First off, the weekends here are amazing! They last from Thursday night till Sunday, and we make sure to make the most of that time. Thursday night, a bunch of people from the CIDE program headed down to Zear-Bide (the bar from the first week). We had a great time meeting new people. Fact I learned today: Apparently tequila chupitos (shots) are not common among Spaniards. They are, however, common among Americans as I discovered...

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Sarah turned 21 yesterday! I guess the novelty of being 21 in the US is different than in Spain, but we made sure to not let that get in the way of having a good time! Here are a few pictures from last night... Happy Birthday Sar...

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My Europe in the World professor informed us of a saying about the EU, described as being:"Un gigante económico, un enano político, y un guzano militar"(An economic giant, a political midget, and a military wo...

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Classes started Monday, and my schedule is as follows:M, W: Academic Spanish, Basque Language & CultureT, Th: Grammar IV, Spanish Cinema & Lit, Europe in the World I really like my professors so far, all of them are really animated and smart. They really know their stuff and I can tell I'm going to learn A LOT. In Grammar IV and Academic Spanish, the teachers don't let anything fly and correct...

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My first weekend in Spain!  This weekend was tons of fun. And consisted of TONS of walking, which I enjoyed but my feet did not. On Saturday morning, though exhausted from the night before (read previous entry), I got up early-ish to meet up with my friend Ashley, who had a Nikon d-80, to take pictures of old town Bilbao. Though it was overcast and started to drizzle, we took the metro to Casco Viejo to walk up the 213 stairs...

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I would have to say that Friday was by far the craziest day since arriving in the city, at least party-wise... and not necessarily in the best way. I'm not sure I'm cut out for the sleep schedule in Spain, at least on the weekends! Ay dios míííooo. Anyways, Friday was the first sunny and gorgeous day of the week. It might not have been the best day to be inside, but we all met up at the Guggenheim to take an audio tour of the...

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I have seen a lot of interesting characters here, as in the United States (except that no one is overweight, that's for sure)... Walking back to the dorm, I saw a man's feet that were jammed into too-small women's shoes with his heels sticking out through holes, and it looked really painful. Thought he might be homeless, but he wasn't carrying anything and was wearing a suit? Then I saw his head...

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Kinder "Sopresas" are my favorite, bring me back to Spain '06Beyond chocolate, my favorite food-finds have been:Churros con chocolate caliente, though the hot chocolate is way too rich to eat alone (I say "eat" because it really is just that). And the churros need to be covered in sugar.Of course, café con leche. Again, with lots of sugar.Bocadillo de chorizo, a classic Spanish sandwich (Making Sra. pro...

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Thursday was a rainy day, that's for sure. After an academic orientation sesh, we piled into two large tour buses that took up the entire road, and set off to visit two historical towns in Biscay: Balmaseda and Portugalete. Unfortunately for us, our time in Balmaseda- founded in 1199!- was cut short due to horizontal rain that our umbrella's just couldn't handle. After a quick look at the "oldest villa in Biscay", and a walk...

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Universidad de Deusto Okay, I realize that a post per day kinda overkill, but I think the first week at least deserves as much. I didn't go out Monday night in order to rest up for the placement exam- I'm crossing my fingers that I'm a level IV (find out tomorrow). After the test, we took a quick tour of the University, and had the rest of the day to ourselves. Still feeling jet-lagged (and because, well, everyone else does it...

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When we finally arrived to Unamuno, my residence hall, I find out that I'm rooming with one of the girls who travelled with me on way to Bilbao. Her name's Jacklyn and I didn't know her before the trip but she is a fellow Mary Wash student- same grade and really nice. Even if rooming with Jacklyn was some sort of fluke, I'm glad it happened- so thanks, Dr. Sainz :) This first week, I've mainly been hanging out with students from...

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Well, this was probably the worst part of the whole endeavor. But, now that I am safe one of the prettiest cities I have ever been to, and with my luggage, the flights getting to Bilbao weren't the worst thing that could have happened. I'll give the highlights:Unluckily sat next to a baby that cried the entire flight to Madrid.Walked out of the secure area in the Madrid airport without thinking, had to re-enter security leading...

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