Bilbao

el 30 de septiembre de 2008

So last weekend Cory, Martin, and I went to Bilbao. The plan was to catch the 9:30 bus, and spend the morning/early afternoon at the Guggenheim Museum and then the rest of the day walking around the city, for sure checking out the Casco Viejo, which is the old part of the city.

A little after 9 I get a call from Martin. He's running late, but we should be able to make the 10am bus. Well, Cory and I get to the bus stop a little late and we miss the 10 o'clock. The 11 o'clock is sold out, so we opt for the noon bus. I was upset. I wasn't so much upset that we weren't going to keep to a schedule, so much as I was upset because we didn't have a schedule and I was looking forward to having a whole lot of time to just walk around and enjoy the city. In any case, with the two hours we now had on our hands we walked to a nearby coffee/tea shop called "Espressaté". I love this place. It's amazing, and they make all sorts of infusion coffee drinks that are delicious. We hung out and had coffee and nibbled on some food before taking the bus over. I was also happy because I was able to snap this shot while we were having coffee:

"Morning Coffee"

Anyways, the bus ride was fine. The countryside and views of the coast during the trip are really amazing. I was reading most of the way there. I had quickly approached the end of "Contact" and was eager to finish. We arrived around 1:30ish and headed right to the Guggenheim.

Firstly, it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and it was warm out as well. T-shirt and jeans were just fine. It was great. So that really set the mood, and we enjoyed the afternoon walking around outside just taking it all in, snapping photos wherever we pleased. We were able to see the giant puppy statue made of flowers that sits out front of the museum. His name is "Puppy" but in Spanish, thanks to the lovely accent, his name has become "Poopy." Yea, we took our time enjoying that one. We signed up for the 4:30 guided tour (in English) and met our tour guide. She was a student at the Univ. of Bilbao and this was her first tour in English. We told her we spoke good enough Spanish in case she had trouble.

"Poopy"

So the Gug (as it is known) is all modern/contemporary art. We got a tour of the first floor, which was really interesting. There was this one exhibit called the "Matter of Time" which was amazing. The concept is that you walk through these huge undulating sheets of steel, and they completely throw off your balance and your idea of where you are just by walking through. The concept is that you are uncertain as to where you are in the peice, and you keep looking around the corner expecting to be at the center when you're not. It's very hard to describe, but it is truly amazing. Though I've never been through them myself, I imagine that it's very much like walking through slot canyons.

There was another exhibit called "Your World, Your City." The way it works is that the artist has created an interactive work of art. You enter the room which is full of blocks and rods, all silver colored, and it's like you are back in pre-school playing with blocks. You put on gloves (to protect the piece) and you can alter anything in the room. You can move blocks, stack them, unstack them, etc. It's amazing, and was really fun. Because we were on the tour we got to play in there. It was great.

That was the end of the tour, and we three headed to the third floor to look at some of the paintings there. The third floor was the "History of All Art" section. Most of it was older Renaissance-esq paintings. Some were very interesting, but the most interesting were on the second floor... which was closed because they are preparing a new exhibit. I was upset.

"The Gug"

After we left the Gug we headed for the Casco Viejo for some drinks and Pinchos. Pinchos are very much like "tapas" excpet normally they are a bit larger, more like a small sandwich or something of that sort. There was also a dance party in front of the Cathedral. It was amazing. I guess when the city gets bored on Saturday nights they all just head out. We were told that there was one section called "los Siete Calles" (The Seven Streets) which are 7 parallel streets in the Casco Viejo that turn into a massive street party at night on the weekends. We decided it was a good idea to investigate. And so we did. We enjoyed the cuisine and some drinks at 3 or 4 different bars before heading back to the bus station to catch the 11:30pm bus back to Santander.

All in all it was good day. I had a good time and got to see another city, which was great. I can't wait to start traveling more!

Tan luego,
Andrew
Santander, ESP

Milestone

el 15 de octubre de 2008

This entry is going to be different from my others, in that it will be more of a reflection on my experiences than recounting them.

Milestone
This week marks the longest time I have spent away from:
Home
Friends
Family
The State of Rhode Island
The United States

6 weeks. Costa Rica was only 5. Wow. My reaction is one of surprise, pride, and comfort. I'm surprised that I haven't gotten as home sick as I did in Costa Rica. It seems more and more that going to CR was such a great "trial run" for this trip. I learned so much about what it's like being abroad and it really prepared me for this bigger step. I'm proud about how immediately I said "Okay. I'm in Europe now. I'm pretty much on my own... let's do this." And just took of running. I'm surprised at how comfortable I am here. This is my 8th year studying Spanish, I have some really good friends, the local people have been kind and friendly. It's just a great environment.

"Ex-pat" versus "Tourist"
Cory and I talked about this topic this past weekend. If you read my previous entry, you noticed that I mentioned how very much I loath the idea of traveling in large groups of obvious tourists that act obnoxiously, very rudely, and almost offensively in public. It's not just Americans either, it's a universal tendency. I would be much happier doing what Cory and I did: we took off on our own, talked with some locals, asked them where the best local place to get the authentic drink/food was, and then went there. The little authentic places, the real culture, talking to locals, getting involved in music/arts of the region... this is all what I truly want to experience here. I mentioned how upset I was on our trip to 'los Picos de Europa', how we got there, rode the gondola to the top of the peaks, spent 10 minutes taking some photos and then left. That says nothing except "Look! I've been here! Once! It was... nice!" But ask that person about what it's like to walk around on these peaks and about the stories behind the peaks and maybe someone who climbed it in some epic journey and they won't know shit. Cory said it the best while we were talking. Paraphrasing, it was "I feel like everyone here is still a tourist who happens to be staying here for a long time, but you and I came and planted ourselves here. We're here for a year, this is where we live." We made a joke that we were the ex-patriots planting roots versus everyone else being the tourist just passing through. I liked the thought. (Don't get me wrong, gotta love the Red, White, and Blue... but Yellow and Red go good together as well...)

"Home" is still contextual
The previous two commentaries noted how comfortable I am here and how I am slowly, but surely, moving my mindset to living here in Spain and all that this will entail. However, I noticed that the concept of "home" is still contextual. To better understand, an example: Cory and I were talking and he mentioned something that he'd like to do when we got back to Santander, but he used the phrase "when we get home." It was something general, that can be done anywhere, and I also got excited about doing that thing (I forget what it was) but immediately jumped to the thought of doing it in Rhode Island with my friends. As much as I love it here, and have found myself more than others (save Cory of course) really planting roots and immersing myself here... home is still Rhode Island. My opinion on the matter is rather neutral. I wish I could change that and make this place my new home. And I will... I am. It's happening slowly, but it is happening. At the same time I love the fact that I will always have Rhode Island as my home. In either case, I'm glad that no matter where I am, I can be comfortable enough and adapt myself to always know where home is. Always.

Anthropology
The "Ex-patriot" topic about also goes under this category, but deserved it's own section. I've noticed that I really enjoy observing people. I noticed this tendency this past year, especially in the IEP house. When we would hang out and drink and chat, I would sometimes go quiet and people would ask if I was okay. I was fine. I was observing. I enjoy, very much actually, just sitting back during a conversation and listening. I listen for several reasons. I listen to learn about the topic: sometimes I don't know enough to participate, but am eager to learn. I listen to learn about the people: just sitting back and letting someone just talk can teach you things you never knew. Sometimes people really want to say something but never found the right context to say it, but by just letting them talk they can move the conversation themselves and steer the conversation right to the spot they want to be. I listen to see if I'm right: I have never taken an Anthropolgy class, but even as such you can learn a lot about sterotypes and tendencies within different people just by watching them day to day... well, obviously that's what Anthropolgy is. Anyways, I really like making a hypothesis about someone's opinion on something and then listening during a conversation to see if I'm correct. I also like being surprised when I'm not. I listen to draw connections: above all my favorite thing to do is just listen to two or more people talk, compile their different comments and opinions and then try to look into what I know about them and see if I can pinpoint why the opinion differs.
All things considered, I'm excited to take an Anthropology class when I get back to URI.

Photography
I have a blast taking photos. I find it really fun, and I get really excited when I take a good picture. It's a very gratifying art form, and it's even more special to me considering how important it is to my brother John, and also to so many of my friends (namely Meg, Handrigan, Jeff, etc). Mostly, I've noticed, I love it as a community. In the 6 weeks I have been in Spain, and thus the 8 weeks I have actually owned my camera, I have on several occasions have had conversations started with/by someone that was either 1) interested in my camera or 2) was a photographer as well. And not only that, but the conversations are much more than just a "cool camera" comment before moving on. I mentioned in my last entry I met this man Peter from Belgium in Oviedo this past weekend. I pulled out my camera to get some shots of these peacocks in this park, and out the corner of my eye I saw him also pull out a camera. Later on I saw him creep in a bit closer for a shot and we exchanged "this is cool" glances while taking some great photos. Afterwards, we showed each other a couple of shots, but then instead of going about our ways we just started chatting. He told me he was there with his wife for a friend's wedding, he likes the city, and his camera and lens were a gift for his 30th anniversary. I told him I was a student, I was living in Spain for a year, and that I was only in the city for about 4 hours. We made a little more small talk and then moved on. I like having something like photography as a gateway to meeting new interesting people. I like it a lot.

Home Sick
I haven't gotten truly home sick here. There have been several occasions where I had wished "insert name" was here to share this "insert fun activity" with me. But truly, I haven't really been "home sick" in the true depression, can't leave the room, crying over missing family/friends kind of way. I was talking with Tori and mentioned that I have two opinions over being in Spain alone (Note: I do have Cory, which is amazing. But in terms of the "group" I'm used to having around it's quite different). The first, is that I hate the fact that pretty much all my friends in Europe are in Germany together in one big group. I will admit that seeing there pictures makes me jealous. They all got to go together, and they get to be together during their great experience abroad. The second opinion is that I am truly happy and proud that I'm not in the big group. I mentioned above how much I dislike the idea of the large group but I don't think that 7-8 of my friends really falls under that category. Anyways, I'm really excited that I'm here on my own. I think it will definitely afford me different experiences and opportunities to grow and learn in different ways. It also affords me the experience of truly living on my own and being independent which, as the youngest child, I have been yearning for for years. What an incredible place to have that opportunity.

Things I Miss
Coffee ice cream.
Dels.
Coffee.
Fall in Rhode Island.
Pint Night at the Mews.
Newport Storm Amber Ale.
Brewed Awakenings... for coffee.
Bon fires that last all night.


Well, that's a bunch of "reflections" that I've noticed and wanted to share. I hope you are all well and, as always, I miss you all and can't wait to share more experiences/adventures when I/we have them.

Tan luego,
Andrew
Santander, ESP

Weekend trip: León and Oviedo

el 13 de Octubre de 2008

So this weekend AEGEE Santander organized a weekend trip to two cities very close to Santander: León and Oviedo. Leon is in the region called "Castilla y Leon" (South and a little West) and Oviedo is in Asturias (West). For the record, Santander is the capital of the region known as "Cantabria". So Cory and I awoke on Saturday around 6:30 and got ready to be at the bus for 7:45. We weren't sure if the city buses were running and as such took a walk through the park instead. The walk was nice, and we arrived right on time. The student coordinator arrived right on Spanish time, at 8:20, and we piled onto the bus and headed out.

The bus ride was fine, though a bit long. Our first stop was to be Leon were we would meet up with one of the guys from AEGEE Leon for a city tour. We arrived, drop our stuff at the "hotel" (which was actually a hostel) and got back on the bus to rendezvous in the city. We met up with the guy and began walking around. Cory and I immediately realized that we would much rather go off on our own, rather than walk around with this very large, obnoxious group of students. It was funny, actually, because I feel as though Americans get this bad stereotype for traveling in large groups and being loud and obnoxious, and yet it's really the same no matter who you are*. Our group was pretty much half Italians and half Brazilian students, and just the fact that they were together, in a large group, turned it into a typical loud group of tourists. Anyways, as I said Cory and I quickly decided we were all set, and the moment we had free time we took off. We walked around the city a bit, toured a historic library set in this very beautiful church (sadly we had to re-rendezvous with the group to do so) and also we were able to walk around the Cathedral, which was gorgeous. There were about 3 or 4 weddings that day. I was actually in the Cathedral for one of them, behind the alter taking pictures and some guy had to come up behind me and, whispering, asked me to please leave. It was great. We really didn't have time for dinner and we were supposed to all meet up at some plaza at 11:30p for a huge party in some bar. Well, Cory and a couple friends and I were hungry, and decided the answer would be tapas. For anyone who doesn't know about "tapas" I will explain:

Tapas (literally translated as "tops") are little snacks that bars serve with drinks later on in the evening. The word "tapas" came from long ago, when people would place the little dish with snacks on the top of the drink to protect it from bugs and flies and such. The food they give you can range from anything from peanuts or olives, to little pieces of bread and meats, to potato chips. It's essentially like leaving peanuts on the bar top in the U.S., but infinitely better. Some bars will serve them to you with your drink, or alternatively some bars will actually leave the little morsels spaced along the bar to be picked at as the night goes on. Tapas normally go out/are served later on after people will have eaten lunch/dinner. You really don't see them at clubs, and certain bars won't do them either, for example certain college bars, because the students are more there to drink. So there ya go.

Anyways, so Cory and I and a couple others headed out for some tapas. The safest thing to do is to get a draft beer, because you're guaranteed tapas. After the first two bars, the other 6 friends of ours decided they were going in search of the party. Cory and I decided that this night would be a bar hop. So we continued our search, stopping into 10 places, drinking at 7 of them, and enjoying the hell out of our tapas. We had all different types, from potato chips, to bread and meats, to a mashed potato type of treat. It was amazing. We also enjoyed a new type of drink which was "cerveza con limón", or essentially beer with lemonade. They take whatever is on tap** and add some lemonade to it. It's amazing! It's very light, crisp, and really really tasty. It's hard to drink more than a couple though, it's just one of those drinks. So after the tapas bars, we finally decided to make an appearance at the group party. We were at the bar for about 15 minutes before the group decided to move to another bar. We got lost, and then when we actually found the place we (Cory, my other friends in my room, and I) decided to just go back to the hostel to sleep. It was a good decision.

We awoke and headed to the next rendezvous which was breakfast. It was greatly welcomed. We had to wait a little while for the rest of the group to arrive/eat so Cory and I ducked into the park that was next to the restaurant. Oh early morning lighting how I love you so!! We just walked around the small park and sat on the benches. I snapped some photos and eventually we had to leave in order to get the bus.





We got on the bus and headed to Oviedo. Oviedo was very nice, but the trip was not as organized/filled with stuff as León was. We arrived around 3 in the afternoon, and they said "Okay... the cathedral is about 2 streets that way, and be back on the bus at 7. Try the "Sidra", it's a drink typical to Asturias." (Asturias being the region we were in.) And so we were off! Cory and I paired up and left the group, again, as quickly as possible. We shot a couple pictures of the cathedral and the square (again... gorgeous!) and then began the hunt for food. We were starving. On our way we found a couple things: 1) A t-shirt store. We both made a purchase and they're both awesome. I'll get a picture of the shirt later at some point. It says "Folk" on it, but in a mock "Ford" (as in car) logo type image. It has a large man playing a bagpipe. I guess Asturias Folk music is rather good? 2) A National Geographic Photography Exhibit. Wow! There was one category "Under 11" that made me cry. These kids are nuts. SOOO much better than me, haha. I need more practice :) 3) A music stand that sold... Authentic Asturias Folk music!! I was so happy. I bought one cd and put it in as soon as I got home. For the record, it's amazing. I'll pass it on to any who want it.

After all of that we finally found lunch. We got the "Menú del día" which is how Spaniards do lunch. You get a series of plates: two larger plates, one desert, a drink, and bread. All for about 9 euro. It's f'ing amazing. It's the best concept ever. So we shared a red wine (which was deliicious), both had the paella to start (oh god it was good) and then Cory had the fish and I had the chicken. We then both had flan. Afterwards, we headed (a little tipsy) to find some Sidra. We found an authentic Sidraría, and had ourselves two bottles. Now the thing with this drink is that it has to be poured a special way. You hold the bottle above your head, and the glass as low as your arm stretches... and pour. Yep. Also, you only pour enough for one shot. Why you do both of these things I have no clue. But it was tasty. The waiter poured the first, but after that you're on your own. Cory and I had fun, but for sure ended up getting more in the street than the glass. Anyways, we had two bottles and then bought one for the apartment. It was tasty stuff.

So having 2 1/2 hours until the bus left, we headed to this little park we saw down a side street to take a nap. Well, no sooner did we walk in than we saw a group of kids taking a nap in the very same park. Apparently that was the plan for the afternoon. Ha! So Cory lied down for a nap, and I took out my camera and walked through the park. It was very quiant. There were a couple fountains and a little pond with ducks/swan/peacocks. Two of the peacocks got loose and were walking around the park. I got pretty close, about 3 feet, and got some cool pictures. I also met this man Peter from Belgium, who also pulled out his camera and was taking pictures. We gave each other the courtesy nod and a mutual "these peacocks are f'ing cool"-type-grin while snapping photos and after the peacocks walked away we chatted for a bit about photography and what we were both doing in Oviedo.*** He was there with his wife for a friend's wedding, and didn't speak Spanish. He was very nervous when I tried to start the conversation in Spanish, but quite relieved when I quickly told him I was American and spoke English.




After more hanging out in the park we took the bus home. It was the worst ride ever. (Return to comment about loud groups of tourists: enter me, surrounded on a bus trying to sleep by yelling and screaming. I don't want to hear anyone speak Italian or Brazilian Portugues for a loooong time.) I moved seats after our rest stop to try and sleep better.

So to recap: The cities were both nice in their own respect. It was great seeing a "real" cathedral, being an American. It's really fascinating for me to be able to see all of this ancient architecture and the history behind it. I'm not one for history class, but I LOVE hearing really cool stories about Medival times and old European customs/stories. It's fun. The trip as a "trip" was not my cup of tea, but I'm still glad I went.

Highlights:
Sweet old European architecture
Tapas bar hopping
Menú del día
Peacocks

Sorry this post was so long. Yay embedded pictures!

Hasta muy pronto,
Andrew
Santander, ESP



*See next entry about "ex-patroit" comments.
**Not literally "whatever." I doubt they'd use Guinness. In some places it was Amstel Light or something like it.
*** See next entry about why I LOVE photography for so many reasons.

Ultimate Frisbee

el 5 de octubre del 2008

On Thursday I got an email from the University providing a contact email for anyone interested in playing Ultimate Frisbee. I immediately emailed the person, telling him I was an American student looking to play. I heard back from the guy (Amador) that afternoon, and he said they were having a practice that afternoon. By the time I got his email I had already missed the practice time, so I emailed him back and told him so. He sent me one more email telling me that they were going to play this Sunday and I could join them if I wished. I replied and said I wouldn't miss it. (So many emails. We exchanged phone numbers, so maybe that will be easier.)

So this morning I awoke around 9:30ish and slowly arose and got changed. I packed my bag and grabbed a bottle of water and headed out. I would have to take the bus to the city center, than switch buses and ride out to some random Rugdby field outside Santander. For any and all of you who have every played Utlimate Frisbee for a team, you'll understand about trying to get field time. UF isn't exactly a very popular sport with the Sports Offices, and it's always a hastle to get field time and things like that. Well, here it's no different. I found out, though, that the team is actually a Club team and not a University team. I'm rather excited about that, becaues it means we have a couple older guys on the team as well, which always makes an interesting dynamic as they have more experience and whatnot. It's a coed team, which is also more fun, and three of the girls are actually from the States. Although I met them all, I only got a chance to chat with one and she's from New Hampshire. Everyone else on the team is awesome. They were rather excited that I had played before, and it was really cool for me because I got to play a more major role on the team and helped demonstrate things.

Above all, it was just fucking great to play again!!! I didn't play on the team last year because of my crazy, stupid, ridiculous semesters (which many of you might remember). Anyways, I'm really excited to be able to play again and compete. So yea, I had a blast. We played for about 2 hours or so. Luckily one of the guy's on the team offered to give me a ride home so I didn't have to take the bus. We'll practice again this week, and I think we'll try to practice once or twice per weekend. I'm SO excited! Ugg! It also helps that I'm feeling a million times better than I did last week. I think I'm over my flu, and my stomach is rapidly adjusting to the new diet/climate/etc.

So that's all for now. I just wanted to relay my exciting Frisbee news. I just skyped my Mum and Dad, who are getting ready to travel around Italy for the better part of two weeks. Sadly, it might not be possible for them to swing by Spain due to flights and timing and such, but I'm happy they're getting out of Rhody for a while.

This will be my first "full" week of classes, so we'll see how that goes. I've also enrolled in a racquetball class which is really fun, and meets twice a week. I have a class conflict on Tuesdays with racket-ball, but my class schedule might change a bit so we'll see what happens.

I hope you are all still well. I am jealous that I'm not home to see Autumn settle in. I've been told it won't snow here, though the rain will continue as always. I wonder what the leaves will look like here and if they're even compare to New England... yea, I don't think so either.

Atentamente,
Andrew
Santander, ESP

One Month Later...

el 1 de octubre del 2008

One month. 31 days I've been here. Incredible. I really can't believe how this concept just does NOT seem strange to me. "Of course I've been living in Spain." Of course I go about my daily life, sliding in and out of two different languages as I please. Of course I come home to this apartment, and feel comfortable even though it is not the home I'm used to. Of course I'm surrounded by people I am just getting to know, and we act like family.

There are many things that contribute to this comfort, and I've mentioned some of them before: I know my roommates, they speak English, I'm used to living near the beach, the city is very mellow and easy to get along in, people are helpful etc. But I've been thinking lately more in terms of mental and metaphysical, for lack of a better word. One of the reasons I've been thinking on is that I am really coming into my own. I have matured a lot of the past 2 years, marking my "beginning" point as my trip to Costa Rica. Taking myself outside of my comfort zone, I learned a lot. Then I returned to the U.S. and learned even more. Though I am always learning and growing, I feel like here something has changeed. Instead of learning new things about the person I am becoming, I am noticing things about the person I am. Instead of trying to shape-shift myself into a person I think the people around me will like, I simple throw myself out there, knowing that I am strong enough and comfortable enough with myself to catch myself if I fall. And that makes me happy.

So what have I been up to lately? Well the last time I wrote was 2 weeks ago. A lot has happened since then, and I apologize for any/all details I forget. But let's see...

The 17th to the 20th was "Orientation." They told us about signing up for classes and a little bit about some student groups we might want to be involved in. There is one group, called AEGEE Santander, which is the local AEGEE group, that is essential a social group that tries to gets students together to party, travel, hang out, play sports, etc. It's a way to get ERASMUS students to actually talk to each other instead of hiding away with people from your same country. They've hosted a ton of parties and social events at local bars and also a couple soccer games. They're also planning a weekend trip to Leon and Oviedo, and I'm told they will organize several more in the coming months.

So after the morning session on the 17th, the rest of the afternoon was spent on a Bus tour of Santander. I wasn't too excited, considering I had been living here for 2.5 weeks beforehand, but it was really nice to see some places I hadn't gotten a chance to visit yet and to hear a little history as well. Thursday (18th) we went to Picos de Europa and then continued on to Comillas. The Picos was a little boring. We got there, went up the trolly to the top, spent 15 minutes up there, and came back down and left. We spent about 3.5 hours in transit on a bus to do this. I was, needless to say, very upset. Like many of you, I would have rather taken a day there to walk around and hike in the mountains, than to just take some "Yes, I'm a tourist and look where I went!" pictures. I guess I can't complain though, considering I did get some really nice pictures. And at least now I know it exists and can go back if I want to. Which I do. The second half of the day was Comillas, which was this tiny town where Atoni Gaudí build his famed "el Capricho". It was his only work in Cantabia, and was very interesting.

Friday was the final day, and we headed to Altamira. This is the location of an pre-historic cave dwelling that was dicovered in the 1880s. They closed the actual cave in 1977 due to the danger presented to the preservation of the drawings by humans (all the CO2 isn't good for them). They have since created an "exact" replica of the cave, complete with lights, holograms, pictures, and it sucked. I was really upset, haha. I understand completely, don't get me wrong, but the giant plastic (or whatever the material was) cave just wasn't very exciting. The museum, however, was very interesting. I found it interesting that all of the blurbs around the museum were in English as well as Spanish. I read most of them in Spanish, and used the English side more as a dictionary and reference for words I really didn't know. So that was fun anyways. The final excursion in the afternoon on Friday was to Santillano del Mar. Here was a Medival village that was left untouched. I got seperated from my tour group at the beginning and missed the historical bit, and feel kind of bad about that. However, there was a Inquisition Torture Museum there, which was... painful to walk through. Ooh man. These people were ruthless. Some of those torture tactics were just aweful. Words can't describe, but feel free to check out the pictures on facebook.

So that was the end of the excursions. That weekend their were a couple parties and such around the city. I spent Saturday morning (1am to 5am) outside this one bar with my new friend Edu, chatting away in Spanish. I was, again, surprised at my ability to speak Spanish even though much of the credit goes to the alcohol I had enjoyed. I remember running around the city at one point, chasing Edu with two other friends, in search for more beer at another bar, but he came rounding a corner towards us with 4 cans of beer instead. Where he got them, I couldn't begin to tell you. It was 4:30 in the morning. He could have stolen them for all I know. Anyways, good times and I got back around 5:15am.

Since then things have been a bit slower. The first couple weeks we would go out every night and on the weekends we'd get really silly out at the bars etc. We'd be at the beach everyday, surfing and whatnot. Last week was the onset of actual classes and the beginning of the semester. We have since taken a little step back to focus on getting our schedules all worked out and everything. Cory and I had one hell of an adventure at the Oficina de Extranjeros (Literally, "Office for Foriegners".) Imagine, if you can, a DMV where everyone is just as angry, just as miserable, but they don't speak the same language you do. Then try asking a quesion. It was hilarious actually. We went on a Tuesday at around 1:45, but they close at two. After being yelled at by Angry Lady (I think that's her name anyways) we left to return the next morning. At least we new what we needed. Upon arriving the next morning, promptly at 10 (they open at 9) we were delighted to see that Angry Lady at the front desk was replaced by Awesome Guy. Well Awesome Guy was very helpful, told us exactly what we needed and what we needed to do and even answered the questions we had. So we passed the front desk and headed through security to the waiting room. This was probably around 10:3oish. Well, around 1ish we finally got our number called, in true DMV fashion. So we walked into the room we were called into, only to see Angry Lady at the table we were assigned to. We were less than enthused. We said as little as possible and avoided eye contact. ThankGod, Awesome Guy came by and helped us through the process. We finally finished around 1:30ish and were told to return in about a month and a half to obtain our Residency cards, which will make it legal for us to live in Spain for the next year. Sweet!

Across the street was a coffee shop called "La Café Viña" which served "Café Blanco y Negro" which was a coffee with a scoop of ice cream in it. Needless to say, it was amazing. I can't wait to go back.

Since then we really haven't done much. I started feeling ill around Thursday, and still haven't made a full recovery. I think it was the flu, and I spent Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday morning in bed. I felt well enough to go to the beach Saturday afternoon, but still haven't ventured out to a bar in about a week. I'm starting to get angry. The other symptoms have stopped, by my stomach still seems out of order. I would say it's the water, but I've been drinking filtered water, and since I got here too, so it's not something new. Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to fully recover before this weekend and can get back to my regular social habits.

I've also started to become a lot more comfortable with my camera. I really enjoy taking pictures, and hope that maybe with time I can turn this into something more than a hobby. For now, who knows, but all my friends here have noticed that I've gotten some good shots and keep telling me how impressed they are. If nothing else it's a confidence boost. Still, I can't wait to learn more and I do so every time I take it out.

Classes are good. Right now we're still all juggling classes to see which we really want to take. Right now I'm in "Meteorology and Oceanography", "Effects of Waste on the Marine Environment", "Water Chemistry", "International Social Law", and "Environmental Impact". I have dropped History of Art due to a conflict, and Social Anthropology because I don't like the presentation and I don't feel like I'm going to really learn anything that I want to learn. My Meteo/Oceo class is amazing. I love the professor, he's so nice! After the first class I went up and introduced myself to him and just said something like "Hi, I'm an American student and just wanted to let you know that I think I'll be able to get the concepts but the terminology is a little tough to translate." And his response was "...I have half an hour, would you like to go over what we talked about in class today?" And so we did. And then he took my to the library upstairs and showed my an "Into to Meteorology" book that I should read. I was blown away by how helpful he was. My Waste Effects class is also awesome. The professor is very laid back, and of the 4 students in the class only Dario and I showed up this week. It was really cool though, we just chatted and she told us what the class will be like etc. It's going to be very hands on as far as researching topics during class in the library and then coming back to the classroom to discuss them afterward. Sweet! The Water Chemistry and Int'l Social Law haven't started yet. I've missed one or two classes for the Environmental Impact class, but that was because it is a recent addition. Cory told me about it. Him and Amanda are in it, and he says it's pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a class. How's humans affect the environment, sustainable development, etc. I'm very excited to enroll. Plus he said the professor is really nice. All in all I'm very excited for classes, which is very unlike my normal experience at URI. Oh, URI. So silly.

Also, I've signed up for a couple sports classes. Squash and fencing. I'm very excited for both. Especially fencing. That one starts tonight, so we'll see how it goes.

That's it for now. I'm still alive, a bit sick, but still doing well and very excited for the coming semester. It will take some work, but I'm actually willing to put it in and learn. Mainly because it'll be so cool to have learned all of these amazing things in Spanish! Crazy!

Ode to Rhode Island: A Haiku
Fall leaves change colors,
Beaches, Friends, Camp Fires, Weekends,
Take me to the Mews.

Hope all is well back home. We think of you guys often, and miss you all.

Hasta la proxima,
Andrew
Santander, ESP