San Sebastian - Basque Region

Last weekend, I visited an amazing small city called San Sebastian. It is in the Basque region in the very Northern part of Spain and only a stone throw from France. Luckily, there is not a ton to do there besides the beach because that is exactly the kind of weekend I needed.

There is always a wedding in a beautiful location.

You probably can´t notice, but the woman next to the playground is topless. Many people were topless. I was inclined to take this photo to show the difference to the United States. Could you imagine the horror if a person were topless next to a playground in the United States? Here, the kids didn´t even notice because it is so common.

All of the pastry shops decorated their cakes with colorful flowers.

The predominant language in Basque country is Euskara. It is very unique to any other language. Luckily, the people spoke Spanish as well so it was no trouble to get by. Euskara is a very cacophonous language with many ¨t¨s and ¨x¨s, as you can see in the signs.

The Basque region is known for having some of the most amazing food in Spain - primarily tapas, called pinxtos in Euskara (pronounced Pinchos). You may be able to see in this photo that there are toothpicks attached to the tapas. When that is the case, the standard drill is to take what you like and then pay at the end based on how many toothpicks you have (honor system).

More of the unique Euskara language. By the way, I noticed absolutely no ETA presence, so if anyone is afraid to visit the Basque region due to potential violence, the ETA only targets political figures and tourists and every day people have nothing to fear. There was only one bar that had a Basque flag hanging over it, and locals generally do not go there because they do not want to associate with the violence.

There was a concert in the main Plaza. The occasion? I believe it was just Saturday night.

two different backgrounds in these photos.

The sunset was picturesque.

There was a random HUGE bike parade at about 11pm.

Runners everywhere. Spain seems to be a pretty fit country.

No leash laws - dogs have quite the life.

A ballerina performace. I don´t know why? After several hours, I really wanted it to stop so I could just enjoy the beach without the blaring Disney music.

Someone spent a lot of time writing something on the sand with salt.

Just had to capture this photo above.

Every European city has a Cathedral.

I worship the sun.

Every single pair of siblings I saw wore identical clothes. Maybe this helps the parents to keep track of their children?

Serenaded with Gifts

I thought it would be cute to post pictures of the gifts I have received thus far from students in my class.

I was feeling a bit lazy to take nice photos of them, but as you can see - the first gift is either a hot dog or a space ship, the second is a beautiful mask, and the third is a thoughtful piece of modern art.


Last week, I was also gifted with a pile of leaves, and today I was eagerly presented with a pile of dirt.
These were not hate gifts - the students that gifted them were bawled over with pride for their

masterpieces. In fact, after I was given the pile of dirt today, the student kept checking to make sure I still had it. Finally, I said "Sofia, why don't you take this home with you? I know you worked so hard on it and I think you should also share it with your family." She was ecstatic and could not believe that I was so kind as to give back the incredible gift so that she could take it home with her.



By the way, I think that any teacher that wants to learn about classroom management should spend time in a classroom with Spanish children. They are absolutely lovely, but I have never before come across such lively, charasmatic, emotional, and unaware of the phrase "Do not talk" children as all of them at this school. I am quite certain that silence or even low voices does not exist for them. They are a delightful headache, and I think it is because of the children in Spain that delicious, cheap wine is so prevalent amongst the adults.

La Guitarra

Had a lovely evening last Friday - began on a little street called Cava de San Miguel. Cava means cave, and all along this street lie many "mesones" (cave -like bars). The bordering Plaza Mayor was built on a slope and the mesones are part of a structural system that braces the leveled plaza. The bar/restaurant in these pictures is one of the mesones. It is called "La Guitarra," very fittingly named because a charming guitar player allows for a lovely dining ambience.

The first picture above displays the very popular and traditional "Spanish Omelette." It is usually an omelette with potatoes. And beside it is a jug of wine - quite a nice size jug of delicious wine for only 4.50. We ordered two between the two of us - oops!

This is one of my roomates, Veronica.

Here I am in the central Puerta del Sol. I typically meet my friend Allison here before we venture out for the late-night evenings. This bear statue represents the bears that used to live in the royal hunting grounds outside Madrid, and the madrono trees produce a berry that makes a liquor. This is a common meeting place for many people that are headed out for a weekend evening.

I hope everyone at home is doing well - thank you so much to those of you who have kept me posted on your lives via email, and to those who haven't, I would love to hear from you =)