Bilbao!

So...as I mentioned before, I am in Bilbao, Spain. When I first got here, it was raining every single day. It was pretty lame. The weather was crazy for the last month: cyclone warnings, flooding, wind, cold and rain. But, in the last week all has been changing. The sun is out and it is beautiful. We are surrounded by both the mountains and the ocean and everything is green! It makes me really excited about spring. My friend Colleen and I went to the tourist office and got a few books about the many hikes in the Basque country. I hope we will be able to explore a lot!

However, even when the weather is bad, because it is Spain, nothing stops the people from going out and having a great time. There is so much activity in Bilbao. It is a relatively small city (about 300,000 people) and it used to be totally industrial, but in the past couple decades, it has become a location full of life. There is a University here, which means lots of folks my age and tons of restaurants, bars, clubs, and festivals. 

The family I am living with is very nice and understanding about the life of a 20-something year old. I work in the evenings, but I have almost the entire day free (until 5:00pm) and the weekends are mine to do whatever I please. During the day, I am taking Spanish classes. My Spanish has improved a lot. I am understanding so much more than at the beginning. Speaking is still difficult for me. I know in my head what I want to say, but I often get flustered when I actually start talking. But I have come to accept the fact that I will make a lot of mistakes and that I have to speak anyway because that is the only way that I am going to learn. I have a few language exchanges with Spanish students who want to improve their English. We go out once a week and speak half the time in Spanish and the other half in English. It's very good practice and a fun way to meet people.

Today is the beginning of Carnival...so I'm off!! But if you are interested, here are some pictures of Bilbao. I don't know exactly what people are interested in hearing about, so if you want to know something specific, preguntamelo!! Until next time...