ummm..... vino

This week has been pretty eventful, despite the three days of constant rain. I have been told this time of year it rains all the time but not as much in the winter. Let's cross our fingers.

Yesterday, our institute provided one of the best afternoon activities yet...wine tasting! Wine is a very big deal here. For those of you who know about Rioja, you know what I'm talking about. Rioja is a huge and famous winery not very far from Bilbao where wine is produced from some of the most ancient and wonderful grape vines. I have yet to make a special trip out there. In the meantime, I will enjoy the copious amounts of Rioja wine offered and sold here in Bilbao.

All the students and some of the teachers walked to a place called La Carte de Vins, where a man from Bilbao owns a beautiful wine shop.



He took us all to the back of the store where a table and slide show are set up. He was excellent because he spoke Spanish so clearly and every once and a while spoke English-also very well. He taught us all about wine making with tons of scientific details and how to distinguish good and bad qualities of wine. We all learned so much! Of course, after our class we continued to drink some lovely Rioja wine. What a great experience.

Earlier this week, I visited some of the well known museums here. On Tuesday I went to El Museo de Pasos, which showcases the very important Holy Week in Bilbao. From Good Friday until Easter, the city has twelve processions within nine days, where more than 3,000 members of the Brotherhood of the True Cross take part. Many colored wood figures bearing characteristics of the Basque, Castilian, Levantine and Andalusian schools of imagery make this procession appear as a traveling museum.

Of course I won't be here when this procession takes place this year, so it was nice to get a feel for what the people see and how it all takes place. I am sending some photos through Shutterfly so you can see some of the artistic figures.

On Wednesday, I went to El Museo de Bellas Artes-this is one of Bilbao's most renowned museums. My guidebook puts it right up there with The Guggenheim. I was surprised to encounter such a modern, square-looking building in the middle of a town full of ancient and beautiful ones. I didn't spend too much time there because it is gigantic and I was starting to come down with a little cold. However, I did see some pretty awesome pieces of art. Most importantly an exhibit featuring Picasso and Debuffet. I mean, if I live on Calle Pablo Picasso, I think I am supposed to see some of his work while it's in Bilbao right? I thought it was a neat coincidence anyway.

I loved the exhibit. There were tons of people there from all over Europe coming to see some of these extremely famous pieces of art. Other paintings within this exhibit featured Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin and many more. These guys are my favorite so I was very happy! I will definitely have to go back to see more.

Tonight, once again we have vino y tapas in Casca Viejo. My profesora, Rosario, is leaving back to Italy tomorrow so I will have to spend lots of time with her tonight. For being a new Spanish professor, she has done a really great job. I will miss her.

Las playas

(sunset in Sopelana)

I love beaches so much, I feel they deserve their own blog space. I knew I could expect to find some beautiful beaches based off of a few photos in a guide book but no words or photos can really do these beaches any justice. They are so breathtaking. My first beach experience occurred on Thursday when my Irish friend Frances and I decided the day was too beautiful to stay inside the city. We were ready to see some ocean! Of course, she is from Ireland where she is used to gorgeous landscapes and piercingly blue water but I told her living on the Gulf of Mexico is a whole different story. Of course, it is a beach and it is pretty in it's own rugged way but this water is so much more amazing.

We took a quick metro for about 30 minutes (Within a week I have tried almost every form of transportation offered here-pretty neat how easy it is to get around)and were worried we wouldn't have much time before sunset but we spent a good 3 hours on the beach before that happened. I walked in the water but wouldn't dare swim. The water had to have been about 65 degrees! Frances said it was warmer than Ireland so she went head first into a wave-crazy woman! I took several photos as you will see in my Shutterfly email invite. I was so happy and for the first time last week I felt at home. I mean, who wouldn't when surrounded by beauty? This is what I have wanted and all I have asked for since my turn of events 5 months ago.

Frances and I had a glass of yummy wine while watching the sun go down and walked into town for some hamburguesas. They were huge but pretty good. Who ever knew a fried egg would taste good on a hamburger?

Yesterday (Sunday) my new roommate Christian (from Germany) and Norwegian friend Hilde went on a little journey to San Sebastian. I have heard endless amounts of good things about this coastal city. It used to be known as a famous spa getaway. Now it is known mainly for its annual film festival extravaganza and it just so happened that the festival was going on when we decided to journey out there. We took a bus for an hour and 10 minutes and arrived in a beautiful and thriving town. A river runs all the way through it and eventually leads you to the ocean. Yet again, a gorgeous beach. It's a hard life, I know.


(relaxing in San Sebastian)

It was a little annoying to be there during the festival because of the hordes of people. There were tons of movie stars there including from America but I did not see any. I was more intrigued by the town itself. However, these huge groups of people were gathering around hotels where they might see stars leave and when a premier was about to begin they all flocked to the main venue of the festival. It was insane...I have pictures! Hilde and I went straight for the beach to chill out. And for the first time I lost my inhibitions and sunbathed topless like all the other locals. It was hard at first but Hilde encouraged me that it is normal and no one cares. My friend Jaclyn at home also told me to go wild and be topless on a beach so there ya go...aren't you proud of me Jac??

Finally after a nice little siesta, Hilde, Christian and I walked around more. We encountered an excellent ice cream parlor called Helado (ice cream) Boulevard. There must have been 30 different flavors. I ended up getting a combination of mango and coco (coconut laced with chocolate). It was delicioso! Then we watched an interesting performance in the center of a plaza. I'm not really sure what they were doing even though I could understand a lot of what they were saying. It was kind of weird but nevertheless entertaining. Finally it was time to get back to reality...do some homework for class the next day and get some rest. I had a great weekend though and this beach only topped it off!

Cuando una puerta se cierra, una ventana se abre

(view from my window)

When one door closes, a window opens...

Here is why I love that there is no air conditioning in Bilbao (or most of Europe for that matter): the windows are always open.

Of course this means so many things. From a physical perspective, you are breathing fresh air. There is no such thing as a room feeling stuffy. You can also hear everything going on outside (which can get annoying sometimes) but for the most part you feel so much more connected and part of the outside world.

The more symbolic part of windows being open speaks for itself. It is a constant reminder to me however, that this is my window of opportunity to really live and have a totally different and real experience that many people never get a chance to do. It also says something about the culture. This place is overall more trusting. There are no fears that some crazy person is going to climb into your window and rob your house. And the people here want to be connected to the outside world. They are engaging, welcoming and warm. I love this.

My Spanish will take a while to get up to par with the locals, but in the meantime they are so patient and always want to understand you and help you. If they only speak Spanish, they try to find the right word for you to say. There are lots of hand gestures and pointing to also help. I am just very impressed with the society.

Anyway, yesterday was the most amazing day so far for me. After classes, all the students went together to see the famous Guggenheim museum. It was unbelievable and breathtaking. Pictures really don't do it justice. You have to see this for yourself. It is definitely a masterpiece. I took some photos outside, but they don't want you to take them inside. Here is one...



I believe we stayed there for 3 hours. There are tons of very different galleries inside. One was on Basque art and it's contemporary development and it's importance in the country. Another was an amazing exhibit by Serra full of these huge rusty metal installations that you walk through. It completely distorts your perception and makes you wonder how he was ever able to make these.

It was the first sunny day since I have been here and the temperature was about 74 degrees. I will never forget this day and I plan to go back to the museum several times. I have more pictures and I will probably post them on shutterfly. For some reason, they take forever to upload here.

Estoy Aqui (I'm here)

Well I made it! Thank God. I was a bit worried about the trip over here. Especially making my connection in Paris. It's a good thing I didn't have to go through customs! I didn't get much sleep on the plane of course so I had a very hard time yesterday staying awake and making coherent decisions. I fell asleep at 9 p.m. here and didn't wake up until 8 a.m.! I really needed that.

It's definitely a culture shock to be here. My first reaction when I made it to my apartment was a bit of crying (not expected). It's just all so strange and new and when you're alone you are REALLY alone. I have some neat roommates, 3 Germans and 1 Irish girl. They are very nice and know English to an extent. They are all leaving though at the end of the week. They are just on "holiday." I told them in America, no one goes to take classes on their holiday and it was admirable that that is how they want to spend their free time.

I began my Spanish lessons today. I took an assessment test and made it to the intermediate level. I guess minoring in Spanish wasn't all for naught! I am in there with 2 German boys who are actually pretty good. I also met some students here that will be here about as long as me or longer. Two are from Norway and one from England. All very sweet. I look forward to getting to know them better. We are going for drinks tonight. There are bars everywhere!

I had my first taste of Spanish food for lunch today. It was a potato, ham and cheese sort of quiche looking thing. Very rich but very good. Oh, and the cafe con leche here is amazing! It's been raining off and on the past two days. I'm very happy I brought an umbrella along with my loads of things from Texas. Hopefully it clears up soon. The city is so neat and there are some really beautiful areas. I can't wait to explore more. I just have to be careful not to get lost! I am going to the Guggenheim tomorrow with some students. I'm very excited. It is the primary famous landmark of Bilbao.

I tried to post some photos of my apartment but it's not working so I might have to do the whole Shutterfly thing. I will let you all know. Hasta luego...