Settling into Bilbao

I am still in awe that I'm actually here. I feel as though I am walking through postcard pictures all the time. To see pictures is one thing, but being here and being surrounded by such beauty is unbelievable.

I am going to give you a couple of highlights from the last couple days because this week has been really busy.

Yesterday, we had orientation, followed by lunch. We found out during orientation that it wasn't to be our normal lunch. I usually very much enjoy meeting new people and talking with them, however, when there's three different languages being spoken, it changes things a lot. We were given cards with numbers on them and all the other students studying at the Universidad were given them as well. During lunch, we had to find the other numbers of our group and speak in only the language we were studying. I found the people in my group and each one of us was from a different place around the world. Most of us were studying Spanish...and the others were studying English. We would speak in Spanish and they would respond in English. We ended up having 2 hours for lunch - and we mingled with other groups. I talked to people from Spain, France, England, South Africa, all over the US, etc within a two-hour span. It was probably one of the coolest experiences here so far - I definitely felt good about the fact that I could carry a conversation in Spanish.

Today, we had another orientation and a tour of the Universidad. We took excursion to Plentzia. The river travels through Plentzia and meets the ocean. It's gorgeous and the beach is gorgeous, needless to say. We were surrounded by mountains and the city. The weather wasn't very good, we missed the rain though. One of the directors of the program organized a soccer game on the beach - I was one of four girls playing, but Spain is all about soccer, so of course I had to play. We had locals come and join our game (they definitely were better than us). I definitely enjoyed interacting and communicating in Espanol.

The Spanish language is so intriguing...I could listen to it all the time. I am beginning to think in Spanish and writing this in full English is challenging my brain right now.

I will try to remember to post some pictures of my dorm room and the view from my window soon. My battery is charging right now.

Save some peanut butter for me =]

Siempre, LNS