The Parentals in Europe, más fotos

Me and my town.....
Dad´s farewell from Spain!
María Cristina Statue in Amara San Sebastián, Spain
Do we really need a picture of us with coffee Mom? We were all pictured out....

The Parentals in Europe, más fotos

Mom and Dad holding their hats at the Wind Comb sculpture in San Sebastián
Sunset over San Sebastián
On the way to the cider house!!!
The Whites eating Pintxo´s in the Basque Country!
San Sebastián town hall

The Parentals in Europe, más fotos

American Cemetary at Colleville, Normandy, France
Dad and I on Utah Beach
Dad in a German bunker on Pointe du Hoc
Utah Beach
Sainte Mére Église

The Parentals in Europe

Bayeux Cathedral
Scenery in Bayeux
Mom and I at the Eiffel Tower
Dad and I at The Louvre
In front of Notre Dame Cathedral

Since school ending around the 14^th of May, I have officially started my summer vacation with a bang! I took an overnight bus ride from San Sebastián (11 hours) to Paris to meet my parents after not having seen them for about four months. We met at our hotel on the outskirts of Paris, with me anxiously arriving several hours before them. Once they stepped foot in the hotel, I could see the relief on their faces that they had finally arrived and were done with traveling for the time being. I was very excited for them to come, as this was both of their first trips to Europe. Funnily enough as we were taking our first picture together outside of our hotel, my Dad commented on the weeds growing by a tree, saying ¨Hmm… we have the same weeds at home.¨ Leave it to my father the rancher to notice the weeds in Paris. We used Rick Steve (travel book) as our guide here. We hit up the major hotspots such as the Eiffel Tower, where we took an unmentionable number of pictures much to my Father´s dismay, toured the Notre Dame Cathedral, and walked along the Champs Elysee, ending at the Arc de Triomph. The language barrier was difficult for us all in France, as none of us have any idea and we continually felt like we were being yelled at by French people; which is all part of the fun! We were there for two days before taking a two hour train to Bayeux. But wait, not before venturing through the Paris subway system with all of our luggage!! My father kindly reminded my mother on several occasions that she had overpacked J. One of my favorite images was my Dad on the Paris subway with his Steve Irwin hat on, and his Wranglers, keeping his composure. Not his typical environment, but he throroughly enjoyed himself, as did my Mom and I.

Convincing my Dad to go to Paris was easy because we let him choose wherever he wanted to go after that. Being a big WWII history buff, he has always been enthralled with the D-Day invasion of the Normandy Beaches. We arrived in the small town of Bayeux, and checked into a bed and breakfast, and explored the town on foot. We had some excellent crepes and galletes (crepes with real food, not dessert food on them), and sampled the local calvado drink, as well as cider. The cathedral, especially for the size of Bayeux, was astonishing, and rose above the rest of the buildings in the city. One of the most impressionable days of the trip thus far for me, was the day we did the WWII D Day tour. My Dad was more excited than a kid on Christmas, and seemingly knew just as much as our very knowledgeable tour guide, and certainly did not shy away from asking questions. There were seven of us on the tour, and we visited the town of Sainte Mére Église, the first town liberated by the Americans, Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, and Omaha Beach before ending the tour at the American Cemetary at Colleville. One additional stop we made along the way was in a small village (population 56) called Angoville which is known for two American medics that saved 81 American and German lives. It was the remarkable story of the two men, who at the ages of 19 and 21, one with one day of medical training, and the other with three weeks, who were able to not only survive the circumstances, but save lives. They made the church their makeshift hospital, and today, you can still see blood on the pews from the injuries sustained by the survivors in 1944. There is much more to the story, but this will be something that I will always remember, as often times the personal stories of the men who put their lives on the line are forgotten.

Leaving Bayeux, we took the train back to Paris, where we had to connect to the other train station. Thought we might have our first major meltdown at St. Lazare, as we had all of our luggage, and the metro cars were packed. We had to wait for about two cars at each stop to go by before there was room for us. Eventually, we shoved our way on, made it to the train station across town, and settled in for the overnight haul to Irún, España. We arrived early morning in Irún and took the local train to San Sebastián, where I felt like I was coming home, and eagerly anticipated showing my parents where I had been living. I first had wanted to show them towns around San Sebastián, but then realized that Donostia has so much to offer it wasn´t worth the effort to leave. Additionally, the weather was incredible, at about 80 degrees farenheit everyday we were there. I showed my parents the ropes of pintxos, visited my university and my apartment, took them to a cider house, swam in the Bay of Biscay (my Dad had to get his daily laps in), hiked Monte Urguall and Igueldo, played the role of tourist while hitting up all of the tourist shops for souveniers, and enjoyed the lasting memories that I had created over the semester in the town that I consider one of the finest in Europe. I enjoyed seeing my parents attempt to speak Spanish, and do a good job at it, and leave McDonalds each day puzzled as to why they got a free donut with their coffee (hint, there is a poster on the window that says coffee/donut 1 euro J). On Wednesday morning, I accompanied my father to the airport in Bilbao where once I paid for my two overweight bags that I was sending home with him (while he only had his duffle bag…Dads are great; they do anything for their daughters), I hopped back on the bus to Donostia to meet my Mom back in San Sebastián and begin our adventure together.

Mikel teaching Danny how to make cod.

The USACers
Bautista and Mikeli
More of Mondragón, or Arrasate (in Basque).

Endings and New Beginnings

Our feast at the gastronomical society
Mondragón (Arrasate), España
My classmates and teacher Natalia (2nd from left)
Mari-Mar, my 20th Century Spanish Teacher
Natalia and I

5/15/10

It is not AGUR, it is GERO ARTE. (It is not ¨goodbye¨, it is ¨ see you later.¨)

One of my favorite things in life to do is reflect when something is over, o sea, when another ¨chapter¨ comes to an end, which of course if just the beginning of something more. This past week, I have the opportunity to do just that. It has been a truly amazing period in my life, and now I´m ready for SUMMMMEERRR! (Sorry for those of you at home who still have a few weeks left….)

First things first. I am leaving for Paris this evening to meet my parents in the morning. I will be taking the bus from San Sebastián to Paris….11 hours. Thank you Spain for making me procrastinate and not buy my train ticket. One thing that I always realize when I travel, is how much my friends and family mean to me. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, in my opinion because it makes communication more difficult, and we are forced to express more sentimental things because words are all we have from this far away! I have always discovered this to be true throughout my travels, or moving away to go to school. I always return so thankful for all of the people in my life at home. I am estatic to see my parents, and hopefully open up their eyes and hearts to the world, as this is their first time in Europe. Although I had to threaten my Dad with ¨I will hold this against you if you don´t come, because you know this is what I love,¨ I secretly think he is excited to come over and hopefully disconnect from the stresses that work causes at home. Therefore, with this excitement, comes more great family news. On Tuesday, my Mom, the sneaky lady she is, emailed me and told me that I needed to test out Skype with my brother before they came over, so we had a way of getting in contact with him when they are here. So, he ended up calling me and told me to put the video on, ¨to make sure it works¨ and then he says, ¨Have you talked to Mom recently?¨ to which I reply, ¨Yeah, why?¨ He says, ¨Did she tell you that you are going to be an official aunt?¨ Congratulations Jeff and Brandie, you will be great parents again! J As for me, I can´t stop imagining what it will be like to hold my brother´s baby and watch him (My guess is boy) grow. This is truly a blessing for our family.

On to life in Spain….I finished my final exams on Thursday. The rush started on Sunday night, trying to finish a composition on the play, ¨Eloísa está debajo un almendro¨that I read to get graduate credits for my Spanish theatre class. After completing that, I survived Monday, a ¨normal¨ day of class, before taking part one of my Español Avanzado exam, an essay test, on Tuesday. Before class on Tuesday, I spent the morning hours studying for Wednesday´s tests, which continued after class on Tuesday. Wednesday, it was an early morning to ¨refresh¨ my memory before my Spanish Theatre and Seminario tests. Both of these tests required remembering/learning more information that the second half of Avanzado´s test on Thursday. I was a little bit stressed for my Seminario test especially, as it consisted of an oral, reading, writing, and grammar/expression ¨test¨ (what they call multiple choice). As it turns out, I was so excited from receiving the news about my brothers family, as well as receiving my first package from home, 2 CD´s and pictures of my unofficial nephew Eli, right before my first test, that I just did my best…and aced both of them J. Leaving class on Wedneday, I headed to my last day of ¨work¨ with the de la Fuente family. I had promised Helene that I would take her to ice cream on the last day, which we did after her English and Dance classes. The last few weeks, her and I had grown very close, and I was a little bummed to have to say goodbye to her and her family, as they have treated me very well this semester. Ana, Helene´s mother, invited me to stay with them whenever I want this summer, if I make my way back up to San Sebastián during my travels. I told her that I would glady take her up on the offer. I departed with a small gift in hand, typical Tolosa cigarillos (a type of Basque sweet), a handwritten note from Helene, and a seashell from her collection.

Saying goodbye, or ¨geroarte¨ to the de la Fuente family was just the beginning of having to do the same to all of the USAC friends I made over the semester, and to my amazing teachers and USAC office staff that fully supported each and every student. The hardest for me was to express in words to Mari Mar and Natalia what they have meant to me personally, and how much I realize the effort and love they put forth into their jobs. I hope that as a teacher I reflect in my daily efforts the passion I have for what I do at least half as much as they do. As Natalia put it, it wasn´t very ¨Basque¨ of her to tear up when saying ¨geroarte¨ to our class, as they typical Basque people easily hide their emotions. I can only hope that I can keep in contact with both of these amazing women for a long, long time.

Finals week ended on Thursday, and Friday, the first day of summer was without disappointment. Mikeli, a 22 year old Swedish student in several of my classes, and a talented singer, participating in the Orfeón Donostiarra, one of the most respected choirs in all of Spain, treated me and two other classmates to a fabulous day on Friday. Two of her fellow choir members, Bautista and Mikel, two older Basque men, and proud citizens of the town of Mondragón or Arrasate in Basque, a town about an hour driving from Donostia, organized a free visit to Mondragón Cooperación Cooperativa. Before the visit, I had never heard of the business concept, and to be honest, I am still in awe after the visit about how these businesses are organized. It a small nutshell, the organization of these companies in the small town of Arrasate have impacted the way that businesses around the world are run, in that the employees are the bosses of themselves, and is kind of a shared concept. We were met by the president of the Cooperativa, Mikel Lezamiz (he usually doesn´t do tours J) and started with an hour tour of a factory that makes washing machines. We saw how the self organization of the employees at each station, how they are responsible for knowing everyone´s jobs around them, correcting their own mistakes, making sure they are producing at the speed they should be, etc., as well as how every piece of a washing machine is made. This was followed by a powerpoint presentation of their business concepts, a tour of the downtown area of Arrasate, and then my favorite part of the day. Lunch. Bautista and Mikel, Mikeli´s friends, are members of a gastronomical society called Karkabal. In short, a gastronomical society is traditionally for men, a place for them to gather and cook in the kitchen, and eat all together. Women sometimes aren´t allowed in societies, and hardly ever in the kitchen. This is not sexist however, as the societies originated because Basque homes have traditionally been matriarchial throughout history, and men needed a place to have their ¨own space,¨hence these societies were created. Mikel and Bautista treated us at their own cost, to an amazing mean consisting of fresh seafood (anchovies, codfish, shrimp), followed by chuleta (steak), and finished up with pastries for dessert. The tradition is to reserve the sociedad, bring your own food, cook it up, enjoy, and then clean the space, note in the computer what you drank from the drink closet, and be done. As in Basque tradition, our lunch ended up being three hours long, as we enjoyed cooking, talking, a small concert put on by our Orfeón friends, and lasting memories. The men had no other reason to do this except to share their culture and generosity with three American strangers who have interest in their culture. It was, like many others, an amazing afternoon.

Nearing the end....

Wow! How fast time has flown by! I am down to one week left of school, and then finals week. Since returning from Spring Break, I have settled into a nice routine, and really feel like I´ve adjusted to all of the changes….and now it´s time to move on to the next phase; traveling with my parents for several weeks before venturing out onto my own.

The past few weeks have consisted of sweeping sand out of my bedroom because I´ve been frequenting the beach before and after class! The weather is still off and on, but for about five days straight, it was nice enough to lay out and conquer some homework, or more like THINK about conquering it with my eyes closed soaking in the rays. Here, at the hint of sunshine, the locals are on the beach; all ages, to enjoy the Viatmin D, or play paddle ball, soccer, or volleyball, because in just a few hours, the weather can change dramatically. One thing that still is hard to adjust to are the public exposure regulations here…as in there aren´t really any….. which took some adjusting at first, but now it´s become somewhat normal when scanning the beach. I´ve even talked to my intercambios about it, and they say that it is just what they have grown up with, and so they are used to it.

Besides the beach, I went to my first soccer game, albeit a Second Divison game, between Real Sociedad (the San Sebastián team) and Valladolid. It was quite the experience: my friend Lisa and were seated in the section with every 10-15 year old Basque Boy, so we got to learn some nice chants from them, get sunflower seeds spit on us, and then watch a game that ended in a 0-0 score. Who knew soccer games could end in a tie? I guess it´s a pretty known fact, but that just means that I´ll have to find another one to go to. The fans here are excited because Real is on the verge of moving up into the First Division if they can get a few more wins.

Regarding school, I have been VERY busy trying to complete everything that will be due in the next two weeks. I absolutely love my two teachers, Mari Mar and Natalia, and they both have inspired me, and reminded me (although I didn´t need it) why I love teaching as well. They are 100% dedicated to the development of their students, and also doing anything extra they can to help us get to know their culture as well, as they are both very proud of their Basque Heritage.

I took advantage of a volunteer project for the ¨Week of the Book,¨ and visited a local elementary school in Zarautz, a town along the coast about 30 minutes by train from San Sebastián. One of the USAC office workers, Aizpea, has children that attend the school, and she arranged for us to go visit and read a book in English to students that are learning English. I was so thankful to have the opportunity, as the students (between the ages of 9 and 13 were all eyes and ears. I even had one of the teachers invite me to come back anytime I wanted to do it again. Bummer that I´ll be leaving soon, but it was great to be able to interact with students and see the eagerness that they portray at that age.

On the 22^nd of April, USAC organized the viewing of the documentary FLOW: For the Love of Water. It so happened to coincide with Earth Day, which was fitting as it relates the problem of water scarcity. It is a powerful film, with which I am very familiar, having put in over 100 hours this semester, translating from English to Spanish, lesson plans that correlate with the film, directed toward Teachers Without Borders. Natalia and our USAC Director, Patricia, collaborated with the director, from the United States last semester to translate the movie itself into Spanish (subtitles). Once they accomplished that, she asked them if they would be interested in translating lesson plans for teachers, which is where me and two other students came into the picture. We dedicated our spare time to the cause (and for me, graduate credit). Since finishing (or almost, we now have to change all of the ¨Vosotros¨ forms to ¨Ustedes¨ in ALL the documents), Natalia has been working to translate the movie itself into Basque and French. She is truly an intelligent woman. The project was-is tiresome, but it has instilled some excitement in me that I am excited to relay to my own students upon returning home regarding sustainability, and water. Lisa, Mikeli (the other two students I worked with), Natalia, and I were all recognized after the viewing of the movie, and we received a copy of the movie for ourselves, and a certificate stating what we have accomplished.

Since my time here in Donostia is coming to an end soon, I have started to reflect upon things that I am going to miss, and/or do miss from home.

WILL MISS:

The food: tortilla de patata, patatas bravas con ali-oli sauce, champi con foie, bocadillos, sidra…it is all incredible

The experiences: Pintxo hopping, enjoying coffee, reading the Diario Vasco newspaper everyday, walking everywhere I go, stopping off at the beach after class, window shopping without the urge to buy anything, meeting with my inter-cambios (especially María!), frequent visits to the grocery store a block from my apartment, seeing the town lit up at night, the busy/alive streets of the Parte Vieja at night, the Wednesday walk with my girl Helene to her English and Dance class and then visiting with her parents afterwards, saying ¨AGUUUURRR¨ (Goodbye in Basque) and ¨Eskerrik asko¨ (Thank you in Basque) when leaving any place, being in awe of all the well behaved dogs

WON´T MISS:

Living in a loud/messy apartment, the random rain catching you without an umbrella, people smoking inside restaurants, seeing every Basque man and woman look like everyone else and stares because I don´t look like them or have a Basque profile J (thank goodness), dogs inside restaurants

MISS FROM HOME:

Friends, family, MEXICAN FOOD, Starbucks, having a car when I need it

I´m sure there is more to come……..