San Sebastian and the Long Weekend

It's Sunday, and good news, tomorrow is a fiesta so no school! Counting the fiesta on Friday this will be a four day weekend! It totally makes up for missing two days off for Thanksgiving.

Anyways, late last night we got back from San Sebastian. I have provided a map for reference.

You can find San Sebastian just north of Pamplona on the map, right on the coast. Sabi is located in the middle of the area labeled Pyrenees. The drive was a few hours, but well worth it! It's absolutely gorgeous there. We spent most of Friday just walking around the coast and enjoying the views.

We also spent some time exploring the city...

I wonder if the food is good?

And just ahead you can see France!

I should also add that, since San Sebastian is in Basque country they don't speak Castillan Spanish...

Basque on top and Castillan on the bottom. It's another one of those places like Barcelona. For the record, I can't understand Basque, and neither can most people not from Basque country.

My host family went with Alex's host family. We met Alex's host cousin, Alex, and his parents in San Sebastian. One of Alex's friends, Laura, and her parents had come with them, too. On Friday night we all hung out at a bar, parents at one table and kids at another. After getting over the awkwardness of not being exactly sure what to say or talk about to each other, the four of us (Alex, Alex, Laura, and I) ended up asking each other what different words were in Spanish/English. As we were leaving the bar I thought for the first time, "I don't want to go." And I meant it. For the first time since I came here I genuinely felt comfortable, like I belonged despite the fact that I look hopelessly American. It was all a bit strange, but either way I still dread going through the "Return Policy" paper work for the travel agency.

So, I get to sleep in tomorrow, and then on Saturday I'm going on a trip with my class to Madrid! Just a reminder, I will not be coming back until late on Monday of that week, so my blog will not be updated. However, many more pictures to come!