Castro Urdiales y la Pasión Viviente

On Thursday I had a delicious lunch made by my host mom :) it was authentic Spanish calamari, and we (my host mom, 2 host sisters, other American girl, and myself) all ate together and spoke mucho español. It was pretty great. My host mom also invited us all out to get churros that evening. I. Love. Churros. I knew I loved them in the states, but holy moly I love them even more in Spain...it's kind of sickening how often I crave them now - and what's worse is that there are shops and stands ALL over for me to purchase them at. It's a good thing I walk miles and miles every day around this city! If you go to a chocolateria or other kind of sweet shop you will find homemade, fresh churros like these (below), and you choose the type of hot chocolate you want to use to dip it in (spanish is thicker and dark, and french is lighter and has a similar consistency to hot chocolate in America).

I tried Spanish chocolate this time - it was amazing!

Me, Melissa (other American girl), and my host sisters Natalia, and Daniela

The next day I went and visited an absolutely breathtaking town called Castro Urdiales, which is famous (at least in northern Spain) for the live reenactment of the last supper, trial, punishment, crucifixion, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The city is by the sea and the main stage of the reenactment is set at a church that was built in the 14th century. The reenactment is called Pasión Viviente, and it lasted from 10am until 3pm, and moved to several different stages throughout the city. We followed the procession and either stood and watched stagnant scenes or walked around the town following the story. It was a LONG day of walking - 5 hours solid, and many more after lunch and dinner, but it was such a cool cultural experience to be a part of. The reenactment was very serious and graphic - Peter hung himself from a tree...actually jumped from a tree with a noose around his neck (he had a hook attached at the back of his neck so he didn't actually die), Jesus was whipped (not with a cat of 9 tails, and not nearly as hard as the story goes, but still, repeatedly), and all 3 men being punished were hung on actual crosses. 

There was a pretty hilarious moment during the reenactment, though I don't think it was intended to be. Before Jesus is punished he is in a kingdom being taunted and called a false prophet by a King and Queen. In the reenactment they decided to have the king's gypsy women come out and do a dance. There is a lot of American music here, almost entirely actually, and they don't always understand the connotations of the song lyrics. That would explain why they decided to play Beyonce's "Who Run the World (Girls)" at a church built in the 14th century, where a reenactment of the death and resurrection of Jesus was taking place. It was hilarious and very ironic. 

After the reenactment we still had several hours until our bus back to Santander came, so we walked around the rainy city, got food, and went back to take a closer look at the beautiful church (Iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción). 

Cliff overlooking the gorgeous ocean

Hector/Mauricio gettin his Spanish patata fix (also, that ketchup is hot as a mofo!)

Danielle, Jennifer, Hector/Mauricio, Margarita, and Oresta

La iglesia

This was my first adventure to another city since I got to Spain, and now I'm planning all of my others :) I am going to San Sebastian this Saturday-Sunday, which is a city in Northern Spain east of Santander with great history and beaches I'm told. Also, at the end of this month I'm flying to the south of Spain for 5 days with some friends to Málaga, then travelling to Sevilla, taking a ferry to Morocco, and maybe visiting Gibraltar! In May I'm looking into going to a Real Madrid game in Bilbao on the 2nd, and am flying to Madrid for the weekend May 17-20. I have so many fun adventures to look forward to! If at all possible I will be heading to Paris for a weekend coming up, and to Barcelona as well :) 

Os quiero a todos :) xo

The beach, school, and more :)

On Sunday some of my friends in the program and I went and checked out some beaches around Santander. It was a pretty day and now I can't wait until it warms up more so I can spend all my time down there after school every day :)

^Us having our first ice cream in Spain :)

On Monday was my first day of school! It was such a whirlwind of a day, but I learned a ton! My first class of the day is Gramática (grammar) and it starts at 9:15am and goes until 11am. Then I have a half hour break to eat snack, get coffee, etc. After I have Conversación oral (conversation) from 11:30 until 1pm, then my last class of the day is historia de arte (Art history of Spain), which is from 1:05 until 2:05pm. That's my day, then I go home and have siesta from about 2:30-5pm - so basically I eat a huge lunch and then sleep! 

Almost all stores close during that time and then open up again from 5 until between 8 and 10pm. After my siestas this week I have been taking the bus and going to "el centro", which is basically the center of the city where most of the shops and restaurants, etc are. I have walked around a bunch and gone exploring, and picked up things I need :) Some of my friends and I did homework and drank cafe con leche (coffee and milk) at a café in el centro this week too

I found a Koala store - I was so excited :) brings back so many wonderful memories of my favorite place - Australia!

Hector/Mauricio has been getting out a lot too! He loves Santander and has even spotted a few Spanish gnome señoritas in some of the stores we've been in

Me, Alex, and Paige

As amazing as the past week has been I have also had a couple of tough days getting used to everything. The experience really hit me on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I found myself very overwhelmed and missing my more predictable and familiar life in the states - and obviously all of my wonderful friends, family, and my boyfriend. Communication is difficult anyway (trust me, I'm studying it), but add another language into the mix and it presents even more challenges! I've done my best to work with it though and have been able to talk through a lot of my emotions and experiences with the great people in my program, my host family, and my family/friends/boyfriend at home :) 

I decided not to blog on those days because I didn't want to paint a sad picture of myself to anyone - especially because I am truly having such a great time! I feel really good today and have a positive outlook on my whole experience :) my blogs should be a little more regular than they have been the last few days! - I know that's extremely exciting for ALL of my numerous subscribers :-P obviously kidding haha. 

Les Extraño mucho!!! (I miss you all a bunch) xoxoxo

Más España

Hola amigos, novio, familia, etc :)

I have been busy exploring since I got to Spain. I went out a second time with most of the people from my program on Saturday night, and we found (one of the) the hot spot in the city for young people...a massive hill/mountain with an outdoor escalator going up the hill and bars/restaurants everywhere on both sides of the street. People stay out MUCH later in Spain than they do in the states - including older people and small children. Some people don't even go out at night until 12 or 1am! On Saturday night we made some new friends and ended up being out until 5am - crazy! - but normal for young people in Spain apparently haha.