Camping

No one told me I would be spending the semester camping. There is really no other way to put it. I am camping for the next five months.

Here are the top 10 reasons that I know I am camping:

1.     I can only wash my socks and underwear because nothing else will dry.

2.     The apartment is colder inside than it is on the street. I have been living in my boots just to stay warm!

3.     My debit card doesn’t speak Spanish. Not only am I cold, I am broke!

4.     Showers are a maximum of 10 minutes and only about 3 of those involve hot water.

5.     The phrase ‘if it’s yellow, let it mellow’ applies here

6.     I am eating the worlds saltiest food

7.     Wi-fi gets turned off at night

8.     There is no trashcan in the bathroom

9.     I had to use nail scissors to make flashcards out of paper

10. And…my host family hates chocolate

With all that being said, I think you can agree I am roughing it here! It seems I am more of a princess than I thought!

On top of a week spent camping, I experienced the largest festival of the year. It is called La Tamborrada. It is twenty-four hours of drumming in the street. There are about 120 groups of drummers that walk through the streets dressed in either chef’s outfits or military outfits. The outfits represent the persons experience in La Tamborrada.  A band and a few dancers also accompany the drummers. My professor told me that there are not enough musicians in San Sebastián so musicians have to be bussed in for the festival. The children also drum during the day and there is a special ceremony for them. It was great to experience it and see how excited people got about it. Garbine compared it to the 4^th of July, but it is ten times crazier! Since history is not my subject, here is a link if you want to know a bit of the history behind the festival. http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/san-sebastian/festivals/ 

I was able to see more of the city this weekend. My friend, Sophie, and I explored a lot of the weekend. We found the other beach, which is better for surfing. The waves and the rocks were enormous so it made sense surfing is easier there. We also encountered some pastry shops with our other friend Caitlin. These pastries may be a problem for me. There are just so many to try!

 The water hitting the rocks at the surfing beach.

The Cathedral in the center of the city called Buen Pastor. 

Things are getting better with my host family. I am understanding them more and I think they are getting used to me being around. Garbine calls me Eiri, which is pretty cute. I also learned that my last name here is a bad word so it seems I will be going by Eiri Haley for the next five months. It adds some spice to my life!

I know I will have lots to report this week. I start my cooking class and also start an intercambio. Intercambio is where I meet with a Spanish girl and we practice both Spanish and English. We haven’t met yet, but by her emails I can tell we are going to get along well!

I think that is all for now! I am trying to motivate to do homework. It feels like vacation here so homework is the last thing on my mind!

Besos,

Erin 

The Journey Begins

I arrived on Saturday after a long day of travel. I took some time to explore a bit and found exactly what I was expecting, the most gorgeous city imaginable. Even though it was cloudy, I was speechless as I approached the beach. It is so incredibly beautiful, it just doesn’t compare to Indiana! I spent the most of the next few days going for long walks on the beach. I don’t think I will ever get tired of the view.

Last night, I moved into my new home for the next five months. I am living with a teacher who is probably in her fifties, Garbine, and her twenty year old daughter (I am not sure how to spell her name because I couldn’t understand it!). I haven’t seen much of the daughter because she has finals this week but she seems very friendly in the few minutes that I have talked with her. I am hoping that she will show me around a bit! Garbine is friendly although not quite as loving as Mercedes, my host mother from Ciudad Real. I have my own room that has a nice table for homework and luckily I have tons of closet space. It is also only a five-minute walk to campus, which is very nice. One of the first things that Garbine said to me was ‘you are an American through and through’ because I had so much luggage. It was pretty funny! They have had about six students before me but I am the first Midwesterner. I am trying to make a good name for the Midwest! More to come on that subject…

Today we went on a walking tour of the city. It is amazing how much history there is for such a small city. There are about 180,000 people in San Sebastián and about 30% speak Basque. My family speaks Basque so I can’t always understand them. I keep laughing to myself that they are probably making fun of me…but I am sure it is better this way! I don’t have any pictures from the tour today because we had the worst weather. It was very rainy and windy. I spent the entire day drenched, but it was worth it for the tour. Garbine is trying to get me to buy rain boots but I am putting it off in hopes of nicer weather! I do have a few pictures from my first afternoon. It is cloudy in the pictures but you can still see how beautiful it is. The pictures are of La Concha, which is the main beach. There are occasional surfers although they mostly go to another beach that is about 20 minutes away.

 These houses look out over the ocean.

On top of the mountain is a statue of Jesus. It was a fortress during the World Wars.

Spanish has not been too much of a problem for me so far. My biggest problem was when Garbine picked me up. I couldn’t understand a word she said because I was so nervous. Now I understand most of what she says except for the occasional word. It is so much easier this time because I have more confidence and a larger vocabulary. I haven’t had problems in shops either and I even successfully bought myself a cell phone. All of the orientation has been in English so I haven’t had lots of Spanish during the day. I am looking forward to classes tomorrow where I will be able to use more Spanish.

Hope everything is going well there. I will write again soon.

Besos,

Erin 

A New Beginning

As I prepare for my semester in San Sebastián, Spain, I have been taken back to my first trip to Spain as a senior in high school. As I was packing, I found my notes and books from that summer and I realized what a turning point that summer was in my journey with Spanish. It was a challenge for me to leave home and learn to communicate in another language, but it turned out to be a positive life changing experience. I now find myself in the same position, but this time with more confidence and a more advanced level of Spanish. I am excited to re-immerse myself into the language and culture and grow even more as a person and a Spanish speaker.

San Sebastián is located in northern Spain in the Basque region. It is on the coast and known for its food. The geography will be a big change from Indiana or Ohio, but I am excited to see how many people live with mountains and the ocean. It will be a once in a lifetime experience to be surrounded and living among such a different geography. The food has been a huge draw for me. Being the foodie that I am, I am looking forward to experiencing Basque cuisine on my own and also in the classroom. I will be taking a Basque cooking class, which should give me insights into the history of the food and give me some recipes to share with everyone when I return home.

While abroad, I will be living with a host family and taking classes. I do not know about the family that I will be living with so I do not know about Internet access. My goal will be to blog when I get a chance to keep everyone updated on what I am doing. I would love to hear from everyone and what they are doing, so feel free to stay in touch.

Besos,

Erin