Lessons I've Learned Thus Far...

Hey all! 

I can’t believe I’ve only been here 17 days, it seems like I’ve been here much longer for all I’ve experienced! This is going to be a long one, so get ready. Where to begin, the last week has definitely been an interesting one. I’m finally getting the hang of the grocery stores, and can read the food labels! My main complaint is you can only find peanut butter in Bilbao (30 minute metro ride away) and it’s imported from America – go figure – and comes in crazy small containers that cost 5 Euros. Mom and Dad, you can imagine my disappointment. Luckily I have friends at school who are shipping me some (Costco size I hope!). The food in general is really good here though! I only eat out on weekends, but I’ve ordered some pretty interesting things (some on purpose, some due to pronunciation errors). Today we went to a Txoko (pronounced Cho-co) as a group activity after class. It’s basically like a fraternity; only men are allowed to be members, only 60 members at a time, you can’t join until someone leaves (aka dies – my translation) but the one we went to is dedicated to the youth soccer team in Bilbao so it was decked out with soccer pictures and trophies!! The whole point of a txoko is to eat - to put it simply. You eat pinxos (or tapas/appetizers) and at the end of every month you pay for what you ate. I didn’t know we would be allowed to take pictures so I didn’t bring my camera but ohhhhh man was the food good/funky. The first plate we got had a flakey buttery bread stuffed with sea food (I couldn’t get myself to try it, but others enjoyed it) then we got a plate of chorizo (heaven) then a plate of specialty peppers only found in the Basque area, then a plate of Spanish tortillas (“tortillas” here are basically an omelet – eggs and potatoes mixed together), then a plate of blood sausages (I think that’s what it’s called?) I pretty much tried everything that was placed in front of me as soon as I could, before they told me what was in it and I had a chance to get grossed out. What a once in a lifetime opportunity!! I went out to explore the nightlife in Las Arenas last weekend, which was a blast; I love how people of all ages are out wandering the streets until late hours and are so friendly to foreigners. It was my friend’s birthday so we taught a bar tender how to say “happy birthday” in English and then she gave us free drinks to thank us! We headed home around 1:30am (which we assumed was good since we left for dinner at 8pm) and while on the metro were lectured by a 70-year-old couple about how we were going home too early. Looks like I’ve got some adjusting to do! Maybe I’ll do better this weekend. It's supposed to start raining soon so I really want to get out to the suspension bridge to get some cool pictures!! The Guggenheim can wait until a rainy day. Classes are still going well, very intense but I’m really enjoying them and am learning a lot! I tell myself every night “just think about how much you’ll appreciate this hard work once it’s over” – I spend an average of 3 to 4 hours a day on Spanish homework after the 2 hours in class (my culture class is easy). It’s strange to say so soon in the semester, but I can already feel a personal growth in myself and have come to appreciate every aspect of my life back home so much more. That being said, I can't wait to see what the next 3 months bring!! Hope all is well with everyone!!