Lluego es mejor que Nunca!!---later is better than never (i think?)

Hola Everyone!!

I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner. As most people know, I'm terrible with phones, facebook, text messages, and apparently blogs.

There is so much to say about the last two weeks so I won't be able to update on everything but I will post what I can and make a few observations.

First, Bilbao and the area where I live, Algorta, is beautiful! Bilbao is surrounded by rolling hills and my university is across from the Guggenheim museum (which looks amazingbtw). It is along the river (which is filthy and contaminated) but there is a really beautiful walkway/boardwalk that is lined with trees and huge, historic apartment buildings. Modern bridges allow you to cross the river about every quarter mile. Bilbao has strange architecture that kind of makes you feel like you are in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I like it. Algorta is north (I think?) about 30 minutes by metro and is a beach community with cliffs, playas, and old buildings. It is really beautiful. I take the metro into class everyday. The metro is nice, clean and kind of boring as there are no homeless people peddling, playing music or serenading you during your commute.

When I first arrived my host mom (her name is Marisol but once she heard that other people were calling their host mom's ama then she requested I do this too--ama is like mom in spanish) and her daughter (who has a basque name that i still can't understand) picked me up from the airport, drove me through Algorta and eventually to her apartment (piso). I got really sick the night before and morning of the flight so it wasn't enjoyable but I made it! The apartment is small but nice. It has beautiful old wood floors and all the furniture is custom made. My room is the essential old lady room. There are two twin size beds with pink and green floral bedding, two giant armours, a nightstand, a built-in wood headboard with shelf and best of all, a view of the ocean, mountains and the city of Algorta.

My ama is adorable. She holds my hand when she talks to me, spends her days knitting baby clothes, and helps me practice my spanish. My spanish has improved since being here but I still stumble a lot and probably don't make sense half the time (maybe the same as in english?) but thankfully my ama is patient. I feel like there are a lot of host family stories (lost in translation moments) but I will have to address them in another post.

Weather--while Illinois has been FREEZING cold (I've seen pictures of all of the snow in Chi), here it has been in the 50s everyday. Last week we had some really beautiful sunny days but this week it has been kind of damp and rainy so it has felt cooler--still nothing really to complain about.

Last week--our first week was fun but busy. There are about 80 of us from all over the states (mainly the U of I and california) in the program. We went to the university on tuesday and wednesday for orientation which was the same as everywhere--long and boring. On thursday I recovered from jetlag and on friday went to the Guggenheim museum. The guggenheim museum is really cool in arcitectural design. The inside is filled with modern art. I'm not really a fan of "scribble" paintings but we had fun making up stories about the lifes of the people in the paintings and some of the art was really beautiful. Because it was sunny everyday I went for walks every afternoon in Algorta. I have a video which I'm going to try and post on here if I can figure it out.

Classes-- We started class this week after taking a spanish proficiency test last week to place into our classes. I'm taking spanish III (we have spanish I, II, III, and IV) which is a combination of grammar, conversation, and composition. Also I'm taking a Contemporary Spanish culture class and a Basque (this is the region that I am in) culture and language class. The classes are taught in spanish and we receive credit from our home universities. So far, I like my classes--especially conversation and spanish culture.

Basque--So I don't know a lot about Basque culture yet but I know they speak Euskera (basque language) and spanish. About 50% of the people here speak Basque and all speak spanish. The language was banned under the Franco regime so most people older than 40 do not know it but now it is the language of instruction in schools, in addition to spanish. Many Basque people agree with the theory of separation from spain, however, maybe 10% are kind of radical basque separatists. We went into a Basque cafe the other day and there were a bunch of radicals there going on about socialism and communism. It was kind of crazy haha I don't know much about it yet but I think it's interesting. (Alec, a guy here who also went to urbana, has been trying to find members of the terrorist group ETA--they are basque radicals--but he has't had anyluck.

Observations--People here are SKINNY. They have a small breakfast, a HUGE lunch around 3 (everything closes for 3 hours for lunch which can be kind of frustrating), and then a small dinner around 9. Their diet is healthy but I think that they are so in shape from all the walking as very few people have cars. Universities are also really different--at the U of I and in the US campus is more of a community-you live there, study there, all your friends are there, and basically your life is your college but here it is not like that. All schools are basically commuter schools and there are few extra-curricular type stuff let alone huge sport teams and alumni associations. The microwave is used for EVERYTHING. To make coffee, tea, food. I think my ama cooks during the weekend the food for the whole week and then just heats it up each day. The food is good but sometimes I think she underestimates how long it needs to be in the microwave. I've been eating fried fish, paella type dishes, chorizzo, salads, and a lot of different soups and bread, of course. Also, as in other parts of Europe everyone dresses really well. If I went to school in sweats like I often do at the u of I they would think I was crazy. As for "Eurotrash"-I've seen some fauxhawks and huge lip rings but not very many here.

There is so much more to write but I will have to get to it later as I am losing my train of thought.

Thank you for all the comments! I miss and love you all!

I hope all is well across the pond,
besos y abrazos--marissa

P.S. Of course I watched Obama on tuesday!! It was in spanish but we watched it again during class in english. I really liked his speech, as always he speaks well. There were so many people there and I'm sure the coverage for it at home was insane. People here are Obama-obsessed, I've seen Obama shirts and buttons on bags. I think he has made it better being an American abroad. So, thanks Obama.