Words Can´t Describe...But You Know I Try Anyway

The sun has been out for the last two days, erasing the misty mysterious sense that hit me when I got here, but illuminating exactly why this city is called the Playground of Europe. A cobblestone path follows the shore around two ¨mountains¨ (large hills; we´ll put it that way), a Parisian centro comercial and a stretch of museums that includes a crazy glass box theatre (kursaal...see the picture), an aquarium, and the summer residence of the Spanish royal family. People dress very impressively and I sometimes feel like a slob. It´s a little like Venice, actually...the River Urumea separates the new part of the city from the old, and it literally attacks the sides of the city when there is strong wind. Reminds me of how the cliffs of Ireland might be, but then again, everything makes me think about Ireland.
I´m not sure if I´ve mentioned pintxos. The non-Euskera name for them is tapas. It´s what everyone eats around here between 7 and 10pm...sort of a dinner pre-party. Little ham sandwiches, fish pastries, and potato pie slices are laid out lavishly on the bars, and people walk in, stuff their faces, and leave change on the bar. I am very much okay with this, because the food is delicious and the ¨service¨is quick.
Something else...blonde hair and blue eyes here are about as common as English. I´ve had two phone number requests from total strangers who ¨me gusta la pelirrojas y rubias¨(like redheads and blondes). It´s necessary to look them in the eyes and be forward...you disgust me. No, I´m not that horrid. I usually thank them and walk away or pretend my class ring is a wedding ring.
Tonight vamos a bailar. We´re beginning with an ERASMUS (European study abroad program) get together in our flat, then a bar, then (my personal favorite) Bataplan, a discoteca with all sorts of dance music. I´m happy about it because we don´t seem to be able to do this much in the States.
Certain people are in my thoughts and I want them to know I haven´t forgotten them.
In the next couple weeks I hope to upload pictures. Esperate hasta este momento. Peace be with you!

First Impressions

Three days without sleep...one full day moving between airports, two full days traveling by car, plane, and bus. I´m still exhausted, and my sore throat is keeping me awake at night longer than my confused body can handle. But oh, how worth it. Seeing this place is worth pretty much everything.
I met Jordan in Madrid...a friend from high school who is a sweetheart for showing me around all day and helping me navigate the incredibly efficient metro system. There we were in the capital, walking around and chatting like it was calculus class. After 12 hours of plane ride, I finally loaded a full bus to San Sebastian to Madrid. 6 hour ride...through snow, sheep fields, suburbs, sleet. It reminded me of a very woody form of Indiana in the winter. Then we pulled into San Sebastian, the northernmost Spanish city. This place is magic. I share a flat with two Americans. We are 5 minutes from La Zurriola, the surfing beach...I´m hoping to get out there on a board with a wet suit while I´m here; if not, watching surfers is fine too. We´re 10 minutes from La Onda, the swimming beach, which right now is rampant with hurricane weather. It´s so powerful. The river Urumea meets the ocean right behind our house, and every time I pass it´s like walking under a waterfall, except surrounded in sky-high Renaissance arcitechture. This place really is the city of the sea. I fit in perfectly!
La Universidad is a brisk 20-minute walk from our flat. It´s a pretty boring university, but it´s chock full of amazing people. Ivan and Yuraima, a very small, young, well-groomed couple, picked me up from the bus station and helped me get situated. Elena Lamarain, the secretary of the international program at Deusto, explained the registration process to me and got me into a (very easy) Spanish class, which will go until the 6 of Feb, right before real classes start. With me are Italians, Ukranians, Germans, 3 very sweet Parisians, Americans...it´s a feast for the ears and eyes, us all trying to find our place here.
More than anything I notice how much I stick out. I´m watched head to toe by anyone who passes me...my blonde hair, blue eyes and pink skin are the only ones I´ve seen. I´m also discovering how very bad I am at Spanish...a lady at a bank had to speak one word a minute for me to understand her. But I am learning! And I will be fluent by the time I leave!

Better blog updates, with pictures, will come once the internet is installed in our flat. You can expect that about 20 days from today.

With that, adios! It´s a pretty rotten summary, but it will get better...te quiero como siempre.

Imagine Your Fiance Breaking Both His Legs Before your Honeymoon

It's the soul-squeezing feeling of having the greatest adventure of your life put on hold indefinitely. Here follow two major and one relatively minor hang-up on the road to Euskal Herria.
The $$ hang-up
Suddenly, three days before my scheduled departure date, the financial aid office informed me I would have to find $3200 to pay for my own housing in Spain, instead of the stipend they assured me would transfer from my LMU scholarship money. Luckily, with help from Julie in the study abroad office (word to the wise; keep her on your side) and a couple financial aid counselors, they've made an exception for me and have wired me the money that I thought was guaranteed from the beginning. I won't be penniless in Pais Vasco!
The broken back
At a final pre-departure doctor visit two days before my initial departure date, my family physician sat me down on a grey stool and told me I had eight compression fractures in my thoracic spine vertebrae. I felt like someone had turned a hair dryer on extra-high/hot in my face. "The possibilities," he smiled to me, "are that nothing is wrong, that you will need to wear a brace, or that you need an injection of concrete into the bones of your spine." I told him I was scheduled to leave for Spain that Sunday. "You will have to put it on hold for now." In a daze, I called my parents, who rushed to the office to start calling surgeons, hospitals, and family members. I lived in limbo for five days as everyone tried to figure out how this extreme fracture had happened and what it meant for my trip and future. Turns out, they aren't broken. Of course not. A doctor in radiology "over-read" the initial x-ray. I have a very minor case of a disease called Scheuermann's Kyphosis, where my thoracic (mid) spine vertebrae are shaped like wedges instead of boxes. It has no bearing whatsoever on my current health or study abroad plans. The spine specialist apologized repeatedly and shook his head. "You have nothing to worry about. Go be a kid." You got it!
The fever
On top of all of this, my parents have been as sick as they've ever been. We nearly hospitalized my poor dad due to severe coughing, and my mother, the sole bacon-bringer of our family, has missed a week of work. Well, during the broken back scare, I got what they got. Last night (Inauguration night, the 20th of January) I had a 102 degree fever! Someone had stuck a hose spouting boiling water into my neck and it was slowly filling my pounding head. BASTA! This morning I was miraculously better, and am hoping to stay this way.

I have taken the above occurrences in stride. I would not appreciate this trip as much if it had been easy to go on :). I know there will be more hang-ups to come; I'd like to learn to roll with the punches more. If you don't, you begin to feel like a bride screaming at God for ruining her honeymoon.

Videos/Info about where I am

The country: Spain
The autonomia (region): Basque Country/Pais Vasco/Euskadi/Euskal Herria
The city: San Sebastian/Donostia

A great video of San Sebastian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2zTb7Eg9Lk
A quick look at la Universidad de Deusto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu9CAtxkbPY
A Basque Country video with commentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCmVuIccESM

Important terms:

Euskera: the Basque language, the oldest language in Europe

Castellano: Spain's version of Spanish. Major differences: pronunciation of letters "S" and "Z," use of "vosotros" instead of "Ustedes" to mean "you all" (I am in trouble)

E.T.A.: "Euskadi ta Askatasuna," or "Basque Homeland and Freedom," is the terrorist organization that uses extreme measures to fight for Basque independence from the Spanish crown. Contrary to popular belief, ETA is NOT responsible for the March 2004 Madrid train bombings.
BBC reports: ETA Declares permanent ceasefire: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4832672.stm

Francisco Franco: military dictator in mid-twentieth century Spain who forbid the speaking of Euskera and Catalan (used in and around Barcelona). his repression of these cultures probably led to their strong motivation for independence in modern times.