Mission Accomplished.

I have a list of things that I needed to get done here in San Sebastian before I went home.

I accomplished a ton yesterday.

Weather.com failed me yet again, yet this time in a good way. When I checked on Monday, it said the weather for Monday would be sunny and nice, Tuesday would be rain rain rain, and Wednesday would be super sunny and warm.

Instead, it was SUPER nice on Monday, then later (luckily I was in for the day at this point) it was a HAIL STORM. Yes, it was bright and sunny, kids were eating ice cream, dogs playing in the park, then (while it was STILL SUNNY AND NICE), golf ball sized hail started raining down from the sky along with heavy rain, then there was lightening and thunder. It did this until early evening.

Tuesday was supposed to be terrible, then it ended up being 73 and sunny and cloudless. What!??! Everyone on facebook posted their statuses as "at the beach" "hanging at the playa" "sitting in the sand and soaking up the sun!" It was completely unexpected. To think San Sebastian has NICE weather? I dunno, it sure did surprise me.

And as of now, Wednesday is looking pretty nice too. There are clouds in the sky, but they are wispy and light. Other than that, it is sunny, and it is about 70 degrees.


Anywho, what I am trying to get at is that I got a ton of stuff done yesterday because of the unexpectedly nice weather.
I got to rollerblade around Jesus Mountain, which isn't really called that, but there IS a giant Jesus statue on top. I think it's actually called Mount Urgull or something.
I got to HIKE UP Jesus Mountain. It used to be some kind of fortress back in the 1800's and there are ruins all over the mountain of different stations. There are old cannons, withering stone walls, and lots and lots of greenery. It's also pretty touristy, which isn't what I was expecting. What I mean is not that it was crowded, but that there were signs pointing out what was in which direction, plaques describing what stuff was, and...
When I got to the top where Jesus was, I thought it would just be the statue and stuff. Instead it was a large lookout point with cannons, then some security guide summoned me into this building under the statue and it was a tourist center for the site! You could buy postcards, there was a mini museum of artifacts from San Sebastian, movies playing about the history of the area, posters, maps, etc etc. Up the stairs you could get to the top and see a panoramic lookout of the whole town. It was gorgeous.

After that I went to lunch at this restaurant I've been dying to go to (it was on THE LIST), called La Perla. It is right on the ocean, and there is a fancy restaurant part as well as a cheaper outdoor grill. I got a DELICIOUS cheeseburger with grilled onions and plopped down at a table right on the balcony overlooking the beach. From there I got a wonderful view of the ocean as well as a 65 year old woman tanning topless.

Then I went to La Parte Vieja where I did my last minute souvenir shopping for friends and family. I also got myself a scarf, one of the things here that EVERYONE has.

Finally, I got a "Cookie"-flavored ice cream on the boulevard. That wasn't on the list...but I couldn't resist.

I tried calling up people to do all this with, but as always that failed. Instead I accomplished everything on my own, which was a lot better because I found it more peaceful and fun that way.



Now, all I have left is to get Chocolate y Churros today (wednesday) or tomorrow before I leave for Madrid. It's a super common snack here of rich hot chocolate (basically a liquified chocolate bar served warm) and churros (you know, those fried pastries with cinnamon and sugar...YUM). My host mom recommended a good place to go in Parte Vieja for that, so I am excited.


PS: Sun down here since daylight savings has been around 9:30pm. Like, straight up brightness until 9:30. My parents told me that sundown is like 7pm in the states. That will be weird to come home to.

The Final Weekend

So this being the last weekend, the USAC kids are gonna be ragin'.


Normally, the USAC kids go to bars on weekends. The people who stay out REALLY late (like 4 or 5am) go to a club at 3 or so. But, imagine it like this metaphor: The bars are like dinner, and the club is like dessert. People only get the dessert if they are in the mood, and it is only a once in a while thing, not every night like dinner is.

It's Alex I's bday this weekend, so she plans to hit up La Rotunda, Bataplan and Espala (the three big clubs that they go to occasionally) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, respectively.

Um, three nights of clubs? Her and her group that go with her are gonna have a sugar coma after eating dessert three nights straight.



Also, I wanted to go to Biarritz this weekend since I didn't have a chance last weekend. Unfortunately (but what could I expect) the weather is RAINY. Oh wow, San Sebastian, thank you for gracing us with a Tuesday and Wednesday with sun, and Wednesday being a two-fer with sun AND a high temperature of 72! THANK YOU. But of course, I know how much it strained you and you now have to revert back to clouds again for another two week period, which includes my final days here. But THANK YOU. Seriously. For those ENTIRE 3 days this entire four month semester that were above 70 degrees? Thanks. I know it was SO HARD.

But anyways. Today's weather was fog and clouds. And tomorrow is rain! And the next day is rain! And the next, and the next. But then Tuesday it changes it up with RAIN. Oh, and all these days are an awesome 50 or so degrees, and probably windy, too! So just fantastic weather for the final list of stuff I have to do:

-Take a day trip to Biarritz, France (Right over the border)
-Go to Irun's (neighboring city) Cider festival Saturday night
-Go to Herri Urrats festival Sunday
-hike to Jesus (statue, that is. If you need a visual...

(it's the lit up thing way up high)

-hike to the mountain with ruins of something

(that's Megan H up there, and her and a few other people went here, I saw pics, and now I wanna go!)

-eat Chocolate con churros (hot chocolate with CHURROS.)
-eat at the beach restaurant "La Perla" and grab a burger there
-rollerblade around Jesus Mountain
-I was gonna surf, because I know I can (remember that time I was in the Hawaii surf magazine? I have copies if you want me to send you one), but with two surfable days this entire semester, looks like that's a negative.
-finish editing spring break vid. Also...BEGIN to edit spring break vid.
-buy last minute souvenirs.

Oh, and study for all my finals, since they are all on the same day, MONDAY.
But at least that gives me tuesday and wednesday to finish my "list."


Some updates about today:

--since I am getting to the end here, I wanted to wear the clothes I haven't worn yet. That includes a shirt-dress I bought this past week. I wore it with tights b/c it was slightly chilly today, and it's a good thing, because I just took them off and remembered that I put like a dozen bandaids on my feet so I could protect them from my shoes giving me blisters. Seriously, I am glad I had tights to cover up my bandaged toes or people would ask me if I fed my feet to the sharks or something.

--My host parents were telling me that if I were ever out with friends, and they were to get drunk to the point that they couldn't stand and stuff, that there is a 24 hour emergency place near the boulevard that administers shots of B12 to people who are super drunk and it wakes them up or alerts them or something. I have never heard of this! The way my host dad described it, he made it sound like it just magically made you better after one injection! Which makes me wonder if it is real.

--Tomorrow I plan to give my host parents and host sister my parents' present for them. I also hope to video tape it, if it isn't too awkward. That way you can see how they react to a gift of Loyola apparel, Frango mints, Hershey's, and BBQ sauce.

--I took note of this today: since I began this trip I was on page 295 of Harry Potter book five, and now I am on...PAGE 295 of Harry Potter five. Isn't that amazing, how time sure flew.