Today I got to sleep in so sleep in I did! At around 1 pm I went to my Tia Georgette's apartment and we had a great lunch, which consisted of plenty of vegetable and even falafel! It was a nice reminder of home! Later, we took the metro to Larrabastera, walked for about 35 mins and we were at one of my favorite places by the coast. Since we went a little bit later in the afternoon and it was cloudy, the view wasn't as nice but it was still beautiful! We were supposed to visit Puente Colgante as well but they were tired so we went back to their apartment instead. After I came home, I ate dinner and spent the rest of my night catching up on my blogs and homework. As you can tell today was pretty relaxing since I don't really have much else to say!
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I started off the day rushing to get ready and be at the Abando train station at 7:15 am to meet with my family. Sure enough, I was there on the dot and we took the metro to the terminus station at San Mamés. I miscalculated how much time we would need to get to the bus station so we arrived at 7:35 am but our bus wasn't scheduled to leave until 8:30 am. I was glad we were early though because I don't like to be rushing and show up at the last minute. We waited there for an hour and since I didn't eat breakfast I bought a custard filled doughnut and some tea. It was awesome! The doughnut was completely filled with custard, something you rarely find in the U.S. I immediately thought of Bobby always being disappointed with the custard filled doughnuts back home. Spanish people are definitely doing it right. When our 8:30 am bus arrived, we handed the driver our tickets and he gave us a funny look. Apparently, that bus was going to San Sebastian but it was stopping at every single town along the way so we wouldn't get there until 11:30am (compared to 9:30am). I was so confused because when I bought the tickets online it only said from Bilbao to San Sebastian. Of course, I didn't realize the arrival time because I'm a dork. I went to the ticket office and explained what happened and luckily there was a 9 am bus direct to San Sebastian. The lady was nice enough to exchange our tickets and take the 9 am bus. When I explained what happened to my family they all looked at me like "....." (Refer to the upset guy if you don't understand.) I felt like such an idiot but they were understanding because they know I'm not an experienced traveler. We arrived at San Sebastian at 10:25 am and set off on our day. Surprisingly, I didn't need a map to navigate around the city because I remembered where everything was! Our first stop was Monte Igueldo, where we took the furnicular up to see the best view of the city. It was about an hour walk from the station but since we were walking along the beach it didn't feel like it. Along the way, we stopped at the Buen Pastor cathedral, Palacio Miramar, and jardines de Ondarreta. Then we walked all the way to Puerto Viejo, which took about an hour, and ate a gigantic lunch in the same restaurant where I went with my friends. Even though they raised the price for the menu of the day it was still great! There were a lot more tourists there then in September when my friends and I went, which explains the higher prices. During lunch, Tia Georgette and Tia Valerie were having their own little party, laughing at every single thing. I think the wine was a little too much for them to handle. ;) Everyone loved their food and after lunch we explored around a bit. I was a little worried that we wouldn't have enough time to see everything but we made excellent time and managed to see everything with plenty of time to spare. I thought I had bought the tickets for 7:30pm but I actually bought them for 5:30 pm. (Note to self: double check the actual time when buying in military time.) Anyway, it was better that we came back earlier because we had seen everything and didn't have much to do. We came back back and Face Timed with some family back home for a while before I went home. I was pleasantly surprised on the way home because the night marathon was going on. I ended up participating unintentionally because I had to run in between the runners to cross the street! There were even police telling between when to run across.
When I got home, I video chatted with my parents while eating dinner and my host mom and Ignacio came in. My parents and them talked for a while before I went to bed. Today CIDE (my program) took us for an excursion to Gernika and Mundaka, which are small towns about an hour away from Bilbao. Gernika has a TON of history behind the beautiful town. Our first stop was a museum called Museo de la Paz to learn about all the rich history that once occurred on the same streets we were walking. The museum focused on the day of April 26, 1937, often referred to as the Bombing of Gernika by Nazi Germany during the Spanish Civil War. Over 1,500 civilians were killed in the bombings and in order to commemorate the horror they went through, Picasso painted his very famous Gernika painting. One of the rooms in the museum simulated April 26, 1937 by mimicking a typical living room and playing the recording of a woman speaking as if writing in her diary. From outside you heard sirens and explosions, the lights went out, and half the house turned into rubble. It was intense but powerful. Once you exit the room there is an exhibit that has army uniforms, rubble in the ground, and plenty of information panels. Since Gernika is such a small town and doesn't get many tourists, about 90% of the museum is in Basque and Spanish but they have an English translated booklet you can use. In order to get the best experience out of this museum you must be ready to read, and read a lot. Yes they have videos and images but most of the history is conveyed through paragraphs and paragraphs of text. Unfortunately, we were really rushed and I only had enough time to get the gist of the information. After the museum we visited la Casa de Juntas, la Iglesia de Santa Maria and al reugio antiaéreo. All the places were beautiful and we were lucky enough to have a wonderful tour guide who gave us a behind the scenes experience. Specifically, the Saint Mary Church had a secret passage way above the altar that we explored! It was really awesome! She also let us go in the bombing shelter and gave us a sense of what it was like to be alive on that day. By the time we ended our tour of Gernika we were all starving, luckily for us lunch was the next part of our schedule. We went to a restaurant called Zallo Barri and it was awesome! We had a giant table, enough to seat 45 people and as soon as we walked in we were treated with water and bread. Our first plate was a typical Basque bean soup. I totally forgot the name but it was alright considering I'm not a huge fan of beans. Then we had beef with french fries and cheesecake for dessert. All the food was great but the cheesecake was amazing. Now, before you think of New York cheesecake stop that because this is more of a French style cheesecake, it was very light and creamy. DELICIOUS. I wish I could eat it everyday. After lunch we took a 30 min ride to Mundaka, a very tiny but beautiful coastal city. We had about an hour of free time there to explore the coast, the town and a small church. Right by the church, I found a staircase that lets you go down to the rocks by the sea. I ran down, climbed up on a few rocks and was so satisfied just sitting there. I really wanted to go down further to the end of the rocks and be like Ariel from Little Mermaid. That didn't happen because when I went down there with some other kids the tide started to pick up and reach us. Everyone else's shoes got wet but I jumped on another rock just in time. Of course, this all happened while I was trying to take a panoramic picture and you can just see the excitement! Sitting on the rocks by the coast made me realize that I need to live in a coastal city. Just to be able to sit by the sea and hear the waves crash against rocks is so relaxing! We got back to Bilbao at around 7:30pm and I made my way to the library to print out our bus tickets for San Sebastián. Figuring out how to print itself was a hassle but I managed to do it with the help of the librarians. I made my way home, ate and then headed out to meet my family in Casco Viejo for pintxos. After explaining to them how you order, they tried to push through the crowded bar and figure out what they wanted to order. Unfortunately, they were a little short and I ended up asking the bartender for them. We found a place outside and made ourselves comfortable, all while Tia Valerie was desperately trying to get someone to take a picture of us with her camera. As soon as I pulled the camera up on my phone and put my arm up, Robert says, "LET'S TAKE A SELFIE!" I almost died of laughter. It was just too cute. They all ordered the same pintxos and I think I did a pretty good job giving them a nice variety of typical ones. They had a tortilla de patata (with onion), bread with Ibierco ham and peppers, and bread with green onion salad. Of course with the local San Miguel (con limon) and a nice chunk of bread on the side. They loved it! On our way back to my apartment, I showed them different things around the Abando neighborhood and made plans to meet up to go to San Sebastian on Saturday morning. Now, to catch up on sleep to catch our early bus! Today was an exciting day because my family came in town. They rented an apartment in Casco Viejo, very close to the bad neighborhood that my program instructors told us to stay away from. Naturally, I was a bit nervous, and when I say a bit nervous I mean freaking out. But I reassured myself that since they are frequent travelers and have lived through wars, they would be just fine. As soon as I finished my last class at 4 pm I headed toward their apartment. On the way there I saw my friend Matt walking in front of me and proceeded to scare the life out of him. Moments like these are unforgettable. He joined me on my journey and suggested that we take the tram to get there faster. Boy was he right, we got there within 10 mins. He was a God send! He dropped me off in front of their apartment and I took the elevator up with Robert. As soon as we opened the door I heard the familiar, "Heeyyy!" followed by comforting hugs. Both Tia Georgette and Tia Valerie were both in the kitchen making cauliflower rice (of course with yogurt on the side), while they proceeded to let me know they had brought a precious gem from home, arabic food. I couldn't believe it. I've been craving it like crazy and no ones falafel is as good or even close to my grandma's recipe. Hands down the best in the world and I'm not just saying that! Not even a minute later, they took me on a tour of their apartment and invited me to relax. Their apartment is amazing! They rented it from a website called Friendly Apartments for 120 Euro a night. If you split that between 5 people (which you totally could) it would be less than $25 a night for an ENTIRE apartment! Sometimes hostels aren't even that cheap! Not only is it cheap in price but it is modern, updated, spacious and has great views from the several balconies! I'm definitely going to rent that place when I come back! Or, you know if my parents and I ever come back with my brother that would be perfect. *Cough cough* Anyway!
When the rice was done, we sat down and ate. It was nice to have some arabic style food from home, even though it wasn't the same it was great! It was also technically my second lunch but I didn't really care and downed 2 helpings. Afterwards, we relaxed in the apartment before they walked with me home to drop me off. They also gave me presents from home; hair product, contact solution and those classic candies that all the old women in your family had. P.S. I realize the picture of the plate is sideways. I've been trying for the past 30 mins to get it to rotate and it just refuses. So please, let's just ignore that. Thanks. Day 40- I woke up today at 8:30 am with no problem. I was refreshed and feeling so much better. My host brother asked how I was doing and I replied, "much better!" (Even though my voice sounded gross and I was congested. YUCK!) I do feel a lot better. I quickly did the homework I didn't have time for the night before, made my lunch, ate breakfast and got ready for school. I'm actually pretty proud of myself. I have no idea how I did all that but I did! Classes went well today! Of course, in Marketing I was one of the only people to talk (even though I didn't have enough time to finish reading the case). My friend Kelly and I are the only ones that talk in that class. I think I did pretty well for not reading the case but if I didn't have my laptop there to help me look up info I would have been lost. Although, that might not be totally true because sometimes he was asking questions like, "What's the data value chain?" I have never studied that in my life but I figured that value chain meant the process that something goes through to get value from it; in this case data. Logically, I said, "Data creation, data collection, data analysis, and data applications." I was spot on! I love being smart! :)
Since today was our last lecture, I went up to our guest speaker and thanked him for coming to class. I really meant it. I don't say things like that unless I mean it. He really spiked my interest in Big Data and I even asked him if there was anyway I could intern at his company to see how it functions. I think he was a bit shocked but happy because he was smiling a lot but he told me that his company is too young right now and they're only working on one project. He told me to send him an email though with my resume and he would definitely think of me if they needed anything! Good job Patricia! A few weeks ago, I signed up for a Tandem program, which matches you up with a local student who wants to practice English and you can practice Spanish. I met my partner Silvia yesterday and we went to a cafe and for a walk just talking about random things. She was really nice and very shy about her English. She did well though! She complimented my Spanish so HA MOM AND DAD! NOW YOU CAN'T LAUGH AT ME! ;) After our meeting, I went home to work on my blogs and homework! Day 41 - Today I had Spanish class in the morning and came back to finish writing my blogs and work on homework! You wouldn't think it but writing blogs takes a long time! I also got to FaceTime with Tia Georgette, Tia Valerie and Robert because they're flying in tomorrow and staying for a week! I'm very excited to see them and get my hair product! ;) On Friday, I have an excursion with CIDE to some towns around the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. Other than that, I don't have plans for the weekend but Robert mentioned that he wanted to visit San Sebastian so we might do that Saturday. I'll keep you updated on the fun activities! Today started bright and early at 5:30am to catch our bus to Dover. We arrived at the bus station with plenty of time and a few hours later we were dropped off in the middle of town. It was a very small town, smaller than Bilbao, but very beautiful! Right away we hiked up the mountain to Dover Castle. As we were walking, I was getting flashbacks from the hike up Gernika! On the way, there were also little information boards that gave background info and history about the place you were standing. I absolutely love the idea and think every city should have them! Just like the hike up Gernika, the view from this mountain was worth the extra strength from my calves. Also, we were on our way to a CASTLE! What better excuse is there? When we got up to the castle, we paid our admission fee and started exploring. The first thing we found was a set of stairs that leads to no where. As Lauren walked up, I snapped a photo and captioned it, "Your future with college debt." I think I'm pretty clever. ;) We also saw a small house that used to be the Sergeant Major's House but you can rent for a weekend! How awesome would that be?! Our admission came with free tours of the Secret Wartime Tunnels and the Underground Hospital Annexe. Both tours were awesome but they wouldn't let us take pictures inside but we made sure to sign the guest book in the gift shop. Before going on the Underground Hospital Annexe tour, we went up the small hill to see them fire one of the first cannons that was made to deflect German fighter planes. It was loud and classically soon after, a baby started crying. When we actually went into the castle it was breath taking. All the rooms were decorated with furniture that would have been typical but you were able to interact with some of the items. We got some great pictures there! By the time we finished going through the castle (even though we didn't see everything), we were all starving and didn't have much time to eat before our boat tour at 4pm. Since we didn't get a chance to have high tea yesterday we had the perfect opportunity in one of the restaurants on the castle grounds. We all ordered the traditional English tea with cream and a scone with jam and clotted cream. It was fabulous. I even drank my tea with my pinky up! (Just for you Abhi, Gaby, and Azucena!!) Unfortunately, for some reason after I finished I didn't feel so well. My throat was getting scratchy and I felt a bit nauseous. I'm not sure where it came from but I was hoping it would go away. Luckily the boat tour wasn't that far away from the castle and even though we had a little trouble finding it arrived with plenty of time to spare! The captain was really nice and on our tour pointed out sights and gave us some history lessons. When we reached the White Cliffs of Dover he told me to join him in the cockpit and taught me how to drive the boat! I WAS SO EXCITED!!!! I never thought I would be able to drive a boat in Dover by the cliffs of Dover with at least 15 people on the boat!!!! No, Bobby I did not crash or kill anyone. I was a phenomenal captain! After the tour, we all signed the guest book and proceeded to ask our captain where the best place to eat around was. He recommended a pub called the Eight Bells, about a 15 min walk from the dock. On our way there we decided to have a photoshoot with the classical red phone booth. It was hilarious. Lauren tried a little too hard to be creative and we ended up having to poorly rescue her. By the time we got to the pub my sickness was full blown. I was so nauseous and I could barely talk. It even hurt to swallow! I had no appetite to eat but knew that I had to eat something or else I wouldn't eat anything at all. I settled for Chicken Tikka Masala. It was great and probably the cheapest meal I've bought for 6.70 pounds. After spending about 2 hours at the pub, we headed to the bus station. It was very cold outside as we waited for our bus, which came about 30 mins later. Our 2 hour bus ride back to the city was blessed by Matt having Toy Story 3 on his iPad and it served as a pleasant distraction for how terrible I felt. We arrived at the bus station, frantically looking for Kelsey (she opted for the Harry Potter tour in London instead of Dover) to be able to catch our bus to Stansted Airport by our hotel. Luckily 30 mins later we found her, bought our bus tickets to the airport and boarded the bus. This bus ride was terrible because I was trying my hardest not to throw up, I had completely lost my voice at this point, and couldn't sleep. A grueling 2 hours later we arrived at the airport where we just caught our shuttle to our hotel. We arrived at our hotel around 1:30am, checked in, and tried to get at least 3 hours of sleep before waking up again to meet in the lobby at 5 am for the shuttle back to the airport. I hopped into bed and tried my hardest to fall asleep, of course, my body retaliated. I was so nauseous and was praying that I could throw up so I could get it over with. It was the kind of nausea that comes with burping every few minutes, so it's like teasing you to throw up. Finally, after tossing and turning for an hour an a half, at 3 am I ran to the bathroom and threw up. It was horrible and I don't think I've ever been that happy to throw up. I tried to fall asleep but I did not help one bit. After an hour of restlessness at 4am I gave up, made some tea and got ready to go. I wanted to go home so bad. Just to be able to knock on my parent's door and tell them I'm not feeling good. Have my dad make me some tea and have my mom invite me to sit on the recliner while placing a cover over me. These are the moments during study abroad that suck the most. Because you have none of that. I am very grateful that my friends were doing their best to take care of me; letting me sit down, asking if I needed anything, looking for medicine and trying different remedies. Without them I probably would have had a mental break down. We met downstairs at 5 am but our shuttle didn't come until 5:30 am or so. We had to fight to squeeze in, to avoid being left behind and missing our 7 am flight. At the airport, I made a last ditch effort to try to alleviate my nausea and bought an over priced 7-up. Of course, it didn't help. Going through security was a free for all disaster. By the time we all got through, we were frantically running to our gate past all the useless duty free shops. It was like a mall in there! When we finally got to the end, we ended having to take a train to our gate and again fought to squeeze in tightly. When we reached our gate it happened to be the final call. We were lucky! We boarded the plan without a ramp (I don't know what it's called but it was kind of cool) and took off about 25 mins later. I tried once more to fall asleep on the plane, but it just wasn't happening. I am grateful I downloaded some books to read on my tablet to distract myself. We landed 15 mins early, went through customs, and rode the bus back to the center of Bilbao. I managed to send a text message to my host family explaining that I couldn't speak and was feeling terrible. As soon as I got home, they came to the door asking if I wanted to see a doctor. I declined because I really just wanted to shower, eat, and sleep. I was created with a full bowl of green beans, and some medicine. At around 1:30 pm I fell asleep soundly in my bed, only to be woken up 3 hours later by my insane amounts of texts from my parents, freaking out because I hadn't responded. (Even though I told them I was going to sleep.) Not even 30 mins I fell back asleep until 8:30pm, ate dinner, and tried to work on homework. I thought for sure I would be up all night because of how long I slept. Thank God I was wrong, at 11:30pm I knocked out. Day 2 in London started off with an amazing trip to the Natural History Museum; only a 5 minute walk from our hostel. The place was incredible! First, the most beautiful museum I've seen in my life. Second, the only museum I've seen that looks like a ginormous castle. Third, free admission. Fourth, dinosaur exhibit. They actually had real fossils in cases, sometimes even the ground that they found them in. I've never seen anything more amazing! The primary reason I went to this museum was because of Bobby's love for dinosaurs. Of course, I like them too but Bobby had an obsession when we were young. Definitely want to bring him here one day! After the dino exhibit I wandered around and found myself in the minerals exhibit. An awesome decision. I learned about how to harvest diamonds, different gemstones, that trees can absorb a gemstone (opal for example) and then it marbleizes! Coolest thing ever!!! Big Ben and the Westminster Abbey was next on our list. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside Westminster Abbey but it was really interesting to visit. It's gigantic and has so many different aspects to see. Charles Darwin, Issac Newton, Shakespeare, and A WHOLE BUNCH of kings and queens and others were all buried there. They even had a space dedicated to Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales, which I loved when I read as a senior in high school. There was even a group of choir boys that came into sing, beautifully might I add. Admission into the Abbey came with a free audio tour and when the guy asked me what language I wanted it in I said, "Inglés, por favor." He looked at me so confused until I realized what I had done, while asking me if I wanted French. This isn't the first time that's happened since I landed in London. In fact, I did it a million times. I guess I hadn't switched out of Spanish mode yet! After the Abbey, we rode a double decker bus to Soho for high tea. Unfortunately, the place we wanted to go to was completely booked and we were starving so we ended up in an Italian place. The food was awesome and they had a 2 course lunch for only 10 pounds. I ordered fried Brie with pomegranate, greens and an apple chutney for my appetizer and lemon chicken with couscous for my main dish. They were both awesome! A quick ride on the metro and we were at the London Eye just in time for our 5:30pm tickets. Even though the line was super long, it went by pretty quick and we were on the cart in no time! There were some spectacular views! Even though none of us were hungry from our giant and late lunch, we stopped at a convenience store to grab some ingredients to make dinner. Matt and I (the two foodies) got to work to make a delicious convenience store dinner. We agreed on a veggie stir fry and worked with the very limited ingredients. I felt like we were doing a challenge on a reality TV show. It was really fun and it came out amazing for a convenience store dinner! We made plenty of food for everyone and then some. Those who didn't cook, cleaned. My favorite deal. That whole meal cost us 25 pounds to make, or about 4.25 each. Way better than 10 pounds each! Plus, we had left overs for the next day. We hung out in the dining common area until we were tired and headed to bed. While I was waiting to board the plane yesterday I was anxiously waiting for my friend Lauren to show up. Luckily she made it just as we were boarding. Close call. As soon as we got on the plane, our flight was delayed by 30 mins because France was doing something. Not cool. We made it to London about 2 hours later, took the tube to our hostel and met up with our friends who took an earlier flight. By this time, we were all starving and ventured out to find some food. Of course, London isn't Spain and at 11pm not much is open still. After quite a bit of walking we found a cafe that was still open and I ordered some rice and steamed veggies. It was amazing!!! And only 2 pounds. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see veggies! After our very late dinner, we walked back to our hostel and went to bed to get ready for today's packed day! Today was packed with all the emotions of traveling in a new city. We woke up bright and early to visit Buckingham Palace and grab some breakfast. Like I said the other day, I researched the heck out of the places we wanted to go and where we could eat. The plan was to take the tube to the Buckingham Palace and grab breakfast around there before we stopped by the palace. While we were walking underground, a familiar scent filled my lungs. Fresh bread. At first I thought it was weird because we were underground but I was certain. After about 2 mins of walking we turned the corner and there was a little shop that sold pastries and paninis. Moments like these make me think I'm destined to be a chef! :) We went to breakfast at a place near Buckingham Palace called Cafe Bella Maria, a small family owned business that uses local suppliers. It was amazing! So cute, so perfect! In fact, even before I walked in I knew it was the perfect place just because of what they had written on their window. It says " You can't buy happiness but you can buy cake!" The actual food was amazing as well! As much as I wanted to get the traditional full English breakfast (fried egg, baked beans, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, toast and a grilled tomato) I don't like half of the things on the plate so I decided against it and ordered Mediterranean style scrambled eggs. Great food! Buckingham palace was awesome and even though we didn't get to see the changing of the guards we got some really awesome pictures! Then, we went to Borough Market (an absolutely amazing food market). It was like a playground for food lovers. I could have stayed there for hours. I stopped by a stand and bought walnut baklava and chocolate covered almonds. They were heavenly. As you can tell from the photo. After the market we stopped by London Bridge and I sang the famous song London Bridge is falling down. Now I get to check that off my bucket list! To be honest, I have no idea why there is a song about this bridge. It was just a bridge. In the picture in the background you can see another bridge with 2 towers called Tower Bridge. Most people think that bridge is London Bridge because that bridge is way cooler! Our next stop was Tower of London, a famous castle that not surprisingly has a ton of towers. It was awesome to walk around and explore at our own pace! It also had great history too! I was 2 feet away from the exact place where Henry VI died. Kind of creepy but also cool at the same time! It also great to touch buildings that are over 1,000 years old and still standing. It was kind of surreal actually. There were some towers that were used to hold prisoners and then engraved things in the walls. Most of their engravings were religious but just imagining someone engraving that is crazy. There was also a story of the murder of 2 young boys by their uncle Richard because he wanted to become king. Many years later they found their bodies in a chest under rumble when they destroyed one of the towers. Creepy. Before we went up Tower Bridge we stopped at a food truck for burgers. Not the greatest but the quickest and cheapest thing around the touristy area. The views on top of the bridge were amazing! Once you get up there, there's a museum of sorts and glass in the floor so you can see below you. We were lucky enough to get to see the drawbridge lifting while we were up there. After you go down you follow the blue line on the road to engine room. Before, they used to use coal to power the lifting of the bridge, now they use hydraulics. My dad would have been giddy. It was really cool! After Tower Bridge we took the tube to King's Cross so the Harry Potter fans could take their pictures. They finished around 6pm and were hoping to go to Regent's Park but realized when we got out of the tube station at 6:30pm the sun had set. WHAT? I COULD NOT LIVE LIKE THAT. The sun setting at 6:30pm? GET OUT. So unfortunately, I couldn't see Regents Park but we got to see Abbey Road and take the iconic Beatles photo. Note: this crosswalk does not have a light so we were trying to do this without getting hit by cars. Definitely worth it. Dinner at an old fashion pub was next on our checklist. We stopped at a place around the corner from our hostel called the Queens Arms. I ordered Southern Fried Chicken and Caramel Sticky Toffee pudding. It was heavenly. You would think after all that we'd be done for the day right? Wrong. We relaxed at the hotel for 30 mins and I took a (unintentional) 20 min power nap before we headed out again to go to one of the best clubs in London called Ministry of Sound. The cover charge alone was 35 pounds but Adriana's friend got us on the guest list for free with VIP access. We were super special. It was definitely an interesting experience. I never thought I would step foot in an EDM club but there I was and too be honest, I really don't understand it. It was nice to see but I don't think that's my jazz. We didn't stay for too long because we had to get up early the next day. Of course, the tube stopped running at 12:30 and we had no idea. We ended up walking for about an hour and finally taking a cab home for the last 2.5 miles. I think that was the most I've ever done in one day. And despite all I wrote, I still didn't write everything we did! By the end of the first day we learned how to use the tube without referring to the map every 5 seconds, and had seen ALOT of London, both day and night. I'm so excited that in a few hours I will be in London! Today I had my usual classes but made a concious effort to finish as much homework as I could ahead of time. Even though Monday we are going to get back around lunch time I know I probably won't want to do any homework. Plus, Monday is a holiday in Spain so I'm sure there will be some festivals or something fun to do. I wouldn't want to miss out because of homework. Classes today were pretty interesting, of course I'm one of the only ones that thinks so. Most of the other students in my class just stay quiet the entire time either browsing Facebook on their Macs or phones. Sound familiar? Yeah. Anyway, I dont really mind because that just means I get to interact with the professor more and ask an excessive amount of questions. Today in International Business our teacher asked us, "What could we use to measure purchasing power across countries?" The answer was simple. I shot my hand up (even though it's completely unnecessary) and answered, "the Big Mac." Yes. That Big Mac. The one that's made by McDonald's. You think I'm kidding but I'm really not. See the way you compare purchasing power across countries with different currencies is to use a basket of goods (milk, eggs, bread), find the price of that basket and then convert that cost into a common currency (the US dollar). The countries that have the highest cost (relative to the USD) are the ones that have lower inflation, which means their currency is valued more than the USD. So what does the Big Mac have anything to do with this you ask? The Big Mac is a basket of goods. It has bread, meat, cheese, vegetables, labor, overhead, etc. All of these things are calculated in the price of the Big Mac; plus McDonalds is in a majority of countries across the globe. Tah-dah. If you don't believe me just check out this link: http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index Of course, I didn't miraculously learn this on my own. It was one of the many benefits I got from my finance class last semester with Dale Rosenthal. For those of you that don't know, that class was the hardest class I've ever taken in my entire life. Many a night did I cry. But I learned a lot about finance and how to think about things on a deeper level; not to just take what is given to me as fact but really question everything. I also learned how to use, sort and analyze data to predict things about our economy, which I ended up using for a class activity 10 mins after the Big Mac question. In Marketing today we studied a case on Amazon's business model and how they use Big Data to their advantage. They have a really interesting history and they're an amazing company because since day one they have been centered around the customer. I'm really going to miss our guest lecturer, our next class on Tuesday is our last together. So back to the more exciting stuff, London! Ive spent the past few days strategically planning with my friends our iternary for the weekend. I even made a schedule and managed to include most of the things on our bucket list. Some of the things on my bucket list are the Natural History Museum (they have a dinosaur exhibit!), London Bridge, Regents Park, Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace and high tea. Because when in London one must have high tea! I'm actually writing this at the airport because I got here a lot earlier than I expected. In fact, it took me less then 30 mins to get from my apartment to my gate at the airport. That includes waiting for the bus, the bus ride, going through security and finding my gate. Amazing! But now I'm here two hours early. Oh well, I guess being early is better than being late. Time to board the plane! Ehem, let's forget about the fact that 4 days have passed and I haven't updated my blog! Shame on me. I'm going to try to remember as much as I can about each day so here it goes! Day 30- Friday was a really awesome day! I spent most of my morning procrastinating because I wasn't in the mood to do my homework so instead I decided to go out for a walk. I browsed around a couple floors of Corte Inglés, a book store called Casa de Libros, and Fnac (imagine if Barnes & Noble and Best Buy had a baby). It was kind of nice to stroll around in Fnac and I even found a manga section! On my way home I ran into my host mom on the street and she told me she left my food ready. After a very filling lunch, I relaxed in my room while watching Masterchef Junior. A very cute but depressing show because I can not believe those youngsters can make better food than I can. Later that night, I met up with my friends to check out a food truck festival in Casco Viejo. Since we went around 5pm and I ate a relatively gigantic lunch, I opted out of eating anything. Everyone just got a burrito from a Mexican food truck which looked really good. After, we went to a theatre to watch a flamenco performance. I was super pumped because I love flamenco and when we arrived at the theatre, I discovered it was literally the one across the street from my apartment. Que guay! Unfortunately, the show wasn't what I expected because it was mostly a woman singing flamenco songs but a couple times a guy would come out and do some amazing footwork. Despite the fact that it wasn't what I expected, I still loved it because the woman had a beautiful voice (I even bought a CD), the show was 2 hours long, and it was only 11 Euro! After the show, we went out for drinks and I came home to finish some homework. Day 31- Saturday was an unexpected day at the beach! We all went to Sopelana beach (the farthest, but nicest, and biggest. Side note: one of them is a nude beach. We avoided that one). Everyone wanted to go surfing but since it was only 70s and I didn't really feel in the mood, I opted for a nice relaxing time on the beach. It was really amazing even though in retrospect I just l lied on the beach for hours. I did go in to the water for a little bit but I was freezing and wanted to work on my tan. Before we actually went to the beach though, we went on up this hill and found one of the most amazing views I've seen so far. Of course, we had to stop and take a photoshoot! (Hence, the first picture on the blog and the ones below.) On the way down I also ran into a giant tree that reminded my of the pineapple from Spongebob. Definitely had to take a picture with it! Day 32- Sunday was also awesome because I climbed a mountain! I was rushing to the Termibus station and ended up getting there 30 mins early. Just as the bus was departing Joe saw Olga and I managed to stop the bus driver so we wouldn't leave her behind. As soon as he stopped, I ran off the bus and was yelling for Olga. After a couple seconds she came around the corner and ran towards me. It was a beautiful Hollywood moment. Also, I'm a hero! ;) We rode the bus to Gernika, about an hour away from Bilbao. En route to the mountain, we stopped by a church that was built around a giant rock which was a Pagan alter. As soon as I saw we were getting close to the mountain, I started stretching to prevent any injuries. Of course, I had the work out of a life time! When I imagined hiking, I didn't imagine hiking up a 80 degree incline! After 5 mins my legs were killing me but I pushed through! We also were climbing through the woodsy area without a "paved path" and it started to get really hot. Luckily, it started raining and I got to cool off but that also made things a lot more slippery. On top of the mountains there were a few houses and so many animals! Sheep, cows and horses were all over the mountains, even on insane inclines! Overall, I really liked the hike! There are three stops that we make on the hike: para de los cacahautes, para de las galletas, y para de los bocadillos. (Roughly in English: Peanut stop, Cookie stop, and sandwich stop). It was really nice because everyone was sharing and having a good time until the cap to my water bottle fell into the dog bowl. I rinsed it off and prayed before drinking again later. Every time I thought we were at the top the guide would say, "No chica, hay mucho mas." I thought I was going to die. At the para de las galletas we stopped at what I thought was the very top of the mountain but it was just a little landing, and there was an altar! A little bit higher, there was a church where our guides said locals would come and have mass. On top of a mountain. Mass on top of a mountain! When we finally got to the top it was so windy and rainy that all the pictures look ridiculous. But the view was incredible. There's something that get's lost in image when you capture it with a photo. It just doesn't compare at all. By the time we got down we were hiking for about 6-7 hours and were all exhausted. When you hike a mountain, plan to be sore forever after. Day 33 & 34 - After the hike I was exhausted and my legs and hips were feeling the soreness. It hurt just to get out of bed. My 20 min walk to school in the morning was not fun, but I did it. The rest of the days consisted of homework, class, sleep, eat, and catch up on blogs. It's becoming pretty routine but that just means I really do live here. This weekend I'm going to London so I'm pretty excited for that! I actually leave on Thursday after class and get home on Monday, since Monday is a holiday. Now back to work!
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