blakerson.com

Hola! This one has to be short, since I'm on a tight schedule. San Sebastian is a cool touristy town in the Basque country. There was a bombing in this territory yesterday, but not in my town. The Basque area is interesting, it's a little intimidating at times with this very Eastern-ish architecture, tons of political statements everywhere, and the primary language is truly foreign. At the same time, it's a very vibrant place with a lot of personality. Beaches here are OK, but I've been spoiled by the goodness of Santander on a good day.

It's nice to be online here, taking a break from the group I'm traveling with. They're at best very tolerable, and at worst, Greek. But the new people I meet outside my own group are all very cool.

Life here has improved. I was extremely uncomfortable for the first week or so here, but I'm very slowly adapting more and more, and each day some things get better and I get a little wiser. I do know one thing:

change of plans: I'm coming home July 7th. It's a week early. Once here, I came to the decision that I didn't want to do Paris and London alone. I don't feel bad about it at all, especially considering my mom's jealous of the trip and she wants to travel with me sometime in the near future. Furthermore, while this place is cool and learning Spanish is great, I truly miss all of the wonderful things, places and people that are familiar to me.

Much love to all of you!

I miss driving, Top Gear, my Xbox, Adam/Mikey/Patrick, the city of Austin in summer, Thomas's house, the Mongolian grill, Pei Wei, forever-lasting convos with Chloe, my Facebook addiction, Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, Josh and Ruthie, Super Smash Bros, the entire A-town crew, Abby, and everything else that comes with being me in Texas.

My flight plans have been changed. I'll be home the night of July 7th.

Here I am, in a European hostel. The place has slanted floors, sketchy hot water, it's about to cave in and we love it. The view is great, everyone has their own bed, and it cost us 34 Euro each to stay here the whole weekend.

San Sebastian is in the Basque country, which at first glance is a little intimidating. Once we step off the bus we're greeted with a new foreign country. The first thing that comes to mind is the legendary Basque separatists, who for the last two summers have attacked popular tourist spots. Then you see signs in Basque, a language with an abundance of k's and x's. It gives the impression of this almost fascist, almost Eastern sort of world. The architecture matches as well.

Life here is just as good, though. San Sebastian is a more touristy town than Santander. Bars are just as frequent and the beaches aren't nearly as good. The nightlife is roughly the same, with popular international bars, lots of English speakers and just as many random, drunken, incoherent bastards. I knocked back a couple of potent Jack+Cokes and suddenly became fluent in Spanish.

So my speaking skills are halfway there. Once I'm fluent sober, mission accomplished. Knowing that much gives me peace of mind enough to enjoy this trip. I just got off the phone with my mom and I committed to not travelling Europe alone. I feel like I made the right decision. My mom already wants to go to Europe next summer, and if I graduate rich (i.e. law school) I'll be more than able to go, say, race the Ring on my own terms.

4 weeks in Spain to go.

Last night: football on TV, the way it's supposed to be: commercial free, with less annoying commentators, and lots of spitit. The game was Spain-Bosnia in World Cup qualifying and Bosnia took an early lead off a fluke of a goal. For the rest of the game, I learned a whole roster of Spanish curse words from Carlos, who couldn't believe (like me) that Spain dominated the whole game and converted on none of their zillions of opportunities. In the last minute of injury, Spain scored a tying goal to end the game, and all was well.

Now, on to a pro/con comparison of Spain and the USA before I go watch more football.

Good in Spain:
Public works, works (entertainment, culture, transportation)
Good, abundant, potent, cheap coffee
Minimalism, lack of waste
Good TV: music, commercials, shows, there's motorsports!
All dogs are so well-behaved that most don't need leashes
Smaller cars that are great in the city
'Rice' cars don't have as many stupid body kits of exhausts
I'm up and leaving for San Sebastian in class tomorrow for the weekend.

Bad in Spain:
Where are the gamers?
People are cold up north
Messed up televised sports ('Handball' is a combination of basketball, soccer and rugby)
You thought cell phones were expensive in the US
Smoking in public (schools, etc.) is common indoors
Still see the occasional unnecessary Jeep
Those rice cars do have fake, unnecessary hood fins and intakes
I'm going by bus.

Yesterday was a bad day. And it's the bad days that often have the best endings. Mom called and she could tell I sounded down, but her advice gave me a little perspective. I may not travel Europe after Santander, but I'd probably be glad to get home, especially if I'd be travelling alone. But it's amazing what a cup of coffee can do.

Yesterday I was exhausted; I spent all day in bed alternating between sleep and reading. I thought of sad things and wanted to go enjoy the day at the beach but didn't have the energy. It pissed me off that I had no Spanish friends.

Worse, I felt like a kid. My diet changed to more comfortable stuff like meat and potatoes and while it eases some stress, I felt like they were going too far out of the way to accomodate me. I told Carlos I needed an adapter for American electronics and he took a charger off for me and bought on the next day. I felt completely useless.

Today, though, another Blake and I went to a cafeteria for a cup of coffee. It's cheap, strong, and tasty. Totally did the trick. Today I have the energy to go to the beach, even. I'm less useless.

Then last night after dinner, Sol and Carlos spotted a mosquito in the kitchen. They flipped out. They shut all the doors and windows and stood back from it like it were some kind of stealth AIDS-carrying ninja. I volunteered to help and within 30 seconds smashed it on the ceiling and killed it. One pro over Texas: mosquitos are so rare that natives actually flip out. Maybe I'm a little useful here after all.