two weeks in the states

It's been two weeks since that horrendous travel day, and the great parts of being home haven't worn off.  I know I appreciate my lifestyle more now than I did before.  There is just something so comforting about about free ice water and free refills in restaurants :)

I have returned gladly to my large breakfasts of eggs and toast and sautéd veggies, and happily to dinner before 9:30.   I miss everything being in walking distance all the time, and sometimes even the bus system, but I do love my independence to zip around on my scooter or in a car.  We are so much more spread out here in the US.  I don't think it's good or bad; it's just different.

The European lifestyle was great to experience.  I'll miss those late nights out with the group dancing in the discotecas until 3 and singing karaoke until 4.  I'll miss how laid back everyone seemed to be.  I'll even miss the craziness of San Fermín.  I wouldn't have traded a second of anything that happened in Pamplona (or any of the other cities we visited) for anything,  Not even the Chupinazo, or that second biomass plant, or random men being sketchy on the streets.

I miss my compatriots from Kentucky.  And U Penn and Auburn and U Illinois @ Chicago.  But we'll all see each other again :) We already have plans for a reunion sometime down the road.  It was a beautiful experience from start to finish and I learned so much about so much.  Most of it not necessarily academically related.  It's hard to summarize and categorize all my thoughts and feelings, but I wouldn't hesitate to tell anyone to go. To get out. To experience. To learn. To be uncomfortable beyond measure.  It's so worth it.  Every nanosecond of it--the friends you make, the experiences you have, the problems you encounter.  It was grander than I could have imagined going into it.  I had heard about all those things from other students who had studied abroad before me, but to experience them!! How wonderful it was, and how lucky I am.

I have the bug now.  I want to go again.  We shall see.  Thank you all for following along with my adventures.  I hope you've found it worthwhile to read my attempts at conveying my experiences.  This is it.  The last post of my journey.  I suppose it will be here forever.

And now back to business!! WPS! Razorback Soccer Season is near!!

My wonderful classmates :) 

the 30 hour day

Uff, there is nothing like a horrible travel day to make you want your own shower and bed.  I'm so relieved to be off of transportation and back on solid ground.

la despidida

Photos from the dinner :) 

Stephanie, Gemma, Sammi, Carmen

Carmen and me! 

Stephanie, Nick, moi. 

The Elite Eight (the 6 weekers) plus Michael and Gemma! Celebrating Gemma's love of heavy rock. "Two much rock for one hand!"  

the last field trip

Well what a joyful morning we had on this last Friday...

Another Biomass day and oh boy did it smell.  Not only were we literally surrounded by feces, we were all exhausted from dinner and karaoke the night before.  I going to honestly say that I don't think any of us would've been happier with the situation on a full night of sleep, but it definitely didn't help that we were running on fumes.

I'd rather not dwell on the situation if I can avoid it, but just know that cow, chicken, and yogurt waste mixed together to make energy does not smell pleasant.  I didn't take pictures because I was too busy trying to keep myself from vomiting when the wind blew... If you want to hear more about it you'll have to ask me directly.  I don't want to type about it any more.  I'm not a squeamish human being usually, but...

Ew.

the last night out :(

Tonight we have our farewell dinner.  It's so strange to think that 6 weeks is already up.  Just when we were all getting really comfortable with the city and it was REALLY starting to feel like home.  I'm going to miss these guys for sure.  It's amazing how close we all got in such a short period of time.  I'm a little bummed that they are all going back the Kentucky without me :(

But we play at Kentucky this year and they all promised they'd be there!! It's been a great time with a great group and I've made some stellar friends.  I'm looking forward to some of the comforts of home (especially food wise), but I am so sad that our time here is coming to a close.  We've tried to wring every ounce of fun out of our time and I think we have succeeded admirably.

I'll be seeing y'all soon. <3

biomasa e hidráulica

I have forgotten to fill you in on our field trip last week! 

We went to a biomass plant that uses all the refuse from the wine making processes in the region to produce energy.  It smelled like concentrated alcohol all over the place...I think it may have actually been possible to get drunk off of the fumes.  It was a really interesting plant, but it was definitely a place I wouldn't want to be stuck alone at night--looked like a set for the latest saw movie.  

The second destination of the day was a dam in Estella.  It was a neat little place that was run by some rather interesting souls: I'm pretty sure there was a small batch of marijuana plants in the garden there.  Whatever floats your boat.  

Neither of the places smelled like roses, but it was a fun experience and I learned a lot about both technologies.  Especially dams.  I thought I had a pretty solid grasp on how those worked, but there were quite a few things that I hadn't thought of.  Good thing I didn't design them :) 

Hasta la próxima. 

los heridos

The calm encierros didn't last.  6 and 7 were disasters. 

I watched both of them from home with Nerea, and both of us were terrified.  The 6th running there was a leading bull and a trailing bull.  The two most dangerous things that can happen.  They both managed to get their horns into people, but the trailing bull was the worst.  

I felt horrible for the man who was attacked for a solid 40 seconds by the trailer, but I felt even worse for the poor bull--he was so confused and turned around and lost and it was horrible to watch...  The man didn't make his situation much better by trying repeatedly to get up.  He made it easy for the bull to get a horn in his leg (which was disgusting by the way).  As far as I know, everyone who was injured survived, but some of them were definitely in critical condition. 

The danger of the 7th running was the ridiculous amount of people that ran.  There was only one goring, but there were many trampled people at the mouth of the bull ring.  It was a literal mountain of bodies and the bulls slammed right into them.  One Australian man was "flattened" (the only thing that was funny about it was how it translated into English).  Thankfully no one died that day either.  

The 8th run was fun to watch again from the inside of the ring.  We had much better seats this time and we could see everything very clearly when the bulls thundered into the plaza.  It was a good last running for the week.  We decided to rest for most of the day so that we could go to the closing ceremony at 24:00 in the same plaza as the chupinazo.  It was really beautiful and calm.  Much the opposite of the antics of the opening ceremonies.  

This morning walking around the city it was so strange not to see anyone in their red and white garb.  And to see Pamplona return to its calm self.  It'll take weeks for it to recover completely, but we are all relieved to have our quiet city back.  I can't imagine having to see the city take that much abuse every year.  

I've enjoyed the fiestas, but I am rather excited to settle down for a few days.  Only one more week :( See y'all soon! 

girls' weekend

This last weekend of San Fermín a group decided to head to Paris for Bastille Day.  Sammi and I decided to hang around and have some time away from the herd, and I am so glad that we did :) 

We went shopping, went to a circus, went out dancing, watched fireworks, slept.  It was fabulous.  And it was even better once we heard about the insane amount of travel issues the Paris group had.  We were pretty pleased with the weekend. 

I don't actually know what either one of us would've done the first two weeks if we'd been the only girl here.  I'm so glad we have become such good friends.  I'll miss this girl!!

el encierro

SO many bodies por todos partes!

So far I have been lucky enough to see every encierro in some capacity.  Sunday we got up way earlier than should be allowed and fought for a mediocre spot in the throng to see the first run.  It was uneventful and hard to see anything because of the amount of runners.  They really think all this through: on the first morning (because it is the most crowded and ridiculous group that runs) they use the biggest, slowest bulls that can cause the least amount of damage.  There were one or two tramplings of humans by humans, but no injuries attributed to the bulls.

Monday we had a group that wanted to run.  So they did.  Ekkk.  A small group of us got there extra early to get a good spot on the fence (which we did) so that we could try to pick out our runners (which is impossible).  That run was also uneventful (THANK GOODNESS), but I was not happy until I saw all 5 of them at our meeting point after it was all over.

Tuesday we got to sleep in a little bit (and by that I mean we got up at 5:30 instead of 4:30) and watch the entrance of the bulls and runners into the Plaza de Toros.  It was nice to have an actual seat for and hour before the run began instead of a 1.5 wooden fence to perch on for 2 hours or so.  The morning show was a grand display of stupidity.  And boy, was it entertaining.  After all the bulls and chasers have been corralled and are safely away from the mass of people in the ring, they let in "little bulls" (that have had their horns de-sharpened) to "play" with the crowd.  In a nutshell this involves adrenaline junkies trying to slap the bull's rear with out getting stomped on or just straight up run over.

Wednesday morning (this morning) we had an even bigger group that wanted to run.  Some people decided to go for round two with fate.  I won't lie: I'm so jealous.  I wanted to do it so bad.  But that just isn't a risk I can take right now, so I was good and sat it all out...  I again breathed a huge sigh of relief when everyone reunited under the flags.

So far all the runs have been uneventful in terms of injuries related to the bulls.  No gorings yet and no deaths and I hope it stays that way.  The city is alive 24 hours a day and I have never had a weirded sleep schedule: up too early, siesta all day, class for 5 hours, out too late, repeat.  It's brilliant but unsustainable.  I can't wait for the city to be back to its quiet, clean, less-smokey self.  I'm so happy that our program spanned this nonsense, and hopefully I can drag my family here with me one day ;) It's been a a blast and it is definitely an "un-repeatable 9 days."  I just haven't yet decided if that means there will never be another 9 days in your life that compare to these (true) or if it means that you do it once and never do it again.  We shall see.  I think internationally acclaimed fireworks every night for 9 straight days is definitely doable again.  Yes, we have gone every night.  It's wonderful and a half.

Abrazos.

el chupinazo

San Fermín started with a bang.  It came 15 minutes late and it was the longest 15 minutes of my life.  

El Chupinazo is the traditional rocket launch that happens annually on the 6th of July at noon sharp (usually) to mark the beginning of the festival.  It is held in a small plaza in front of city hall that is packed with way too many people and it is a place I NEVER want to be again.  Talk about a claustrphobe's nightmare.  I will admit that for the first 30 or so minutes it was entertaining to watch the melee of drunken tourists douse each other (and us) in sangria.  But it became distinctly un-fun when some brilliant people decided that pushing the crowd back and forth across the plaza was a grand idea and the imminent possibility of death by trampling reared its head.  That was when we began to get separated and the battle to stay upright began.  This was at about 45 minutes till noon...there were times when I had no feet on the ground...it was a horrible hour of my life.  There was about a 40 minute stretch where we all were sure we were going to die of suffocation.  It was wonderful. 

Of course looking back on it we are all glad we went.  And we have all agreed that we will never go again.  Ever.  It was the most draw-out physically and emotionally distressing situation I have found myself in so far.  Not looking for a repeat.  The amount of crazy was overwhelming.  

The reason for the 15 minute delay (which Nerea assured me never happens--they always fire the rocket at noon!) was because a group of Bosque Nationalists had managed somehow to string the Bosque flag over the plaza in an act of defiance and display of their wishes to be completely autonomous.  As much as I appreciate their patriotism, I can't help but be a little bitter that they prolonged my suffering for an extra 15 minutes.  Fortunately we all had small groups that stuck together during the whole ordeal and we all came out relived to be out and most importantly: alive.  I owe Sam my life, and I had to take Sammi to the nearest Corte Ingles to get her new shoes (when there is that many people in a small space the distinction between your feet and the ground becomes unimportant to those around you...poor girl was shoeless for about half an hour...). 

Our clothes, which had been the traditional all white, were then pink with wine and sangria and we were drenched from head to toe in the stuff.  Utterly exhausted, we decided to break for a while and reconvene for fireworks that night.  

The opening to the week has been a trip for certain.  Thursday was the 4th of July, Nick's birthday, and juevintxos, so naturally we had to celebrate.  Friday was San Fermín eve and we were curious to see how the population boom was treating the city.  Saturday was...well.  All in all we were exhausted but happy.  The fireworks show was phenomenal and the best part is we get to see them every night of the festival!! I've never been so excited for 11:00pm to roll around every night :) 

I'll keep you posted.  Hopefully things will settle down during the week when some of the tourists head home. 

Besos a todos. 

wtg

We have spent a lot of time on the subject of wind turbine generators (WTGs) this week.  I am so happy that I have the opportunity to take this class!! I'm learning so much, and I'm just thrilled about it.

I feel like I am continually shocked by the expense and difficulty of implementing these green technologies.  One on hand it is so admirable that we go to such great lengths to try and fix what we have messed up in the world.  And on the other hand it just seems crazy.

Commercial WTGs are GIGANTIC.  And heavy.  And expensive.  I knew all that about them, but apparently I was unprepared for the numbers.  One rotor of a typical commercial wind turbine can weigh over 40 tons!

If you are interested here's a link to an awesomely entertaining video we watched in class that tells you a little bit of the basics about the parts of the turbines.  I highly recommend it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNXTm7aHvWc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Our field trip today was to a wind farm owned and operated by Acciona Energía.  I was a little disappointed because it wasn't windy enough for them to be turning and I really wanted to hear how loud they were as that seems to be one of the complaints that they face in the US.  Hopefully I will get to see them again sometime when they are more active.

We also visited a Solar PV field, but that is all Electrical Engineering stuff that was kind of over my head...it also reminded me a little too much of Physics II.  But it was still interesting to see.  Especially because the panels were "BP Solar."  We all got a little chuckle out of that.

We'll start talking about Solar PV this coming week.  So far I'm of the opinion that Solar PV is better for residencial applications.  Large installations take up an insane amount of space.  Still excited to go to classes so that's a good sign!

San Fermín starts tomorrow and already there has been an unprecedented boom in population size of Pamplona.  I'm excited!! But a little nervous as well.  I'm glad our group is so tightly knit.  I think it'll make the whole situation a bit more enjoyable.

I'll let you know how the opening festivities treat us :)

¡castillo de olite y una bodega!

Talk about a long day...

We started off with a cultural excursion to El Castillo de Olite and then after to una bodega (a winery) called Pagos de Araiz.  We left at 9:30, got back at 2:30, had enough time to grab a quick lunch, and then had class from 4-9 as usual.  And no time for a siesta either.  

The castle was absolutely beautiful! It was built during the 13th and 14th centuries under the orders of Carlos III of Navarra.  So many towers and stairs to climb and views to be seen.  We only had an hour which I think we all decided wasn't enough, but everyone in the group enjoyed the time there a whole lot.

After our truncated time in Olite we headed to one of the many bodegas in the region.  Pagos de Araiz was such a cool experience.  I've never been to a winery or anything like it before and it was really interesting to learn about how the grapes were monitored and harvested.  I then had my first wine tasting and was pleasantly surprised to find that there actually is a reason for all the smelling and swirling and other seemingly silly things that happen at wine tastings.

It was an exhausting day, and 5 hrs of class after all the stair climbing in the castle and being in the low-light interior of the winery was a struggle, but we prevailed :) 

barcelona :)

Ahhh Barcelona :)

What an interesting place.  I'm pretty positive that approximately 97.63% of the population there were tourists, and we all agreed that it was kinda refreshing to hear some English and to see some confused faces that weren't our own.  It was a bit more stressful to travel in a group of 14 than it was with our original 8, but once we finally got everyone checked in to the albergue it was pretty smooth sailing from there on out.

I was lucky enough to get to spend some time outside of the group for a day and wander around the city with a dear friend from back home.  It was lucky that Will and I were both scheduled to be in Barcelona the same weekend, and it was just to perfect not to hang out for a little while.  Don't get me wrong--I adore our group, but every once in a while a personal day is necessary for everyone.  

Saturday we visited La Sagada Familia (!!!) and then a flamenco exhibition.  I couldn't actually believe that construction on the basilica had begun over 100 years ago.  It looks so modern and advanced.  Guadí's architectural style is breathtaking and clever and inspired and we spent a solid 2 hours there (it would've been more, but we had the flamenco show to attend).  Flamenco was lively and enjoyable, but I was spoiled by the Sara Baras performance I got to see with my family in Madrid.  The couple that performed however were very nice people and during the show they brought people up to dance with them.  So I got to make a fool out of myself with Sammi and Rachel.  And that's always a good time! 

After flamenco, we decided that it would be a grand idea to try and fit all 14 of us into a little hole in the wall restaurant.  We actually filled the place, and definitely overwhelmed the kitchen...about 3 hours later we had all finally gotten our food.  Fortunately we had each other's good company and sporting attitudes.  I was about done with the day after that, so I walked around a little with Will and then heading back to my hostel and called it. I was the earliest to bed at around 1:00 and everyone else filtered in from 2:00 until 5:00.  Needless to say there were few of us that wanted to be out and about the next morning very early.   

I wasn't feeling the beach so much in Barcelona (San Sebastían had it beat by mile in my opinion), but we wandered around just to see what it was like and to see the Copper Fish and whatever else we could from the Olympic Games.  

Our real destination was Barcelona's La Cuitadella (Catalán was way more prominent than I was expecting in Barcelona...almost all the street signs and labels were in Catalán only).  Our small group was so super happy that we decided to make the trek!  Pamplona's Cuidadella is impressive and has it's own character, but Barcelona's was ten times more impressive.  It was a full on park with fountains and statues and paddle-boats on a lake and picnic spots and gardens and it was HUGE.  

I could've probably spent the rest of the day there, but we still had things on our to-do list that I wasn't prepared to pass up.  

Lunch was our next priority, and we found a wonderful little restaurant down a side road in the old city away from the tourist traps with a fantastic menú del día and a wonderful serving lady.  It was an authentic little place with a special character about it.  My favorite thing about it was that it was truly a locals' spot: we were definitely the only people in there that spoke English, and I heard a lot of what sounded like Catalán at the surrounding tables.  I was rather pleased with the find and the food was pretty spectacular as well. 

We spent quite a bit of time walking Sunday--but it was all worth it.  After doing a pass through the gothic area and meandering in the old town some more, we heading back toward the main tourist area for another dose of Gaudí.  His Casa Batlló was just as impressive a beautiful as Sagrada Familia.  We had a guided audio tour through all five levels all the way up to the roof that provided lots of entertainment:  some of the claims that they made about his choices were just too funny, and they were made in a british accent so it was even better.  

When we had listened to the full tour (I've never before done that in any museum but it was too good to pass up) we decided to head back to our lodging and meet up with the rest of the group that had been on the beach all day.  They apparently didn't have sunscreen with them...so they were all pretty miserable.  We rested and chatted for a little while and watched the consolation game of the Confederations Cup between Italy and Uruguay before heading out for dinner again.  This time we decided that groups were the way to go, and so off we went with the plan of being back at 12:00 to watch the final on the big screen between Spain and Brazil (what a heartbreaking game).  

My group dined again a little off the beaten path (it's just more fun), and then headed to Plaza Espanya for the magical fountain show.  It was colorful and fun and whatnot, but it's got nothing on the dancing fountains of the Bellagio.  

Then it was a metro trip back and a disappointing outcome of the game and then bed for me.  There were some who decided that since we had to leave the hostel at 6:30 to catch our 7:30 train home that they would just stay up all night.  I guess I just don't have that stamina...

Everyone slept hard on the way back to Pamplona.  I think we could all agree that it was our favorite weekend trip.  I guess third time's a charm.  I hope someday I'll get to go back there and finish out a tour of the city.  It's a big place and I'd like to do it justice.  Week 2 of Engineering has begun now with a focus on wind power.  Our first professor is awesome, and I've already been shocked by the prices associated with the wind turbine generators (WTGs): 1 million euro for 1 MW energy production.  And that is only the purchase of the WTG.  It doesn't include transportation or installation!! Wow. 

acciona energía and noáin

Five hours of class can be a drag, I'll admit it freely, but learning a whole lot about something and then seeing it work in the real world is a pretty nifty set-up.  This week our focus was geothermal energy systems.  They are neat, but our professor never sold me on the idea that they are the way to go.  I'm still waiting to pass judgement on that once I learn a bit more about the costs and design flaws of the other alternative green resources.

Our first of four field trips took us Spain's first zero emissions building that is owned by Acciona Energía.  We had spent a solid amount of time discussing the different technologies and architectural tricks that were implementing in the design of the building, and I think we all enjoyed walking around and knowing what we were actually looking it.  Built 2006-2007 Acciona's headquarters combine bioclimatic design, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, geothermal, and biodiesel technologies to achieve zero emission status.  True, it was more expensive to build than it's neighbors in the industrial office park, but it will recover that cost in energy savings in 10 years--after 10 it's all profit and zero harm to the environment.  I was pretty impressed.

We then hopped back on the bus and journeyed out to Noáin, a Bosque town whose government has decided to take an interest in sustainability and community and had made some impressive strides.  Our poor professor had a time with trying to translate for us...he was required to translate from Bosque (his second language) to English (his third language which he hasn't spoken very much in 15 years).  He didn't even get to use Spanish.

The main reason we were actually there was to see their main building that has a geothermal installation, but as it was already installed (and therefor buried underground and very out of sight) we all found the gardens and the other bioclimatic buildings rather more interesting.

I of course didn't remember to bring my camera, but this trip was probably the best one to forget it for because geothermally there wasn't much to photograph.  The things I wished I could've snapped a couple of shots of were the community gardens/chickens, and the beautiful "Japanese Garden" that they have developed in an effort to be more sustainable.  It's a pretty spectacular system and a totally different outlook on living.  One thing I have found here in Spain that just always seems stronger than it is in the US is their sense of community.  It's kind of nice.

We are off to Barcelona this weekend and I am so thrilled.  Wish we had more than two days, but it'll have to be enough I suppose :)

engineer pamplona

The first week of class for la ingeniería has flown past. I can't believe my time here is already half way over. But, I have to admit that each class period drags on a bit...5 hours in the same seat is tough and I get jittery or sleepy around hour number 2. Guess that says something about my attention span...ah well.  Snacks have been an integral part of my success so far.  

It's been fun getting to know the 9 "newbies" and helping them get adjusted and get the things they need (map, bus route map, bus card, general knowledge of the city, food...) has made the 8 of us feel pretty awesome about all the knowledge we have acquired in the past couple of weeks.  We are mostly all headed to Barcelona this weekend, and I'm slightly nervous about traveling with 14.  It'll be interesting to see how it pans out...

I'm super excited for my last weekend trip because it's going to be a blast, and because that means I will have some time in Pamplona during San Fermin.  There is a group going to Paris for Bastille day the second weekend of the festival, but I'm going to sit that excursion out in favor of seeing the closing ceremonies here.  

Today is our first field trip! I'm excited to see what It will be like :) Catch ya later. 

the third millennium!

I would like to start by saying that the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in. The amazing care and attention to detail of the paintings on the ceilings blew my mind. We spent a good two hours there on our first day, and when we had a little time in the afternoon on Sunday I decided to go back again. Majestic might be the right word for the appearance, but inspiring is the word that comes to mind for me.

Zaragoza was another adventure for sure. This time I decided to look at the public transportation before we got there and I determined the quickest and most failsafe way for us to arrive at our hostel from the train station, so that went much more smoothly on weekend two. Thank goodness. 

We have decided that we don't have room to be surprised about anything in terms of hostels. Last time it was an adventure finding it, this time the shock came when we were told that bedding was an extra cost. Apparently this is rather common. Who knew? 

Once we had sorted all that out, we decided to take our picnics that our host families had given us and lunch in La Plaza del Pilar. I'm so glad we did :) Buildings like that really make me think--there was some great emotion (love or fear maybe?) that made those people build such a massive monument. It's fascinating.

We then decided (from a recommendation) to cross the river and see the buildings that had been constructed for the World Expo that Zaragoza hosted in 2008. The Tercer Milenio. I don't think we realized how far away it was. At least I was an interesting trip...?

The buildings were quite impressive, but the area was utterly desolate. We were actually the only people there. Every once in a while a car would whiz by on its way to somewhere else, but we were the only living beings in the third millennium. We decided that it all made sense because everyone else just needed a few hundred more years to arrive. We were simply early to the party. It was a strange feeling. 

After we made it back to present day Zaragoza (por fin!!), we were informed that we had somehow luckily arrived on the same weekend as El Noche en Blanco. We had no idea, but it meant we got to see some pretty neat stuff for free. Some of the guys even got Abrazos Gratis from a couple of local girls too (apparently that's pretty common too because I remember that happening in Madrid too). 

We got to see a couple of museums of archeological digs dating back to CaesarAugustus for free and an "orchestra" concert that made me and Sammi want to dance. It was so lively and I'm pretty sure it was an all night gig. There were pages and pages of information in the booklet we got from tourist info but there was no way to do it all. 

It had been a long day on our feet and we were all pretty tired and grumpy so we rewarded ourselves with ice cream cones (I still think that ice cream was one of the better purchases I have made so far) and returned to the hostel to sleep like babies. We were so grateful to sleep in Sunday morning for the first time all trip. 

Sunday morning the Aljafería is free, so after a typical Spanish breakfast of toast we toured around in there. Again, the detail was astounding and I enjoyed every second of it. It's so impressive to me that all of that history has been preserved so well and I'm super lucky to get to see it. 

The plaza was our go to for lunch of course, and then after we had some more time to kill. Naturally, we found the nearest chocolateria and snacked on churros y chocolate. ¡Que rico! 

I was very pleased with our decision to ride the elevator to the top of one of the basilica's towers and see the view. Well worth 2€.  

It was getting to be that time, so we headed back to the hostel to gather our bags and then back to the train station to grab some snacks to hold us over until late dinner at home. It was a great weekend and I'm looking forward to Barcelona soon!! 

bilbao and san sebastían

We are well into our second week abroad now, and some little things still throw me for a loop even when I'm expecting them.  I feel better about all that now though since a Canadian native who has been living in Pamplona for 40 years told me on the bus today that there are some things that it is impossible to understand or to become accustomed to. The day to day life is still quite exciting and entertaining, but nothing yet compares to our adventures this past weekend in Bilbao and San Sebastían (especially Bilbao). 

We arrived by bus in Bilbao around 12:00pm super excited to see the Guggenheim and to wander around the city.  We had booked our hostel, and we thought we had all our ducks in a row... 3 hours later (after we had taken a lovely tour of the highways on the outskirts of Bilbao on foot) we finally found where we were supposed to be.  15 minutes after that we realized that there was a metro stop at the bus station that had a line that ran directly to our hostel.  This would've cut our travel time down to around 10 minutes, but at least we got a good little stroll in. 

Fortunately the hostel was as nice as it looked online and the receptionist was absolutely the most friendly woman I have encountered in the hospitality field, so it made up for the misunderstanding at the bus station that walking through the old city to get there was "un buen idea."  After checking in, we decided to rest for a little while before heading to the Guggenheim for some more walking around and standing up. 

I was absolutely floored by the architecture of the Guggenheim! It's impressive in pictures, but in real life it is astounding.  I have to be honest, I wasn't super impressed with the temporary collections.  I am not progressive enough nor have I studied enough to appreciate modern art, but I was very impressed by the permanent exhibit by Richard Serra.  It's called The Matter of Time, and it is rather big.  It's hard to describe the feeling that the gigantic metal structures give a viewer, but when I was walking through them I felt like I could feel the gravitational pull of them on me.  Their shapes influenced the way I moved and how I held myself while I meandered around and through them.  I think it is fair to say that it was everyone's favorite part about el museo.  

After we had had enough of art for the evening, we decided to wander through Casco Viejo to find some dinner.  As for that experience--at least the food was good.  

Included with our stay in BBK Bilbao Good Hostel was a ticket to a discoteca called Fever.  We decided why not, and the 8 of us meandered around in a relatively sketchy set of warehouses in the general direction that the man at the front desk had pointed us in.  We found it and were relatively impressed by the interior.  As we were attempting to "travel light" none of us had the right type of clothes for this venture, but we made the most of it and had a blast dancing inside the cushiony airspace that surrounded and separated us underdressed Americans from the rest of the dancing crowd. We danced until 2am and just when the party was really getting started decided that we should leave since we had to catch an 8:40 bus to San Sebastían the next morning.  We slept hard and woke up bright and early to hit the metro and arrived just in time to board the bus. 

After a not long enough nap on the bus we arrived in San Sebastían ready for some beach-napping (don't worry mom--I put on sunscreen!). Once we had rested a little more we headed into the Casco Antiguo to find lunch. San Sebastián was overall a much more enjoyable experience than Bilbao because we were just a little more prepared...

After lunch some of us climbed the mountain to Jesus (large satue of the Sacred Heart) and others returned to the beach for nap time round two. Can't say I blame them, but climbing was super fun and a cool experience that I'm glad I didn't forego. We reunited with the whole group for dinner and then decided to walk the streets a bit more before our late bus back to Pamplona. 

What an interesting weekend it was! But we learned a lot and are already planning next weekend's excursion to Zaragoza. This time we have a little experience and I think that will help a whole awful lot. ¡Hasta luego!

week one in pamplona

Our first week of exploring has come to a close. It's hard to believe I've already been abroad for 10 days, and I'm loving every second. We've already fallen into a comfortable weekly routine of going to classes in the morning, finding a small place for lunch, and then wondering around the city until it's time to do something again. 

Monday we started our food adventures at Hemingway's Café Iruña. We had no idea that this was a tourist destination. It wasn't until the next day when our teacher asked us how our first day was that we knew anything about it being THE café where Hemingway went...obviously none of us are up on our history of Pamplona...

After our first (of many I'm sure) experience of food not being quite what we expected, we wandered around the city with no particular destination in mind. We walked and talked and looked and eventually stumbled upon a gorgeous old place called La Cuidadela (the citadel). I think so far that is my favorite place in the city. Built 1571-1645 under the orders of King Felipe II of Spain and considered one of the finest examples of military architecture of the Spanish Renaissance, the citadel has now become a green space in the city that is a perfect spot for the afternoon siesta. 

Tuesday I decided to go on a little adventure by myself and eat at Okapi Taberna. After a wonderful little meal of pintxos (I'm still learning all the food words so I'm honestly not sure what I ate, but I learned that bacalao is cod and is very common here), I walked around the city trying to find a public restroom for a few hours before it was time to meet back up with the group. Turns out the public restrooms have hours. 4:30-till sometime before 10:00. How strange. 

We met up with the Clemson, Alabama, and Auburn group for a pick-up game of soccer on one of the lawns near la Cuidadela. I was one of 3 girls to play, and I had a blast. We ended up playing for 2 hours before calling it quits. We all decided to meet up for pintxos that night at Kiosko in Plaza del Castillo. The night bus ends at 12:10 on weeknights so I cut out "early", but there were nearly 30 of us there all talking and having a grand time. 

Wednesday we lunched at Argileku--Basque for "place of light." Afterward the 8 of us took over one of the basketball courts in Mendillori and played and chatted for about 3 hours. There is the nifty little outdoor "gym" that is designed so that all the machines use your bodyweight instead of cables and such.  There are so many different types of public spaces here.  It's fascinating.

Thursday we needed a break, so after a lengthy lunch (it seems to be a trend) at a small paella place, we all returned to our respective houses to rest before juevintxos--jueves y pintxos combined for a lovely night of vino y pintxos for only 2€. 

Friday I had every intention of taking a nap, but instead I was again convinced that 3 hrs of basketball after eating in the café Florida was a good idea. So, I hd yet to take a siesta and was definitely starting to feel it...

I love my neighborhood. I'm about as far east as you can get in Sarriguren (the first bus stop on the way in and the last bus stop on the way out), so I'm right next to the countryside. It's a fantastically beautiful place to go on a run through the farmland and around trails at the base of the surrounding mountains. I have eaten more carbs in the last 10 days then ever in my whole life, but with the basketball and the walking and the soccer and the running it seems incredibly necessary.

We are on our first excursion outside of Pamplona now. As I type this we are heading to Bilbao to see the city and the Guggenheim, then Sunday on to San Sebastián for a day in the city and at the beach. I think I may have to renege on my promise not to post more than twice a week...even though I'm trying to keep track of everything, writing about it days later seems stale and list-like and uninteresting. And I can promise you that my experience thus-far has not been anywhere close to any of those things. I'll consider 3 times a week and see how that goes. 

I'm loving the group, loving the adventures, loving the life (except for the plethora of white bread and the tiny breakfasts). I'll be in touch! 

the first 24 hours

After a bone shaking flight on the smallest plane I've ever boarded from Chattanooga to Charlotte, I met up with 6 of my 7 fellow travelers that I will be spending my first two weeks with: Rob, Brad, Sammi, Nick, Jason, and Sam (Alejandro was a new addition that none of us knew about until last week and have never spoken to and we aren't entirely sure if he actually made it or not...however, we assume due to his name that he will be fine and will find his way to Pamplona without incident. We also recognize that this may be a form of racial profiling, but that didn't stop us from entertaining ourselves with a little game we like to call "¿Dónde está Alejandro?").

Finding each other was quite the adventure, and after accidentally introducing myself to 5 different people that were wearing "a dark gray shirt and jeans," I finally found the right one. After that I developed quite a keen sense for spotting our other compatriots (generally one would be standing awkwardly by a trash can and looking around intermittently between shooting a text to someone), and soon the group was assembled and sat down for lunch in the terminal. 

Our flight was long and rather uneventful. Sleeping was nearly impossible, but I nabbed a little shuteye in between the captain's announcements to (for our safety) "please keep your seatbelt fastened while seated." 

Our flight landed early, and after the longest taxi of my life--I think we may have actually landed in a nearby city and then drove the remaining miles to Madrid--we finally disembarked and headed to get a quick stamp on our passports and to find the nearest aseos to freshen up and relieve our bladders. Fortunately all our luggage arrived without incident, and then it was off to find our bus. We journeyed from T1 on to T4, and I am ashamed to admit that our first stop after we had located our departure point was the all too familiar Golden Arches... 

We got a good laugh out of the menu, a McFish featured alongside a McPollo, and our ordering in nervous and broken Spanish provided us some small entertainment to distract us from our weariness and dehydration induced headaches. 

We had some serious time to kill before the bus rolled out for Soria, so we made camp in a corner and I was introduced to a new card game called Eucher. This is possibly the strangest card game I have ever encountered. Cards change suits and the Jack is often higher than an Ace, but only if it is a certain color. I still don't entirely understand what was going on, but my team won so I figured I was doing O.K. 

On the first leg of the bus ride, sleep wouldn't come even though my head and eyes were begging for it, so instead I settled in to watch a Spanish subtitled cartoon about a disgruntled, albino, Chinese, Kung-Fu master peacock who had previously been exiled and now was planning his revenge on the whole kingdom of China. My brain was too fatigued at the time to find that combination odd. 

I woke up in Soria to our driver telling us that the bus on the right would continue on to Pamplona in five minutes. I was relieved to realize I'd finally slept, and then immediately concerned that five minutes would not be a sufficient amount of time to navigate the melee of people trying to switch their luggage to the next bus and find the restrooms. Bus two took us through the Spanish country side past idyllic houses in La Rioja. Beautiful. Whirling wind turbines dotted many of the higher ridges, looking like giant cousins to the wild flowers scattered along the hillsides.  There is something majestic about those huge structures. 

We passed Parques Solares de Navarra, and other smaller installments of solar fields. Old ruins of once ornate houses and new modern buildings were mixed together haphazardly along the roadside in some areas, and somehow the juxtaposition of all this had a strange allure to it. 

The real adventure began once we arrived in Pamplona.  We had now reached the unscripted portion of our journey: taxi cabs.  This was the point where we all split up, and we were all rather reluctant to do so.  It was especially comforting when I handed my driver my address and he stared at it for a long while in contemplative confusion, pulled out a map, said "ah, si...", and then after a few more minutes of contemplation took off in what I hoped was the correct direction. 

I arrived safely in the home of Narea and Rubén and chatted to the best of my ability about the trip and a little about home and what they do and things in Pamplona and school.  I think I did well for the most part and they were very sweet and encouraging to me.  "Poco a poco" is their favorite phrase for me and their confidence that I am going to love my time here and learn so much was reassuring.  Their "very quiet dog" turns out to be my size, but he is a sweet and beautiful pup named Taco.  We are already fast friends :) 

My companions seem friendly and smart and nerdy and I think we will all get on just fine. I'm one of two girls here so far and I'm definitely the baby. The majority of them are rising seniors, and one a rising junior. I hope they can handle six weeks of my weirdness... We are mostly spread out around the city, but I'm sure once we get our bearings a little more we will be just fine.  I'm so excited to be here and so looking forward to what is to come.  All the best to those stateside!