La Tamborrada - 24 Hours of Drums!!

Jill, Maria, and I cooked dinner at our apartment the night of La Tamborrada. After finishing we met up with another girl from USAC Tiffany and headed to the apartment of our Chicago friends. They live really close to the plaza where La Tamborrada celebration starts so we thought it’d be best to get over there early. We left there apartment at 11:30ish and headed to La Plaza de Constitucion. The plaza was filled with thousands of people from San Sebastián. La Tamborrada is a celebration for El Día de San Sebastián. People march around the city for 24 hours dressed up in costumes banging drums and playing instruments to the tune of the city’s song. At 12am the Mayor quiets everyone and begins conducting the two bands on stage. One band is dressed up like Chefs and the other like soldiers. The soldiers always remain in their lines with straight faces and the Chefs are the party side. They are laughing, dancing around and making a scene! It was hilarious to watch. The two guys that were conducting the Chefs used a huge fork and spoon to conduct! After about 45 minutes of listening to the San Sebastián song over and over again and everyone singing to it we left to check out the rest of town. Little did we know…those weren’t the only bands playing. Every corner we turned there were more bands dressed up playing the song! Everyone was out on the town having a great time and enjoying El Día de San Sebastián. We went home after a couple more hours and luckily fell asleep. I slept through all the drumming until noon the next day!!!



We woke up at noon and went back to the center of town to watch the children’s parade! It was absolutely adorable! Every child was dressed up. The ages ranged from about 2 to 14 or so. It’s the largest children’s parade in the world. It went on for a couple hours and was fun to watch! It was raining off and on all day but the kids stuck with it. While this was going on, all the bands were still marching around playing the same song!! I was Skyping Patrick later that day and two times bands came right next to my apartment so I stuck my webcamera out my window for him to see and hear a live version of one band. I also got to show my mom another band when we were on Skype! This all went on until midnight Tuesday night. They had a closing ceremony at the center of town at midnight and it finally stopped. We all have the song stuck in our head now and sometimes I think I still hear drumming!

Preparing for La Tamborrada

I went for a run on the beach this morning and then went grocery shopping. Then Jill and I went to a shop on the beach where we reserved second hand bikes to use for the semester. We bought our bikes today and bought Maria’s as well! We are very excited to be able to ride around. San Sebastián has great bikes paths throughout the city and all along the beach. It will help cut our walking time and we still get to see the beach every ride! We get to sell our bikes back at the end of the semester! I started my Conversation Class today. I loved the teacher! He was very enthusiastic and encouraging! He seems really motivated to help us learn to talk with each other and the locals! Then I had my regular Spanish class. We talked all about La Tamborrada which is the festival that begins at midnight tonight. Everything shuts down and we don’t have school because it is a very important day for the city! Everyone tries to gather at a nearby plaza in Parte Vieja to watch the Mayor of San Sebastián conduct many people in drumming the song of San Sebastián. This festival is celebrating the day of San Sebastián and is very popular! There are two bands that play. One band is dressed up as chefs and the other as French soldiers. They will play songs consistently until 12pm (midday) on Tuesday. Which is when the children come out all dressed up and start playing until 12am that night. It is the biggest children’s parade in the world. It usually has around 8000 children participating from all ages. They march around all different parts of the city. Everyone tells us that we won’t be able to sleep until midnight Tuesday night….but you know me. I am pretty good at sleeping through anything. We have a group getting together to go towards the plaza at 11:30pm tonight and hang out for a few hours. Then we’ll get up in the morning and try to watch the Children’s Parade. It should be lots of fun and definitely a cultural experience! I am excited and will update you about La Tamborrada soon!!

Agur (Goodbye in Basque).

First Weekend in San Sebastián

Saturday:
Saturday was a beautiful day! We all slept in! Maria and I went shopping a little in El Centro and had lunch together. Jill and our friends from Chicago (Peter, Angela, and Megan) met up with us after lunch to explore San Sebastián some more. We walked across two of the three beaches enjoying the sand and sun! We ventured toward the corner of town where the famous Combs of the Wind statues are. It was a gorgeous day for exploring together! After that we got coffee and hot chocolate at a nearby café and headed home to enjoy a relaxing evening! Aunt Kay and kids were at my parents’ house for the day so I got to see them on Skype as well as Luci and Lilia. Also got to talk to Patrick which was great!!


Sunday:
Maria, Jill and I decided to try to find a church in San Sebastián to attend. We had heard of a Baptist church through Laurie Smith (wife of Pastor Mark at Grace) that was nearby us. The USAC Office also had information about how to get to the church. We were supposed to catch a bus at 10:30 and we think it came early because by the time the next bus was there it was already 11 and that is when it was supposed to start. We didn’t think it’d be appropriate to walk in at least 20 minutes late for our first time. So we are planning on trying again for their Wednesday night service or next Sunday. We went to a café on our way back and then went home for a nap and homework. I took a nice run on the beach today! It was absolutely beautiful! Afterwards I just sat on the edge of a wall just watching waves and listening to music. It was just gorgeous and the waves were huge because a storm is coming in soon. Spent the evening talking to the family on Skype!

Thursday and Friday

Thursday:
We started our day by getting textbooks for our classes and finally buying our bus pass. It was a beautiful and sunny day so I was able to take some pictures of the city! We walked throughout town just to check things out. We saw La Catedral Buen Pastor. It’s a gorgeous cathedral in the center of town. Absolutely breathtaking! Class is going well. So far it is all review, but definitely good for me!

Friday:
Friday I had class for the afternoon. I enjoyed my beautiful walk to and from class along the beach! It was sunny and a great day to be outside. Jill, my roommate Maria, and I were invited to dinner at the apartment of some other USAC students from Chicago. They made salad, bread, and tortellini. It was so much fun to eat a great meal made my Angela! After dinner we went to the center of the city and checked out some bars for a couple hours. It was nice to have a group of us doing everything together!

Tues & Wed in San Sebastián

Tuesday began with a long orientation at the Universidad. We found out how we did on our placement exams! I tested into the classes that I planned on! Definitely a relief! There are so many people still trying to figure out why they tested badly or switching classes around to find where their Spanish level is. It's just one less thing for me to worry about which is great! We had a guest speaker talk to us about the history of the Basque Country. If you didn't know, the northern part of Spain is considered teh Basque Country as well. San Sebastián is the most bilingual area in Spain with Spanish and Basque. It is a very difficult language but we see it everywhere. There are lots of political differences between the Spanish and Basque and it was interesting to find out about the history and how it affects the modern are and people.

I didn't spend any time in my apartment on Tuesday because we were quite busy! It did rain all day though and was very very cold!! I did go grocery shopping. What an adventure!! Ended up only getting breakfast stuff: naranjas (oranges), jugo (juice), y yogur (yogurt). It was pretty fun and I'm excited to start buying random things and creating meals for myself! I had to buy another blanket at a store because Monday night was spent wrapped up in a ball freezing cold all night!! Things are much better now! Jill and I got our computers configured for the internet at campus which is very exciting! I also have internet when I sit on my porch at my apartment! So thankful for that! I spent a lot of time with Jill, my roommate Maria, and my new friends Angela, Megan and Peter on Tuesday! We went to dinner together, shopped, hung out in their apartment y went out for a glass of Sangria after dinner!! Muy divertido!

Wednesday, today was my first day of classes. I have all my classes in the afternoon and evening other than Friday. My Friday class is in the morning because they want to be considerate of students with travel plans! The weather today was beautiful and sunny!! We were enjoying the warmth as we were walking around. Before my classes I went grocery shopping for lunch and dinner stuff. Salami y cheese bocadillos (sandwiches) for the next week!! Jill and I bought cell phones. That was interesting process all in Spanish. Hopefully it will work out!!! I only had one class today and it Spanish with Maria Hernandez. She is wonderful! I can tell she is an intense teacher but she seems very understanding and enthusiastic about teaching! I think I will learn a lot from her! After classes Jill and I bought a textbook and spent time checking emails and preparing for our other classes. I don't think I will have any different classes this week but I will keep you updated on what it is and how it goes! Thanks for all the comments as well! :) I have kind of forgotten to take pictures since I've been here, so I will get on that and start posting!

Last day of Tour and Arrival in San Sebastian!

Yesterday we left Madrid in the morning and drove to a town called Segovia. There we visited a castle and were able to tour inside. This castle was built in the 9th century and they continued adding to it during centuries afterward. We walked around Segovia checking out other old buildings. We enjoyed hot chocolate and a pastry at a local café. We left Segovia and headed toward San Sebastian. It was a long bus ride but I was able to sleep some. It was hard having time where I wasn’t staying busy because I thought a lot about being home and with my family and friends. We arrived in San Sebastian around 6:30. We drove through the town to check it out a little bit then arrived at Hotel Codina for the night. USAC (my study abroad program) provided dinner for us at a restaurant near the hotel. It was pasta, then salad, then chicken and potatoes, and then ice cream! Tons of food and very delicious! After dinner we had a housing meeting again and I got my apartment keys! I spent the evening relaxing in the hotel trying to get Skype to work.

Today’s breakfast was a soupy yogurt-type dish, cereal and OJ. The milk they use tastes different. I haven’t figured out why yet. We had orientation after breakfast which was in another building down the road. That lasted a few hours and then we had to take our very difficult placement exam. The written was very hard…a lot of guessing. The oral exam was a lot easier for me. After the exams 6 of us went to lunch at a Basque restaurant which took forever. The weather is nice today. It is definitely warmer than Madrid and no snow on the ground. The beach is beautiful. It is a small sized city but everyone lives in apartments that are 8 stories high. All crammed together! After lunch we went to the USAC offices to get more information about buying cell phones, renting bikes and getting to our apartments. Then Jill and I tightly squeezed into one taxi and went to our apartments. After dragging my lunch up stairs and into a tiny elevator I made it!! It is a three bedroom with two baths, a living room/dining area and a kitchen with a washing machine in the kitchen!!

Third Day of Madrid Tour - Jan. 10th

Our group took off in the buses towards the Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen). In the 1940's, Franco ordered this to be built by prisoners of war. General Francisco Franco was the dictor of Spain until his death in 1975. It is a monument that honors all of the Republicanos and Nacionalistas that died during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939.) Franco's own grave and the grace of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera (a leader of the fascist party) are in front and behind the altar. The basilica is carved into the mountain and includes a 500 foot tall granite cross. Since it had been snowing again today they closed the private road that leads to this monument. They didn't think our buses could make it safely.

So we ventured on to El Escorial. It was built in the 16th century!!! This building is a palace, a monastery, a school, a library and the royal pantheon. We toured many of the rooms and were able to go into the basement to see all the tombs of the Kings and Queens that governed Spain during four centuries! Seeing all the gold tombs with their names was incredible. There were pure gold designs all over the walls and marble floors. We were also able to look at other rooms in the basement with tombs of Princes and other Royal family members.

After El Escorial we drove back to Madrid to visit the Modern Art Museum (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.) This museo holds one of Pablo Picasso's Masterpieces called, Guernica. It was based on a town in Spain that was destroyed in 1937 by German bombers. The mural was 11ft tall and over 25ft wide. It was so amazing to me to have learned about Picasso for many years in grade school and actually be able to see his artwork being an arms length away. Muy fantastico!

For lunch we went to a local place, La Brillante. I had a sandwich with chicken pieces, lettuce y salsa rosa (reddish mayonnaise.) Then we headed the Madrid Train Station with a couple new friends. Inside the train station was a beautiful tropical forest with turtles and fish in the pond. The rest of the evening was talking to Patrick, Mom and Dad and shopping en La Plaza Mayor! Definitely a great day! Tomorrow we leave to go to Segovia and I will finally arrive in San Sebastian!

Second Day of Madrid Tour

We started out the day right by getting up on time for the tour. We were able to choose between pastries, meats, and cheeses for breakfast! Our tour was of the town called, Toledo. It is an hour drive south of Madrid. Toledo was famed for its production of iron and especially of swords and the city is still a center for the manufacture of knives and other steel implements. We visited La Catedral de Toledo, The Synagogue, and then were able to check out shops and restaurants around La Plaza. For lunch I had bistec/sopa/patatas y flan (beef, soup, potatoes y flan for dessert.)It was absolutely magnificent to see buildings built in the thirteenth century. It was an incredible town! The old city is located on a mountaintop surrounded on three sides by a bend in the Tagus River, Every street is cobblestone or brick with tiny streets intertwining every direction. Breath-taking!

Jill, my roommate in Madrid and I experienced some great Spanish conversations today! Trying to buy random things in El Corte de Ingles was difficult and we weren't that successful. I was able to replace my headphones I left on the airplane, but Jill couldn't find a new hair straightener or outlet converter. Try translated that to the Spaniards! :) (She needs new ones because yesterday she blew the circuit in our room.) Anyway, we're experiencing new things together and it is working out great! Tonight for dinner we had pizzas from this Spanish place. Different tasting but still delicious. We had extras, so Jill politely asked in Spanish for a to-go box. Apparently that is an American thing. Our waiter just laughed at us. Later he returned with our pizza in a bag. :)

First Day of Madrid Tour

Today started out a little late when my roommate and I realized we slept through breakfast and the first part of the Madrid Tour. Since today was a walking tour we decided to try to meet them somewhere. We ended up walking to the Royal Palace and met them outside. They already saw the rooms inside and were heading the the Old Part of Madrid. We visited Plaza Mayor, and a few other old buildings. The architecture is fabulous! After the Old Part we went the El Prado Museo. An art museum with many famous religious and nonreligious paintings. They were very interesting! After the museo we ate across the street from our hotel and took naps. Got to talk to the family again today! Keeps me udpated and happy to hear from them! :) Tonight we had a meeting about our living situations. I will be living in an apartment with two other girls in the area of San Sebastian called, "Gros." My apartment is a couple minutes from the surfing beach called, Playa de la Zurriola. It is on San Francisco street which is easy for me to remember! :) I will move in to the apartment on Monday! I am very excited about that!!

Flying to Madrid

My journey to Spain began with my flight to Los Angeles being cancelled. Gave us a little scare, but they quickly put me on another flight. Soon after, we found out thtat the new flight was delayed. All ended up working out great and I am very thankful. Thankfully, Patrick and my family joined me in saying goodbye at the airport. It was definitely an emotional time!

I arrived in L.A. and met up with some people from my USAC group also. We landed in London and had about an hour until my flight to Madrid. The flight was about two hours and very smooth. Arriving in Madrid was exciting! My luggage all came through! There were USAC Leaders there picking us up in busses to go to La Hotel Regina. There we had dinner at 8:30 along with a group meeting. For dinner we had spinach filled lasagna, chicken breast, potatoes and kiwi for dessert.

I got to talk to Mom, Dad, and Patrick through Skype from my hotel room which was amazing! I fell asleep quickly after that because jet-lag had definitely kicked in. Oh something cool...all my websites I look at are in spanish! :)