The rest of Sara's trip!

So...Wednesday I woke up at my apartment, grabbed some fruit & went to Kelly's apartment to meet Sara. We packed up and headed to the bus stop to catch the bus to Hondarribia. That's a little town almost right on the border of France. We were planning on taking the bus there then a boat up to a small town in France. And just kind of relax, hopefully lay on the beach, and enjoy the small town. We didn't end up catching the bus until 1130 or so and then when we got there we had some kebab for lunch, once again the only people in the whole restaurant. Then we walked around awhile. We wanted to go to a different beach than the one we were at but it was impossible to get there so we decided to just put on our swimsuits and go to the one we were ate. We laid out for a good 4 hours. And the beach wasn't crowded, there was a small breeze so it was great. About halfway through a class of maybe 5 year olds came with a few teachers. They played around forever. Most of the girls didn't have swimsuit tops and I think every kid ended up naked towards the end. But that's not weird here - lots of the girls on the beach don't wear tops, something I just can't get used to and I'm fine with keeping mine on, thanks. So finally after a great perfect day at the beach - I happened to pick the best day to skip class, and there were only 3 people in class that day because everyone was at the beach, haha - but we finally headed back to San Sebastian around 630pm. We were going to go up to Sagrado Corazon (the Jesus Statue) but being out in the sun all day is so exhausting so we just changed and relaxed for a little bit. Then we walked around Parte Vieja and met Kelly for dinner at one of my favorite places - Va Bene on Boulevard. Then we got ice cream and people-watched. The sunset was beautiful so we sat on a ledge and watched the surfers and the sunset - which was at about 10pm. Then we just went back to Kelly's and attempted homework, then watched a movie & went to bed. But it was a successful day - we finally both had some color!



Thursday we got up and the weather wasn't horrible so we walked around Parte Vieja, the port area, and went up the funicular on Monte Igueldo where there's a great view of the whole city. Then we just went to my school cafeteria for lunch and hung out until class. After class I went home, showered, and changed and met Sara at Kelly's apartment. Then we headed towards Amara to catch a taxi, with Tiffany and Kelly to a sidreria (called Petritegi - a basque name). A sidreria is a very Basque experience and it was so much fun! We were surrounded by old basque men who were very entertaining & just had a great time. We had fish, some kind of tortilla patata with seafood, a super bloody meat (chuleta) and then walnuts and some cheese & jelly-type thing for dessert. The experience was just great. Then we came back to Kelly's, put on a movie and went to bed.





I had class Friday morning. It was my last day of class so we just reviewed for my final and everyone brought something so we had breakfast and played games. Pretty pointless. Afterward I went and met Sara at Goikoa (my cafe) and we took a bus to the bus station to buy her ticket to Madrid for that night. The weather was awful Friday - cold and misty the whole time, but not really raining - just disgusting. So we went in to the mall in Amara so we didn't have to sit outside, bought a loaf of bread and made sandwiches. Then we looked around the stores a little and by the time we left it wasn't raining anymore. In the grocery store on the bottom level of the mall I found peanut butter! It was soo exciting - I've only been waiting about 4 months, but hey at least I found it sometime. So then we went and walked around Centro, it had stopped raining so that was good, we went in a few stores, went in Buen Pastor and just sat and hung out for awhile. Then, we were going to go hang out at my apartment but instead we went to a little cafe, got some coffee and sat there for a little while until Kelly came and met us. Then the three of us went out to Parte Vieja for pintxos. So Sara got some definite Spanish culture so that was exciting. Then Sara & I got some ice cream, came back to Kelly's, she packed up and we walked to the bus station. I sent her on the bus then went back to my apartment and went to bed.



Saturday was super nice - I sat on the beach and watched surf lessons for awhile, then walked around - there are tons of tourists here every weekend now. Then I came to the cafe and used wifi with Kelly. We got telepizza (the Spanish Pizza Hut I guess you would call it) and then went back to our apartments and went to bed. A pretty nice, relaxing day.

Today I talked with my host mom for awhile in the morning, worked on putting together some stuff to pack up, and ate lunch. Then I used wireless outside in a plaza and called my mom for mother's day. Then I went to the beach for an hour or so before heading to the cafe where I'm using internet right now. And yesterday for lunch I finally had a peanut butter & banana sandwich which I've been craving & today I had an apple with peanut butter! So exciting :)

But anyways...gotta get to studying - I have a final exam tomorrow afternoon & a presentation Tuesday afternoon. Then I'm done & have to pack up before I leave San Sebastian Wednesday night! It's so close I can't believe it. I feel like the semester has flown by. Crazy!

Well, more later.

Love, Jill