Post One: My First 10 days en España

¡Hola de España!

I made it!! Though I'm already off to a terrible start with this whole "I'm going to write a blog this year". (That just goes to show you how busy I've been enjoying myself in Spain. Good excuse, verdad?) I may have to split this post into multiple parts as I've been LIVING in Spain for 3 weeks now. :) Excuse me if its a tad bit long. Where to begin...

Day One:
Well, I arrived safe and sound (with all my luggage!) in Santander, Spain after 3 flights, a 6 hour layover in Madrid, and a total of 24 hours of travel -exhausted, but excited to have made it all in one day (Thank you Isabella!!). My spanish sister, Aitzi, her parents José Luís and Pilar, her brother Jon, and her youngest sister Ane, met me at the airport with hugs and kisses. You'd have thought I had actually met the whole family before! I was instantly welcomed as though I had known them my entire life. And to think it has been 7 years since the last time I saw Aitzi! They were so excited to finally meet me and happy that I am going to be in Spain for the year learning the language. After driving an hour, seeing a bit of the Basque Country from the car (beautifully luscious and green, by the way), and catching up with Aitzi and new extended family, we arrived to their home in Bilbao. Leire, Aitzi's younger sister, had made a huge poster surrounded by balloons welcoming me to Spain in three languages [Castellano (español), Euskara (the language of the Basque Country), and English]. Shortly after arriving, Leire, Jon, Aitzi, Aitzi's boyfriend Peru, and I walked around Bilbao a bit and enjoyed a nice cold (European!) beer by La ría (the river that runs through Bilbao).
Speaking Spanish in Spain:
Speaking Spanish the first day was a bit tough. My first experiences in the airport scared me into thinking "Ohmygod, I hardly know what I'm doing!" but I managed to get where I needed to. And also met some really nice Americans in the process. One of which was an older woman who had arrived in Madrid to catch another flight to get to her son who is married a spanish woman and now lives here. I was able to speak and translate spanish for her, while she just acted as a comforting mother figure for me. It was wonderful! Once I arrived to Aitzi, my brain was mush from travel and the language barrier. I felt like I could understand people for the most part (whooohooo!) but the real trouble was producing coherent spanish words of my own (yikes!). Thankfully things progressed during my 10 days with Aitzi and familia. :) I seriously learned sooooo much with Aitzi, her familia, her friends and everyone else I met teaching me new words everyday. The only trouble was remembering them to write down at night.

Bilbao:

(Leire, Jon, me and Aitzi in from of the Guggenheim)

(Me, Aitzi, Peru and Jon in front of my favorite statue in Bilbao)

(Leire, Jon y yo with the Puppy in front of the Guggenheim)

My second day in Spain was spent walking around the city of Bilbao and seeing the main attractions with Aitzi, Peru, Leire and Jon as my tour guides. I occasionally heard things described to me 3 or 4 times due to my expert guides, but I didn't mind at all- I was enjoying taking in as much spanish language as I could. We walked to the Guggenheim (which is literally just on the other side of the river from Aitzi's house!) but didn't enter because the line was enormous. Instead, we took pictures with all the sculptures surrounding the Guggenheim. Then we walked on Gran Vía which is the name of the main street in all big cities of Spain, went to a little plaza and enjoyed a beer and my first tapas! Delicious! We went to an Italian restaurant for lunch (the Biggest meal here in Spain), ate helado (ice cream) for dessert, and walked back to the house. Siesta time. :) We watched spanish tv for a bit and then Jon and Aitzi taught me to play "Come mierda," a spanish card game that literally translates to "eat shit". ;) I definitely had beginner's luck because I won every game we played that day! After dinner Aitzi and I watched a movie (in spanish, por supuesto!) It was a wonderful first day. Speaking Spanish and hearing it 24/7 is such an incredible feeling.

Lekeitio (aka. My favorite little pueblo in Spain so far):

(Aitzi and I in Lekeitio with Santa Catalina behind us)

I love this little coast town so much, I debated whether or not I should actually share the name of it on the web (because, you know, I expect SO many people to be reading my blog! ;) ). Peru's family has a house in Lekeitio, so Aitzi, Peru and I stayed with Peru's familia for one night in this little town on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea (or Bay of Biscay). I was amazed at how incredibly 'suave' (soft) and clean the sand on the beach was. And the water- *sigh*- so warm and clean and seaweed-less. This is when I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore, Todo. We ate, swam, we walked along the shore, we chatted (Aitzi and I had a fun conversation on the beach), and then I played sand volleyball with Peru and his friends. So much fun!! Later that night we went out with Peru's friends. Night life in Spain is incredible. People of all ages (and I mean all ages, toddlers to 60 year olds) are out until 2, 3, 4 in the morning. Sometimes it feels like the streets don't come alive until the night. The next day we got off to a late start because the 'persianas' as they call them here (metal shades covering the windows) made me sleep until 12pm!! We swam some more and Aitzi and I climbed to the top of the small island in the bay (as seen in the above picture) before catching the bus back to Bilbao.

Aste Nagusia in Bilbao:
Bilbao celebrates a week of fiestas every year called Aste Nagusia. This festival begins with a HUGE food fight much like Tomatina, but with more than just tomatoes! Txupinazo is when practically everyone meets in front of the theater in Bilbao and after the Pregonero and Txupinera set off a rocket signaling the start of the festivals, everyone below starts throwing flour, eggs, chocolate powder, and spraying champagne and wine into the air. Aitzi had never been in the midst of it, so we decided to go this year. We didn't get as dirty as we thought we would (some people were completely drenched in food stuffs!), but it was still amazing to be in a crowd that big and crazy, dancing to music (Marijaia!) and having a blast! As soon as the crowd started to break up, the skies opened up and it POURED for a good 5 minutes. (Ya'll know me...) It was incredible!!! I was loving every second of it. ...That was the first day of the festivals.

Plentzia:
The next day we went to Plentzia and San Sebastián before returning for las fiestas. Plentzia is a coast town where Aitzi's familia has a house. We went and played on the beach, and en route to the lighthouse, a huge thunder and lightning storm struck. Needless to say, I was jazzed, but we didn't get to see the lighthouse. I loved spending time with Aitzi's parents, littlest sister Ane, and her grandmother as well. They are the sweetest family. We played Uno and Ane won every game.

(Aitzi and Ane on the beach in Plentzia after the thunder storm)

(Me with my first mussel! in San Sebastián)

San Sebastián was beautiful... we walked all over town looking at the beach, the people and the expensive shops. The architecture here is beautiful, but is strongly influenced by France because San Sebastián is so close to the boarder. We also had lunch at a really nice restaurant. I tried so many kinds of seafood that I had never had before!! I didn't necessarily like them all, but I'm glad I tried them. My goal this year is to try everything and later decide what I do and don't like- no fear, baby!

Back to Bilbao for FIESTAS:

(Dancing the night away in the streets of Bilbao)

Happy Birthday Aitzi! Aitzi's birthday happens to be in the middle of Bilbao's week of festivals every year... which means her friend's always make her dress up in crazy costumes to go out. Aitzi wanted Mexican food for her birthday dinner, so we made fajitas and I also learned how to make a Spanish Tortilla from Peru (sooooo good!! It's probably my new favorite food.). I can't wait to make Spanish tortillas in my piso (apartment). All of Aitzi's girlfriends came over for dinner, so there were 9 of us in all. Spaniards do everything later than Americans... por ejemplo (for example): Lunch is usually around 2pm, dinner is usually around 9 or 10pm, and parties usually don't even begin until the bars are closing in America... meaning 2am. It's such a different culture, and I am thoroughly loving it! (But back to my story), we ate dinner late, finishing up around 12am, played some fun drinking games, and then left the house at 3am to dance in the streets all night ...and por supuesto, drink some more! It rained all night, and while we were out I had one of those, "wow, I'm really in España right now" moments- Dancing in the street to loud music in the rain, drinking with friends, and speaking Spanish was a moment I'll never forget. We later met up with Peru and his friends and continued dancing. Around 8am (shortly after sunrise) we starting walking back to Aitzi's house and stopped for breakfast at a restaurant along the way. Once home, we slept from about 9am until 2pm, woke up to each lunch and spent the day lounging. I survived my first night out in Spain!! :)

My last day in Bilbao (...until I return later this year!):

(the Marco familia)

For my last day in Bilbao, Aitzi and Peru took me to the Guggenheim. We walked around and laughed at all the strange art they have on display, occasionally liking specific sculptures or paintings. Then we returned to Aitzi's house for lunch with the entire familia before José Luís, Pilar, Ane, and Aitzi drove me to the airport. It was so hard to say goodbye! They waited for me at the security gate and blew kisses as I walked away. I'm amazed at how quickly I felt at home with them and I am so thankful for all they did for me, and with me, during my stay. :D

Then it was off to Barcelona for a night in the airport before finally reaching Granada... (and that concludes Post one. Congrats if you made it this far! ...and thanks for reading!)