Anonymous asked: Do you know anything about LGBT life in Bilbao?

Hmm. I am not too sure.  Bilbao, being a main center of culture and the arts in the Basque region, always has a lot going on. I did do a little searching and found this website which seems to give a pretty good (and accurate) overview of LGBT friendly places in Bilbao. http://www.patroc.com/bilbao/  Also, there is an annual Gay Pride parade in June in Bilbao.  Here is an article about that (I don’t know if you read Spanish but you can get the gist through Google translate if not): http://www.vidasolidaria.com/noticias/2011-06-27/bilbao-ensena-orgullo-gay-1717.html

I don’t know if you’re coming from the U.S. or not but I will say that Spain is pretty progressive when it comes to LGBT issues. Much more so than the US. Even the older generations seemed to be very open to all sorts of people and lifestyles. The Basques in general are very proud of their autonomy and because of that, the seem to have a special respect for the autonomy of others as well. 

Anonymous asked: I had the language question. I would be going to the Universidad del Pais Vasco and be studying Art. I have been speaking Spanish since I was 5 in school, but I have lost a lot of it from not practicing so I want to really polish it. How long were you/are you there? Did you have the option to stay in dorm? If so, do you regret not taking that option?

I went to Deusto so I am not the most knowledgeable about UPV but I did meet some people who did go there and really liked it.  I was there for 6 months (last January through May and all of July).  I think that the longer you stay, the better off you are.  At Deusto, I had the options of dorms, home stays, and apartments.

The dorm option is a little tricky because I can only go off of what I know about Deusto but most of the people in the dorms wished they had gone with the apartment option.  The dorms were nice enough but the meal times were strict and didn’t have very many options. They also couldn’t really have visitors so that was an issue for a lot of them.  On the other hand, there were some Spanish students there that they could make friends with easier than those of us not in the dorms (I say some because the vast majority of Spanish college students live at home).  Again, you’ll have to go over the UPV dorm situation.

 Home stays are a good option if you want to be immersed in the family culture but at the same time, I have heard quite a few horror stories even in Bilbao of families that ration food or don’t talk to their students.   The one person I know who went to UPV and did a home stay really felt at home with their family and always posted photos of family gatherings on Facebook.  My host family was great too but if I were to go a second time, I would probably choose the apartment.  Host families really are a mix between a crapshoot and what you make of them.

The apartments assigned by Deusto were with students from all over the world in the Erasmus program so I don’t know what the UPV ones would be like but they were the option that afforded the most freedom.  Among other perks, you could invite over a bunch of friends for dinner, people could crash with you for the night, and you ate when you wanted and what you wanted.  On the other hand, you had to do grocery shopping, you had to figure out rental agreements, and sometimes you have to do things like figure out Internet connections.  The person that I knew who live in the apartments from UPV lived with a Polish girl and a couple of others.  I will say that the students who lived in apartments did tend to be more of the partying type so you might want to keep that in mind.

Anonymous asked: I am looking in to studying abroad in Bilbao but I am nervous about the languages. My primary reason for studying in Spain is to improve my Spanish. Do you hear more Basque than Spanish? Should I try a different region of Spain? Thank you!! -Hope

Bilbao is a great place to study if you want to learn Spanish.  I felt like I had a better opportunity to learn Spanish because of the Basque language. In Bilbao, very few people spoke English so the only language we had in common was Spanish.  That being said, a lot of the people there don’t know Basque very well either and just stick to Spanish. They learn it in school but it’s kind of like how we learn Spanish and a lot of people barely know it. 

On the other hand, I know a good amount of students that went to Madrid, Barcelona, and Sevilla and they had a hard time getting the locals to speak to them in Spanish because in bigger cities like that they get a lot of tourists and they all know English. 

Also, in regions without an official secondary language (i.e. la Comunidad de Madrid and Andalucía), it’s not uncommon to find street signs and maps in English because they have one official language.  In the Basque Region, the signs will be in Spanish and Basque so you can’t just fall back on English.

What school/program were you thinking of going with?  What level of Spanish are you going with?

omgaudi:

Oh Carnaval I love you soo haha

When we were looking to finish our outfits in Casco Viejo, Jackie spotted  a child’s cowboy set for 1 Euro which was perfect for her because she already had clothes that could complete a cowgirl outfit.  We met up with her at the Algorta metro stop and began our commute back into Bilbao. Somewhere along the way, a mime came on the metro. I am not exactly sure how this came to be but what you see above is the duel that resulted. Everyone in the metro car was watching as Jackie and the mime took three paces and then drew. Jackie won because Jackie is clearly the more skilled of the two in all matters pertaining to duels and/or the wild west. The mime then proceeded to have an elaborate, but still silent, death scene all over everyone in the car.

P.S. This is a photo set from my friend Mae’s blog. 

Just before the Carnaval festivies on March 5th (see older post) Mae, Jackie, and I went to an English tea room. I ordered an English Breakfast and a piece of apple pie. It was kind of awkward because I ordered in Spanish and she answered in English. Then I would say something in English and they would respond in Spanish. We just really didn’t know how to act. 

That being said, it was just totally lovely. We are going to go back there next time we want a break.

I am going to work backwards to cover the missing month in my blog so we’re starting with Carnaval that was yesterday on March 5th.

Bilbao started gearing up for Carnaval last week and that is when we started hearing about it.  One of my friends said that her Spanish conversation partner told her that she needs to buy a costume because everyone dresses up for Carnaval and that everyone dresses up in groups. If this seems like a convoluted way of getting information, that is because it is. Yet, this is how we almost always get information about cultural events.

Slowly, we came to learn that there are parades and/or festivals in all of the little pueblos around Bilbao as well as in Bilbao itself. On Saturday,  my friends Jackie and Mae and I decided to go see what all of these weekend festivals were about so we went to the city center. 

 We didn’t go with costumes on because we weren’t sure how serious the locals were about their costumes. Turns out they take them very seriously. Costumes ranged from elaborate alien costumes to people who must have just taken all of the neon-colored clothing that they owned and put it on at one time. We then realized that Jackie’s conversation partner was right - we needed to dress up.

 One of the curious things about the groups of people in costume here is that most people dress up in groups. And by that, I mean that they are all wearing the same costume.  So if the group is going to dress up like Snow White, then the women are Snow White, the men are Snow White, and the children are Snow White. Everyone is Snow White. 

Notice the quite masculine Snow White on the float

We walked from the city center along side a parade float of wild west outlaws towards Casco Viejo.  There were a lot of American themed costumes. I saw groups of Native Americans, Cowboys, American football players, Yankees players and Red Sox players. In addition to that, there were a lot of Disney characters as well (although it seemed that Buzz Lightyear and Minnie Mouse are the favorites).  Once we crossed the river, we realized that there were carnival-style rides. Some of the people in the group (we picked up other Deusto students as we went) went on a ride called “Ranita Show”, or “Frog Show”.  I chose not to ride because I don’t trust any human-moving contraption that can be unfolded in a day. 

While they waited in line, I took pictures of the panels that wrapped around the base of the ride. They each had a picture of a celebrity and a saying. Some of the sayings were pretty racially insensitive. In general, I have noticed that the Spanish have fewer qualms about expressing ideas that Americans might consider inappropriate.

Okay, so I am going to translate this (very) roughly into: “I changed from the color black riding the Frog Show”

“If you drink, don’t ride”

After the carnival ride, we walked further into Casco Viejo whose streets were packed with entire flocks of the exact same bird or gaggles of Cleopatras. We decided that it was time to get serious about our costumes for the night because it was getting late.  Some people had already purchased toy swords and black masks earlier that week so when we found Zorro hats, they really completed the look.  It was then about 8:30 so we headed home to change and eat dinner. At 10:00 we went to meet some friends and then headed back to Casco Viejo for a couple of hours.

The effect is kind of lost with our coats on…

Later, we went dancing at a costume party at a discoteca. One crazy thing about Spain is that people don’t even show up to dance until really late. We got there at 1:00 am and the place was empty but by the time we left at 4:45 am, it was packed. 

Carnaval has been a pretty great surprise festival for me so far and I can’t be sure (because that’s just how life is in Spain right now) but I think that it will get more and more busy as the week goes on.

Tomorrow, there has been a general strike called by several labor unions in Spain.  Today, my host mom made sure to buy all of the food that we might need tomorrow because all of the stores will be closed.  I had to check a special schedule for the metro because it will not run regularly but I still have school.

So a whole bunch of Spaniards are going to be on strike on a Thursday and (what a coincidence) Friday is a national holiday. Looks like a good chunk of the population is in for a four day weekend.

The main building on the Deusto campus has two cloister areas which are very nice but they are not closed off from the main hallways. So whenever I am waiting in what normally be considered indoors, it’s actually the same temperature as outside. Which is cold. The actual temperature is 41F but it’s very humid here so the cold penetrates all of the warm clothes you are wearing. I think that it will be very nice when it warms up a little in Bilbao but right now it has left me shivering on the bench outside my classroom wearing all of my winter clothes. Tomorrow, I am definitely going to throw on some more layers.

Anonymous asked: Hi Sara,
Fun to read about your adventures!! Is your metro stop at Gobela or Areeta? Is your building a triangle?
So, is school in session right now? Where is the school located? Do you get a lot of time off? (The heading of your blog says "ask me anything") and of course curious people want to know!! Ha! Have fun!!!!!
Love, Unca Gar

 I love the questions. They make it much easier to write!

I live nearest to the Areeta stop on the metro. It’s about a 5-minute walk along a small creek and across a big open area where people congregate at night.  I am pretty sure that my building is a triangle but I guess I don’t know. There is a plaza that kind of goes in a diagonal across the block.  The neighborhood of Las Arenas (meaning “the sands” or “beaches”) is really close to a beach and I have taken the long walk along the beach from Areeta to Algorta twice now.

View from the beach lining Las Arenas

Sand dragon on the beach

One of the mansions overlooking the bay

School just started up last week but only the kids in my program have started. The regular semester starts in a couple of weeks. The Spanish students are just finishing up their finals from first semester.  The University of Deusto is right in the middle of Bilbao and straddles the river.  All of the classrooms and main buildings are on one side of the river but the brand new library is on the other side and is accessible by footbridge.  

View of Deusto campus from across the river

View of the Crystal Building and my friend Candace from the footbridge

View of the Guggenheim museum from the footbridge that connects to the library 

Classes in the CIDE (International Center of Español) program at Deusto run from Monday to Thursday so every weekend is a three day weekend. Also, I only have one class after lunch and it meets twice a week. So I am making out pretty well as far as free time goes.  I am taking:

• Culture, Politics, and Economy in Contemporary Spanish Society
• Basque Culture and Language
• Spanish Conversation- 300 high
• Introduction to Spanish Linguistics

All of my classes seem interesting and fairly easy so far although Linguistics is definitely going to take some effort.

I think that I answered all of your questions but if I left anything out or you thought of others just let me know!

It’s been two weeks since I first arrived in Bilbao and things seem to be settling in.  Up until now, each experience has been a lesson in how to speak, act, and dress.  Though I am nowhere near being a seamless part of the life here in the Basque country, I can at least go to the metro station and know the proper protocol.  I can go put more minutes on my phone without awkward stares from the attendants because I used the phrase “put minutes on” instead of “recharge”.  And I know not to bring a backpack to school because none of the Spanish students carry them.  It’s refreshing to be able to go about my daily routine without spending a large amount of time involuntarily highlighting the fact that I am from a foreign country.

            One of my favorite pastimes in Spain is people watching.  I am not sure whether this is the natural product of two and a half hours spent traveling every day or simple curiosity.  Either way, it has come to occupy a large portion of my day.  At first, I noticed a lot of differences like the physical closeness of acquaintances when they speak or the overwhelming majority of women wearing leather boots.  One of the most entertaining differences has been the lack of façade put forth by all of the travelers on the metro.  In many of the other public transportation systems I have taken, passengers at least try to pretend that they are interested in something or marginally enjoying themselves.  Some will fiddle with their cell phones. Others might riffle through a free newspaper. Not in Bilbao.  As we are all stuffed on the morning train commuting to work, school, or other engagements, we are not putting forth any false pretenses.  It’s like everyone has accepted the fact that we are far too tightly packed to ever read the news comfortably and we have no new text messages because it is 8:00 in the morning.

            Though as the initial newness of this new country begins to wear off, my perspective is beginning to change. On my metro ride home from a friend’s house tonight, I realized that I am now noticing more similarities than differences.  Now, I notice every pair of Ugg boots that walk by, every teenager plugged into his or her iPod Touch, and I can spot every newcomer to town as they are confusedly reading the names of the metro stations wondering why they do not resemble the Spanish language at all.