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.