Americans are finally here and the second week of classes has begun!
I have made many American friends, but it is more difficult to meet Spanish kids, although I have met some.  The U.S. students I have been hanging out with are mostly from USC, U of I and Nebraska.  It is awesome to meet other Americans that want to experience the same thing as me.

Typical day for me--
Wake up, eat cereal or toast with tea, make a chorizo (pepperoni) sandwich for lunch and get on the metro to class downtown.  People on the metro are pretty quiet, and about 98% do not speak any English.  So when I am on the metro being loud, as usual, and speaking English with other Americans I get a lot of annoyed looks.  Sometimes I try to be quieter but I usually forget haha.  I have only 2 to 4 classes each day, Mon-Thurs.  Pretty easy.  They are almost all with Americans, but there is a girl from Germany who is really annoying and a girl named Elsa from Sweden.  Elsa is really fun and her English is excellent.
During the day, when I do not have classes, I have been wandering Bilbao or going shopping with Americans.  There is not a ton of homework, so there is time to spend doing whatever.
Dinner is pretty late, as I eat at about 8:30 in the evening. 

Pintxos--
Instead of "tapas," the people in the Basque country call them Pintxos, pronounced "Pinchos."  There are pintxo bars lining every street, where you can go in and have a couple with a glass of wine or coffee.  They are absolutely delicious, and much of the culture seems to be surrounded by eating and drinking at these bars at all hours of the day.

University of Deusto--
pretty small, but very beautiful.  The library is extensive and modern, and it has an awesome cafeteria in the basement.  It has a lot to offer, although it is not as large as U of I.

People--
Walking on the streets of Bilbao, I see most people to be well dressed, and with dark hair and eyes.  Some of my blonde friends and I really get stared at, but there are some Basque people with light hair as well.  It is rare to see someone in sweats or t-shirts unless they are on a run.  People really care about shoes.  I would say it is the most important article of clothing to them.  Leather boots and shoes are worn by almost everyone, even though it rains here a lot.  The Basque people care a great deal about appearances, and they show it by dressing to impress for the most part. 
College students and younger people fall into 2 general categories based on my observations: 1) the majority of people-- those that wear skinny jeans, leather boots, furry jackets, thick scarves and earth tones. 2) much less common--sort of grungy style, with studded belts and quicksilver and roxy-branded type punk clothing. Obviously this is huge stereotyping, but it is pretty safe to say that most people fall into the first category.  
The personalities of people obviously vary person to person, but of the people I have met and/or observed have been much more serious and less playful than Americans.  I do not see a lot of people laughing or horsing around with their friends.  More calm and focused attitudes are pretty common, although very laid back (especially in terms of timeliness).

Volleyball-- 
I went to the University of Deusto's volleyball team's practice last Thursday evening.  The girls did not have much skill.  They literally applauded when I hit the ball.  It was fun to talk to some of them, and I met a girl named Esti that lives at my metro stop who is studying English, so we practiced talking with each other.  I am going to go to practice with them again tonight, but I am not sure if I will compete for their team because it may do me more harm than good to train with them.
Some of the girls thought I was Russian...not sure what that´s all about but I told them I was from Chicago and they were like "ooooh."  Riiiight.

Church--
I went to mass with my friend Julie this past Sunday and it was beautiful.  All of the churches around here are from like the 1600s or something;  they are so old and full of history.  Obviously the mass was in Spanish, but I could get the gist of what was going on.  It was sad to see that there were really only elderly people at the mass.  We were probably the only people under 30 in the entire church. 

Home--
My host mom, Leticia, and my brother, Teo (5 years old) are very interesting.  He loves to watch Spongebob and other cartoons, but Leticia makes him watch it in English, even though he doesn't understand.  She says "poco a poco" (little by little) he will come to understand if he keeps watching it.  It is interesting to see how much American popular culture dominates even this little suburb called Algorta.
For food, some of the things I have eaten have been hot dogs, mashed potatoes, salad with olive oil, fish, and omeletes.  For sandwiches people love pepperoni so much, and basically anything from pig.  My host family and others are obsessed with yogurt and chocolate. Sweets in general are a bit more popular here than in the U.S. I think.
We eat around 8:30, but my friend John's family eats at 10 every night.  So late!  But between 2 and 4, a lot of smaller stores close because its siesta--a lot of people nap or at least rest and eat lunch, some going out to get drinks and pintxos. 

Going out--
There are a couple discotecas which are basically clubs that young people go to.  They play techno music and lots of American songs, which sounds so weird here.  My friends and I went to a couple, but we prefer the pintxo bars, because they feel authentic to us.  It is crazy because we do not go out until like 11 in the evening and get back at 6 am the next morning.  I am always so tired by the end of the evening--I do not know how they do it so often.
Alcohol is quite expensive at the bars, sometimes 8 or 10€ for one drink, but it is hilarious because at grocery stores you can buy a liter of wine for less than 1 euro.  Literally cheaper than the water, kinda hilarious.
One of the popular regional Basque drinks is called Kalimotxo.  It is a combination of cocacola and red wine, which is popular with college aged and younger people because of its sweetness.  I really like the taste of it, although I thought it sounded gross at first.
There are a lot of creepy Spanish guys, so I am glad I have a group of American guys and girls that are out with me at night.  Bilbao is extremely safe, definitely better than Chicago or even Champaign.  Never have any of us felt in danger, which is really good. 


Classic little Spanish dude playing harmonica and guitar in the street. NBD.
the town square in one of the historical towns in Biscay, close to Bilbao


the hanging bridge in Bilbao...pretty sick

Inside "Pub Witch" with my friend Cathy.  Pretty creepy bar, but kinda cool.  hah.

Chupitos (shots) that the director of our program, Jon Franco bought for all of us...he is literally crazy but he is the man.  He kept buying us drinks and we kept wondering how legit it was...

View of the main Deusto building where I have my classes from across the river downtown.

Friends from USC and Nebraska outside the Guggenheim museum on the river!  Good times...

Temporada---San Sebastian drumming festival!

A couple of the legit drummers....every time that they weren't playing, they were getting free drinks from the bars or taking swigs from bottles they brought....unreal. haha.

                                                                              The little bakers with drumsticks at the temporada festival, and Nick with a backpack just big enought to fit DON SIMON---(1 € wine) and cocacola....to make Kalimotxo of course

more drummers at the Temporada in San Sebastian!!

Tortilla Española--basically a potato omelette on bread.  So delicious, one of the most popular pintxos, if not the best!

Typical pintxos bar in the Basque country.  So tasty.  I am going to have to make some of these for back at U of I...

And finally, some Spanish kids we met in San Sebastian.  One of them never heard of Chicago, but most had.  Some even spoke a little bit of English.