Today has been a weird day, I think largely because of the weather. After two unbearably hot days, we had thunderstorms last night and the weather cooled down considerably. I slept well until around 4 am, when I woke up after a dream that shook me some how. It wasn't really a nightmare, but was scary and somehow stuck with me after I woke up. I actually got out of bed to shake the dream loose a little bit. It was really weird and I woke up feeling out of sorts this morning. It was a grey, dreary day, but fortunately, I got a TON done at work.
I went to my music night and had a good time for an hour and a half or so, then I headed home. I was walking toward the taxi stand listening to a podcast, when some music came on in the background of the podcast. The first chord sounded familiar, and then I realized it was a song that I really, really love by the Avett Brothers. It was so weird to hear this song in this context ... and it's a song I have to be careful with anyhow because the lyrics are very emotional and it makes me a sort of happy-sad to hear it. It has a very Chicago connotation for me - cooking in my kitchen singing it. And suddenly hearing it on the streets of Spain ... it sort of kicked my butt. I think I stood on the street corner, hand over my mouth, and tears in my eyes for 10 seconds, but it felt like an hour.
I'm not sure I can even explain it, but here's what it feels like: 95% of the time, I'm living my life here. It's different than my Chicago Life, for sure, but it's still my life. Then, something like my dream last night and or hearing this song happens, and it's like I'm knocked off one track and onto another, where I have a glimpse of my Chicago Life. It suddenly feels like I'm just treading water waiting for my Real Life to start up again. And then I'm fine, back on the "normal" track, but those few seconds or minutes send deep shock waves that result in aftershocks for a few hours. In some ways it's sad ... in other ways, it's beautiful because it reminds me that I have this life in Chicago that is so beautiful that it's okay, good even, to miss it.
Two weeks from now at this time, I'll be in the Holiday Inn Express Bilbao, trying to sleep before my very (very) early flight the next day. And I can NOT wait.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Weekend
Saturday was a relaxing day. I took a long nap, watched a movie and did some work. I was trying to save up my energy for Sunday, when I went to Bilbao with a friend of mine who was in town from the US for the conference we were hosting last week. We made plans to hang out Sunday, even though it was supposed to be over 90 degrees.
We didn't have much of a plan, just to go to Bilbao and maybe head to the Guggenheim. We met in San Sebastián in the morning and took a city bus to the bus station, where we took a bus to Bilbao. We walked about a mile to the Guggenheim. And it was 90 degrees. We bought our tickets and headed to the cafe to get something to drink. We ordered something we thought would be delicious and refreshing, but was, instead bitter, and not refreshing. Alas. We wandered around the museum for a couple of hours, and then headed out for pintxos. We found a pretty authentic place (with no air conditioning) close by and got a few pintxos (including my beloved "boquerones" - anchovies marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic. Even if you don't think you like anchovies, you would love these guys). We then set out for another walk. We wandered through the center of town into Bilbao's Parte Vieja. It was a really nice walk in spite of being a trillion degrees outside. We then walked back to the bus station where we had to wait a while for our bus back. All in all it was a nice trip, though I got back home exhausted and probably dehydrated from the super hot temperatures (according to the local newspapers, it reached over 100 degrees yesterday).
Today it's supposed to reach the mid-90s again, which is highly uncommon for the Basque Country. Beach people are very, very happy about this. I am slightly less so since my apartment doesn't have air conditioning. I did succeed in turning the place into a cave by shutting all my shades during the day yesterday. It was cool enough last night that between the shades, my open windows, and my almost completed blanket instead of my duvet, I was able to sleep pretty well. The funniest part of this is that people were whining about how it "only" got down to 19 degrees last night (around 66 degrees Fahrenheit). After temperatures in the high 90s, I was quite happy with 66 degrees.
This weekend also marked the first weekend of summer, meaning the tourists are here in force. It's a little bit crazier than I would like here, and it will be harder to find seats for pintxos, etc., but I'm sure after 4 summers in Wrigleyville, I'll survive.
We didn't have much of a plan, just to go to Bilbao and maybe head to the Guggenheim. We met in San Sebastián in the morning and took a city bus to the bus station, where we took a bus to Bilbao. We walked about a mile to the Guggenheim. And it was 90 degrees. We bought our tickets and headed to the cafe to get something to drink. We ordered something we thought would be delicious and refreshing, but was, instead bitter, and not refreshing. Alas. We wandered around the museum for a couple of hours, and then headed out for pintxos. We found a pretty authentic place (with no air conditioning) close by and got a few pintxos (including my beloved "boquerones" - anchovies marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic. Even if you don't think you like anchovies, you would love these guys). We then set out for another walk. We wandered through the center of town into Bilbao's Parte Vieja. It was a really nice walk in spite of being a trillion degrees outside. We then walked back to the bus station where we had to wait a while for our bus back. All in all it was a nice trip, though I got back home exhausted and probably dehydrated from the super hot temperatures (according to the local newspapers, it reached over 100 degrees yesterday).
Today it's supposed to reach the mid-90s again, which is highly uncommon for the Basque Country. Beach people are very, very happy about this. I am slightly less so since my apartment doesn't have air conditioning. I did succeed in turning the place into a cave by shutting all my shades during the day yesterday. It was cool enough last night that between the shades, my open windows, and my almost completed blanket instead of my duvet, I was able to sleep pretty well. The funniest part of this is that people were whining about how it "only" got down to 19 degrees last night (around 66 degrees Fahrenheit). After temperatures in the high 90s, I was quite happy with 66 degrees.
This weekend also marked the first weekend of summer, meaning the tourists are here in force. It's a little bit crazier than I would like here, and it will be harder to find seats for pintxos, etc., but I'm sure after 4 summers in Wrigleyville, I'll survive.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Fun in the Basque Country
First things first. Today is my fourth anniversary with my fantastic, amazing, incredible, and otherwise superlative husband. I don't have words to express how lucky I am to have him in my life. We have a "date" tonight via Skype during my dinner and his lunch.
This week has been a whirlwind of events. A lot of my friends have visitors in town, and even more of them are going out of town soon for various trips, etc. The school where a lot of our friends teach English takes a break from tomorrow through the end of July. So because of all the visitors and going-away celebrations, I have been very, very busy. Two nights ago we tried to go to a very famous bar/restaurant that makes fresh tortilla (egg and potato omelet here in Spain, nothing like a "tortilla" the way we think of it in North America) twice a day and also has great chuleta (a very tasty steak). Unfortunately they are closed for vacation (until mid-July). We ended up going to another place that had traditional chuleta, and its accompaniments (tomato salad, small roasted peppers, potatoes in a sauce, etc.). You order one plate of everything and then everyone shares. It was delicious and honestly one of my favorit nights here so far. Until last night.
Last night was "La Fiesta de San Juan". Or the feast of St. John. As in John the Baptist. So this feast is a pretty big deal in San Juan, and apparently marks the anniversary of birth of San Juan (approximately 6 months before the birth of Jesus). This festival is a pretty big deal throughout Spain, and the Basque Country is no exception. It starts off with a traditional dance around 7:30 which I missed. Then at 10:30, they (the town) light two gigantic bonfires and shoot off fireworks. Then the locals get in on the act. Especially the kids. Hundreds of small fires are lit on the plazas near the two big fires, and all over the beaches. Specifically by children. Small children. So the tradition is that you light the fire, then you write things down you want to get rid of. Then you jump over the fire which represents purification and cleansing. Then in the morning, you go for a swim in the sea which represents renewal and rebirth. (Sound like baptism to anyone??) Anyhow, as a mentioned, children are usually tending to these fires. And then jumping over them. Because nothing could go wrong with small children starting and leaping over fires, right? I was sure this would be a recipe for disaster, but instead, parents sort of hung out watching this, and no one got lit on fire, so far as I could tell. My friends and I put our own little pieces of paper in one small fire and hopped over it. Another tradition is trying to climb a tree that has been shaved of its bark. We watched about 6 people, and the two best were two small girls, about 9 and 10. They did much better than a strong looking grown man, and three young boys a bit older than them. Anyhow, it was a great, fun night, and the whole city smelled deliciously like a campfire this morning.
More soon, including my reflections on going to another conference in the same place I went to a different conference on my second day in Spain. Life is so beautifully different now.
This week has been a whirlwind of events. A lot of my friends have visitors in town, and even more of them are going out of town soon for various trips, etc. The school where a lot of our friends teach English takes a break from tomorrow through the end of July. So because of all the visitors and going-away celebrations, I have been very, very busy. Two nights ago we tried to go to a very famous bar/restaurant that makes fresh tortilla (egg and potato omelet here in Spain, nothing like a "tortilla" the way we think of it in North America) twice a day and also has great chuleta (a very tasty steak). Unfortunately they are closed for vacation (until mid-July). We ended up going to another place that had traditional chuleta, and its accompaniments (tomato salad, small roasted peppers, potatoes in a sauce, etc.). You order one plate of everything and then everyone shares. It was delicious and honestly one of my favorit nights here so far. Until last night.
Last night was "La Fiesta de San Juan". Or the feast of St. John. As in John the Baptist. So this feast is a pretty big deal in San Juan, and apparently marks the anniversary of birth of San Juan (approximately 6 months before the birth of Jesus). This festival is a pretty big deal throughout Spain, and the Basque Country is no exception. It starts off with a traditional dance around 7:30 which I missed. Then at 10:30, they (the town) light two gigantic bonfires and shoot off fireworks. Then the locals get in on the act. Especially the kids. Hundreds of small fires are lit on the plazas near the two big fires, and all over the beaches. Specifically by children. Small children. So the tradition is that you light the fire, then you write things down you want to get rid of. Then you jump over the fire which represents purification and cleansing. Then in the morning, you go for a swim in the sea which represents renewal and rebirth. (Sound like baptism to anyone??) Anyhow, as a mentioned, children are usually tending to these fires. And then jumping over them. Because nothing could go wrong with small children starting and leaping over fires, right? I was sure this would be a recipe for disaster, but instead, parents sort of hung out watching this, and no one got lit on fire, so far as I could tell. My friends and I put our own little pieces of paper in one small fire and hopped over it. Another tradition is trying to climb a tree that has been shaved of its bark. We watched about 6 people, and the two best were two small girls, about 9 and 10. They did much better than a strong looking grown man, and three young boys a bit older than them. Anyhow, it was a great, fun night, and the whole city smelled deliciously like a campfire this morning.
More soon, including my reflections on going to another conference in the same place I went to a different conference on my second day in Spain. Life is so beautifully different now.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Spanish breakthrough
I realized last night while I was thinking to myself in the shower that I can explain a LOT of things in Spanish that I couldn't explain just two months ago. I now have a pretty decent command of the three past tenses as well as progressive tenses, and a very simple future tense. I'm still not good at the subjunctive, conditional, or real future tenses, but I can talk about way more things than I ever could before. Vocabulary is still my major struggle, but I'm learning more and more every day. I feel like 90% of what I say is "Como se dice ..." (how do you say ...) and then pointing at things I don't know the names of. Not very elegant, but it works.
I got a couple of packages in the mail yesterday, including what were supposed to be pyrex mixing bowls (since I have no mixing bowls here) ... they were shattered thanks to really poor packaging on Amazon's part. Now I have to figure out how to return them, which is no easy task from here. I also REALLY need some sort of casserole dish or something that can go in the oven, since I'm getting tried of stovetop cooking all the time ... and speaking of cooking, I have to go to the grocery store after work today, which is unfortunate, since it is super rainy today.
I got a couple of packages in the mail yesterday, including what were supposed to be pyrex mixing bowls (since I have no mixing bowls here) ... they were shattered thanks to really poor packaging on Amazon's part. Now I have to figure out how to return them, which is no easy task from here. I also REALLY need some sort of casserole dish or something that can go in the oven, since I'm getting tried of stovetop cooking all the time ... and speaking of cooking, I have to go to the grocery store after work today, which is unfortunate, since it is super rainy today.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sleep
I've never been very good at sleeping. I can nap pretty well, but at night time I can't fall asleep, I don't stay asleep, and as a consequence of this, I am no good at getting up in the morning. It's been this way at least since I was in high school. After 10 years of this business, you'd think that I would be used to it. But I'm not ... especially now that my body and brain have decided they might rather be on Central Standard Time than on Central European Time. This means that I am wide awake at midnight (and often at 1 and 2) and wake up often through the night, but am very, very tired at around 6 am (11pm in Chicago) and stay very tired until around 1 pm. I'm not sure if this can be attributed to lingering jet lag, the desire to be awake when my people are awake, or just my normal weird insomnia issues. Regardless, it is no fun at all.
I spoke Spanish this morning without thinking about it, which was weird. Normally, it requires some amount of thought, and if someone at the bus stop comes up to ask me a question, I just say that I don't really speak Spanish. Today, I was so tired that I just responded to the question in Spanish. Maybe I need to be really tired to speak Spanish well.
I apparently signed up for the school bus to work today, since I got on the bus and 6 of my co-workers were already on the bus. We ended up getting off early to take the "shortcut" to work. Normally, I take the bus to the closest stop (less than a 10 minute walk from work) that sort of overshoots our office building. Today, we got off 4 stops before that and cut through a huge outdoor amphitheater (out of use so far as I can tell) and a wooded path. It's a much longer walk, but you're on the bus for less time - I don't think it's that much shorter, you're just outside more. I rarely take this route when I'm by myself because some trees on the path make me sneeze like crazy ... plus, I'm usually dressed in grown up clothing, so cutting through an amphitheater, going down a hundred or so stone stairs, and walking on a path that is only partially paved for 15 or 20 minutes isn't my favorite thing to do. I'm glad I wore flat shoes to work today!
I spoke Spanish this morning without thinking about it, which was weird. Normally, it requires some amount of thought, and if someone at the bus stop comes up to ask me a question, I just say that I don't really speak Spanish. Today, I was so tired that I just responded to the question in Spanish. Maybe I need to be really tired to speak Spanish well.
I apparently signed up for the school bus to work today, since I got on the bus and 6 of my co-workers were already on the bus. We ended up getting off early to take the "shortcut" to work. Normally, I take the bus to the closest stop (less than a 10 minute walk from work) that sort of overshoots our office building. Today, we got off 4 stops before that and cut through a huge outdoor amphitheater (out of use so far as I can tell) and a wooded path. It's a much longer walk, but you're on the bus for less time - I don't think it's that much shorter, you're just outside more. I rarely take this route when I'm by myself because some trees on the path make me sneeze like crazy ... plus, I'm usually dressed in grown up clothing, so cutting through an amphitheater, going down a hundred or so stone stairs, and walking on a path that is only partially paved for 15 or 20 minutes isn't my favorite thing to do. I'm glad I wore flat shoes to work today!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Writer's Block
I've been trying to write a post about "home" for almost a week now ... and I've been trying to write about the Puerto Rico trip, without any luck. So for today, I'll tell you a little bit about my weekend.
I'm starting to settle into Spanish weekends. Weekends in Spain (especially in the summer) start in the early afternoon on Friday. By about 2 pm, almost everyone is out of the office. The official hours of the administrative staff here are 9-2.3 on Fridays (all year). During the summer those are the official hours for the entire week (and summer runs from early June 'til mid-September). Anyhow, everyone takes off early on Fridays. I had a terrible sinus headache, so I headed home around 3 (this should have been a warning sign for later on!!). My friend who hosts the Tuesday music nights was playing a concert in Irun (a town very close to the French border), so a bunch of us were heading there for dinner and the concert. I met up with my friends and rode in a car (other than a taxi) for the second time since arriving here. The drive was nice because it was dusk and the landscape is quite pretty. We got to Irun, and it was raining. Fortunately, I have learned the lesson that in the Basque Country you always need a sweater (because the temperature will drop 20 degrees) and an umbrella (because chances are it's going to rain). We tried to find a pintxos place and wandered into a bar that two of the Spanish people with us really liked. We had a drink and shared a very tiny sandwich, but they weren't serving any warm food. So we tried three other bars, none of which were serving food. It was getting colder and colder, so finally we asked if there was anywhere that was open. We ended up at a food court in a very strange mall. It was strange because there were two pintxos bars and a Burger King in the food court. The pintxos bars both had table service (weird for a pintxos bar and weird for a food court). Anyhow, we got our food and, though it was not very tasty, were happy to have any food. We headed to the concert, which was very good, and then headed home.
Saturday was full of errands - I did laundry for the first time since before Puerto Rico, which meant that nearly everything I have here was in the wash. I did some grocery shopping and tried to go to the yarn store, which changes its hours on a whim, so of course it wasn't open. I finally got functioning headphones, so now the sound doesn't go in and out in the right ear depending on how I move the cord. I managed to get a little work done and then headed out to my friend's house for some mojitos. It was really fun, and even though we were supposed to go to a concert that night too, I ended up heading home. My sinuses and allergies are slaying me this week. I'm hoping they calm down soon! I was supposed to go for a hike with some friends yesterday, but wasn't feeling very well.
Overall, it was a relaxing weekend. I'm settling in more and more to the ebb and flow of Spanish and English during conversations here. I can also tell I'm settling in because I'm starting to get more used to people. I know who I like to spend time with and who annoys me. I know where to go if I want to meet up with friends and which places to avoid. This weekend is another conference here. It's located at the same place as the first conference I went to the second day I was here. I'm excited to go back now that things have changed. I'm sure I'll be reflecting on how different things are (I am) since I arrived two months ago.
I'm starting to settle into Spanish weekends. Weekends in Spain (especially in the summer) start in the early afternoon on Friday. By about 2 pm, almost everyone is out of the office. The official hours of the administrative staff here are 9-2.3 on Fridays (all year). During the summer those are the official hours for the entire week (and summer runs from early June 'til mid-September). Anyhow, everyone takes off early on Fridays. I had a terrible sinus headache, so I headed home around 3 (this should have been a warning sign for later on!!). My friend who hosts the Tuesday music nights was playing a concert in Irun (a town very close to the French border), so a bunch of us were heading there for dinner and the concert. I met up with my friends and rode in a car (other than a taxi) for the second time since arriving here. The drive was nice because it was dusk and the landscape is quite pretty. We got to Irun, and it was raining. Fortunately, I have learned the lesson that in the Basque Country you always need a sweater (because the temperature will drop 20 degrees) and an umbrella (because chances are it's going to rain). We tried to find a pintxos place and wandered into a bar that two of the Spanish people with us really liked. We had a drink and shared a very tiny sandwich, but they weren't serving any warm food. So we tried three other bars, none of which were serving food. It was getting colder and colder, so finally we asked if there was anywhere that was open. We ended up at a food court in a very strange mall. It was strange because there were two pintxos bars and a Burger King in the food court. The pintxos bars both had table service (weird for a pintxos bar and weird for a food court). Anyhow, we got our food and, though it was not very tasty, were happy to have any food. We headed to the concert, which was very good, and then headed home.
Saturday was full of errands - I did laundry for the first time since before Puerto Rico, which meant that nearly everything I have here was in the wash. I did some grocery shopping and tried to go to the yarn store, which changes its hours on a whim, so of course it wasn't open. I finally got functioning headphones, so now the sound doesn't go in and out in the right ear depending on how I move the cord. I managed to get a little work done and then headed out to my friend's house for some mojitos. It was really fun, and even though we were supposed to go to a concert that night too, I ended up heading home. My sinuses and allergies are slaying me this week. I'm hoping they calm down soon! I was supposed to go for a hike with some friends yesterday, but wasn't feeling very well.
Overall, it was a relaxing weekend. I'm settling in more and more to the ebb and flow of Spanish and English during conversations here. I can also tell I'm settling in because I'm starting to get more used to people. I know who I like to spend time with and who annoys me. I know where to go if I want to meet up with friends and which places to avoid. This weekend is another conference here. It's located at the same place as the first conference I went to the second day I was here. I'm excited to go back now that things have changed. I'm sure I'll be reflecting on how different things are (I am) since I arrived two months ago.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Time flies ...
I arrived in Spain a little over two months ago, and it already feels like an eternity. I got back from Puerto Rico a week ago today (right about this time, actually, my flight was landing in Bilbao). It feels like I've been back forever. That's good because things went back to my new "normal," but it's bad because I feel like I need a break and need to see Pete again now. Fortunately, it's only 27 days from now 'til I get back to Chicago, so I don't have long to wait, but as we all know patience is not my strong suit.
Speaking of patience, I was getting pretty frustrated at work yesterday by how slowly a particular project is going. I knew I was not going to have the patience to sit through Spanish (about half of the class was gone Monday and Tuesday, so it was going to be a re-hash of those two days). So, I decided to leave work a little early and head out to run some errands and give myself a Spanish lesson. I decided I was going to talk to someone at the grocery store. The original plan was to finally brave the meat or fish counters, but they were doing their afternoon cleanup so weren't being very helpful. I took a leisurely stroll through the market and found some things I hadn't seen before when I'd been rushed through. Fresh asparagus - which was not with most of the fruits and veggies, but in a sort of different area with a few other things I hadn't been able to find (e.g., carrots). I still have yet to find shallots, which is sad, and they didn't have broccoli yesterday, either. I did manage to find limes (inexplicably near the fresh nut section, which includes some very tempting chestnuts). I also found canned artichokes (jammed between a gigantic section of canned white asparagus). I'm not sure if I've discussed the Spaniards love of canned/jarred white asparagus ... but they love it. It comes in these tins and is huge ... and tastes nothing like asparagus. So weird. But so are a lot of the other food obsessions here. There is a whole aisle devoted to tinned fish. It's not just sardines and anchovies (which are fine with me), but there are various tinned small fishes in a wide variety of sauces. Apparently, one needs enough varieties of tinned fish to warrant an entire aisle at the grocery store ...
Anyhow, I took my finds up to the counter and had a real conversation with the cashier. I also had a nice conversation Tuesday night with a friend of a friend who complimented my Spanish. I am still unendingly frustrated with this process of learning Spanish, but I have to remind myself how much easier it is. Conversations in big groups flow between Spanish and English, and I survive. Overall, I think my impromptu Spanish practice was more useful than Spanish class yesterday.
___________________________
Totally forgot to post this today! Oops! I'm having a low-key evening here, going out for a walk now that the rain has stopped and the sun is out again. Tomorrow my friend's boyfriend (who is also my friend I suppose) is playing a concert in Irun (about 25 minutes away near the French border), so we're all going. It will be quite late, but should be fun!
Speaking of patience, I was getting pretty frustrated at work yesterday by how slowly a particular project is going. I knew I was not going to have the patience to sit through Spanish (about half of the class was gone Monday and Tuesday, so it was going to be a re-hash of those two days). So, I decided to leave work a little early and head out to run some errands and give myself a Spanish lesson. I decided I was going to talk to someone at the grocery store. The original plan was to finally brave the meat or fish counters, but they were doing their afternoon cleanup so weren't being very helpful. I took a leisurely stroll through the market and found some things I hadn't seen before when I'd been rushed through. Fresh asparagus - which was not with most of the fruits and veggies, but in a sort of different area with a few other things I hadn't been able to find (e.g., carrots). I still have yet to find shallots, which is sad, and they didn't have broccoli yesterday, either. I did manage to find limes (inexplicably near the fresh nut section, which includes some very tempting chestnuts). I also found canned artichokes (jammed between a gigantic section of canned white asparagus). I'm not sure if I've discussed the Spaniards love of canned/jarred white asparagus ... but they love it. It comes in these tins and is huge ... and tastes nothing like asparagus. So weird. But so are a lot of the other food obsessions here. There is a whole aisle devoted to tinned fish. It's not just sardines and anchovies (which are fine with me), but there are various tinned small fishes in a wide variety of sauces. Apparently, one needs enough varieties of tinned fish to warrant an entire aisle at the grocery store ...
Anyhow, I took my finds up to the counter and had a real conversation with the cashier. I also had a nice conversation Tuesday night with a friend of a friend who complimented my Spanish. I am still unendingly frustrated with this process of learning Spanish, but I have to remind myself how much easier it is. Conversations in big groups flow between Spanish and English, and I survive. Overall, I think my impromptu Spanish practice was more useful than Spanish class yesterday.
___________________________
Totally forgot to post this today! Oops! I'm having a low-key evening here, going out for a walk now that the rain has stopped and the sun is out again. Tomorrow my friend's boyfriend (who is also my friend I suppose) is playing a concert in Irun (about 25 minutes away near the French border), so we're all going. It will be quite late, but should be fun!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Small, Small World
The more time I'm here, the more I realize that I'm living in a small town. I don't actually mean this in the same sense as growing up in a small town, which I did. In fact, if you look at the numbers San Sebastián isn't really all that small. According to Wikipedia, there are 183,090 people in San Sebastián itself, and 405,098 people in the "metropolitan" area - and if it's on Wikipedia, it must be true, right? [Side note: I am not sure what constitutes our "metropolitan area" unless they're counting all of Basque Country besides Bilbao. There aren't really suburbs here, just villages every few dozen kilometers ...]
I've spent the past 10 years living in cities, first Boston and then Chicago where I knew a lot of people, but didn't often see them when I was out and about in the city. It was pretty rare to run into people on the bus or train, even if we were coming from or going to the same location. If I went out with one group of friends, we wouldn't often run into another group of friends.
Here, everyone is everywhere. I haven't gotten on a bus since I got back where I haven't known at least one person by name. I run into people on the street or when I'm out with friends. Our Spanish teacher showed up at our music night last night. It turns out that she knows a bunch of our English teacher friends through the language teaching world and that she taught a bunch of other people that we know who were also there last night. It's not just me either. A guy who I always see got on the bus today, and knew another woman on the bus. At the next stop, someone else got on who knew them, and another person on the bus. It's a very tight, tiny, weird web here. But I'm starting to sort of like it.
I've spent the past 10 years living in cities, first Boston and then Chicago where I knew a lot of people, but didn't often see them when I was out and about in the city. It was pretty rare to run into people on the bus or train, even if we were coming from or going to the same location. If I went out with one group of friends, we wouldn't often run into another group of friends.
Here, everyone is everywhere. I haven't gotten on a bus since I got back where I haven't known at least one person by name. I run into people on the street or when I'm out with friends. Our Spanish teacher showed up at our music night last night. It turns out that she knows a bunch of our English teacher friends through the language teaching world and that she taught a bunch of other people that we know who were also there last night. It's not just me either. A guy who I always see got on the bus today, and knew another woman on the bus. At the next stop, someone else got on who knew them, and another person on the bus. It's a very tight, tiny, weird web here. But I'm starting to sort of like it.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Things that still make me crazy
Even though I get more and more used to the crazy things about Spain, there's a lot I'm still not used to. Here are some things that still make me crazy.
- Cooking - I still have tons of frustration when it comes to my kitchen, and to eating more broadly. I should say this is not because there isn't great food to be had here. It's just that to eat good food when you go out, you need to pay a lot of money. I've actually only had two sit-down, going-out meals since I got here. Both of which were mediocre at best. The pintxos are typically good, but one cannot live on pintxos alone (well, one probably could, but I can't). There are also very few places that do take-out and even fewer (none?) that do delivery. So, on crazy long work days (like yesterday where I was at work for 11 hours + commuting time), I need to cook when I get home. This wouldn't be so bad if I had the proper equipment or ingredients to cook food that is tasty. Part of the problem is that things go bad very, very quickly here (which probably means they aren't pumped with antibiotics and preservatives). It doesn't make it any less frustrating though, when you open chicken from two days ago that looks a little yucky, you cook it anyhow, and it tastes, literally, like garbage. Cooking itself is also frustrating. It's really hard to control the temperature on the induction stovetop, and I still haven't bought any pots or pans that are safe for the oven. I really need to spend some time in a grocery store really looking at ingredients and deciding what I can use to make things here, since a lot of my typical staples aren't available ... but this brings me to point #2.
- "Business" Hours - I honestly do not understand how anyone ever gets anything done here. A typical store (including grocery store) is open: 9-2 and then 4-8. That's if it's a store that's open a lot. It isn't uncommon for stores to just be open 9-2. Or whenever they feel like being open. I tried to go to a store the other day that was supposed to re-open at 4 for the afternoon. At 6, they were not open. Weekends are even worse when almost nothing is open on Sunday and Saturday hours are nothing short of crazy (10-2? 10-12? 11-3?). The only time you can really count on stores being open is 9-2 Monday through Friday. Which is when I'm, you know, working. Grocery shopping consists of running to the store as often as I can - it's not rare for me to go three to four times a week so I can have fresh food, but also because when you only have 30 minutes 'til the store closes, it's tough to do a week's worth of shopping. It's hard to get anything done really. This does mean that you have to spend your evenings and weekends doing things that aren't running errands and are more fun. However, it's hard to have fun when you're worried about food in your fridge or when you have to do laundry since a lot of your clothing is wrinkled and you haven't been able to buy an iron since the electronics store is only open when you're working. (Sub-point - I would solve this problem by buying things on Amazon UK which does free shipping to Spain, but the plugs are different ... so a vacuum and iron will have to wait for now).
- Language - This point is the biggest and most frustrating of all. I am still stymied on a daily basis by not being able to say what I want to say. I love language, it's what I do for my job, and anyone who knows me knows I love to talk. But Spanish is hard and frustrating. Let me clarify - Spanish in a classroom is fine. I can conjugate verbs and do exercises. I can read and write in the classroom. But classroom language is not the language of the real world. Carefully produced speech on recordings is no substitute for real world speech. So, it's hard to understand what's being said. Even harder is saying what you mean. Even if I'm willing to make tons of mistakes (which I have to if I want to communicate the simplest things), even if I am willing to forego using the subjunctive for the sake of saying anything at all, I don't have the words to say what I want to say. Vocabulary is far and away the hardest part for me. I don't know how to get more vocabulary without studying a dictionary or vocabulary book. And honestly, lists of nouns and verbs aren't going to do it. Even if I know how to say the basic words around things, I don't know how to convey the specifics that make any good story worth telling. When talking about my trip yesterday in class, I was trying to explain how frustrated I was by the fact that they announced to me that my ticket was canceled. But I couldn't remember the word for frustrated ... and angry or sad don't really get the job done in the same way. I need to figure out some way to improve at the language more quickly. Because I've been here almost two months now, and I'm running out of patience for myself.
One bright note to end for now - the blanket I'm making is gorgeous. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it (not counting the border that will go on at the end). It's big enough now that I can wrap up in when I'm cold and watching TV and it covers a whole person when sleeping. I can't wait for it to be done, but I also need to have another (big) project lined up for when I finish it. I love to have a big home project I can work on in the evenings or on weekends. Then I have my commuting project (a knit cowl that is taking forever because I work on it in 5 minute bursts) and my travel project (a shawl that I only knit on the plane or in airports). Then I might start a project that the knitting group around here is working on ... but I need to be able to get to the yarn shop when they're open. But the blanket? Fantastic. I've made tons of mistakes and fixed them in stupid ways, but I love this blanket so, so, so much.
Monday, June 13, 2011
The New Normal
Things are back to normal here in Basque Country. Or at least my new normal. My old normal involved work at all hours of the day and lots of time with Peter and Sophie. I worked on the weekends, evenings, whenever. Now, I work in much more concentrated bursts - typically 8-6 or so at work with a break for lunch and Spanish class. I work a bit on weeknights and weekend days, but my free time outside of work is much more free. This actually means that when I am working, I'm getting more done. But getting used to free time is a little weird. And hard. It used to be that my free time was primarily spent with Pete and occasionally with my friends. Now it's spent a lot by myself. I also see my friends a lot more here.
I've said before that I am extremely lucky to have met the people I've met here. Before I came I hoped and prayed that I would find people who would make my time here bearable. Fortunately, I've found people who have made my time here happy, easy, and fun. I have genuine affection for these people and am so glad to have been swallowed up into their crazy group of expats.
Between my friends, work, and progress on my blanket (which I love more and more each day), things are starting to feel normal here. At the back of my mind, though, I can't help but feel that the fact that this is my new normal is extremely weird.
I've said before that I am extremely lucky to have met the people I've met here. Before I came I hoped and prayed that I would find people who would make my time here bearable. Fortunately, I've found people who have made my time here happy, easy, and fun. I have genuine affection for these people and am so glad to have been swallowed up into their crazy group of expats.
Between my friends, work, and progress on my blanket (which I love more and more each day), things are starting to feel normal here. At the back of my mind, though, I can't help but feel that the fact that this is my new normal is extremely weird.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Trip Recap (Part 1)
It's been long enough now since my trip that I'm not sure I remember everything, but this is my best try at the first part (my travel to the US):
I left Tuesday night for the Bilbao and stayed at the hotel near the airport. I was pretty crabby about the upcoming travel day, and really ready to get to Puerto Rico. I was also pretty sure something was going to go wrong. I was not anticipating what happened when I arrived at the airport the next morning. I walked up to the check in counter and handed my passport to the agent.
Agent: You don't have a ticket.
Me: What?
Agent: Your ticket has been canceled.
Me: My FLIGHT has been canceled?
Agent: No, your ticket. Go over to the ticket counter and see if you can buy a new ticket.
Yeah, because buying a new round trip ticket to San Juan Puerto Rico is exactly what I want to be doing 2 hours before my flight leaves. So, I ran to the counter and almost immediately started crying to the agent:
Me: That lady told me I don't have a ticket. But I do. Here's the ticket number and the confirmation number and my frequent flyer number and my passport number ... and whatever else you need.
Agent: Yeah, your ticket was canceled.
Me: That is impossible.
Other Agent (typing a billion things into her computer, and silently points at something on the screen)
Agent: Oh, maybe this is your ticket.
5 minutes later while I stand sniffling at the counter.
Agent: Good news! We found your ticket!
I walked back to the first agent at the check-in counter:
Agent: You bought a new ticket?
Me: No, I had a ticket, here's the information.
Agent: You didn't have a ticket, you must have bought a new one.
(I refrain from punching her in the head or yelling at her)
This portion of the saga continued while she couldn't figure out how to check my bag. Finally, I got through security, on my gate, on my way to Madrid. I made it from Madrid to Miami, where I got off the plane and was greeted by a woman in huge heels, who announces to me (in Spanish) "I'm here for Express Connections. We'll speak Spanish, okay? Let's go." I had a really tight connection in Miami - 2 hours, in which I had to go through immigration, retrieve my bags, go through customs, re-check my bags, go through security, change terminals and get to my gate. Add into this a last minute gate change and I was a little frazzled. Fortunately, my flight was delayed 20 minutes, so by the time I got to the correct gate, I even had time to grab Starbucks, which, honestly tasted delicious after almost two months of no coffee due to the lack of decaf in these parts. I got on the plane for San Juan. I think that 3 hour flight felt longer than the 9.5 hours from Madrid to Miami. I got off the plane, hoping to meet Pete at baggage claim. Unfortunately, they weren't letting people into the airport so he was waiting on the other side of the glass, while I (impatiently) waited for my bags. I finally got them, and sprinted to the exit, where I had to show the guy my boarding pass and my bag claim information (buried in my purse). I finally got outside to Pete - and I honestly haven't been happier in months.
More to come about the actual trip in Puerto Rico ...
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Happy Birthday
I feel like I have a million things to say today, but can't quite put them to words. Instead I'm relaxing and trying to refresh before going back to work on Monday.
I am much happier than I was on Thursday - starting to feel better about being back, which is good.
But I am sad to not be in Chicago today. It's Peter's birthday - and even though he doesn't read this, I want to wish him a very, very happy birthday. I don't have enough words to express what a phenomenal husband and person he is - I am so lucky to have him in my life.
I am much happier than I was on Thursday - starting to feel better about being back, which is good.
But I am sad to not be in Chicago today. It's Peter's birthday - and even though he doesn't read this, I want to wish him a very, very happy birthday. I don't have enough words to express what a phenomenal husband and person he is - I am so lucky to have him in my life.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Getting some sleep
I had a kind of rough transition yesterday. Travel itself was fine - flights were mostly on time, not turbulent, food was edible, all my connections were easy and the layovers weren't too long, my bags came out literally two minutes after I got to the Bilbao airport, the wait for the bus and taxi wasn't terrible. I got into my apartment and broke down a little. I was so glad I'd made plans to go out with some friends for a quick drink, just to get me out of the apartment. I ran to the post office and the grocery store before I met them. Then I realized I needed a couple more things at the grocery store, so I ran back before they closed after our drink. I got to the check out, and the shoplifting-detector thing they have at every lane went nuts. It turns out, if you bring anything you've bought back in the store, you get yelled at by the cashier for not knowing their (totally unwritten rule) that you have to check it at the counter before you get in. Fortunately, I had my receipt and was so jet-lagged and exhausted the lady took pity on me and didn't make me repay for my first purchases. But then I got back to my apartment and was exhausted, hungry, and an emotional disaster.
I need to just learn that lack of sleep makes me really, really emotional - and not sleepy at all. I become a child who has missed their bedtime. I did manage to cook dinner, but spent a lot of the evening sniffling and feeling sorry for myself. I finally convinced myself that a shower would help (which it did). I eventually got myself into bed 12:30 and realized I'd been awake for 35 hours straight. Most of that time was emotionally draining and stressful with all of the craziness of travel. I read for about 5 minutes and turned the lights out, convinced I wouldn't sleep at all. The next thing I knew, it was 9:15 this morning (I set my alarm for 8 pm, instead of 8 am). Fortunately, Fridays (and every day) are pretty relaxed here, so it was fine I came in a little later than usual. I did get here to realize I forgot my lunch and snacks in my apartment ... So, today's going to be a short day. Even though I'm much sleepier today than I was yesterday, I also feel much, much more sane. Hopefully, I can read this after my next trip in July and remember that the secret to feeling less crazy is a shower and a good night's sleep. :)
I need to just learn that lack of sleep makes me really, really emotional - and not sleepy at all. I become a child who has missed their bedtime. I did manage to cook dinner, but spent a lot of the evening sniffling and feeling sorry for myself. I finally convinced myself that a shower would help (which it did). I eventually got myself into bed 12:30 and realized I'd been awake for 35 hours straight. Most of that time was emotionally draining and stressful with all of the craziness of travel. I read for about 5 minutes and turned the lights out, convinced I wouldn't sleep at all. The next thing I knew, it was 9:15 this morning (I set my alarm for 8 pm, instead of 8 am). Fortunately, Fridays (and every day) are pretty relaxed here, so it was fine I came in a little later than usual. I did get here to realize I forgot my lunch and snacks in my apartment ... So, today's going to be a short day. Even though I'm much sleepier today than I was yesterday, I also feel much, much more sane. Hopefully, I can read this after my next trip in July and remember that the secret to feeling less crazy is a shower and a good night's sleep. :)
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Back in Basque
I made it to Bilbao on the incredibly short flight. Now, I am waiting the thirty minutes until the bus leave outside, reminding myself that this life is good too. A lot of my despair today comes from sleep deprivation, which i know logically, but is hard to convince myself of while sleep deprived. A vicious cycle I guess.
I'm glad to be back where people are predictable in many ways. I just hope I remember how to live my life here quickly.
Flamenco
Also, even if it is allegedly noon and not 6 am, it is way, way to early for loud flamenco music and dancing in the middle of the airport.
In which I am a big, huge baby
I left Puerto Rico today. Or yesterday. Or whatever day it is/was. My body is totally confused by the fact that it is noon right now and not 6 am. I'll write about the trip itself tomorrow or this weekend. In the meantime, here's some whining for you:
This whole living in Spain thing is fine. It can be exciting and interesting. My job is great. I actually like it, except for the part where I live in a different country than my husband. And that part is awful. And really, really not fair. I know I chose this path and I know I chose this career and I know I am lucky to have a job at all, let alone the job I have in the place I have it. That said, I would really like to live in the same place as Pete. Coming back was much, much harder than I anticipated. I know it will be better once I get back to work and back in the swing of things. I already have plans for tonight to catch up with my friends. But in the meantime (and probably at other times) it's just awful. I've been trying not to cry in public because I hate doing that. Especially when I'm by myself. On a plane. I think it takes away from my savvy traveler persona that I try to project. :)
Travel is always stressful. I love travel, but I don't love flying. I hate turbulence. I hate being herded onto planes with a billion other people. I hate terrible airport food (and even worse airplane food). I actually love take off and landing, though. I love the idea of going somewhere and getting there. I do love the quiet time that being on a plane gives me, and it shows me that I don't really hate being alone (when I'm not totally alone).
There's a shift that happens when I'm suddenly on my own. It used to happen when I traveled for work, and I sort of liked it. I was independent and able to be successful getting myself from one place to another. I've now flown across the ocean without a travel companion about a dozen times. I've always gotten where I needed to be, even if that involved a series of planes, trains, busses, and cars that would sometimes make me crazy. But I don't mind traveling on my own. I just like it more when the end result is NOT me being on my own. I like it when the result is visiting people I love or going back home (stay tuned for musings on "home). Today the result is being on my own without the best companion there is for 33 days (not that I'm counting). Then, I'll see him for a week again and be back here until November. Hopefully, he can come in the interim, so I won't be here for three and a half months without interruption. If he can't, I'm just going to have to put myself to the task of finding cheap European travel, so I at least have something fun to look forward to.
As for now, I'm trying to remind myself how much better it gets ... and how much easier it will be this time than when I arrived in April. And I'm counting down those 33 days.
This whole living in Spain thing is fine. It can be exciting and interesting. My job is great. I actually like it, except for the part where I live in a different country than my husband. And that part is awful. And really, really not fair. I know I chose this path and I know I chose this career and I know I am lucky to have a job at all, let alone the job I have in the place I have it. That said, I would really like to live in the same place as Pete. Coming back was much, much harder than I anticipated. I know it will be better once I get back to work and back in the swing of things. I already have plans for tonight to catch up with my friends. But in the meantime (and probably at other times) it's just awful. I've been trying not to cry in public because I hate doing that. Especially when I'm by myself. On a plane. I think it takes away from my savvy traveler persona that I try to project. :)
Travel is always stressful. I love travel, but I don't love flying. I hate turbulence. I hate being herded onto planes with a billion other people. I hate terrible airport food (and even worse airplane food). I actually love take off and landing, though. I love the idea of going somewhere and getting there. I do love the quiet time that being on a plane gives me, and it shows me that I don't really hate being alone (when I'm not totally alone).
There's a shift that happens when I'm suddenly on my own. It used to happen when I traveled for work, and I sort of liked it. I was independent and able to be successful getting myself from one place to another. I've now flown across the ocean without a travel companion about a dozen times. I've always gotten where I needed to be, even if that involved a series of planes, trains, busses, and cars that would sometimes make me crazy. But I don't mind traveling on my own. I just like it more when the end result is NOT me being on my own. I like it when the result is visiting people I love or going back home (stay tuned for musings on "home). Today the result is being on my own without the best companion there is for 33 days (not that I'm counting). Then, I'll see him for a week again and be back here until November. Hopefully, he can come in the interim, so I won't be here for three and a half months without interruption. If he can't, I'm just going to have to put myself to the task of finding cheap European travel, so I at least have something fun to look forward to.
As for now, I'm trying to remind myself how much better it gets ... and how much easier it will be this time than when I arrived in April. And I'm counting down those 33 days.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Rain
Our trip so far has been incredibly rainy, but great overall. I'm at a Starbucks down the street from our hotel enjoying a decaf coffee while Pete goes for a run at the gym. Decaf coffee has been hard to find here, as it often is in Spain, too. Since I've been off caffeine for about two and a half years now, it's a big treat when I can have coffee now.
I'm sure I will write more about the trip once I'm back in Spain, but for now,I'm going to enjoy it here - even in the bad weather. I am very, very sad about leaving tomorrow ... But I will be happy to get back to San Sebastian. I do love it there - I just love being with Pete even more! Hopefully this trip back will be easier since I'm already settled in there (though I'm sure I need a quick trip to the store after I get back!) and since I'm coming back to this side of the ocean in 35 days for a week in Chicago and Michigan for Molly and Zara's wedding. 35 days is nothing! I might even make my reservation for that trip at the Holiday Inn Express Bilbao on Thursday when I get back to Spain.
I'm sure I will write more about the trip once I'm back in Spain, but for now,I'm going to enjoy it here - even in the bad weather. I am very, very sad about leaving tomorrow ... But I will be happy to get back to San Sebastian. I do love it there - I just love being with Pete even more! Hopefully this trip back will be easier since I'm already settled in there (though I'm sure I need a quick trip to the store after I get back!) and since I'm coming back to this side of the ocean in 35 days for a week in Chicago and Michigan for Molly and Zara's wedding. 35 days is nothing! I might even make my reservation for that trip at the Holiday Inn Express Bilbao on Thursday when I get back to Spain.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Bienvenidos a Miami
I'm in miami, hoping to board the plane to San Juan very soon. The trip so far has been fine (the actual flights) and insane (connections, checking in, etc.). A weird day. More later.
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