Kalimotxo

Last night I went out with a few of the girls. Some of the ones that were here took us to a little bar in Casco Viejo. The bar was little but the crowd was not. Everyone here goes out on the weekends. The metro was full, the streets were full and the bars were full. Apparently here it is okay to drink in the street. After you get your drink in the bar you go outside to drink it and when you're done you just leave your glass and they pick it up later. A lot of people bring liter size coke bottles and drink those in the street instead of buying drinks.
We had a Spanish drink called Kalimotxo. It is half red wine and half coke. I didn't think I would like it, but it wasn't that bad. It was kind of sweet, but didn't have much of a flavor. I don't know what kind of wine they use to make it. I don't think they would use a good wine to make this, but I wasn't able to tell. They had it on tap!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalimotxo

Bilbao

So after 2 night in Bilbao I like it a lot. This is probably my favorite European city that I have visited. My apartment is very nice and I like Maika a lot. The language barrier has been difficult, but we have our dictionaries out and are trying to communicate as best as we can. Yesterday we took a walking tour of the city and found some really nice parks and places to hang out.
Today we went on the Bilboats for a tour of the city along the river. It started out cold and raining, but on the way back it got sunny. The city is very nice and doesn't seem as big as it really is.

Mi casa para cuatro meses

I just got to my house for the next 4 months. It is very small, but very nice. Maika is very nice as well. She doesn't speak any english which will be a challenge, but I think that I will know Spanish by the time I leave. She has some funny rules that I should be able to follow pretty easily.
1. Use door handles to open and close doors
2. Keep bathroom clean
3. Turn of lights and don't use a lot of water.

Tomorrow we get to take a tour of the city and see where the school is. My house is very close to the music conservatory. I wonder if I can go in and play the drums? I just have to remember how to get back to the metro station tomorrow morning.

Hola

It's been a while since I've posted anything. We have been pretty busy. On Monday we went to the Prado Museum and say many paintings from Goya, El Greco, and Velasquez. We also went to the Royal Palace and saw where the king and queen used to live. It was a really big palace and we had to rush though it. I would have liked to spend more time there, but we had to be back at out hotel for a meeting.
Yesterday we went to the monastery outside of Madrid. It was also very nice. It used to be the summer home the king. It is also the royal "cemetery". Everyone is in a tomb in a really cool crypt underneath the cathedral.
Today we went to Toledo for a quick tour. It was my favorite city so far. We were only there for a few hours and spent most of that on a tour. The old part of town was very small and was nice to walk around in.
I will post some pictures on Facebook once I get to my house tonight or tomorrow.
I like everyone that is in my group so far, and I think I'll like all of my classes, once I figure out what I'm taking. Right now I'm on the bus to Bilbao and there is snow all over the ground and it is foggy so I can't see the surroundings.
I am kind of nervous about meeting Maika tonight, but my RD says she is very nice.

Hello Sun

Seeing the sun rise from a plane at 37000 feet is a different type of experience. It feels like it's 12:45 to me, which means I would probably be awake for another hour at home. The problem is that when we land i should be going to bed. This is not going to be good. I'm starting to get tired and kind of wish they didn't have so many movies on here. Every time I try to fall asleep and can't I start watching a movie.
Why would they show the movie 'Taken' on an international flight?!?
I'm still trying to figure out this whole metric system thing. Right now I'm listening to Jack Ingram 'Big Dreams & High Hopes. I think it's a fitting song to come on right now. Without dreams or hopes I wouldn't be here right now. Another great Texas musician just came on for me. A little Lyle Lovett 'South Texas Girl'.
This flight was nice, it wasn't full so it was only me and another girl in the row. I like this flight across the Atlantic more than the first one I took. The people on Air France were not very nice and we were all packed into that plane. The Spanish people also seem nicer than the French.
I was afraid that my phone would die before I got to Spain, but thankfully they have outlets in between each seat.
Well I'm gonna watch another movie. I think I have enough time for one more before we land.

Guacamole

While eating, what will probably be, my last Mexican dinner before I leave for Spain I wondered to myself, "Do they eat guacamole and queso there?" I eat those things at least once a week and I'm not sure how I feel about not eating them for four months!

¡Listos!

I am ready to go to Spain. I have my bag packed, my cameras charged, and even thought to bring more than one change of cloths. But I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh that's right, my Spanish is mediocre to say the least. You would think that after three years in high school and three semesters in college I would be pretty good, but when you've learned the same things in all those classes (most of which is useless vocabulary) you don't really improve, you just get better at the the few words you do know. I'm hoping that by being in Spain I will improve my conversation skills and become more fluent.