Primer dia de las clases

I hope everyone had a good weekend at home, I know mine was full of friends and wine and all around relaxation, the perfect way to start my first week of classes! Today I had three classes, all in Spanish (duh) but about completely different things (more later). I'll be taking four or five classes total which meet about twice a week. So far I'm taking Basque Language and Culture (that could be rough, the language is unlike anything I've EVER heard), Cultural and Political Economy in Contemporary Spanish Society (I think that's the name, they usually just call it "the long one" haha, it reminds me of all those IPE majors back at school), Intro to Spanish Linguistics, and finally a regular Spanish grammar class (because God only knows I could always use more practice conjugating). At first it sounded like kind of a full schedule considering I only take 4 classes at FU but there's much more free time and they are pretty easygoing about workloads until we all feel situated.

I'm pretty excited for next week because of new classes mostly (and new school supplies! yessss), but also because we are learning about all the sports/activities offered at Deusto (the name of the university, in case anyone didn't know). The group that most international students do (myself included) is the hiking club because we are literally in the middle of the Pyrenees Mountains and thus hiking and backpacking and pretty much going outdoors is really big here. I'll be sure to get a camera before I go on those trips so I get to show you just how mountainous it really is here, and hopefully we'll be able to see the Bay of Biscay and the beautiful Atlantic, too! Not sure if I'll join any other sports though, considering they offer ping-pong, chess, track and mucho mas, all of which I can't really do well at all, and then of course soccer, but I would rather not attempt to play the Spaniards' favorite sport and then humiliate them when I don't know what I'm doing (I wouldn't want someone defacing my precious futbol amerciano like that!) Alas, we shall see what they offer anyways and who knows, maybe I'll come back and be fluent at Spanish and the next Forrest Gump of ping-pong in Spain (the most likely outcome).

One of the things I wanted to do today though, besides explain the classes situation, was describe some of the cultural quirks I've noticed on my way to school. Now, I only walk about 9 blocks to school so it's only 10 or 15 minutes, but I see more of the Spanish culture then than any other time of day. For starters, let's discuss the dog situation going on here. I'm pretty sure most of you have seen dogs in America, usually on leases (sometimes mandated) and about half the time pretty wild and jumpy/friendly, etc., which I love because it feels like they've been waiting to meet you their whole lives :). HOWEVER, the dogs in Spain are practically PEOPLE- they don't use leases hardly ever because every dog is super well trained, loyal, obedient, you get the idea. But they go a step further and train their dogs to go out by themselves! I can't tell you how many dogs I've seen walking through the streets alone (sometimes the owners are around somewhere), totally normally as if they are just going out to their favorite public restroom for a bit until returning to their apartment where their owners are waiting inside. CrAzY!! I only wish my dogs could do that, except then it's not really like a pet anymore just a really furry, illiterate sibling (and who needs another one of those, really).

Then, today I had my first "cafe", which is really just espresso. Most people know that, and that "cafe con leche" or "cafe americano" is regular coffee as we know it. Again I say HOWEVER, the coffee/espresso/whatever you want to call it here is muy excelente, I mean MUY (very). It's super smooth, quite strong, tastes good even without sugar because it's never bitter- it's my roomie Kara's dream haha! I'll have to bring some back for everyone to try, although then you might be just as hooked as me and we could have a real problem with our Euro-coffee addictions. The one thing I really miss about the US though, NYC especially, are the coffee carts. People only seem to drink coffee in the morning and then during the siesta, and always at home or at a bar. I just want one little aluminum coffee stand run by a set of twins (I'm talking about that cart by Lincoln Center, so tasty and cheap!) on the corner until 2pm so I can grab a coffee to go and possibly a day old but still deliciously cheap bagel. Ah well I guess the Spaniards can't be completely perfect, although don't even get me started on metro cards because I might move here permanently (trains, subways, buses all on one little card and each trip is only 70 cents!!!!! Wowowow!).

Alas, there are plenty of other things I see on my way to school, like little old ladies in full length fur coats, brown stockings, and little pumps just like in the movies, and plenty of things I DON'T see, like trash (where is all their trash, Bilbao has to be the cleanest city in the world!), but I have all semester to explore those and get back to you. For now, I'll leave you with a clip of a little kid speaking Euskera, the Basque language (my favorite part is when the camera turns sideways, pretty much how you feel when you're listening to it and wondering "what the heck are these letters???"). Que disfruten!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_af-5QrfUI&feature=related