Study abroad does in fact include some studying...

Well the school portion of this trip has begun. I wasn't too worried about the classes because I had understood all of the guides and professors very well thus far and knew I would know what is going on in class or at least know when to ask a question. All of my classes are in the same building except one so my chances of getting lost or being late between classes is quite slim. I have significant breaks in between all of my classes too so it's convenient to go back to the dorms and eat lunch or work on homework (eek). The classes I'm taking are:

• Culture, Politics, & Economy of Modern Spanish Society
• Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
  
• Basque Language and Culture
• Business for Spanish

They all seem really great and I'm excited to learn. None of them are too worried about correcting our grammar and such but it's all coming back to me fairly quickly. All of my classes are with other CIDE students, many of whom live in my dorm and I see on a daily basis.

Today was my early out day - done at 2pm so my roommate and I went to the beach. It was about a 20 minute metro ride (only about $2) and then a 10 minute walk from the station. Technically it's in Getxo (where we were on Friday) and hosts a nice large hotel and very unique surrounding buildings. A very small town but very beautiful and the beach of course made it incredible. some girls went yesterday and said that it was very crowded but today it was a smaller crowd and very enjoyable. It was about 94 degrees outside so it was a perfect beach day. The professors said that is very rare to be so hot like this in September so we took advantage of it while we could. So much so that I even went swimming. Underwater and everything! Haha, it was chilly at first but felt great. And I couldn't believe how buoyant I was in the water. Felt so easy to just float and enjoy the waves.

Some notes about the beach:

• European sunbathing (only one piece preferred by all - and the smaller the better)
• The water is salty. Increeeeedibly salty!
• Was swimming in the Cantabrian Sea
• Plenty of seaweed ("Looked fake" said Molly. "Should be in a fishtank."

Some surrounding buildings>>

Me at the beach!