Bilbao

We only hoped the sunshine would last forever. This week was dreadfully cold and rainy but we still had a great week of cafe studying, teaching, pintxo pote and walking through the rain. Our roommates all were out of town this weekend so the apartment was ours. Friday after class we attended a lunch put on by USAC and one of the Basque Gastronomical societies in town. We had salad, tortilla de patata, pan and some random cookies. We learned a little about the societies as well. They started in San Sebastian during one of the wars and they were the only place that people could speak Basque freely and cook meals together. The catch is, only men were allowed to be in these "clubs" women and families were occasionally invited but they weren't allowed in the kitchen. Seems backwards from what we are used to huh? We don't think our food was actually cooked by the guys there but we were just able to use the space as an example of what the Gastronomical society looks like. After lunch we went home, cleaned our kitchen and worked out in our small bedrooms. Doing jumping jacks, burpees and planks is more difficult when you have to watch out for pointy desks while doing them. We also tried a new recipe for some teriyaki crock pot chicken. Since we don't have a crock pot we figured that putting a normal pan on low for a couple hours would do the trick. We learned that it definitely isn't the same thing. Our chicken was so dry we couldn't finish it which was rather sad because the taste was amazing! We will surely be trying this recipe again without letting it simmer as long. We also made banana icecream! It was amazing! Who knew that if you froze bananas then put them in a blender with peanutbutter you could make such a delicious (not to mention healthy) treat!

On Saturday we slept in, made breakfast and then headed off to the bus station. We bought our tickets to Bilbao and took a nice nap on the hour and 15 minute bus ride. Once we got there we didn't really know what to do so we just started walking trying to find stores that were open to browse. Of course we got there during siesta so nothing was open. Then, the best thing happened, we turned our heads and saw a real life MEXICAN RESTAURANT!! We of course immediately decided it was lunch time and this is where we would eat no matter what. The staff was friendly, the atmosphere was fun and the enchiladas we got were superb!! Since Mexican food is both our favorites, this was one of the best meals we have had while being abroad. After our meal we walked around found some more stores and then went to see the Guggenheim Museum. It is famous for its modern architecture. There was a giant dog made out of flowers in the front that was our favorite part of the museum.

We had "natural" gelato that was quite scrumptious and then walked around for a few more hours before returning to San Sebastian. After making dinner, watching a movie and making a powerpoint about Easter (for teaching) we headed to bed. This morning we went to a Spanish church with our friends Brian and Dannae. It was really cool to be able to worship because we knew what the songs were saying and could sing along. The sermon was a little harder because there were a lot of words we didn't know but all in all it was a great experience. We met a really nice lady, Mary, who is originally from Indiana but resides in San Sebastian now. She invited us to come have lunch or supper with here in the next few weeks! After church we made brunch! We had fruit salad, banana pancakes, a smoothie and I (Taryn) made my first homemade batch of tortilla de patata! It wasn't perfect but it was really yummy for my first try!

Our roommates came home from their trips and we all enjoyed some more banana icecream before bed.

This week is really busy! Getting ready for our midterm on Friday, another composition, teaching like normal, presenting a dialogue in conversation class, packing for Spring break and of course...pinxto pote on Thursday.

We will try to blog one more time before heading off on our adventures for spring break, but if not we will try to keep everyone updated about the next few weeks!

Until next time,

Tara and Taryn