Dos Tejanos en Espana, Primera Semana

Hola, from our first week en España. I think we’re FINALLY starting to adjust to this strange place and language, but it’s still taking time. Today we went to the Guggenheim, which is absolutely amazing. It’s mostly architectural art, and there are a few exhibits that are really interesting and engaging and a few more modern that Cade and I are I guess too “uncultured” to realize their aesthetic beauty. :)

We got a call from the apartment office yesterday that said our rent was late and that we had to open up an account right away before 9:30 this morning. In the states, they’d give us a few days but in most cases not here. So we went to the bank today and tried to open una cuenta (an account), but they told us we needed some identification number for non-Spanish citizens to be able to open an account. Nobody told us that! So we went to the “hacienda” to get our NIFs (which we thought would be a same-day kind of thing) and filled out our forms and everything and the lady said it would take a few days before we got them. So we couldn’t get an account and were freaking out, scared that the apartment would kick us out or something. But when we went back to the apartment, they were completely cool about it and just let us pay our first rent in cash until we get our NIFs to open a new account. We pay our electricity and water each month along with our rent. Water is a flat fee of 8 euros per month, and electricity is 30 euros per month (but if we end up using less than that, they refund us the unused amount each month). They were really cool about it.

That’s something I’ve noticed about this place. Spaniards are really nice and eager to help you. Most people know English, but we don’t ask them to speak it so we can get more Spanish practice. Yesterday, there was a big group of us – maybe 5 or 6 people – who were obviously American and obviously lost, and there was some lady who just stopped on the street to help us find where we needed to go. It’s hard understanding them when they speak so fast, but if they tell you can’t understand, they slow down and speak more clearly so you can understand it.

But I like the Spanish spoken here much better – it’s so clear to understand what people are saying in surrounding conversations because the way they speak is so clear and crisp. They don’t slur their words and annunciate everything. I imagine it’s the same thing for someone trying to learn English. I’d guess trying to understand a British person would be much easier than someone trying to learn English from a Texan. We’re less annunciated, but I’m proud of where I come from. :)

That, in addition to their accent (the theta, which I’m inadvertently starting to adopt like in gra’th’ias or empe’th’ar) is something I’ve noticed about the places and people surrounding me. Some other things that separate this new place from back home:

*First, and maybe of higher or highest importance: beer and wine is dirt cheap here. You can buy a fair bottle for 1 euro, and a better bottle for 3 or 4 euro. In fact, we found a bottle that we paid $15 for at a Specs back in Austin for only 3 euro! Also, beer is dirt cheap. We found a can six-pack of Budweiser today for 92 cents! Of course, that’s 92 cents in euros, but that’s still cheap.

*Secondly, beef and ham are expensive. We went to the grocery store today to try to buy groceries for the next few days (we’re trying to cook mostly instead of going out to eat so that we can save money to travel more across Spain and Europe), and it costs 4 euro for 6 slices of ham! On the other hand, fish is fairly cheaper here (I guess since we’re so close to the coast).

*Everybody smokes here.

*Spaniards really care about the way they dress. They look really nice, but have their own style which is completely different than back in the states. Tennis shoes are discouraged, so it’s no wonder that everyone can automatically tag me as an American before I open my mouth.

*Everyone walks in Bilbao. Or they take the bus. There are a few cars around, but not nearly as many as there are people here. Public transportation up here is abundant.

*They play American music in the grocery store like all the time, and it’s weird. And there’s a lot more English than I thought there would be. The other day I bought some cereal that said “corn flakes” on the box.

*People here look really fit. There aren’t many overweight people here, and we think it’s because their food is healthier. Maybe it’s just the Basque area we’re in, but we haven’t found much fried food, which is good. And everyone walks everywhere, so that makes sense too.

*EVERYBODY closes for lunch. The entire city just shuts down. It’s the most important meal of the day, and it consists of two courses, a dessert and a glass of wine anywhere from 10-15 euros for a reasonable price. It’s not bad, but we’re trying to cook more because our priority is traveling. Today we cooked chicken spaghetti with red sauce and baguette bread (amazing and fresh for only 40 euro cents). MMM. The food here is buenísima.

*Everybody said it rains a lot here, but at least since we’ve been here, it’s been really pretty and sunny. It’s only really rained one day, but I hope I didn’t just jinx myself out of a semester of good weather.

*There’s a lingerie store here called “Woman’s Secret”. No joke. I wanted to take a picture of it but I haven’t had my camera handy yet.

If you have any questions about Bilbao, Spain or Europe in general, just ask us!

We’re learning everyday new and crazy things that are constantly surprising us!

We’ll write more when we can, and if you’d like a post card, please give us your address and we’ll try to send something. Parents – don’t worry; we already bought y’all a postcard so yours should arrive soon. We just have to figure out a) where a post office is, and b) how much it costs to send mail back to the United States.

Also, I have pictures, but I don’t know where to post them. I’ve never used Flickr, but I guess I’ll try to check that out since Facebook isn’t available to everyone (and most importantly our parents). We’ll let you know when we get that figured out.

Well, until next time! ¡Hasta luego!