San Sebastian!

     Well, it's safe to say that I've had an amazing weekend. I'll start with Friday morning, which was the less than amazing part. On Friday morning I took the bus to the police station to pick up my student residency card (again) and they told that it was not there. It has been 5 weeks. I think it's a little ridiculous, but I'll be going back next week with hopes of them actually having it this time. After the police station disappointment, I headed back to school. School was pretty boring, I think. Haha. As usual. Julia and I were picked up at school by Aurora and then we came home and ate lunch. We had croquettes and chicken. Yummy! After lunch I got my things ready and relaxed. I then took the bus  into town so I could then meet Natalie and catch the next bus to Becca's house (which is Elle's old house...the one where we have all of our slumber parties). As we walked in, Becca was cutting Mitchell's hair. After the hair cut, we made chocolate chip cookies, buckeyes, and a giant potato omelet. We always eat so much at our parties. We sat around and talked and did nothing all night. It was great. The next morning, we woke up and Becca cut my hair and Natalie's hair. It's shorter than I expected, but I really love it! And the best part is that it's free. Thank you, Becca!
     All of us girls then caught the 12:15 bus and went back into Pamplona. Once in Pamplona, Elle, Natalie, Becca, and I went to El Corte Ingles and a cafe. Natalie and I left soon after to head to the school to meet my host family (they're her old family and she wanted to see them again!). We met them at Julia's basketball game and watched as the girls played a pretty nasty game of basketball. There was lots of elbow nudging and dirty glances. After the game, we drove to the gas station and ate lunch. I had a salad, paella, and fruit for dessert. We came home for about 40 minutes and got ready for San Sebastian. It was about a 45 minute drive until we were in the coastal city. The beach was beautiful, freezing, but beautiful. The town was much prettier than Pamplona, I must say. My host family used to live there when Julia and Alberto were little. We found a parking spot right by the water and then walked into town. We split up. Alberto, Enrique, and I went to the aquarium while Julia and Aurora did some shopping. The aquarium was great! I got to see a whale skeleton. That was a first. The fish were really cool too. Everyone was going crazy when they saw the clown fish saying, "Nemos! Nemos!" But it sounds like, "NAH-mos, NAH-mos." I was entertained. Once we got through the aquarium, we met up with the girls and did a little more shopping with them before heading to the car to go to dinner. We went to an amazing restaurant. I didn't take my purse in, but I wish I would have. It looked very old. It was huge, too. Sort of like a giant, amazing barn with long tables filled with fresh bread. We all ate of the same plate. They would bring the dish and just set it in the middle and you dug in. The food was amazing. We had tortilla de patata, steak, fish, bread, and the cheese and fruit spread stuff for dessert. My favorite part of the dinner, however, was not the food, but the special drink. It's only made in this region of Spain, I believe. It's fermented apples (a certain kind, not normal apples) and grapes. You had your glass and then you go into this huge room filled with larger than life barrels, turned on their sides, of this drink. There was a guy working the tap and you just put your glass under it. My host parents told me to be careful because it's so fresh. You don't realize how little can make you feel, you know....Anyways...the drink was delicious!! My host brother kept trying to get all that he could. Haha. He was yelled at a few times last night...haha.
     After our amazing dinner we headed home. We were home around 11. That's pretty early for here. I was so exhausted. I was on my computer for a bit and then I fell asleep right away. I didn't wake up until 10:30 this morning. This morning I got my breakfast and relaxed. I just finished eating lunch with my family and another. It was great. We had pasta with tomato sauce, some kind of delicious meat, cooked apples, and then we're going to have dessert all together in a little while. I love my life here. My family is absolutely incredible and I feel as though my Spanish is improving greatly here because they talk to me so much. They want to now about my life, and I tell them. I chime in about little things and start more conversations. I'm having the time of my life learning a new language and culture and making more friends and family than a girl could ever ask for. I'm so happy that I am here. I'm so happy that I took this leap of faith. I'm so happy that the sun is shining today.