I want to go to sleep tonight and wake up sometime in mid-January. I have a million things to do and not a million minutes in which to do them. I am becoming frustrated with others around me and even more frustrated with myself for becoming frustrated with other people. It´s a vicious circle.

I need a vacation.

I need some time to breathe.

I know Christmas time is always busy. Whether I am in the USA or Spain I always find myself with too much to do and not enough time to do it in.

Next week is the last week of classes and then it will be Christmas vacation. As long as I can make it through next week, I should be fine. Well, I hope so anyways...

Wish me luck.

Thanksgiving Spanish-style

On Sunday night Katie and I hosted Thanksgiving at her apartment and it went great!!! We invited friends, co-workers and roommates. We started cooking around 4:00 pm and ate dinner around 8:30. It was a lot of preparation and a lot of cooking but it was so worth it. Everything turned out amazing. The food was the best I have had in a long time. Here are some photos of the night.

Thanksgiving started on Saturday with a trip to Alcampo, which is like the Super Wal-Mart of Spain. This is Olga and me on the bus on the way back.

This was our Thanksgiving bounty. The turkey is in the black and red bag under about 8 bottles of wine.

This is Katie and me preparing the turkey. It weighed 4.4 kilos which is about 9 or 10 pounds.

More turkey preparation. We put a dry rub on the outside and put carrots, onions, garlic, and mushrooms on the inside. We then poured white wine over the turkey and used the wine to baste the turkey while it was cooking.

Before the turkey went into the oven.

Another view of the raw turkey.

It BARELY fit in the oven.

The finished turkey...it was soooo good.

Stealing the first taste.

The rest of the menu consisted of goat cheese mashed potatoes, stuffing, mixed salad, corn, green beans wrapped in bacon, bread, red wine gravy, melted brie with apples and pecans and lots of wine.

Our wonderful guests who all enjoyed this great American holiday with us.

Photos of Irun

These are especially for my father because every time I talk to him he asks me what the city looks like and if I would finally take some pictures of the city where I live. I actually stole these pictures from my friend Katie (Thanks!) and I´ll get my own pictures taken as soon as it stops raining and the sun comes out...I promise!

El Ayuntamiento (City Hall)

Plaza Ensanche (One of the main plazas on Paseo Colon)

Plaza Ensanche (About 3 minutes from my piso)

Another plaza (Across the street from Plaza Ensanche)

A view of the city

A churro stand that just appeared one day of of nowhere.

A "carnival" that appeared with the churro stand one day. The music they play for the children is amazing...anything and everything from Bette Midler to Kanye West.

For all of you who understand Spanish, this blog is for you. This was found on a web-site for a bar here in Irun called "Pentagrama." I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Para el baño

Si estas en una discoteca y vas al baño, anda solo; no le pidas a un amigo que te acompañe, eso únicamente lo hacen las mujeres. Si quieres hablar con un amigo, dile que salgan afuera de la disco.Se debe dejar un espacio entre un usuario de urinario y otro. Es decir, si entras el baño y hay dos urinarios disponibles, debes utilizar el que no tenga usuarios alrededor. El orden es: un urinario siendo usado, un urinario vacío, así sucesivamente. En el caso de que no haya urinarios que permitan cumplir esta recomendación, deberás esperar afuera del baño hasta que salga alguien y puedas cumplir con lo recomendado. Solo esta permitido mirar hacia la pared que tengas de frente. En algunos casos podrás bajar tu cabeza y mirar tu “chorrito”. En ningún caso y bajo ninguna circunstancia es aceptable que mires otro “chorrito” que no sea el tuyo. Tu compañero de urinario no es tu amigo. Lo recomendable cuando tengas que usar el baño es que entres con cara de perro bravo. Olvídate de decir “Buenas Noches” al entrar. Si alguien te saluda, ignóralo; compórtate como si no lo hubieses escuchado.

Does anyone else find this as hilarious as I do???

What a weekend! Seriously, what a crazy weekend! So much has happened in such a few short days that I don´t even know where to begin. Here are just a few of the highlights:

* Friday during the day I met a guy standing outside an Internet cafe here in Irun. He told me he had seen me a few times before and told me I had beautiful eyes. He then asked for my number and I was so caught off guard by the whole situation that I just gave him my number. Bad decision!! He called me 19 times on Friday and then another 15 times on Saturday and then a couple times Sunday. I kept telling him I was with friends and that I already had plans this weekend but he was very persistent. And then Saturday night I lied and said I was having dinner with friends so that I couldn´t meet with him and then was caught in my own lie when he saw me walking down the street...alone. But I was on my way to meet friends so I managed to get away. I´m hoping he has finally gotten the point.

* Friday night we went to a bar here called Izartxo where they decorated the entire bar with a Halloween theme. All the bartenders were dressed up. There were pumpkins and skeletons and everything Halloween everywhere you looked. It was better than some Halloween parties I have been to in the States. They made a "magic potion" and invited everyone to talk shots. It was awesome.

* Friday night consisted of more drinking and more dancing and ended with me arriving home around 5:00 am.

*Saturday I met up with my friend Katie (the other American here in Irun) and we had plans of going to the beach but ended up instead at a cafe having coffee. While having coffe we encountered a guy that we supposedly met the night before, although neither of us remember meeting him. He buys us more coffee and we begin to talk to him. His name is Alex and he is from the Ukraine (and super cute!). We end up talking to him for a couple hours and make a new friend! Yay!

*Saturday night consisted of more drinking, more dancing and more fiesta!

*Unfortunately, Saturday night (and by night I mean 5:00 in the morning) ended with me getting very hurt by and very upset with someone who I believed I was very important to. I learned that just because you love someone doesn´t mean they love you in the same way. Relationships are really hard and they don´t always work out how you would like them to.

*Katie, Olga (Katie´s roommate) and I must have made a lot of "friends" this weekend because we have been approached by a lot of people who know us (or at least, remember us) and we have no idea who they are!

*There are a lot of really cute boys in Irun! Like, wow, more than I realized.

Here are some photos of the weekend:

Me, Olga and Mikel

Olga and Me

Katie and Me

And then here are 2 photos from the weekend before:

Photos of Irun

Here are just a few photos of Irun. I will try to get some more as soon as possible. Enjoy!

Things I have learned in the last couple days

1. The power company of Spain doesn´t care if you have electricity or not.

2. It takes 3-5 days for said power company to restart the electricity in an apartment.

3. Wine+beer+champagne+vodka=one horrible hangover

4. I have friends here that will let me shower at their house.

5. I am getting older than I thought...2 days of drinking and very little sleep is starting to take it´s toll.

6. Spain supposedly is in a "crisis"

7. I need lots of patience to live in Spain (not necessarily something I learned this weekend rather something I continue to learn)

8. Life here is improving a little more each day.

9. Love and relationships are very tricky. Every time I think I have it all figured out, it throws me another curve ball.

10. It´s best if I stay busy, this way I don´t have too much time to think about things that really aren´t that important.

11. These next 8 months in Spain are going to be full of ups and downs and I am looking forward to experiencing them all.

So it´s Wednesday afternoon and my first week of teaching is finally winding down. I have only one more class to go to and then 4 days to recuperate from this week. It has actually been a very good week...incredibly busy but good. I had 4 classes on Monday, 7 yesterday and 3 today. Thankfully I did the same thing in all my classes so it was easy to prepare and execute. The only bad thing was that by the 5th time of saying the same thing it became a little boring. But the students are very enthusiastic and that makes it fun for me. I have at least one student that I know in every class so that has been very nice. It´s nice to walk into the classroom and see at least one familiar face instead of having 40 eyes staring back at me thinking "Whose is this girl?"

The weather here has been typically Basque Country weather. Today the sun is shining and it is gorgeous outside. Yesterday it was rainy and cloudy all day. Tomorrow...who knows? I know I should be used to it by now (and even more so growing up in Nevada where you can experience all 4 seasons in one day) but it still baffles me. I just try to enjoy the sunny days and not complain too much about the rainy ones.

Tomorrow I don´t really have too much to do. I will probably spend the day sleeping and doing housework. And then tomorrow night I am going to cook dinner with a new friend that I have made here in Irun. Her name is Katie and she is from Missouri. She is teaching here also in Irun in the same program and we have become fast friends. It´s really nice to have another American to be able to hang out with and get to know.

Friday I am having dinner with some students and then the rest of the weekend I have no idea what I am going to do. Life here in Spain always seems to be interesting and full of surprises so I never know what will be thrown my way. But I´ll let you all know next week!

2 weeks down...30 more to go

So I have been here exactly 2 weeks. It has been a long 2 weeks...honestly, longer than I expected. I already feel like I have been here 2 months.

These last 2 weeks have been filled with ups and downs...moments of increible happiness and moments of sadness, lonliness I guess I should say. The truth is that I think that I have had way too much time on my hands. I haven´t technically started teaching yet so I have had a lot of down time. But things are picking up and I am becoming busier every day. And really I should be enjoying my time with nothing to do. I know the day will come when I will have too much to do and will be wishing for a day spent lounging around the house doing nothing.

Today and tomorrow will be spent in San Sebastian doing a training course. It is a little repetitive from last year but it was better than expected. It´s a lot of teaching methods and how to be the best teacher possible but considering that is my job, I´ll take all the points I can. And in an incredible turn of events, the lady that is giving the class is the wife of a professor that I had when I was studying in San Sebastian. For all you that know Iñaki, it was his wife!!! And she is so nice!

Last Friday night I had dinner with some students from last year. It was really nice to see them again and spend time talking and laughing. Here are some photos from the dinner:

And then on Sunday I had lunch with a family that has a brother in the USA. I´ll explain. This summer I worked at the golf course in Battle Mountain. My boss there, Tammy, used to work at another bar in Battle Mountain before running the golf course. Well the husband of her old boss at the bar is Basque. The husband is named Fidel and he has a sister that lives here in Irun. This summer I met Fidel and his nephew (Orkatz), who was in the USA visiting one day at the golf course. So before I left to come back, Fidel called me and gave me his sister´s phone number. So I called her after being here a few days and she invited me to have lunch with her family on Sunday. Her son (Arkaitz) comes to pick me up on his moto and we go to thier house. I meet Fidel´s sister, Feli, and then I meet Fidel´s other sister, Marian, and the whole family. And they are all the nicest people ever! They welcome me into thier house like I am a member of the family and give me food and drinks and, well, get me a little drunk. :) After lunch, we went to go have another drink and at 9:00 pm I finally returned home. And they invite me to have dinner with them last night and then lunch with them again Sunday. And Feli is an amazing cook and wonderful mother. I really hope they become great friends.

Ok, so I have to cut this short. I will write more hopefully this weekend or next week.

Kisses to all!

I am finally here!

I don´t have much time but I just wanted to let everyone know that I have made it safely back to Spain. I arrived Thursday night after a very long trip. It is really nice to be back and some moments it feels like I never left. Now I am just trying to unpack and get settled in my new apartment. I´ll write some more as soon as I get a moment.

I have no idea when I start my classes again. I need to get in contact with my boss and find out when they want me to come to the school. For now it is nice to not have to be rushed. Although it might be better to keep myself occupied, that way I can´t think too much.

The sun is shining and my old roommate is arriving soon from France. I need to stop by the supermarket before I head back to my place for more organizing and cleaning. Maybe I´ll do it with some wine!

More to come...

Suenos

The dreams have began. The dreams about Spain, that is. A couple nights ago I had my first dream about Spain. It was about my first day teaching. In the dream I was in the classroom and we were doing a listening activity. I was going to read a passage and then have the students listen to the same passage on a CD and they would have to answer some questions about it. I started reading the passage and was having the hardest time. I couldn't even read in English! I was just stuttering and stammering all over the place. I couldn't correctly say the words...I was confusing myself...becoming incredibly frustrated. I hadn't prepared myself enough and it was all too apparent. I felt like the worst teacher in the entire world. And it was only my first day.

Thank God it was a dream. I woke up and realized that the dreams had began again. I had some crazy dreams before the very first time I went to Spain. I remember having dreams about not being able to get my visa, forgetting my passport, losing my passport, missing my plane, getting lost in Spain, etc. I literally had a dream almost every night before I left for a month.

I have just come to accept this as a part of my life. Anytime anything important is going on in my life I start to have dreams. If everything is going smoothly (as in, I have nothing to worry about), I don't have dreams...at least dreams that I remember. But as soon as something starts to worry me, it shows up in my dreams. Sometimes I don't even realize that something is worrying me until I have a dream about it.

Before I came home in June, I had dreams about the trip home and me traveling to Dublin alone. I was so preoccupied with everything and how everything in my life would turn out. This must just be my way of working things out in my brain. Maybe I get so tired of trying to work it out while I am awake that I have to deal with it while asleep. Or maybe I am so worried that I can't even leave it alone long enough to sleep. It can become quite exhausting.

The good news is that I now have everything planned for my return. My parents and I will leave here on September 23 and drive to Salt Lake City. I will fly out the morning of September 24 and will arrive in Paris the next morning. I will then catch a train from Paris to Hendaye (on the French/Spanish border). From there, I will go to Irun and get the keys to my apartment! With the help of an amazing friend, I have found an apartment all for myself! I am so excited to have an apartment already waiting for me and not having to do the apartment search once again.

I will begin teaching a few days later and start everything all over again. It's been a good summer but I am ready to be back in Spain. I miss it so much. My Spanish certainly needs a boost. And I think my relationship with a certain Vasco will profit from me being in the same continent, country and town. How sweet it will be.

Just a few photos....

...that I stole from Lance. Thank you!!

The Shannon River in Dublin, Ireland

Trinity College, Dublin

The wind combs (and their affects) in Donostia

Alicia and me on her birthday

Friends

Yup...the name speaks for itself.

Hopefully I'll get some of my photos uploaded soon...then I can stop stealing them from others!

I have been in the USA for a little more than a month now and I am finally starting to readjust to life here. The first time I returned from Spain I immediately fell right back into American life. I felt like I had lived a crazy Basque dream. Everything was so easy. No jet-lag. Cultural things were so familiar. I picked right back up with my life and moved on. It was only about 7 months later that I felt the affects from my year abroad.

This time around, everything has been a little more different. I haven't been able to adjust back so easily. Maybe it's because I know I am going back. Probably because I wish I was still there. But little by little I am waking up from my crazy Basque dream and realizing that I am in the USA...at least for another 2 months.

I am working at the golf course here in Battle Mountain as a bartender. Most of my customers are male and in their 40s. I have to smile alot and be cute and they love me. It's by far the easiest job I have ever done. But I enjoy it. I hear all the town gossip and then try to stay as far away as possible from it.

It's nice to be able to interact with adults who are not family members and have conversations without my 2 year old nephew. But most of all I miss my friends. I don't have any friends here in Battle Mountain. After I graduated from High School I tried to distance myself from most people I knew my entire life. And the ones I chose to keep in my life have all moved away from this town. So I hang out with my family...alot.

I miss being able to call a friend and meet for a drink. Or going for a walk (now I take walks with my dog and my Ipod). I just miss having interaction with a large range of people. I know I have lots of friends but they are all somewhere else. I suppose you could say I am lonely.

In 9 days I am going to Reno to escape my family and engage in some time with my dearly missed friends. I can't wait. Hopefully my 3 days there will be filled with delicious food, lots of alcohol and amazing laughs. Next Sunday can't come soon enough.

So if you are a friend of mine and will be in Reno next week, let me know and we can have some fun. I promise it will be worth it!

Back in the USA

I am back in the states...have been for a week now. It's weird and strange but good. I am glad to be with my parents and see my nephew every day. It's nice to be able to eat Mexican food anytime I want. I love being in the same time zone as my friends and family. It's mostly good all around.

But yet I still miss Spain. I miss my job. I miss my students. I miss my life there. My heart is still in Irun. I honestly can't wait to go back.

I went to Dublin on my way home. Here are the things I liked and disliked about the city:

Likes:
They drive on the left side of the road
They have double decker buses
They speak English.
It seems to be a very international city--I don't even know if I actually saw someone from Ireland!
They have Starbucks (familiar places are good)

Dislikes:
It is so expensive.
It rained while I was there.
Everyone is American.
It felt a lot like London, which feels a lot like the States.
They have Starbucks ( American people/things are taking over the world)
There is no where to sit down outside. Seriously, there are no benches on the streets.

So, yeah, Dublin was just ok. Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. I would like to see what else Ireland has to offer me.

Arrived in Salt Lake City completely dead. My parents and sister met me at the airport. We spent the night there and then drove the 5 hours home the next day. Two days later I got back in the car for a road trip across the entire state of Nevada and part of Utah with my sister and her fiance. Another 3 days in the car. I was able to see some friends in Reno and my grandparents and spend time with my sissy. But I was very glad to be back home and out of a car.

I started work yesterday. Not at the mine but at a hotel here in the town where I grew up. It's pretty shitty work but I manage to make it through the day. I surely don't like it but I am glad to have something to do and a paycheck coming my way.

When did the world become so complicated? Or maybe the question should be: When did my life become so complicated? I've been thinking today about how easy life was as a child. No job. No bills. No complicated relationships. Just school, friends and summer vacations. The only time things got complicated was when...well, I can't really think of a time. You had your friends. Your family. Your place. For me, at least, it was quite uncomplicated.

I've also been thinking a lot about my life lately and all it's complications. Where do I want to be? What is really important to me? Which path do I want to choose and will it be the right path? What people do I want to surround myself with to help me with the complications? Where/What is my place in this world? As you can see, my poor little head has been very occupied with these complications.

On the plus side, this weekend was the first time in my life that I actually felt like an adult. A real adult. Doing adult things. I spent the weekend in Donosti with a person that I am crazy about. We lived like adults and it was great. I mean, I figured one day I would actually have this feeling. Well, I hoped for it. But I always wondered when it would come. And now, on the verge of completing 25 years in this world, I finally feel like an adult.

Maybe that is what being an adult is all about: complications. If so, I suppose I like the feeling of being an adult enough to deal with the complications. It doesn't seem to be easy but it surely feels worth it.

A few photos from Mallorca

I haven't downloaded my photos to my computer yet but here are just a few from one of the other girls. Thanks, Claire!

We found this rose somewhere...or actually I think we might have stolen the rose. Either way, it still made us happy and silly.

Gesse, me and Marisol

The cathedral in Mallorca.

Juantxo's

I have many fond memories of Juantxo's. Some of my happiest days in Spain have happened because of Juantxo's or within the presence of Juantxo's. Futhermore, it is one of the places that has never deceived me nor let me down. Just the sheer mention of the word "Juantxo's" and this ridiculous smile begins to take over my face and I immediately get really excited and also really hungry.

What is this magical place?, you might be asking yourself. And how do I obtain this ridiculous smile?, might be the following question.

Juantxo's (pronounces Juan-chos) is a small bar/pintxos restaurant in La Parte Vieja in San Sebastian. They have the best sandwiches in the entire world. I am not exaggerating. We discovered this bar the last time I was in San Sebastian studying and it became a regular part of our existence. We probably visited Juantxo's at least once a week, if not more. We started to get to know the waiters and waitresses a little more and it was always a pleasant experience. They have the best tortilla de patata sandwiches in the entire city but I always order the "pechuga con vegetal" which is a grilled chicken breast with lettuce and tomates on baguette bread with mayo. I have probably eaten this particular sandwich 100 times and have never gotten tired of it. I actually still crave it...alot.

After I moved back to the States 3 years ago I would still talk about Juantxo's and sometimes dream about the sandwiches. Anyone I met that was coming here I would tell them to find Juantxo's and have a sandwich there. Plus, it is really good way to see another part of Basque culture and hear the Basque language. Everyone knows about Juantxo's and everyone goes there.

Tonight Gesse, Mylene and I went to Juantxo's for the last time together (probably the last time until I return). I, of course, ordered the same sandwich as always and right after I ordered the man behind the bar said: "I knew you were going to order that." And then he asked me if it was last year that I studied here and I said that it was 3 years ago. And he told me that I always order the same thing and that he knew I was going to order the same sandwich. He said he remembered me and couldn't believe that was 3 years ago.

I was surprised by this but it also made me really happy. I mean, I know I go there alot but I didn't think that they remembered me. Apparently they do. One other time when I went and one of the girls started to speak to me in basque and I answered her in Spanish and she was like: "Oh, that's right, I always forget that you don't speak basque." She had remembered me also! It's a bit flattering. Especially because we try really hard to fit in here and obviously it is sometimes impossible. And also because the basque ice is really hard to break most of the time so even the smallest acknowledgement of outsiders is quite the step forward.

Ummmmm, Juantxo's....you are such a filling and wonderful part of my life. Until I see you again...

I am a horrible blogger!

Yes, I am horrible at this blogging thing. I know. You don't have to remind me. I knew from the beginning that I was going to be terrible at it. I tell myself every day, "Season, write on your blog. Inform you family and friends of what you are doing." But somehow I always find something better to do. I guess it's pretty bad when my students are telling me that I need to up-date my blog. :)

Let's see...where do I begin? I'll try to give a run down of the last month.

A friend from the Reno, Lance, came to visit me here in Irun. He has been traveling in the United Kingdom for about 3 weeks and made a side trip to come to Spain to visit me. He was the first visitor I have had since I have been here and it was amazing to see someone from home. He arrived on a Tuesday afternoon and came to the school to hang out while I was in class. He was here until that Saturday and we didn't do anything really exciting but it was so nice to just have someone to talk to that really understands me. Honestly, I felt a little bad because I had to work and give my private classes so Lance had to spend some time alone exploring the Basque Country but it seems to me he did quite well. He says he really liked it here and that he would like to come back. Lance, you are always welcome to be my guest. We can eat arroz con pollo and drink tinto de veranos every day on my balcony!! :)

The week after Lance left, I went to the Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca with some girlfriends!!!!!!!!! We wanted to have a last mini-vacation before we all went our separate ways and returned to the States. I decided to fly down to Mallorca a day early so that I could spend some quality time alone. I arrived on the island on Thursday afternoon and checked into the hotel which was a block away from the beach!! I spent the day sight-seeing and relaxing. The other 3 girls arrived the next day around 12:00 noon and we went to the beach and began 3 days of relaxation. The weather on the island was beautiful and we were able to go to the beach every day. The water was warm enough to go swimming and so clear and blue! I haven never seen water like that before. It looked like something out of a magazine! The island itself is seems really nice. I don't think I would want to live there but it's perfect for a vacation. The island seems to be overtaken by old Germans on vacation. I didn't even feel like I was in Spain. When you enter into a bar or restaurant they just immediately start to speak to you in English or German. And everyone is tall, blonde and with blue eyes! It was really interesting. I didn't fit in at all. I left early on Monday morning and returned to the good old Pais Vasco later that day. It was raining at cold when I arrived in Bilbao so it was a bit of a shock. Welcome back to the Basque Country!

The only bad thing about the vacation to Mallorca was that I caught a cold while there. It started with just some body aches and then turned into a cough and sore throat and then manifested itself into a full-on cold. I think also going from cold, rainy weather here to nice, sunny weather and then back to cold, rainy weather had a big affect on my body. I ended up loosing my voice and staying in bed for an entire week. No school. No private classes. No nothing. It really knocked me out. Even a month later I still have some lingering affects.

To add to the cold I caught, I had a pretty bad week of self-inflicted injuries. Let me explain. Most of you already know I am quite the clumsy person. I think the 7 concussions I have managed to give myself explain a lot. I am always waking up with mysterious bruises and bumps. It's just something I have come to live with. Well, my mother graciously sent me a box filled with Girl Scout cookies, my mail and a DIY pedicure kit. It was perfect because just a few days ealier I was looking at my feet and realizing how tore-up they were looking. So one day during my lunch break from school I decided to give myself a predicure. I have this tool that cuts off the dead skin from your heels and it is amazing. You do have to be careful with it (it is a razor, after all) but I have used it for almost a year and have never done any harm to myself. Well, that all changed this one fateful afternoon. I managed to cut myself really badly. Not only did I cut myself I took a chunk out of my foot. It was about the size of my thumb nail. I didn't even realize it until I looked down and there was blood all over the floor. My foot was gushing blood. I didn't know what to do so I just found a towel and tried to apply pressure. Well I ended up going through 2 towels trying to stop the bleeding. I was limping around the house trying to find band-aids and couldn't find any. I finally found some cotton pad things and managed to attach them so that I could hobble my way to the grocery store and buy band-aids. I lost a decent amount of blood but recovered. I just had to limp around for a few days!

Then a couple days later a vicious spider decided to make my leg his breakfast, lunch and dinner. I got three huge spider bites on my right leg and my whole leg swelled up and turned red. It hurt really badly. I did some research on the internet and it didn't look to be poisonous so I just applied some ice and let it heal. It took about a week to finally heal. I told my friends that if anything else happened to me I was going straight to the hospital and staying there for an entire week! I figured that it would be the safest place for me!

A few Fridays ago I had dinner with one of my classes at a gastronomic society here in Irun. It was so much fun and the food was amazing. We all cooked together and spent the night chatting and laughing. I also spent the night practicing my Spanish! This class is full of very intelligent and interesting students and it was great to be able to know them a little more outside of the classroom. I hadn't been able to bond with this class very much because of a change in professor, and for this I didn't have class with them for almost 2 months. But after a night of dinner, drinking and dancing I think we all know each other much better now. Here are some photos from the night.

Now I am just enjoying the rest of my days here. Next week is my last week of classes and I can hardly believe it. My time here has gone by so incredibly fast. Some days I feel like I just began this journey and other days I feel like I have been here for 10 years. But I have really enjoyed this experience...more than I sometimes allow myself to believe.

Enough for now....this has taken me forever! I promise to write again soon.