High times or low times?

Ideally, for a budget traveler everything is based on the cheap airfare, but occasionally you have the luxury to plan your trip around events and preferences. Some people want to go to Oktoberfest, while others would rather see the Pope on Easter Sunday. Both are acceptable and accomplishable goals. Others prefer to travel during low tourist seasons while others thrive on the abundance of people to make them feel more comfortable. Either way you look at it, you're going to need a good set of guidelines to accomplish your goals.

I would recommend that you spend a several hours reading guidebooks at a local library or bookstore to get a good start. A book like Frommers, Let's Go, or Lonely Planet will most likely give you the best of Western Europe in one, two, or three weeks as well as one month and two months. It's a good start to familiarize yourself with the number of days you might need to stay in a destination in order to get the most out of that area.

For your first European vacation, it might be wise to stick to Western Europe rather than Eastern Europe for the mere fact that Western Europe has a more developed tourist industry that is used to accommodating visitors from all corners of the globe. On the other hand, Eastern Europe is cheaper, less affected by tourism, and less likely to suffer from angry, tourist hating people, but it may provide more day to day challenges.

On my traveling resume I have 3 distinctly different vacations with one common goal: I wanted to get more bang for my buck. The first was a two-week long vacation during "Semana Santa", literally translated into the "Holy Week" of Spain during Easter. The goal of this vacation was to see as much of Europe in 16 days for as cheap as possible. This consisted of 5 countries (stopping in 3 other countries on our way) in the span of the 16 days.

I booked flights with ryanair and hostels with hostelworld.com. On this journey we accomplished our goals by making some significant sacrifices. First, we only ate out in countries that we could afford to (Austria, Czech Republic, and Germany). Next, we never opted for a taxi since the bus will always be cheaper. Finally, we flew into airports out of the way to save a couple of bucks. Somethings that we didn't sacrifice were our safety and side adventures. Side adventures can be the most memorable part of journeys. I might not remember the the Holocaust Museum, but I'll never forget visiting the Sachsenhausen concentration camp 25 minutes outside of Berlin. I will also never forget getting free admission to the Underground in Berlin (block long night clubs underground). Of course there is a price to pay for all of this, mainly me sitting in an internet cafe for nearly 22 hours planning every detail of the adventure.

My second journey was with my four friends and I at the end of my study abroad. The mission for this trip was to combine the majority of our interests. After polling our interests I decided on a two and a half week adventure in Spain and Italy. First, three of us had 5 days to waste so we traveled from Valladolid, Spain to Santander and San Sebastion in the north of Spain. From Madrid we traveled to Rome, Venice, Florence, and Pisa. Surprisingly, we were able to do Italy in about 7 days. We then flew from Pisa to Sevilla, Spain. While in the south of Spain we went from Sevilla to Cordoba to Granada. We did this little journey in 5 days before we headed to Madrid to leave study abroad forever.

Our goals on this journey were to save as much money as possible and to experience culture. This was a good amount of time to see two countries. Spain for 10 days and Italy for 7 days. It was a bit exhausting at times, but nevertheless fun. One thing to remember when planning a vacation is to make sure that you travel with people that have similar goals and thoughts on travel. This vacation group was split between saving money and spending money. Needless to say we had a few altercations about food and such.

My third journey was when I went to visit my cousin in Spain in 2008. I went with my uncle Steve to see my cousin. We were there together for 2 weeks, and then I stayed an extra week to spend some quality time with my cousin in more of a low key fashion. I spent the entire journey in Spain. We landed in Barcelona, then we went to Zaragoza, Vitoria, and Madrid.

Afterwards, my uncle Steve left and I went with my cousin to Alcala de Herenes for the week. During that week I took in the sights of Alcala and took a day trip to Valladolid (the town where I studied abroad the year before). I got to know Spain really well again and see sights I hadn't spent too much time at before. The only problem was that I was taking an online course at the time and had to do homework on the trip. A bit of a headache for Kyle and I.

Each of my 3 vacations I view as a success because I was able to travel throughout Europe and still afford to go to college. The key when planning vacations is to know who you are as a person and ultimately what your capable of. If you can't carry a backpack through Europe, bring a rolling duffel. If you want to relax, don't try to do 5 countries in 16 days. If you want to save money, look for countries and destinations that have low season rates (like Malta in December and January). Finally, make it happen. You would not believe the amount of people that have said to me "Of course I'll visit you" or "I wish I could do what your doing". First of all, don't tell me your going to visit me if you're not. Second, you can do what I'm doing, you're just not willing to make the sacrifices in your lives. That's all folks. Stay tuned...

Spanish
Pijo-Posh, snobby

Basque
Polita-beautiful

British English
to slag someone off- to make fun of someone. Billy was really slagging you off yesterday when you got shot down by that girl at the bar.

Want to travel to Europe?

My resumé consists of two degrees in Spanish and History, an excessive amount of teaching experience,  experience with children, and yet I feel the most qualified planning trips.  I wouldn't necessarily call myself an expert, but I've sure logged a lot of hours on the computer planning the "perfect" vacations.  I would call myself an experience(ist).  I understand that it's not a word, but I love the idea of a good experience.  I guess it's a mixture of my historical, frugal, and adventure natures that land me in control of planning excursions.  Here's a tip for all of you that wish that you could do what I'm doing or go where I'm going: you can!  Traveling is relatively cheap and every country speaks English, you just have to know the loopholes and where to find the deals.

Getting to Europe is the hard part, traveling throughout Europe is the easy part.  To get to Europe you have to deal-search.  One good and bad thing about flights is that they change daily.  One day you might find a flight from Chicago to Madrid for $550 roundtrip and by the next day it has already jumped to $650.  That's a way of life.  Once you start looking you have to be ready to pull the trigger.  Some great websites for finding cheap flights are Orbits, Kayak, Skyscanner, Pakistani Air, and for you young travelers studentuniverse.com (if you are a student or under the age of 26 you have to verify you status with studentuniverse.com before you book--simple emailed photocopy of license/student card).

Now once you're in Europe everything may seem hard, but it's deceivingly easy.  The three methods of transportation are: train, plane, bus, car, boat.  Ok, there's about 5 methods, but I only use three of the five.  Even with the abundance of trains and busses in Europe, flying might be the cheapest option.  A few of the main websites come to mind, but each has a catch.  Ryanair is great, but flies into remote airports up to an hour and a half outside of the city center (Paris, Vienna, Barcelona, and Venice to name a few), and they'll charge you 6 euros a piece for online booking, but it can have flights as low as .01 euros per person.  Vueling is a bit more pricey, but flies in and out of major airports, however, charges 12 euros for online booking.  If that's not robbery enough, they charge you to check your bags.  Easyjet can be inexpensive to many places in Western Europe, and Wizzair is great for destinations to Eastern Europe.


Traveling by train is a great way to see the countryside and to save money if you do it right.  I've heard of the ever eye-brow raising rail passes, but I've yet to use one.  Train travel is good and inexpensive at times IF you use regional transportation.  Yes, traveling from Madrid to Paris seems like a delightful time, but a direct train will cost you up to $500 and $100 for those of you with rail passes.  The trick that will save you hundreds is to NEVER book a train that crosses a border.  Countries have fought long and hard to create the "best" public transportation for their countries and do not wish to share that title with the rest of Europe.  To get from Madrid to Paris you should take a train to either Irun (border of France and Spain) or Figures (border of France and Spain on the other side) and then a bus across the border into France, and finally a train from that border town to Paris.  Train is $40 in Spain, bus is $1-5, and train from French town to Paris is $33, bringing the grand total to under $100.

Traveling by bus will almost always be the cheapest option, plus will allow you to get to those tiny, hard to reach towns in Europe.  I just got done taking a 9 hour bus trip at night from Bilbao to Valencia at night and it cost me $37 each way.  It may seem a bit high, but the beauty of it was that we left Friday night to go to Valencia and left on our return journey on Tuesday night, ultimately giving us 4 whole days in Valencia and paying for only three nights in a hotel.  The objective of budget traveling is seeing as much as you can for as little as possible.  Sometimes you have to sacrifice a night or two sleeping in a bus in order to save some money.  Stay tuned for my next addition: planning a multi-country adventure?

Spanish
Gilipollas-asshole, dumb, stupid (referring to a person):  It doesn't necessarily have a fixed meaning, but is very commonly used.  It is derogatory and also used with a note of disgust in ones voice.

Basque
ondo-good:  Commonly used after people ask "Zer Moduz".

British English
It has come to my attention recently that British people pronounce words exceedingly different than we do.  For example, the word "fillet" is pronounced (fill-it) not (fill-ay) as we might pronounce it.  This has come up a couple of time in our discussions and never ceases to amaze me.

A common ground: Cats, Dogs, & Students

Dear Bilbao, you are beautiful when the sun shines.  Why can't you be sunny everyday?  Today has been a surprisingly uplifting day.  It all began when one of my students pointed out to me the family of cats that live in the courtyard of our school.  A nice multi-racial family with two orange cats and two grey cats.  Then, my last two classes got cancelled.  Next, the sun came out.  Good day.

 Even though I've lived here for a while now, some things still astound me.

1.  The obedience that Spanish dogs show to their owners is incredible.  They are hardly ever on a leash and almost never bark.  Maybe its because they beat them, maybe its because the walk them everyday, and maybe its a little of both.  Either way, its wonderful.  But why can't their owners just pick up their dog's poop?

2.  In connection with point number 1, Spanish children almost never obey their parents.  OK, this might be  a lie, but it seems like it.

3.  I'm not sure what it is, but Spanish people have a fetish with electrodomesticos (appliances), cooking utensils, pots, and pans.  On my way to work I always pass someone stopped outside of the appliance shop staring through the window at the appliances.  Frankly, I don't get it.  Sure, I love a good coffee maker or pizza oven, but not enough to lust after it.  Just buy it and get on with your lives.

4.  Why do Basque people need 6 days to celebrate Christmas. OK, not 6, but Olentzero comes on the 24th, Santa on the 25th, and the Three Kings on the 6th of January, and in some cases the kids get presents on all days.  Spanish people wonder why their children are spoiled (not all Spanish children are spoiled, but a few are).

Well thats all for today.  Until next time...

Spanish
Lonchas-Slices:  Can I have 3 slices of ham please? ¿Puedo tener 3 lonchas de jamon por favor?

Basque
Olentzero-basque santa clause:  He lives in the mountain in Navarra, smokes a pipe, has a beard, rides a donkey, and carries a sack of presents and coal.

British English
Fit Bird-Hot Girl:  The word "fit" means hot and "Bird" means girl.  Boys can also be fit.

Nerdy in Valencia

I figured it would only take a few months to expose my true nerdiness.  Most people head to Valencia in the south of Spain for tapas, flamenco, and the nightlife.  I went for the museum, weather, and research.  I know, boring right.  The museum was wonderful and the weather was, well, better than Bilbao.  And as far as research goes, Valencia is not for us (for those of you who may not know yet, we're planning on doing this program another year, but are not quite sure where we would like to set up shop).  People are way more sketchier, public transportation is uncharacteristically terrible, even for Spain, and there are way too many tourists.

That narrows the list to two: Santander and Murcia.  Santander pluses--Ryanair airport nearby, beachfront property, not too warm, less tourism, and less sketchy people.  Santander minuses--it rains on average 173 days a year!  Murcia pluses--warm, Tony is going to live there, traditional Spain, cheap, and only 32 days of rain! Minuses--hot, touristy, traditional Spain, sketchy people, and well, the south.  (Open to suggestions, please post comments on which you think would be better or other options).

Valencia.  Beautiful, traditional Spain.  Beach, sun, fun.  These are all words that come to mind when you mention Valencia.  The truth is that all that is said about Valencia is true.  It is a great place to visit with an emphasis on the visit part.  I don't think that I could live there, but I could visit.  Its strange because the south of Spain draws striking similarities to the south of the United States.  Their speech is much more simple and accent relaxed, they are generally a kinder, gentler people, and people from the north like to visit, but don't want to stay.

One thing that Liz and I did while we were in Valencia was eat.  We ate at a restaurant, cafe, chocolate shop, or ice cream stand for every meal.  Which means I gained 10 more pounds and that my mentality on what to spend money on while on vacation has changed.  I would never have even thought of eating out two meals a day when I studied abroad 3 years ago yet alone all three/four/five (depending on ice cream, etc).  Then again, I suppose one major thing that has changed between then and now is a paycheck.  Man, is it nice to explore Europe on an income. Until next time...

Spanish
"Qué fuerte"-How bold, I can't believe he/she did that.  Someone backs into a moped, knocks it over, and drives away--Que fuerté!  Also, it has to be said with some anger and disbelief, maybe a hand gesture into the air.

Basque
Kaixo (Kii-show)-Hello

British English
Proper-very, really.  "That was a proper good disco we went to last night.  I was proper drunk last night." As I have recently been told that anywhere you can use "very" or "really" in a sentence, you can use "proper".

Traveling is the other objective

We five took our first vacation together and made it our own.  No travel guides (primarily because Andrew left it at home) and without a real plan of action.  This is the way it was meant to be.  San Sebastian is a breath of fresh air and a windy one at that.  San Sebastian was a great time.  It's a good place to just sit and enjoy the views, activities, and food.  Not to mention, with two half-moon beaches it's hard to go wrong.  Especially due to the fact that the old town is nuzzled in between the two picturesque beaches.   

            I'm so excited to be finally doing what I came here to do...travel!  I've been here for 2 months now and have taken nothing more than day-trips around Spain.  Day-trips can be fun, but the real thrill of adventure comes in the form of multi-day, exhausting trek across unknown terrain.  My first of many vacations is to the beautiful coastal town of Valencia with Elizabeth and our friend from back home, Tony.  Liz and I are leaving this Friday night at 23:00 and arriving in Valencia on Saturday morning at 7:00 and staying until Tuesday at 23:00.  You have to love Spain's enthusiasm for their puentes (bridges-Monday and Wednesday holidays= Tuesday off) holidays.  

             Our next trip will be our Christmas vacation and, might I add, it'll be a doozy.  We start off with a week in the ever-cheap Malta.  Might I just say, the 7 days and nights in a 4-star spa resort in Malta will be the cheapest of the vacation.  We will next head to Barcelona for the night and then onto....dadadadadadah...Paris for New Year's!!!  After nearly a month of deliberation we decided to head to Paris for the New Year's (our runner-ups were Amsterdam, London, Munich, and Barcelona).  We will be in Paris for 4 days.  Then we will be heading on to Amsterdam then to Belgium.  Talk about an adventure!!  Thanks for listening.  Until next time...

Ps.  I have a video that I have been trying to upload...it'll be on my facebook for now.  

My Two Month Reflection

Well, I have just finished my second month and I feel obligated to post something.  A couple quick observations before we dive into anything.  First, I've never been more injury prone in my life than when I've been here.  I have battled (and still battling in some cases) the inability to sleep, stomach problems, a cold, and a bum knee.  Also, I haven't been traveling as much as I have wanted nor have I mingled with non-English speakers.  It's very similar to study abroad in the fact that there are so many people doing this program in Bilbao.  In addition, it is very easy to get work in Spain if you speak English; everyone wants to learn how to speak English (speak is the key word, because let's face it, the grammar is relatively simple. Finally, the iPod touch 4th generation is one of the greatest travel companions that one could have.

Positives & Negatives & Works in Progress

Of the first two months I have experienced some positives and some negatives. Positives first, of course.  A positive is that I have developed a good core groups of friends.  It makes it easier and cures homesickness.  Another positive is that Liz and I have been able to pull in some extra income to supplement our salaries.  Believe it or not, my Spanish is getting better.  Also, I have tried new things thanks to the people I have surrounding me.

The negatives are as follows.  We have yet to meet any Spanish friends to call our own.  We have met some Spanish people, but they're friends of friends.  Hence we speak in English to each other.  Moreover, we have yet to do more than day trips.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Santander and San Sebastian, even Haro, but I need to travel more.  Even getting out to the mountains every now and again for some good old fashion hiking.  Luckily for me we are improving and will be venturing to Valencia in December and to Malta, Scotland, and England for Christmas (tentative schedule, but Malta is for sure).  This drought has been in part due to the increased prices accompanying transportation these days.  Siestas are getting the best of me!!!  I keep taking 2 hour naps, which would normally be OK, except for the fact that the sunrise is at 9-ish here and the sunset is at about 5:30-ish.  So I wake up when its dark in the morning and nap the remainder of the sunlight away at night.  

Works in Progress is my favorite, yet crippling category.  It's everything I hope to be doing but will most likely never accomplishment, but here it goes anyway.  One thing that I have been working is acquiring in basis in the Basque language.  It's quite interesting to me because its more of an immersion type of learning;  I'm not taking any classes, but I'm frequently being spoken to in it and inquiring about certain meanings.  So far I can say the basics: Zer moduz? (how are you), ondo (good), oso nekatuta nago (I am very tired), eta zu? (and you), Kaixo (hello) and agur (goodbye).  Another work in progress is taking pictures.  It's very difficult going out into rain to take pictures.  There's very little ambition to do anything with the rain.  It's like the Seattle of Spain.  Reading.  In both English and Spanish.  I would like to read more, but I still prefer (and probably will always prefer) films/movies.  And last but not least, trying to understand people from England, Scotland, and Ireland.   I have never realized it before, but our English is completely different.  I was walking home tonight from the pool hall listening to two Scottish people talk.  I understood maybe 70% of what they said, and thats a stretch.  Thanks for the reads and I hope you got some insight.  Next time will be about traveling and pictures, lo juro.  Stay tuned...

Learning is the objective

One of the driving forces behind me coming to Spain was to learn.  Through these first two months I have managed to figure out how to get myself into learning experiences.  My main learning facets have been school, traveling, and learn-by-doing in everyday life.

School has been a eye opening and jaw dropping experience like always.  The lack of respect that teachers get in Spain is twice as bad as in the United States.  It's incredible the amount of shenanigans that students try here.  Writing on desks, throwing things across the room, and hitting each other.  I'm not going to lie, students in the United States do similar things, but for the most part they know when enough is enough.  Not in Spain.  Not to mention, they have mouths on them like sailors!  Then again, so do their parents.  Every other word is joder, cabron, de puta madre, etc.  Ok, I get it, they're teenagers, but today one of my colleagues at the elementary school said that one of his kids said puta (b****).  The kid is only 4 years old!  Basically, swearing is the more of the norm in Spain.


Traveling is interesting in itself.  You quickly learn many things when traveling.  Some things are about yourself and others are about people.  For instance, I prefer to take a train rather than a bus when traveling long distances.  The train allows you to stretch, walk around, enjoy a bit more of the scenery, and to see how average people live.  For example, my home town doesn't look like New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, or any of the other large towns.  When you travel you usually travel to the main attractions and skip over the "ugly" side of it, but when you travel by train you get to see the country in its full spectrum.  It's more of an off-the-beaten-track kind of thing.


It's strange when you figure out that you're very much like your parents in many ways.  For example, when I travel I always need to have a bag with certain items: ibuprofen, sunblock (for Liz), and I even pack a lunch and snacks from time to time.  Thanks Mom. In addition, I have always considered myself more of a free spirit and up for anything, but it doesn't seem to be the case.  When ever people ask me if I want to travel I have to look up everything.  What time does the train/bus leave?  What is there to do there?  How much will it cost me?  One time I want to just jump on a train for a week and see where it takes me.  Just show up and find whatever I need when I get there.  Maybe someday when I have money.

The most learning by far can be attributed to everyday life.  Even the simple things impress you.  For example, I have realized, thanks to the rainy climate of Bilbao, that I have short legs and not a pair of jeans that compliments them.  What's more, I hate having wet pants so much that one day I pinned them up with clothes pins and walked around Bilbao.  Also, this trip has revealed to me that Spanish people (maybe just the basque people from what I have experienced) are some of the nicest people I have ever met.  People you've just met will give you there phone numbers and cards and say if there's anything you need to just call them.  However, they also think that we are inept to do anything.  They treat us somewhat like children.  If we ask them how to get somewhere they will walk us there.  They assume that we cannot speak Spanish and prefer instead to struggle in broken English in order to communicate with us.  Our landlord coming in to clean everyday doesn't help.  Well until next time, stay tuned for some travel photos and movies...

Storms, X-rays, and Citizenship

So after my nearly two week hiatus, I am back.  Some things to catch up on: Halloween, paycheck to paycheck, hospital visits, Jenga, maybe even some school.

Halloween in Spain is a bit different from the United States. Basically, it's nonexistent.  Based primarily on our lack of funds (and partially on the fact that they don't dress up at all) I went as the ever easy to replicate Justin Bieber.  The night started at a house and migrated (thanks to our roommate) to an interesting and entertaining (literally) disco, and in a true American fashion, we ended our night around 2 AM.

I've never really been so tight for money that I have actually had to live payday to payday.  Luckily, right when we ran out of our reserve plus a couple hundred in loans fund, we started to pick up private lessons.  Our task went from enjoying our time in Spain to avoiding any possible fiscal decision.  Needless to say I'm happy to have money again.  Along with the arrival of money came the acquisition of a citizenship card (known as a National Identification Card/Number) and a library card.  Now I feel like an official citizen of Spain.  I'm pretty jacked about it too!

As you might remember from my last post, I injured my knee doing absolutely nothing.  After a couple of calls to my insurance company and finding out that the vast majority of the people who work there are native English speakers, I was told I had to go to the emergency room.  This is very different and a bit odd in a socialist country.  As some of you might know, Spain has universal coverage for its citizens.  Needless to say, unlike the insurance company, no one spoke a lick of English.  It was however, the most productive  hospital visit that I have ever made going in and out of the waiting room a record 4 times during my visit.  I felt as though I was on a game show.  Matt Bardwell come on down to door number 1!  Well door number 1 doesn't work, try door number 2.  Door number two won't get the job done, so how about door number 3?  Nope, on second thought, maybe your should go back to the audience, and we'll bring you a conciliation prize.  Interestingly enough, I wasn't even surprised when they took an X-ray of my knee, even though I knew that I needed an MRI to see the condition of ligaments, tendons, cartilage, etc.  Oh well, they gave me ibuprofen and a knee brace and insisted that I make a follow-up for next week.

This next theme, Jenga, came about during our money saving escapade thanks to the mentality and persistence of our single, young, and generous friends.  They wanted to go out, but we couldn't afford or justify going out.  Finally, we came to a compromise, we decided that we would go buy a board game and get a bottle of wine.  The cheapest and most exciting game we could find was Uno Stacko Jenga.  Jengate, te jenga, jengame, jengarse.  All of these wonderful new Spanish words that can be created with one game and a few drinks.  I'm sure that our neighbors were very excited to hear our beautifully conjugated new word.








Much to the excitement of our Scottish friend Graham, we have discovered a pool hall just across the river in the Deusto neighborhood.  We head there a few times a week and test our skill against one another.  It's good fun and at the very least a good way to pass the time, especially in the weather that Bilbao has been experiencing for the last two weeks.  It has been downpour after downpour.  According to the Bilbaínas that I work with, this is quite irregular weather that we have been having.  I believe last weekend it rained for a minimum of 24 hours without cease.  I'm not just talking light sprinkles, but immense downpours. Thankfully, due to the significant increase in our financial status and the improvement of the weather, my posts should be getting better as the time goes on.

 Last but not least, school.  School is school.  There's not a whole lot of it and thank God for that.  The students in Spain are less respectful than those in the United States, which is ludicrous to even begin to think.  Nevertheless, kids are kids.  All in all I'm doing fine and couldn't imagine doing anything else.  Thanks to all of you who've taken an interest.  Until next time...

Gernika, without the bombs

The little town of Gernika is situated just a half an hour outside of Bilbao.  It's a town nestled between a couple of mountain ranges.  Every Monday during the harvest, Gernika is in holiday.  They have a wonderful fresh food market and a magnificent history.  This Monday was also unique.  The last Monday in October is the last Monday of the harvest year.  Here you have the opportunity to sample cheese, cider, and stock your kitchens with the finest foods Gernika has to offer.  It is a truly gastronomical wonder.  We went by bus early in the morning and we left by train in the mid afternoon full of cheese, cider, and txorizo in talao.  Good day, great experience.


Plagued by Injuries
Liz and I have been hear for nearly 1 month and already we have a laundry list of injuries.  In the first couple of days Liz and I had already consumed half a bottle of antacid and I suffered from from a nice case of insomnia for a bit.  My next injury was what Liz considers a "sympathy" injury since my father had just hurt his meniscus and Jermichael Finely had done the same.  I injured my knee for about 2 weeks, which seems OK, but when you have to walk everywhere, it kind of sucks.  Recently, I have been continually suffering from lingering aliments.


Pumpkin Carving
Pumpkin carving was a blast!!  We recorded it and sped it up and tried to make a cool movie for our students, but the lack of technology at my school failed me.


Sick of Halloween
Halloween hasn't even come and I'm already tired of it.  I have given the same 55 minute presentation to 12 classes and I am glad that it is officially over.  Thanksgiving here I come.  Well, until next time, stay tuned.

Free opera tickets? Well if your asking...

Who ever said karma is bulls*** obviously never had anything good happen to them.  I have been a nice person my whole life and I guess has paid off for me.  My positive outlook on life has molded my personality into that of a kind and helpful person.  In most cases I usually put peoples feelings before my own. Last Saturday it paid off.

Last Sunday I went to the Guggenheim on a request from a friend.  It was a free day and there was finally a collection in the Guggenheim that warranted my attention.  It was my friend's first time in the Guggenheim.  They headed around in the lower permanent collection while I ran to the collection on the top floor.  I'm not sure what it is about modern art, but frankly I just don't have a taste for it.  Not to mention, I wanted to get lost in the Flemish collection on the 3rd floor.  I mettled around in this collection for about two hours or so.  Finally on my way out I decided that I was going to send a quick message to my friends to let them know that I was leaving.  During this time I heard something that immediately grabbed my attention.  It was the sweet sound of well-spoken English.  Admittedly anytime someone hears their first language in a country that doesn't speak their language, they will gravitate towards those people.  Moreover, I heard them mention a bathroom and they were looking at a map.  Therefore, very politely I said, "Oh, the bathroom is right over there".  Needless to say, they were hooked.

They did the whole "Oh you speak English, where are you from?".  I responded that I was from the United States, Wisconsin to be exact, and they mentioned that they were from Florida.  We carried on with the usual chatter and then I asked them what they were doing in Bilbao.  It goes without saying that I wasn't prepared for the answer that they gave me.  The woman said that they were in Bilbao for the opening of her husband's opera.  It turns out that her husband was the very famous composer/writer Carlisle Floyd.  His opera, Susannah, was opening for the first time ever in Spain.  At this point I hadn't the slightest clue what to say.  So I came up with the only excuse that I could to avoid a conversation about the opera, "I've always wanted to see one, but I've never had the money".  Of course, his wife said, "Hey, couldn't you hook him up with some tickets?".  Next thing I knew the publicist for the Bilbao opera took my number and asked when we would like to attend.  Next thing I knew, my girlfriend and I had scored 9th row tickets and a bag of goodies from the publicist and didn't pay a euro cent!

The only problem was that we had no idea what we were going to wear...

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing

As our 4-day weekend approached us in the beginning of October due to National day in Spain, we quickly gathered and decided that we needed to take some form of action.  Our first line of business was to experience the Spanish nightlife.  On one Saturday night Liz, Amy, Iñaki, Marta, Iratxe, Graham, Andrew, and myself went out to play a game of dados and go to the discos.  The one thing I learned, which actually seems pretty smart, is that everyone chips in 10 euros and one person buys all of the drinks for everyone.  So we all gave our money, trustingly, to Iñaki.  We started in Santutxu while we met up with everyone and then headed to a bar closer to Casco Viejo.  It was at this bar that we were introduced to the lethal game of dados, El Señor de Tres, or, Lord of the Threes. 

El Señor de Tres is a dice based game that you play at bars in Bilbao. Basically each number warrants an action, one of the more lethal of the rules was the señor de 3.  Basically, everyone rolls a dice at the beginning of the game to see if they are the señor de 3.  If you roll the 3, than every time a 3 is rolled, you have to drink.  Of course, Liz, myself, and Andrew were among the lucky that rolled the 3.  By the way, there is such thing as too much of a good thing.  We played this game with a drink called Kalimotxo (a mixture of half red wine and half coca cola).  Chugging beer is one thing, chugging this sweet, sugar-filled drink is another. There was one time during the game when I felt as though I was going to vomit and had to sit out a couple of rounds.  There was a point when I saw the last bit of Kalimotxo being drunk as I headed to the bathroom.  As I was using the restroom I couldn’t help to think to myself, “Thank God it’s gone”.  Feeling relieved I headed out towards our table and out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of Iñaki filling up yet another round of glass with Kalimotxo.  Son of a b****!  I just remember thinking to myself “no more señor de 3, no more señor de 3”.  After another round the game was over.  Gracias a díos!  On the other hand, I strongly believe that I could have lasted the whole game had I been drinking beer.

After two rounds of Señor de Tres, it was time to head to the discos.  By this time I figure that it was 1 or 2 am.  We headed across the river into the bit sketchier area to find some discos.  A disco is a dance bar or what we would call a club.  However, don’t ask where the “club” is in Spain, because the word “club” refers to a whorehouse.  With that said we entered into a gay disco at the top of a hill.  Don’t ask me why we were in a gay disco, but it wasn't my first time.  Europe is admittedly more gay-friendly than the rest of the world and fortunately for us, they knew how to party.  We naturally formed a little dance circle and choked down our 8 euro drinks that left a bit of a sour taste in the back of our throats (figuratively, of course).  Shortly after 4 we departed the disco in search of another.  That’s right, I said in search of another.  In Spain, the discos stay open until 7, 8, or 9 in the morning! 

We all got in line for the next disco until we heard that there was a 5-euro cover charge to get in the disco.  After realizing that Liz and I had 6 euro between the two of us, we had to decide which one of us would go in and which would sit outside and wait.  No, just kidding.  Liz, myself, and our Scottish friend Graham decided that it wasn’t worth it and headed home.  We later found out that our roommate Amy did not get home until 8 am that morning.  All in all it was a good night.  Stay tuned for my next post about the opera.

The First Month

The first month is just about coming to a end.  To sum up this amazing, albeit hectic, first month: we have found an apartment, signed up for residency cards, signed up for bank accounts, began teaching, took 3 day-trips, started to line up extra work, planned Christmas vacation, explored the city, went for a night out in true Spanish fashion, and went to the opera. 

San Adrian IES is the school that I was lucky enough to get placed.  The teachers are nice and the students are interested.  When I first walked in the school, I wasn't sure what to expect. I met with Bernardo, my tutor (the teacher that is in charge of my primary caretaking), and he gave me my schedule. We chatted about what I was doing and covered our emails that we had sent back and forth to each other before my arrival.  Let me say first off that Basque people are extremely nice, contrary to my previous assumptions.  My first schedule had me working from Tuesday to Friday. When I came in the next day he had given my an entirely new schedule working from Monday to Thursday.  He told me I could choose which schedule I wanted.  By this time I had already told Liz to try to get Mondays off for obvious reasons.  I was very hesitant to accept either of the two schedules, so I asked if I could tell him later via email.  When I got home, I found out that Liz's schedule was Wednesday to Friday.  I sent my teacher an email explaining Liz's schedule and how it would be better if I had Monday's off.  When I came in on the following Tuesday to work, I was hit with yet another curve ball.  My newest schedule had me working from Wednesday to Friday.  I work 6 hours on Wednesday, 2 on Thursday, and 4 on Friday.  All my excitement of having two days off was soon extinguished by Liz receiving a new class on Tuesday and on my second job needing me to work Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  So long 4-day weekends, hello extra money.  Oh well, it could be worse.  And as of late, I have been contacted on about 6 tutor jobs.  Once again, goodbye 12 hour work week, hello 24 hour work week.  Once again, it could be worse.

The bank account and identification cards were interesting experiences to say the least.  I was a lot of head nodding and signing things on our part, hopefully no one was trying to take advantage of our foreignness.  I am going to pick up my new debit card (which is useless until we get paid) on Wednesday, and my identification card shortly thereafter.

Our three day trips were to Plentzia, Santander, and Haro.  Plentzia is a beach about a 45-minute metro ride north of Bilbao.  Beautiful beaches, quaint little town, and picturesque river lined with numerous vessels.   The strange thing was that I forgot to bring my swimsuit to the beach.  It's strange that it never registered in my mind to do so.  We (Liz, Amy, and myself) had planned to meet one of Amy's friends, Iñaki and his friend Marta.  When they arrived, in true Spanish fashion, about 2 hours later, Iñaki mentioned that due to the strike in Bilbao, the metro might be shut down.  At first we panicked, but then we realized that they were striking in Bilbao and that we might be stranded on a beautiful beach on a gorgeous day.  It's strange how our worries seemed to just melt away at that point.  After a quick photo shoot on my part, we departed with out fingers crossed.  We caught the metro and were back into Bilbao for dinner.  

A 4-day weekend approached us in the beginning of October due to National Day in Spain. We quickly gathered and decided that we (Liz, Amy, Andrew, and myself) needed to take some form of action.  On Monday we decided to head to Haro, a small town in the wine producing region of La Rioja.  I, being the naive tourist that I am, thought that we could just show up in a country that loves their wine (on a day off, have you), and expect to have no problem getting on a wine tour.  Needless to say, that was one thing that we didn't do when we were in Haro.  So without any opening, we decide to walk around the bodegas and see if they had any cancellation spots available.  When we crossed over from the town to the bodegas (they were separated by a river) we were almost instantly met by the sweet smell of vineyards.  It's a smell that I can only compare to goodness and more goodness.  My spirit was instantly raised.  I could have sat there all day just smelling this sweet smell.  Anyway, the mission was a failure.  We then decided to do the next best thing...head to a bar and get a bottle of wine and some raciones (small plates of food) to split amongst ourselves.  All in all, it was a successful day in Haro.  Stay tuned for my next two posts on our night out and the opera.

Travel Tip # 1--Money goes fast!!!

My girlfriend Liz and I came to Spain with a considerable amount of money, but between the hostel, food, and putting a security deposit and first month's rent down on our apartment, we had successfully spent over half of our money.  Then we thought, "What better way to make ourselves feel better than to take a trip to Santander with our little British roommate Amy?"  We thought that it would be cheap due to the fact that its only an hour and a half away.  Wrong.  Our first task--transportation.  We decided to take the 3 hour commuter train at 6 euro roundtrip a piece rather than the one and a half our bus for 8 euro.  We saved 2 euro a piece!!!  Big savings!  Then we thought, "We should pack a lunch!"  Good idea, until we realized that we had not purchased food the night before and had to get it when we got into Santander.  Still, no problem, as we expected there was a grocery store in Santander.  We spent 5 euro total on our meal.  Not bad.  We even opted to walk to the beach from the train station.  Unfortunately, the beach was a bit farther than we had originally anticipated.  After a 30-40 minute walk we reached the beach and collapsed in a grassy area for our midday meal.  There's nothing like a wonderfully prepared picnic next to a beach overlooking a terrific beach on a breezy day.  Although, there was something missing from my childhood memories that I used to enjoy with my sandwiches.  And that item of course was sand itself to give the sandwich a bit of an extra crunch.

So we managed to get to the beach for under 20 euro, not bad right?  Once we got there though, Liz's old guilty pleasure and my new found fondness kicked in.  We left the towels, bags, and supplies with Amy and headed for the nearest surf board rental store.  We found one at around 11:30 am.  It was the same place Liz had visited two years ago.  On our way there we were debating the amount of time and if a wetsuit was needed.  When we got there our decision became much simpler.  The lady was about to close shop until 3 pm, so we had to rent for a minimum of 3 hours, and due to the windiness of the afternoon, a wetsuit was needed.  At that moment, our trip from under 20 euro to over 60 euros in a matter of minutes.

Even though I hate spending money, I would spend this money again in an instant.  I love surfing.  Call me a poser, call me whatever you want, I don't care.  I love surfing.  The best part about it, I spent 2 of the 3 hours getting absolutely wrecked.  It's the first activity that I have done since high school football where I enjoyed the punishment that was inflicted on me by the unseen power of the sea.  The experience was beyond words.  Every crash was unique and every muscle in the body was used.  I was getting pushed and pulled, thrown and sucked.  I loved it, and I didn't even catch a wave.  Haha!! Weird.  I felt so excited to do something that I'm not good at.  And I didn't think once about sharks!!

Leaving the surfing behind us, Liz, Amy, and myself headed to do some more touristy stuff on the little peninsula that jutted out into the harbor of Santander.  On our journey we encountered a zoo, castle, and a Segway tour of the peninsula.  Alas, we began to run out of time and hopped on the bus for 1.2 euro a piece.  We were tired, sore, and ready to head home.  Unfortunately, we realized that it was Saturday and that all grocery stores will be closed on Sunday.  Thinking quickly, I headed to the grocery store in Santander and the girls headed to the sweet shop in the train station (actually come to think of it, I was the only one thinking on my feet).  The good thing was that we had snacks, but the bad thing was that I had to add that total to my traveling expenses.  Hello extra 15 euro.  Bringing the final to over $100.  O well, it was worth every penny.

House Hunting International

Sorry about the lateness of this most recent post.  I started this blog 2 weeks after I arrived, so I have to play some catch-up.  Basically, we arrived in Bilbao around 2pm on the 23rd.  Needless to say we were both exhausted.  We found the nearest ATM and made our first of many withdrawal.  Even though I called ahead and told my bank that I would be in Spain on the 22nd of September, my transaction was declined...thank God I was traveling with a bona fide sugar-mama (OK a bit of an exaggeration)!

Originally we booked our hostel for 2 nights, with obviously an optimistic outlook on finding a flat.  Unfortunately, we took a couple of days longer, which should have been expected.  We spent the first day sleeping off our jet-lag and the next couple looking for apartments. All in all, we spent 5 exhausting days and nights at the wonderful, however dodgy, Hotel Bilbi.

Previously to arriving in Bilbao, Liz and I had found a roommate from England, Amy.  Even after dozens of emails and phone calls, Liz and I could only catch the attention of realtors (which coincidently charge you to find an apartment).  On the other hand, Amy had lined up two showings from England.  Of course, due to France's incompetence as a nation, her flight was cancelled and was unable to rebook her flight until 3 days later.  This is the first of two things that the French screwed us on.  Anyway, Amy put her trust in Liz and I to select one of the two apartments.  The first one we looked at we were almost certain was going to be ours, but we had to check the other one out just to say that we shopped around.  We were right.  We choose the first one and moved in, went through the legalities, and paid our deposit and first month (Rosa, our landlord, allowed us to stay the rest of September for free!!).

Finally, a place to call home for the next month!!  Once again, I settled into a place with 3 girls and 1 guy, me.  The housemates consist of Liz, our british friend Amy, Elvira, a girl born and raised in this very flat ( also the daughter of the landlord), and me.  Interestingly enough, our lease came with some added perks in the form of our landlord Rosa.  When we first met her and she showed us the place a vaguely recall her mentioning something about a maid service that we got with our lease, but we just assumed that it was something lost in translation.  After the first couple of days we realized that it wasn't a maid, but Rosa that was coming to clean every couple of days.  Its similar to having a host mom again. She sweeps and vacuums the floor, makes our bed, and does our laundry if we leave it by the door.  She buys us hangers, olive oil, eggs, and cold medicine.  Then again, Spanish parents are used to taking care of their children until they're in their late 20's.  Well thats all for today, until tomorrow...

The Backstory

Whether your reading my blog because your related to me, know me, or are interested in my adventure, please bear with me.  This is my first blog.  For those of you who need no introduction to who I am, feel free to skip the first three paragraphs.  For those of you who want to know my backstory, enjoy.

My story is nothing spectacular and by no means unique, but I'm going to tell it to you anyway.  Surprisingly, my story involves zero impulse, however, does cater to my ability to be easily persuaded.  Ever since I was young I have been at every and anyone's beck and call due to my need to please.  When my brothers' broke my collar bone when I was young I kept quiet because they wanted me to.  When my best childhood pal decided he wanted to play football instead of soccer, I gladly jumped on the band wagon.  When a girl I liked mentioned that she was doing a semester abroad in Spain, I quickly obliged the idea.  When I much admired professor of mine enlightened me of an opportunity to teach English in Spain for better part of a year I couldn't help but explore my options.  I, being a recent graduate of a wonderful public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, had two options; I could either begin the nerve-racking job search in the ever-unemployment ridden United States or enjoy an experience of a lifetime (and get paid to do so). Needless to say it didn't take a whole lot to get me back to the wonderful nation of Spain.

As I have previously mentioned, there was no impulse involved.  I first heard about this opportunity when I got back from Spain in the fall semester of my Junior year.  I entertained the idea for about a year or so until my options opened up in the Spring of my Senior year (coincidently after I finished a short three week stint in Spain visiting my cousin) when I decided that I was definitely going to apply for the program.  I began the application process in December of 2009.  It was long and tedious, not to mention very poorly planned process, during which I was in the process of completing my teaching practicum at a high school in Wisconsin.  There was however an end in sight; all at once as though the floodgates had broken wide open, I was accepted to the program, I finished my practicum, and I graduated.

I was relieved and overwhelmed.  Then it hit me, I was leaving in 3 months and I had yet to save enough money to even buy a plane ticket, let alone move to a foreign country.  Not to mention the fact that I had been extremely occupied with my previous three accomplishments that I neglected to find a job for the summer.  Luckily for me, due to my family's recent acquirement of a less than perfectly maintained cottage, my father was able to employ me for the start of the summer.  Also, due to some good connections that I made though out my college years I managed to snag two extra jobs for the second half of the summer.  That coupled with numerous generous donations from loved ones (all of which are greatly appreciated and I love all of you) permitted me to reach my goal.  Then came September 22nd and I was off.

Its not as bad as I have portrayed it since I neglected to mention that I wasn't alone on my adventure.  My girlfriend Liz had also chose to apply to the program, you can follow her blog Elizabeth en España at http://lizenespana.blogspot.com/.  Stay tuned.