Kindness of Strangers

I know this is getting old, but every day I am amazed at how people here bend over backwards to help me with my film. Last week I did a film with a more nationalist Basque who is part of an organization that works to promote the use of Euskera, the Basque language. He wanted to make sure that I had Euskera in my documentary so he did the whole interview twice! He answered all the questions in Euskera then would answer the questions in Castellano so I could understand! He even offered to translate the Euskera for me if I give him a copy of the tape. How incredibly cool! He also offered to have me hang out and film him and his friends doing some kind of Basque rap at some point. I think this a great opportunity to get information from the Basques that feel less connected to Spain. Now I just have to get the perspective of some Spaniards who don't classify themselves as Basques and I will have representation from a good number of sides.

I also met a girl, Sara, through my friend Greta. Sara is from Donostia and I think she would identify herself as a Spaniard (though I'm not sure). When she heard about my documentary she offered to help me by doing an interview and introducing me to people. Experiences like these really get me excited about what I'm doing. They realize that I'm trying to show the beauty and complexity of these coexisting cultures and they're really excited about helping me do it.

And now I have someone else to help me because Marlee's here! She arrived on Wed at midnight after going through the same grueling 2 days of travel that I went through. It's going to great having her around for a bit because she can help me carry my equipment as I film the city and scenery. I can carry the camera and tripod, but it's awfully awkward and not fun to carry to the top of a mountain. 

Speaking of mountains, the other day I saw that there was a fiesta (by which I means festival/celebration, not a house party) in one of the outer neighborhoods of Donostia. They were having a sidra (cider) tasting and a bunch of performances that looked like fun. Marlee, my friends and I decided to walk up to the neighborhood to check it out. I thought it would take us 45 minutes to get there, but distances in Donostia are deceiving. The beaches don't look that big, but it took us an hour just to get past them. Then we had to go up a mountain. The fundicular closed right when we got there, so we had to walk up. My friend said the walk was only 20 minutes, but it took a good 40 at least. Luckily the walk was unbelievably gorgeous. We were walking up the side of a small mountain and got amazing views of Donostia, the ocean and some beautiful cliffs that plunge into the ocean. It is a whole other side of Donostia that I didn't even know existed. I didn't have my camera with me, but now I'm really excited to go up again and film all of it. We realized after our long walk that we had actually gone the wrong way (we were at Mount Igeldo not the neighborhood of Igeldo), but the view made it completely worthwhile.

(Me and Mars on Mount Igeldo)

Last night I was planning to go to a bar to meet some people to watch the Eurocup championship: Spain vs Germany. I felt a bit torn considering that half my friends here are German, but I still was rooting for the Spaniards. Asier called me up and said that there was an event I had to film in Igeldo and I should be ready for him to pick me up in a hour. I got ready, packed up my camera and went outside where Asier was waiting on his little yellow moto. How cool! It was my first time riding a moto and it was a blast. Driving up to Igeldo we past beautiful cliffs on the ocean and huge pastures with mountains in the background. I'm planning on going back there to film when we have nicer weather.

Asier brought me up the Igeldo (the neighborhood this time, not the mount) where they were having a traditional would chopping competition. The center of town was packed, but I was the only tourist there. Asier had to go to a concert, so he let me know what was going on and then he peaced out. I found a great spot to see the event and set up my camera. One thing I did not prepare for when I was back in the US was managing a handheld camera. It has to be so incredibly still, but it's not really light. In retrospect, I wish I had built up some arm strength and worked on building up my lung capacity. When I get a shot, I hold my breath so the camera won't move at all. It is much more difficult than I expected to hold a camera 100% still. My technique is getting better and better and I think I got some good footage of the competition. 

There were 3 teams with 2 men each, each with a younger man and an older, more experienced man. Both teammates had their own individual event and then they teamed up for the wood chopping relay. They chopped wood no stop for a good 15-20 minutes. If I had their strength, all this handheld shooting would be  breeze.

After the competition I took the bus back to Donostia. Driving along the coast I snapped some photos of the sunset. The next nice day we have, Mars and I are going to take the bus up to Igeldo and walk back to town so we can get some good shots of this area. It's so cool that Donostia has this cool urban center and is surrounded by dramatic cliff-lined coast and green mountains. I am so glad Asier took me up there.

Luckily, I got back to town in time to see the Eurocup. I met with some friends at a bar on the beach, because the bar we usually watch games at was so full I couldn't get in the door. They don't seem to be very concerned with fire hazards here. Spain won 1-0 to Germany in a great game. Afterwards everyone was running around town with Spanish flags or driving around honking their horns. I think it's cool that a lot of the people here don't identify  themselves as Spaniards, yet when there's a football game, they're rooting for Spain. There are people who will root for anyone but Spain, but they are far outnumbered here.
This week I have a bunch of interviews planned and a few activities and fiestas to film. It's going to be a busy week and I can't wait. The weather is finally beautiful and it's supposed to get even better, which will be perfect for doing some filming outside. Tonight I think I might be going to a traditional sidraria to film and try more Basque food and sidra! Que guay!

Fiesta, Fiesta!

Once again, luck is on my side. Saturday was a perfect hot, sunny day to wander around the city. I met with Greta, my Italian friend and Alodie, my French friend in the morning to go explore the second hand market. After that Greta heard that there was some fiesta going on in some plaza in the old part of the city. We wandered around and found an amazing international fiesta for ending poverty. There were booths from a number of different countries and a paella competition with people from different countries making paella that represents what they eat. Just looking at the gigantic pots with different rice dishes was cool, but we also got to try all of them for free! You had to be pretty aggressive to get a plate and some food, but it was worth it. The photo below was my favorite. There were 4 different rice dishes in one and each one was incredible!
Just looking at these photos now makes my mouth water (but it doesn't help that it's lunch time here and I haven't eaten yet). 

The coolest thing about this is it's common. They don't advertise much for these fiestas, but if you keep your ears open, you can find a ton of cool stuff going on here. The next day the couple I'm living with found a fiesta with a whole variety of desserts to try. Generally I would be super psyched for a dessert fiesta (I have a huge sweet tooth), but I think there's a reason Spaniards eat fruit for dessert. Their paella is much better than any of their sweets. 
I don't have any particularly interesting story for the photo below, but I was told I needed to post more photos of myself. Here I am with my friend Greta at Playa Zurriola. The beach might not look that crowded, but in front of us is practically all of San Sebastian and the surrounding towns. It was a hot Saturday (85 degrees) so the usually busy beach was insanely crowded.
Unfortunately, after walking around town in flip flops for days, my feet finally gave out. I had to stay in my apartment all of Sunday and most of Monday because my foot hurt so much I couldn't walk. I got some logging and transcribing done and just took it easy. Now my foot is still a tiny bit sore, but as long as I wear sneakers I'm fine.

Luckily with a few ibuprofen I was good to go on Monday night to the Noche de San Juan. Noche de San Juan is a fiesta on the longest day of the year (June 23rd). There are celebrations in Donostia, but the smaller Basque towns have the cool traditional celebrations. We went to this tiny town called Abaltzisketa that's in the middle of the mountains away from any place I've ever heard of. Asier drove me and a number of the Australian girls from the Urban House hostel. 

Asier is amazing! He stopped the van part way there so I could get out and film the mountains in the mist. When we got there it was raining so he held my umbrella for me while I shot scenes in the town. He also scouted out good shots for me. The town was absolutely gorgeous. All the buildings were white plaster buildings with stone lining the windows. I'm so psyched that Asier took us there, because a town like that is too small for any bus route. 

When the fiesta started the lit a little bonfire and had children dressed in traditional Basque garb come and perform dances around the fire. I was in the perfect spot to film all of them. They were so adorable! Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos, but that will make the documentary that much better to watch. After the little kids danced, the older boys had a donkey race. This wasn't very nice to watch because the boys beat the donkeys behinds with a plastic stick to get them to move and they beat their heads to get them to turn. After the race ended, the dancing began. There was a live band playing what appeared to be traditional Basque music. There was  different dance to every song and everyone in town seemed to know them all. They did all of the dances in circles and they involved a lot of jumping and kicking. 

One of the other traditions on Noche de San Juan is that people jump over the bonfire. Asier was the first to start and it looked pretty easy so I thought I'd give it a try. A man got some sweet photos of me jumping and emailed them to me today. This one's my favorite. Only a few people jumped over it  and I was the only girl to jump it. The photographer said I was very "valiente" (brave). I don't think it was much of a feat, but the picture is pretty awesome.
I am so glad I'm doing a documentary. I think other IROPers must be having a blast as well, but I feel like I really lucked out. I get to go to really cool events and talk to interesting people and that's my work! It's my duty to travel to beautiful places here so I can capture it on film. Yet this project is also forcing me to push beyond my comfort zone. These opportunities aren't just handed to me. I am pushing myself to talk to people I wouldn't normally talk to and ask people for favors. I am here to make a good, complete documentary and I need to challenge myself to do it. Yet it's still unbelievably cool that I need to go to fiestas for work.

¡Que suerte!

Wow! I'm just pinching myself right now  to make sure all of this is real. It is amazing just being in Donostia-San Sebastián, but on top of that, I've had such insane luck. I thought that by having a number of foreign friends here it would make it harder to meet Basques and Spaniards. It turns out that the friends I've made have provided a plethora of opportunities. Through my German and Italian friends I met Penny and Prue, 2 girls from Australia who are working here for the summer. They were the ones who talked to Jessica and Javi, the American and Basque couple that took me to the sociedad. Now Penny and Prue also talked about my project to other people at the hostel they work out. I met the activities planner for the hostel, Dom, at a dinner and he offered to let me film a Basque pintxos making demonstration that he was organizing. Pintxos are little snacks that are served in bars along with drinks. Yesterday I contacted Dom and he invited me to come down to the hostel to meet the chef for the evening and make sure I could get what I need from the experience. At the hostel I met Asier, the director of the hostel. He grew up in a small town nearby and has lived in Donostia for the last 20 years. Asier is also an extremely exuberant fellow and proud Basque. He was sooooo excited about my project. He grabbed a broom and was jumping around saying how he needs to defend his country and it is his duty to help me. He then listed all the things he's going to help me do. He wants me to join them on a full day bike trip through the mountains, go to a sidreria (a place where they make cider), go on a pintxos tour, talk to his friend in the mountains, go to a bunch of small Basque towns, and go to French Basque Country. If Asier helps me do half of these things it will be incredible! 
So last night I got the film a TV chef demonstrate how to make 5 different pintxos. He had the Spanish classic torilla de patatas (a delicious omlette with potatos and onions) and the rest were special Basque dishes, such as anchovies, olives and sweet pepper. This demonstration was filmed in a sociedad so I finally got to go in a sociedad kitchen. Now I have loads of footage of Basque food and in a place where women aren't even allowed to go.

I was wicked excited about filming this and trying these different pintxos, but the food was instantly gobbled up by the guests so I didn't get a chance to eat. I was a bit let down that I got to film all this wonderful food  (and smell it), but I didn't get to eat it. Yet Asier, being the unbelievable man that he is, had a surprise in store. When the guests went home the hostel staff stuck around the clean up. Asier then brought out the gourmet food. He first made us so omelette like dish with leeks that was delicious. He even opened a bottle of white wine for us. After that I was completely full, but he had more. He made a dish with the best cut of beef, solomillo, and an incredible sauce. The picture below shows the dish, though I can tell you it tastes soooo much better than it looks. The sauce has red and green peppers, garlic, onions, roasted almonds, oil and balsalmic vinegar. We had to finish up the white wine quickly because you have to drink red wine with this course. Asier brought out a beautiful bottle of Rioja, which is the name of one of the 2 wine making regions in Spain. Rioja happens to be in Basque Country. We then relaxed and talked as he brought out another bottle of Rioja and gave everyone a shot of a special liquor made from grapes. We finished dinner and left at 2:30 am! 
Asier's next plans for me are on Monday night, which is noche de San Juan. This is the longest day of the year and they have a fiesta that goes all night. Asier is going to take me to a small town nearby that still celebrates this a large bonfire and men in traditional outfits dancing around it. I am so excited!

I really feel like everything is coming into place. I have a number of interviews from general people and I have 4 interviews set up with heads of organizations and members of the government. I think I have found a Spaniard to give me the Spanish perspective as well. I'd like to interview to people who are maybe a little less liberal. I have talked to a few people like that, but I need to get them to let me tape them. I've got some time so I think I can make it happen. I am just so excited about all the people I've met and all the cool things I get to do here. I will make sure to keep you updated on the upcoming adventures and I will do my best to get some good photos of them as well.

Agur!

No Women Allowed in the Kitchen

So in all the excitement of going to the sociedad on Saturday and being able to film it,  I didn't take any photos for you guys. Here's a photo of the outside that I found on a website. I'll definitely have images of it in my film, so you can se it then. 

Saturday was amazing! I first met up with Mavi, a woman in her 60s who grew up in Donostia, lived in London and Madrid among other places, and has now come back to Donostia where she is relearning Euskera. Mavi brought me to the bar that she meets all of her friends at every Saturday afternoon. We all chilled outside and 3 of them let me interview them. They all spoke about how important Basque culture and language is, but also about how it has become an obligation for them. Young generations have grown up with it, but their generation was prohibited from speaking it when they were young (during Franco's dictatorship). Now the tables have turned and they feel the pressure to go to euskaltegis to learn the language. I got a lot of great footage from that one event and I really hope I can meet with them again so I can get some more out of them and interview some other people.

That afternoon was so beautiful that I decided to take a siesta on the beach. The weather her is unpredictable. When it looks beautiful and you grab a towel for the beach, it will be cold and/or rainy by the time you get there. Conversely, if you bring a jacket and umbrella, it's probably going to be gorgeous and I, being of such fair complexion, will get sunburned. Well, finally, the fates were on my side. I brought my bathing suit and my sunscreen and had a lovely nap on the beach. A few of my friends joined, we played a little paddle ball and then headed home because, surprise, surprise--it got cold.

At night, I met up with Javi and we went to the sociedad. I decided not to lug the tripod to the dinner because it's hard to be unobtrusive with a giant camera and a hunking tripod. It makes it a bit more difficult to do pans, but a tried to use other steady objects to help me out. Javi introduced me to 20 people all at once and I don't think I got a single persons name. In Spain they exchange 2 kisses (one on each cheek) when they greet someone. This is a lovely tradition, but a horrible way to meet people. You generally end up saying your name the same time the other person says theirs while you're kissing cheeks. It's a bit difficult.

At the dinner, our group of 20 sat at a long banquet table. Only 2 of the guys were socios, members, and the rest were just friends who had been invited. I kind of thought there would be a mixing of generations and the whole sociedad would be there, but it's more of a club when you reserve a table for your friends. There are 200 socios at sociedad and there were only 3 groups last night. The other 2 were groups of 6-8 people. We had serrano ham, bread, wine, foie gras, wine, salad, lamb, wine, cake, coffee, then liquor. The food and drink was all fantastic.  A few of the men made and served the food. Women did not have to lift a finger. I know it sounds a bit misogynistic, but I don't think that's the case. Sociedades have a long tradition in which all kinds of Basque men come together to cook. When the women are there, it is not that they are incapable or inferior, but rather, they are guests. 

I got to interview 4 people at the dinner. I interviewed them in the sociedad so you get the full ambience. So far, all the place I meet people tend to be noisy. Luckily, the microphone does a good job of catching their voices so the rest of the noise just provides ambience. The people I interviewed at the sociedad were around my age, so they went to schools that were taught in Euskera. It was cool to get their perspective as well.

I could under no circumstance enter the kitchen to film, so Javi went down and filmed for me. I reminded him to move super slowly, but I don't think he understood just how slowly I meant. The kitchen looks cool, but the footage is all over the place. Maybe I can get some still shots out of it. We'll see.

After dinner they  invited me to go out with them. I dropped off the camera at my apartment and joined them in the Parte Vieja (translated it means Old Part, a neighborhood in Donostia). We were out dancing and talking until 4:30. I finally got a bit tired and decided to head back home.

Sunday and Monday I sent reviewing the footage and capturing it. Most of it is pretty good. One interview I filmed a bit too close so the camera had some difficulty focusing. Another problem I had was that I tried to keep things casual and film where the people were comfortable, rather than where I could get the best background. I'm going to make more of an effort to make sure the whole shot is nice. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with how things are going so far. The guys at the sociedad were impressed with my questions and thought that I had done some good research. I can't tell you how happy I was to hear that.

Yesterday I had a meeting with a man who runs an organization that is trying to unite French Basque Country, Spanish Basque Country and Navarra, the runaway Basque province. He was much more political than the other people I spoke with and was much more in favor of a Basque autonomous country. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince him to let me film him. It was still great talking with him and finding out about all the demonstrations I keep seeing in the streets. Though he won't let me film him, he did give me contacts that might. So it's back to the phone...

I did not anticipate having to call so many people. I'm not a big phone person, and talking on the phone here is a bit more difficult. It's not like our conversations, but just in Spanish. They answer the phone either with an apathetic "sí" (yes) or a demanding "dime" (tell me). It throws me off every time. I feel like I have to rush into everything I want to tell them right then and there. I really have to make a conscious effort to slow down and relax. It is much easier when I get to talk to people in person.

Unfortunately, today is more phone and computer time because I have a bad cold and didn't feel good about walking to visit more people. Tomorrow I'll hopefully be a bit better so I can knock on some more doors. People seem to be much more responsive when I'm there in person.

Thanks for managing through this long post. I hope everyone is doing well.

Hasta pronto! Agur!

Un buen dia

So I've been jumping back and forth between San Sebastián and Donostia without any explanation. Everything in Basque Country has 2 names--1 in Euskera and 1 in Spanish. San Sebastián is officially Donostia-San Sebastián. I'm really interested in this because it shows the struggle between the 2 cultures and what they're doing to compromise. The only problem is people who don't speak Euskera can sometimes have problems finding places. Some names are similiar-Bilbao is Bilbo- but some have no connection--Pamplona is Iruña. I think the focus on my documentary is going to be bilingualism and how it affects people in the community. It's a central theme that I can use to look at politics, culture, and identity.

I had a request for an explanation as to how I'm communicating with people and how I'm meeting people. I'm talking to everyone in Spanish. Most of the people I speak to can speak in Euskera, but they speak in Spanish as well. The only Euskera I know right now is "kaitxo" (pronounced kai show) which means "hello" and "agur" which means "good-bye" and "yes." Interestingly, even Spaniards in the area say "kaitxo" and "agur." In regards to how I'm meeting people, some manners have been more official than others. As I mentioned in my last blog, I've been visiting Euskaltegis and talking to people. I've gotten a number of good leads and now I have a few interviews lined up with some pretty important people. In terms of my non-expert/official connections, my first connection was with an Australian guy in the apartment I was evicted from. He introduced me to a German girl, Anna, who then introduced me to all of her German and Italian friends. They then introduced me to more Australians, Americans, French, and Spaniards. I met one woman through my friend in Madrid who is the best friend of my dad's high school ex-girlfriend (crazy connection). And I met Anna's señora when I was evicted from the apartment. Some of these people are helping me with my documentary and others are just fun people to hang out with and great ways to meet people who can help me.

A great example of how these connections are helping me is last night. I went out with some friends to a bar and we met some of their friends. One of them was a girl from LA, Jessica, who is now living in Donostia with her Basque boyfriend. She had already heard about me from my other friends (wicked cool!) and told me her boyfriend and his Basque friends would love to help me with my film! On top of that, her boyfriend is part of a Basque gastronomic society. Gastronomic societies are Basque men's clubs that are based around cooking. Women are not allowed to join or be involved in any of the cooking, they can only be guests at the dinner. Jessica is going to be in Italy for the next dinner, which is tomorrow. Her boyfriend said he would take me so I can meet people, try authentic Basque food and film it all! This is an insane opportunity! This one dinner will give me so much information on culture, customs, food, relationships and language. I am so unbelievably excited!

I will try to take some good photos tomorrow and post them soon. Feel free to comment on these posts or email me. Hasta luego! Agur!

Fotos

One of many posters all over the city. I need to figure out what it means. It's either asking for Basque people who are ETA-sympathizers, but not ETA, to be let out of prison. Or it is asking for ETA prisoners to be brought to a prison in the Basque country, because the Spanish government sends them to the far corners of Spain where it is difficult for them to see their family.

This is a shot from the corrida de los toros in Coslada, a neighborhood on the perimeter of Madrid. They just let the bulls go and the guys would taunt the bulls then run and jump over the wall.
Here is a shot of the Donostia from the hill/mountain that I climbed yesterday. It's beautiful, but a bit foggy.
Here is my lovely bed and workstation. I didn't have a desk so I got a TV dinner table at the chinese bazaar.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

As many of you know, I've done a lot of research on the Basques. I probably drove you crazy with my multitude of fascinating Basque facts. Well, my research was somehow incomplete. Nowhere in all of the information I read did they mention that not only did the Basques withstand the Romans, Visigoths and Moors, they also withstood endless rain. I don't know how this can be a popular beach resort because it rains almost everyday and it's often overcast when it's not raining. I've been here for a week and half and I've had 1 day without rain. According to the locals, this is not uncommon. Only the Scottish girl who I met said it wasn't bad, but her frame of reference is a bit different from the rest of us. So the first rule I learned about living in San Sebastian (Donostia) is never, ever, ever leave the apartment without an umbrella (no matter how sunny it might be).

I'll work on posting more photos, but here's a start. This is the view from my new apartment. It's very "Rear Window."  I love it! My apartment is great and my flatmates, Sergio and Marisa are total sweethearts. I'm really enjoying it. And I think it must be working out for them too, because they offered to let me stay here for the 2nd month! Horray! No more apartment searching!

So beyond moving around from place to place, you're probably wondering what I'm doing here.

I forgot the pack a microphone when I came over here so I've been eagerly waiting for it to arrive. It got here on Thursday so now I'm all set and ready to film. I took a quick trip to Madrid to visit my friend Rosemary and saw a running of the bulls. I'm going to check out the one in Pamplona, but after seeing these bulls run, I don't think I'm going to actually go in the ring. Madrid was beautiful and sunny ( a nice change of pace) and gave me an opportunity to talk with a Spaniard in Madrid about the Basque situation. He had no tolerance for the Basque autonomous movement and has refused to go the the Basque Country because of the movement. It was a gentle reminder to me that I'm researching a subject that people here are very passionate about and I need to tread lightly.

I've been scouting good locations to film pretty scenery and buildings to show a bit of what Basque Country is like. I want to make sure I know the good spots because the camera is heavy and not fun to carry up a mountain just to find out there's no good view. So yesterday I climbed up the small mountain/large hill on the side of San Sebastian to survey the scene. It's amazing. Had it not been completely hazy and gray, it would have been an unbelievable shot. Next time we have a sunny day (if ever) I will hike up there again to get a nice shot of the city and coast.

Though exploring the territory and getting settled has been fun, I want to film some people. I emailed all the Euskaltegis in the area (schools that teach Euskera) and got no responses. I'm starting to see that emailing here doesn't do much. So I have been going to the Euskaltegis in person to talk with people. Most of them were pretty quick interactions where they told me they have to talk to other people at the school and they'll get back to me. So I have a bit of waiting to do. The director of one of the schools was really excited about my project. He gave me the names of the heads of 3 big Basque groups that work on language promotion, Basque culture and politics. He also told me about a big meeting happening next week where all the important Basque sociolinguistic experts and officials will be. I need to get an invitation to go, but I have the number of the guy with all the right connections, so I think it will happen. I called the contacts the director gave me today and I'm going to have to do a bit more waiting. A few people said they'll get back to me and one lady said she'd let me interview her next month. So I have a meeting! This is good.

I also have a meeting this weekend with a woman from Donostia who I met through Rosemary. I get to film her this weekend and she's going to help me get more interviews with some of her friends. I'm wicked excited! She grew up under Franco so she was not allowed to speak Euskera when she was young. She is know trying to learn it. I think my interview with her is going to be really interesting.

So now I have a few more people to call, and a bit more waiting to do. I really need to get this going...

Goldilocks Story

I found a place to live! I ran around in the rain yesterday in search of a new apartment. The first place I found was nice, but there was only an old guy living there so it wouldn't have been a very relaxed environment. The second place was in a good location and had young people, but was unbelievably tiny and really dark. I felt like I was in a dungeon. Finally, at the end of the night I found a place that's beautiful, in a good location and has nice people living there. I'm now living with a young couple from Buenos Aires. They've only been here a month so they're just as new to San Sebastián as I am. I'll post some photos of the place as soon as I get the rest of my stuff moved in.

Homeless in a Basque city

I figured out how to post photos. Here's a view from my room at a band playing in the plaza across the street. There have been Basque bands parading through the streets for the last couple of days.
Here is one small example of the some of the Basque posters that are everywhere in San Sebastián.  This may be a big tourist city, but the Basques here are still very politically active. Every Friday the relatives of arrested Basques (ETA and ETA sympathizers) parade through the center of the city with pictures of their relatives. I'm really excited to talk to some people who can translate these posters and protests some more. I can only figure out so much, because everything is in Euskera.  

So I'm back to apartment searching. My apartment owner is evicting me. The neighbors have complained about noise at night for the last month. Somehow she figures that even though I have only been here for 3 days, it must be me. They complained about noise 2 nights ago and as much as I try to convince her that I only made dinner and went to bed, she thinks that my leaving will solve the problem. All of the walls in the building are really thin and I've found it easy to confuse noise in our apartment with noise in another. I think the neighbors are hearing the people across the way. Whatever the case may be, I'm guilty until proven innocent so now I'm at a cafe searching for apartments online. My professor found a few places in town that I'm going to try and see later today. Until I find a place I think I'm going to stay at a hostel. Luckily, I already made some great friends with some Germans and Italians here who are helping me out. I'm leaving a bunch of my stuff at my friend's place while I search for a new place. I found a place that's right on the beach that I think my work. This could end up being a blessing in disguise. I'll let you know when I'm no longer homeless. Until then, take care.

Un abrazo fuerte!