First day of Orientation

Today I successfully had my first full day in Bilbao and the first day of orientation! The rain on my window when I woke up reminded me so much of Oregon. Even though the rain can be annoying, the sound it makes on a window truly is comforting. Once all of my roommates and I (3 of us) were up and dressed, we headed out in search of coffee. We had barely stepped not even 100 feet before we found the cutest bakery ever. Mustering up my energy I ordered my breakfast (in Spanish) and devoured the best croissant known to mankind. As we watched the people pass by the windows, I felt a sense of calm that gave me clarity of what my mornings might usually look like.

Once we had finished breakfast, we headed a few feet over to the Universidad. We got some funny looks from the Spanish students there as we awkwardly milled about until we found the classroom. The room itself was gorgeous, with wooden walls and cathedral like windows. As the 45 of us all piled in I could tell we all breathed a sigh of relief, as if to say "we made it, we did it". Orientation moved slowly with simple and somewhat helpful information about living in Bilbao and how to get around. Once our resident director noticed we were getting tired after about 3 hours, we were quickly ushered to a restaurant for a free meal.

All us of sat at a long white table and chatted between each other. We talked about everything under the sun, from majors to life goals. Many jokingly voiced that they were hungry, but quickly ate their words when the food emerged. The first thing was a bowl of pasta that was delicious and filled us all up. As we sat back, we felt content and began stretching to stand up. The waitress looked at us funny and then I realized why, other servers were bringing out chicken, fries and more. With horror I realized that the big bowl of pasta had been our appetizer and we had several more courses to go. My stomach was still recovering from the food poisoning and I had to turn away the last 2 courses. It was delicious and gave us a taste of the Basque cuisine (minus the french fries). Our resident director then took us on a walking tour of the city and we discovered beautiful architecture and learned more about the city. After this tour I began to feel a sense of excitement about walking around Bilbao and Getxo and discovering more. Hopefully on Wednesday I will take the metro for the first time in order to see even more of the city.

With that being said! It's time for a jetlagged nap!

Adiós,

Ana