Safe Landing!

After 3 days, I finally made it to San Sebastián. I didn´t have trouble with my flights and the only problem I had with my luggage was the pot holder I got for Javier, my professor, that security thought was a throwing star. I started the trip on a very British note. I had bangers and mash at the Dulles airport then spent my first day in Europe waiting in the Stansted airport. The flight to Bilbao had the entire US men´s soccer team. I had no idea who they were (I thought they worked for Nike because of all their Nike gear) until they were announced on the airplane.

On my way to Spain I was a bit nervous, and the sleep deprivation didn´t help the situation. When I finally arrived in Spain I couldn´t find the bus stop for the life of me and I was a bit concerned about what I was getting into. I have people to call if I´m stuck, but I don´t have a program to guide me or a group of Americans to lean on. I´m on my own. I called Naira, the friend of Javier who offered to let me spend my first night with her. All I needed was that 2 minute phone conversation and I felt great. It was the first time I´d talked to a Spaniard since Salamanca and I could still do it.

Naira is amazing and I really hope I can go back to Bilbao some more because I had a great time there. She is from Bilbao but lives with 2 Swedes and 1 Scottish girl. We all had dinner together and conversed in a mix of Spanish and English. They´ve all lived there for a while so their Spanish is impeccable and they know a lot about the area. They really helped me feel comfortable.

The next day I actually met up with a friend from high school, Val Couch. I found out 2 days before I left that she´s in Bilbao (thank you facebook). I hadn´t seen Val since high school so it was really amazing hanging out with her. Val showed me all around Bilbao and helped me get a cell phone.

After a great day with Val, she helped me lug all 4 of my bags to the metro. The only thing I don´t like about travelling is carrying around a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, no matter how light I pack, I still have a computer, external hard drive, tripod and huge camera. There is no easy way to manoeuver around the city a backpack on your front, one on your back, a tripod on your shoulder and a rolling suitcase. I got all of my stuff to the bus station and couldn´t seem to find my bus until I realized that I was getting all of my information from the arrivals posting.

3 planes, a metro, 3 buses and a taxi later, I arrived at my apartment in San Sebastián. The apartment is great. I have a big room and live with 3 other people. Hiro is a chef from Japan who is starting his own catering business and is already having me try his new creations. Tim is an Australian who is leaving on Sunday to hike the Camino de Santiágo and will be replaced by an Italian girl. Vincente is Italian and that´s about all I know about him right now. I really like the place and it´s too bad I can´t stay here the whole time. I still have to find a place to live the 2nd month because my room is already reserved for someone else.

Today I went grocery shopping so I finally have food. I gotta figure out some good recipes because I´m going to be cooking a lot of my own food. It´s pretty overcast right now, but it´s warm out so I went for a long walk to check out the city. I grabbed a map and just explored for a few hours. It´s a pretty good sized city. There´s going to be plenty to film. There are so many signs in Euskera as well as Spanish. And I found tons of people with long earlobes (a sign of Basque decendency) and tons of Basque berets. I can´t wait to start interviewing people to get their opinions.

I think I´m headed to Salamanca for a few days next week to meet with Javier and get my film started. I don´t have wifi in my apartment so I´ll I have to figure out how I`m going to post photos on this. First I have to wait for a sunny day so I can get some good photos.

Hasta luego!