely over-did it because I had a stomach ache the rest of the afternoon.
I decided to get out yesterday and walk down to Casco Viejo (the old part of Bilbao) and check out the shops. Everyone says the shopping there is great. After wandering around the neighborhood for two hours, I would have to disagree with everyone. The only store I liked was a make up store, which I was so relieved to find since the only make up I've seen so far is at Sephora (expensive) or the Chino stores (too cheap to wear). Hopefully I'll be able to remember how to get there when I run out of make up.
Here's my shout-out to BBHS Cheerleaders competing at State today!!! I showed my host family videos from my senior year at State Cheerleading and they hadn't seen anything like it before. I think Isabel was really impressed. She kept saying something about how difficult it would be to have so many people in sync for that long. Anyway, Go Indian Cheer! Bring home another State Championship!!!
It's days like today that I wish my family didn't feel like they couldn't wake me up when I've slept past 10 am! Today (while I was still sleeping at 12) I kept hearing the doorbell and voices in the kitchen. I ignored it as long as possible, but then decided I should probably get up and get ready if we were having a dinner party or something. Of course, by this point I hadn't realized that all the voices had disappeared. I took my time getting ready and when I was heading back to my room, Isabel stopped me and asked if I wanted to go have pintxos in Plaza Nueva with the rest of the family. (That's where all the voices went-- they had already left) Isabel was going to stay at the house and clean so I had to hurry along by myself to catch up with the rest of the family (Perico, Martin, Tia Cristina, and Tio Jose Augustine). Plaza Nueva is the oldest plaza in Bilbao, which is just open space surrounded by walls and shops. There are lots of restaurants with outdoor seating in the plaza and plenty of benches and free space to play soccer. Luckily, I had half a clue where I was going and was able to find my family right away. We had potato chips and coke, and wine for the "adults", and then came back home for lunch.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
13/2/2013
So nothing terribly exciting has happened since my last post. It's been a slow, rainy week. Carnival ended in Bilbao yesterday with the ceremonial burning of the giant sardine. It's a paper mache sardine of course, but apparently there is a big religious ceremony that goes along with the burning. I didn't go because I wasn't feeling well at all yesterday, but friends had posted pictures on Facebook of the ceremony and it looked pretty cool.
Yesterday, my host-dad Perrico cooked Chinese food for lunch! I needed that so bad. It was all homemade, even the egg roll. Perrico said that Chinese restaurants here charge around 30 euros per plate of food! On Sunday night, our family ate food from a restaurant for the first time since I've been here, even though it was just take-out. We had Doner Kabobs which are my new favorite thing. They are Turkish and are a lot like Greek gyros, but with lamb instead of the beef that we eat in the United States. It was also the first time that we had eaten anything spicy since I've been here and I could tell it was way beyond what my host-parents are used to since most of the food here is bland. Another kid in my class said that there are restaurants serving them all over Europe, but we definitely need to start getting them in America!
Here are some of the (crappy) pictures I took at Carnival!
Yesterday, my host-dad Perrico cooked Chinese food for lunch! I needed that so bad. It was all homemade, even the egg roll. Perrico said that Chinese restaurants here charge around 30 euros per plate of food! On Sunday night, our family ate food from a restaurant for the first time since I've been here, even though it was just take-out. We had Doner Kabobs which are my new favorite thing. They are Turkish and are a lot like Greek gyros, but with lamb instead of the beef that we eat in the United States. It was also the first time that we had eaten anything spicy since I've been here and I could tell it was way beyond what my host-parents are used to since most of the food here is bland. Another kid in my class said that there are restaurants serving them all over Europe, but we definitely need to start getting them in America!
Here are some of the (crappy) pictures I took at Carnival!
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| Top two pictures are a street performing crew. They were doing some type of traditional Spanish dancing. The men had bells attached to their pant legs and with every step they jingled like they had a band following them. |
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| This is the view of the carnival right by the ria on Saturday night in Casco Viejo. |
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Carnival :)
So, being exhausted from Thursday night's Carnival activities, I haven't done much this weekend. I did sleep a lot on Friday and if there was anything fun going on in town, I definitely didn't make it. Saturday on the other hand was absolutely amazing!
Saturday is the day of the big Carnival parade in Bilbao. My family had talked about it a bit so I had assumed they were going to take me, so I had gotten absorbed in homework and planning my Spring Break trip and didn't even notice that the parade had already started until it was a little late to go. I didn't even know where it was. Lucky for me, my friend Gus called at around 6:15 (the parade started at 6) and asked where the heck I was and to get to the Abando neighborhood ASAP. Also lucky for me, Abando is only a 10 minute walk from my house so I got to the parade with about a half an hour before the end. I'm so glad I made it.
This isn't anything like the Custer County Fair Parade with decorated pickup trucks or people running out of candy. The carnival parade is legit. Everyone had some type of car that they had specially made for the parade. Most of them that I saw were campers or school buses painted and with the sides cut out so you could see the float. There was music blasting on each float to go along with whatever theme the group chose. Most groups were advertising night clubs or entertainment for Carnival. Each float had about 20 people following along throwing out candy and sometimes stopping to perform silly dances. One float had a large group of penguins following behind and they stopped every few minutes for the kid penguins to do a dance and song. It was very cute! Other floats had bands performing live, and one even had a magician sawing people in half as he rolled down the road.
There were two things that each float had in common: lots of candy and amazing costumes. I was very thankful that it was sprinkling and it was alright for me to have my umbrella up because every few seconds we would get rained on with candy and my umbrella was the only thing protecting my head from getting pelted with candy. But by far my favorite part of the entire parade were the costumes. Not one costume was crappy. The store-bought costumes that people wore looked like the expensive kind that you would special order, definitely not something you would buy from Walmart. But even better than the store-bought costumes were the homemade ones, and just like the store-bought ones, these costumes were incredible. I can't describe to you how perfect all of these costumes were, and they weren't easy. Entire families would all have the same costume, like a dog or chickens. I'm trying to come up with words to describe how cool these costumes were but I'm coming up blank, so please use your imagination and Google, and hopefully one of my friends has a picture I can link to this later. But by far the most common costume was boys dressed as girls, wigs, bras and all.
After the parade, we walked down to Casco Viejo (the old part of town) which is right on the river. The had an actual carnival set up along the water. It looked like something straight out of a movie. There were tons of rides, games, and Spain's version of fried food on a stick (basically just candy apples and churros). A friend bought a stick on cotton candy that was bigger than 3 heads combined. There was a ride like the ones in the USA that spin around so fast that you stick to the wall, but this one went a little slower. But instead of being strapped in or having a place to hold on, the kids were free to run around as the ride was going. Kids were falling all over the place and I have no idea how they all stayed in the actual ride. We decided that it wasn't possible to have a ride like this in the United States because it's a lawyer's nightmare.
After walking around awhile, I decided to head back home for supper. Roads were closed for two entire metro stops to accommodate all of the people and events. There were two different stages set up for singers (I'm sure no one famous, the Biebs doesn't come until June). Though the celebration in Bilbao isn't nearly as big as in other cities in Europe, I would guess I saw around 10,000 people yesterday enjoying all of the festivities.
Saturday is the day of the big Carnival parade in Bilbao. My family had talked about it a bit so I had assumed they were going to take me, so I had gotten absorbed in homework and planning my Spring Break trip and didn't even notice that the parade had already started until it was a little late to go. I didn't even know where it was. Lucky for me, my friend Gus called at around 6:15 (the parade started at 6) and asked where the heck I was and to get to the Abando neighborhood ASAP. Also lucky for me, Abando is only a 10 minute walk from my house so I got to the parade with about a half an hour before the end. I'm so glad I made it.
This isn't anything like the Custer County Fair Parade with decorated pickup trucks or people running out of candy. The carnival parade is legit. Everyone had some type of car that they had specially made for the parade. Most of them that I saw were campers or school buses painted and with the sides cut out so you could see the float. There was music blasting on each float to go along with whatever theme the group chose. Most groups were advertising night clubs or entertainment for Carnival. Each float had about 20 people following along throwing out candy and sometimes stopping to perform silly dances. One float had a large group of penguins following behind and they stopped every few minutes for the kid penguins to do a dance and song. It was very cute! Other floats had bands performing live, and one even had a magician sawing people in half as he rolled down the road.
There were two things that each float had in common: lots of candy and amazing costumes. I was very thankful that it was sprinkling and it was alright for me to have my umbrella up because every few seconds we would get rained on with candy and my umbrella was the only thing protecting my head from getting pelted with candy. But by far my favorite part of the entire parade were the costumes. Not one costume was crappy. The store-bought costumes that people wore looked like the expensive kind that you would special order, definitely not something you would buy from Walmart. But even better than the store-bought costumes were the homemade ones, and just like the store-bought ones, these costumes were incredible. I can't describe to you how perfect all of these costumes were, and they weren't easy. Entire families would all have the same costume, like a dog or chickens. I'm trying to come up with words to describe how cool these costumes were but I'm coming up blank, so please use your imagination and Google, and hopefully one of my friends has a picture I can link to this later. But by far the most common costume was boys dressed as girls, wigs, bras and all.
After the parade, we walked down to Casco Viejo (the old part of town) which is right on the river. The had an actual carnival set up along the water. It looked like something straight out of a movie. There were tons of rides, games, and Spain's version of fried food on a stick (basically just candy apples and churros). A friend bought a stick on cotton candy that was bigger than 3 heads combined. There was a ride like the ones in the USA that spin around so fast that you stick to the wall, but this one went a little slower. But instead of being strapped in or having a place to hold on, the kids were free to run around as the ride was going. Kids were falling all over the place and I have no idea how they all stayed in the actual ride. We decided that it wasn't possible to have a ride like this in the United States because it's a lawyer's nightmare.
After walking around awhile, I decided to head back home for supper. Roads were closed for two entire metro stops to accommodate all of the people and events. There were two different stages set up for singers (I'm sure no one famous, the Biebs doesn't come until June). Though the celebration in Bilbao isn't nearly as big as in other cities in Europe, I would guess I saw around 10,000 people yesterday enjoying all of the festivities.
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Start of Carnival
Carnival started last night in the majority of the world, including Bilbao. Carnival is celebrated like Halloween with lots of crazy costumes, so my week consisted of trying to come up with a costume without spending too much money. Luckily, I got paid on Wednesday so I didn't feel bad about buying things (that I didn't need).
I went to Claire's, which I was surprised to see in Bilbao, and I was able to find vampire makeup stickers, so I bought those and decided to just wear something I already had. But I still had a day at work before I got to celebrate carnival. As usual, I had no idea how to get to my job.
*Spain Rule 6- Always have money on your pre-paid phone for when you get lost in a strange city and don't speak the language.
I definitely got lost on my way to work and I definitely should have listened to my host mom when she said I should call my boss before I left. Why at 20 years old would I start listening to a mom now? Anyway, I was too smart to get lost, so I took off in the general direction without even a street name. In my defense, I was on the right block. I was steps away from the house, but I remember it looking different so I turned around and walked back to an area I was familiar with. I tried to call my boss to get directions, but my phone company said I had to add money to my account, which of course is really difficult to do in the middle of a park, on the phone in another language. I knew I would be able to get a text out, so I texted my boss and in my best broken Spanish told her I was lost and she had to call me, which luckily worked. She came and found me, and now I know exactly where I'm going.
I absolutely love going to work and hanging out with Naia. We work on homework, and practice writing a bit and then sit around and talk. She is great about asking questions and continuing conversations just like a little adult. I usually lose track of time, but like all the other mothers here, her mom knows exactly when it is 6:30 and the lesson is over. I was beyond excited to get 25 euros in cash at the end of my time there on Wednesday. It probably explains all the impulse buys I made on my way home.
Yesterday was the start of Carnival and everyone was talking all day about their costumes, and lots of people were running last minute to the Chino Stores (or the dollar stores which are nearly always ran by the Chinese, it's not considered racist here, trust me) to get costumes. Our group was going to District 9, a club that just so happens to be right outside my window (which explains why it's always so loud out there). I got dressed up and went to the club around 11 even though none of my friends had left yet. There weren't many people there yet, but I quickly met a few girls that were also from other countries that had just arrived in Bilbao that morning and would be starting class at Deusto the next week. Two were from Mexico and the other was from France. We hung out for awhile while I told them what to do and what not to do in Bilbao, since I'm such a professional after being here a month!
After awhile, my friends started arriving and it turned out to be a great night. I decided to stay out a little later than normal since it was a holiday and since I could see my bedroom. Of course, I am dead tired today even with the three hour nap. There were some type of festivities downtown tonight, but I decided I'd rather stay in and relax. Tomorrow there is a dinner and bar-hopping that I could attend if I decide to not be cheap and there is also a parade. I will definitely go to the parade and hopefully get pictures. It's supposed to rain for the next week unfortunately.
I went to Claire's, which I was surprised to see in Bilbao, and I was able to find vampire makeup stickers, so I bought those and decided to just wear something I already had. But I still had a day at work before I got to celebrate carnival. As usual, I had no idea how to get to my job.
*Spain Rule 6- Always have money on your pre-paid phone for when you get lost in a strange city and don't speak the language.
I definitely got lost on my way to work and I definitely should have listened to my host mom when she said I should call my boss before I left. Why at 20 years old would I start listening to a mom now? Anyway, I was too smart to get lost, so I took off in the general direction without even a street name. In my defense, I was on the right block. I was steps away from the house, but I remember it looking different so I turned around and walked back to an area I was familiar with. I tried to call my boss to get directions, but my phone company said I had to add money to my account, which of course is really difficult to do in the middle of a park, on the phone in another language. I knew I would be able to get a text out, so I texted my boss and in my best broken Spanish told her I was lost and she had to call me, which luckily worked. She came and found me, and now I know exactly where I'm going.
I absolutely love going to work and hanging out with Naia. We work on homework, and practice writing a bit and then sit around and talk. She is great about asking questions and continuing conversations just like a little adult. I usually lose track of time, but like all the other mothers here, her mom knows exactly when it is 6:30 and the lesson is over. I was beyond excited to get 25 euros in cash at the end of my time there on Wednesday. It probably explains all the impulse buys I made on my way home.
Yesterday was the start of Carnival and everyone was talking all day about their costumes, and lots of people were running last minute to the Chino Stores (or the dollar stores which are nearly always ran by the Chinese, it's not considered racist here, trust me) to get costumes. Our group was going to District 9, a club that just so happens to be right outside my window (which explains why it's always so loud out there). I got dressed up and went to the club around 11 even though none of my friends had left yet. There weren't many people there yet, but I quickly met a few girls that were also from other countries that had just arrived in Bilbao that morning and would be starting class at Deusto the next week. Two were from Mexico and the other was from France. We hung out for awhile while I told them what to do and what not to do in Bilbao, since I'm such a professional after being here a month!
After awhile, my friends started arriving and it turned out to be a great night. I decided to stay out a little later than normal since it was a holiday and since I could see my bedroom. Of course, I am dead tired today even with the three hour nap. There were some type of festivities downtown tonight, but I decided I'd rather stay in and relax. Tomorrow there is a dinner and bar-hopping that I could attend if I decide to not be cheap and there is also a parade. I will definitely go to the parade and hopefully get pictures. It's supposed to rain for the next week unfortunately.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
First Day of Work
I'm sure everyone is wondering how my first day at my job went yesterday. It was definitely better than expected. Besides getting turned around on the way to meet the mother at the metro station, everything was perfect.
The girl's name is Naia and she is in the 6th grade. She speaks English extremely well and isn't shy. She was very excited to have me there and very excited to start. It turns out that her mother would like it to be more of a lesson instead of playing which is different than I anticipated. This is good though, because at that age they are harder to play with. Her mother wants us to spend the first part of the hour practicing conversation skills and the second half writing, since they don't practice writing much in English at school. Naia is very easy to get along with and is good about asking questions. The family mostly speaks Euskera, the Basque language, when they are at home but they also speak Spanish and English. Sometimes when she was confused on a word, Naia would translate it from Euskera to Spanish, and then I would translate it from Spanish to English. It can be quite the process, but so far we are both enjoying it. Not to mention I will be making 24 euros a week, so I won't be going completely broke. My hope is that I will be able to find my way back to her house tomorrow because I got completely lost on my way home last night. And, as always when I get lost, it started raining.
Yesterday was the celebration of one of Bilbao's favorite saints, Saint Agatha. She is a hero for the work she did for women's rights in her day. Her punishment, along with torture, was the removal of her breasts. To celebrate her heroism, many choirs form around the city and sing folk-songs in Euskera. They usually dress in clothes from older times and each choir raises money for a different charity. Last night, we went to see one of the street choirs perform outside of a few bars. While we listened, I got to try my first pintxo (which are appetizers and are customarily eaten as snacks) at one of the bars courtesy of my host-aunt Maria. I couldn't even tell you what it was, but all I know is that it was delicious. I also got a yarn necklace from my host-brother Martin to celebrate Saint Blaise. He always had a sore throat and it is said that wearing the yarn necklace for a week will prevent sore throats for the rest of the year. I'm willing to try anything!
The girl's name is Naia and she is in the 6th grade. She speaks English extremely well and isn't shy. She was very excited to have me there and very excited to start. It turns out that her mother would like it to be more of a lesson instead of playing which is different than I anticipated. This is good though, because at that age they are harder to play with. Her mother wants us to spend the first part of the hour practicing conversation skills and the second half writing, since they don't practice writing much in English at school. Naia is very easy to get along with and is good about asking questions. The family mostly speaks Euskera, the Basque language, when they are at home but they also speak Spanish and English. Sometimes when she was confused on a word, Naia would translate it from Euskera to Spanish, and then I would translate it from Spanish to English. It can be quite the process, but so far we are both enjoying it. Not to mention I will be making 24 euros a week, so I won't be going completely broke. My hope is that I will be able to find my way back to her house tomorrow because I got completely lost on my way home last night. And, as always when I get lost, it started raining.
Yesterday was the celebration of one of Bilbao's favorite saints, Saint Agatha. She is a hero for the work she did for women's rights in her day. Her punishment, along with torture, was the removal of her breasts. To celebrate her heroism, many choirs form around the city and sing folk-songs in Euskera. They usually dress in clothes from older times and each choir raises money for a different charity. Last night, we went to see one of the street choirs perform outside of a few bars. While we listened, I got to try my first pintxo (which are appetizers and are customarily eaten as snacks) at one of the bars courtesy of my host-aunt Maria. I couldn't even tell you what it was, but all I know is that it was delicious. I also got a yarn necklace from my host-brother Martin to celebrate Saint Blaise. He always had a sore throat and it is said that wearing the yarn necklace for a week will prevent sore throats for the rest of the year. I'm willing to try anything!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Super Bowl in Spain
Thank you everyone for the 2000 views on my blog in less than a month! I'm going to try to blog as much as I can before my charger no longer works. My power adapter is shorting out and won't charge my computer all the way. I'm nervous that it will ruin my battery, but oh well.
Last night I was planning on going to a bar in Getxo to watch the American broadcast of the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, it didn't start until 12:00 our time. They weren't planning on it being over until 4:30 am with the next bus not running to Bilbao until 5:00 am. Since it was a school night I decided to be smart and watch it in the comfort of my bed. I ended up having to watch a Spanish broadcast online, but I'm not sure which country was providing it. I didn't need the audio one bit though, because I'm sure I know more about football than the South American announcers. I'm glad I stayed home because I ended up going to bed sometime around the 3rd quarter. Shout out to everyone who sent me Super Bowl food pics last night. You made my halftime meal of a glass of water that much more enjoyable.
Yesterday, my favorite host-aunt and uncle were over for lunch, which seems to be the Sunday tradition. I have gotten to know Jose Augustine and Christina very well and Jose loves to talk to me about traveling through Europe. Christina invited me to their home to learn to cook some Spanish dishes after their kitchen remodel is finished.
Today, I learned that we will be having another foreign student living with us for a week. She will be coming toward the end of the month to participate in a week long program at Deusto. Isabel says that she is from France and will be staying in Martin's room.
Tonight I will start my job.
Last night I was planning on going to a bar in Getxo to watch the American broadcast of the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, it didn't start until 12:00 our time. They weren't planning on it being over until 4:30 am with the next bus not running to Bilbao until 5:00 am. Since it was a school night I decided to be smart and watch it in the comfort of my bed. I ended up having to watch a Spanish broadcast online, but I'm not sure which country was providing it. I didn't need the audio one bit though, because I'm sure I know more about football than the South American announcers. I'm glad I stayed home because I ended up going to bed sometime around the 3rd quarter. Shout out to everyone who sent me Super Bowl food pics last night. You made my halftime meal of a glass of water that much more enjoyable.
Yesterday, my favorite host-aunt and uncle were over for lunch, which seems to be the Sunday tradition. I have gotten to know Jose Augustine and Christina very well and Jose loves to talk to me about traveling through Europe. Christina invited me to their home to learn to cook some Spanish dishes after their kitchen remodel is finished.
Today, I learned that we will be having another foreign student living with us for a week. She will be coming toward the end of the month to participate in a week long program at Deusto. Isabel says that she is from France and will be staying in Martin's room.
Tonight I will start my job.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
End of Week 4!
Can you believe by Monday I will have already been here an entire month?? It's hard for me to believe. It seems like I'm running out of time to do all the things I have planned, so I guess that means I will have to eliminate a few naps from my weekly itinerary.
This week I found out that my schedule didn't work with the elementary school English program that I had applied to work for. But don't worry, I already have another opportunity lined up. One of the CIDE ladies called me into the office this week and said that there was a woman she knew with an 11 year old daughter that needed help with her English. If I was interested, I would go to their house every Monday and Wednesday mid-afternoon for an hour to play with the daughter in English. Of course I was interested! I called the woman, and though I barely knew what was going on since we were speaking Spanish over the phone, she told me I could start on Monday. I'm not sure exactly how this whole process will work since it won't be a set of lessons. The lady from CIDE said it would be teaching through playing and reading, but so far I don't have many ideas. If anyone has something that they think would be a good idea, please leave a comment!
Besides this, this week was fairly uneventful. The weather was nice every single day and there wasn't a bit of rain. It was actually hot for Bilbao standards. Some of us joked that Bilbao was jealous that we were bashing on her weather while we were on our vacations so she decided to show us up. Either way, it didn't last long. Last night the rain was back to normal.
Friday, we had our first of three guided excursions through the CIDE program. We went to Bayona, which is in the South of France and Hondarribia which is in the Northern part of Spain. All in all, it was a waste of a day even though I was glad to get out of the house and spend the day with friends.
Bayona isn't located in the South of France that we all think of when we hear that phrase. The South of France that we think of is all beaches and is where the stars vacation. Bayona is part of the French Basque Country where many of the Basque people fled for their own safety when Franco took control of Spain. This area is famous for its chocolateers. The town is located right next to the river and the part we visited was inside of a fort used to protect the city during the world wars. Bayona is the birthplace of the Bayonette. The town wasn't particularly pretty but there were hundreds of shops. We only had an hour to explore though, so I wasn't able to do much shopping (we waited 20 minutes in Bilbao for late kids who ended up not getting to go anyway!). At least I was able to have my first French experience and try a crepe.
After Bayona, we drove back into Spain, the San Sebastian area I believe, for lunch at a cider house. It was three courses of awesomeness! It started out with pasta cooked in the cider that was absolutely delicious! Not to mention it contained hamburger. Next, we each got our own chicken breast, also cooked in the cider with french fries. After we were good and full, we were taken back to the cider barrels to give the restaurant's special, homemade drink a try. It definitely wasn't the flavor I was expecting, but being 20, I never turn down a free drink. When we got back to our tables, dessert was waiting for us. I was terrified to try it because it looked like egg soup but it was delicious. I couldn't even pretend I remember what it was called, but it did contain egg yolk. It was cinnamon flavored and is what is used to make flan, another traditional Spanish dessert. For the first time since I've been in Spain, I felt actually full after a meal. And not just full, I felt satisfied.
We finished our excursion off with an hour-long bus ride to Hondarribia. This town, in the Spanish Basque Country, was right by the ocean, so I was able to see the ocean for the first time. From where we were standing, we could even see France. One side of the ocean was Spain and the next land you could see was France. Besides the view of the ocean, there was absolutely nothing to do in Hondarribia. Unlike Bayona, there weren't any shops to waste time in. We ended up sitting by the ocean for nearly two hours talking. After, we had another hour and a half bus ride home. I guess the highlight of my day would be the three naps I got in on the bus.
Next week I am back to my regular schedule, but probably won't have anything terribly eventful going on. I am looking forward to going out on Sunday night at midnight to watch the Super Bowl all night. Go anyone but the Ravens!!
This week I found out that my schedule didn't work with the elementary school English program that I had applied to work for. But don't worry, I already have another opportunity lined up. One of the CIDE ladies called me into the office this week and said that there was a woman she knew with an 11 year old daughter that needed help with her English. If I was interested, I would go to their house every Monday and Wednesday mid-afternoon for an hour to play with the daughter in English. Of course I was interested! I called the woman, and though I barely knew what was going on since we were speaking Spanish over the phone, she told me I could start on Monday. I'm not sure exactly how this whole process will work since it won't be a set of lessons. The lady from CIDE said it would be teaching through playing and reading, but so far I don't have many ideas. If anyone has something that they think would be a good idea, please leave a comment!
Besides this, this week was fairly uneventful. The weather was nice every single day and there wasn't a bit of rain. It was actually hot for Bilbao standards. Some of us joked that Bilbao was jealous that we were bashing on her weather while we were on our vacations so she decided to show us up. Either way, it didn't last long. Last night the rain was back to normal.
Friday, we had our first of three guided excursions through the CIDE program. We went to Bayona, which is in the South of France and Hondarribia which is in the Northern part of Spain. All in all, it was a waste of a day even though I was glad to get out of the house and spend the day with friends.
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| Driving through the Spanish/French border. |
After Bayona, we drove back into Spain, the San Sebastian area I believe, for lunch at a cider house. It was three courses of awesomeness! It started out with pasta cooked in the cider that was absolutely delicious! Not to mention it contained hamburger. Next, we each got our own chicken breast, also cooked in the cider with french fries. After we were good and full, we were taken back to the cider barrels to give the restaurant's special, homemade drink a try. It definitely wasn't the flavor I was expecting, but being 20, I never turn down a free drink. When we got back to our tables, dessert was waiting for us. I was terrified to try it because it looked like egg soup but it was delicious. I couldn't even pretend I remember what it was called, but it did contain egg yolk. It was cinnamon flavored and is what is used to make flan, another traditional Spanish dessert. For the first time since I've been in Spain, I felt actually full after a meal. And not just full, I felt satisfied.
We finished our excursion off with an hour-long bus ride to Hondarribia. This town, in the Spanish Basque Country, was right by the ocean, so I was able to see the ocean for the first time. From where we were standing, we could even see France. One side of the ocean was Spain and the next land you could see was France. Besides the view of the ocean, there was absolutely nothing to do in Hondarribia. Unlike Bayona, there weren't any shops to waste time in. We ended up sitting by the ocean for nearly two hours talking. After, we had another hour and a half bus ride home. I guess the highlight of my day would be the three naps I got in on the bus.
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| My very first view of the ocean in Hondarribia! |
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