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Just had the greatest day of my life.

August 30th, 2009 ajmcgr11

Hey all,

I’m just gonna give a little play by play of how the week has been up until yesterday, Saturday August 29th, 2009, and then put up some pics. During the weekdays, we had to go to our HC Intensive Language classes from 9:30am to 1:30pm. I’m not gonna censor myself here: they’re kinda boring. And by kinda I mean I’ve been writing down the lyrics to my favorite Juanes songs from memory to keep myself from passing out each day. There’s only so much imperfect subjunctive one can take before wanting to pull their own teeth out. After class everyone would go back to the apartments to enjoy the wonderful gift that is the daily siesta. The Spanish really know what they’re doing with these 3 hour naps in the middle of their workdays. Gotta hand it to them. Finally, everyone closed out the days with a huge meal and a trip to a local bar to meet some natives and speak a little Espanol (sorry, no tilde). One of the days, however, the group took a short  half-day journey to a magical place called San Sebastian. Upon stepping out of the bus we were immediately enthralled. The cathedrals, the stores, the mix of people, the tapas, the bars and not to mention the beautiful beaches all made us smile like 5 year olds in a candy store. We couldn’t get enough! Which is why many of us decided to return on Friday and have our first hostel stay of the year.

I found a cheap hostel (literally 25 euros/night) named Beti Anayak, which means something along the lines of “always brothers” in the local Basque language of Euskara. A group of nine of us decided to stay the night in an 8 person room at the hostel: myself, Dom, Joe and Andy made up the guys and Jenny, Maura, Kate, Bryana and Liz C the group of girls. We got the bus to S.S. and made our way to Beti Anayak which we found relatively easily. And then the fun began. We walked in the door and up the stairs and entered what seemed to be some lady’s apartment! There were probably 3-4 huge rooms full of beds, each of which shared a communal kitchen and 2 bathrooms. Maria, the orange-moomoo-wearing owner of the hostel, presented us with our bedroom: a skyblue room adorned with 4 well-used, metal bunk beds, a central sitting area complete with hookah and non-funtioning fireplace, a wall-sized painting of a nude mother and her suckling child, and a balcony with some beautiful common household plants. First impression? Exactly what we were looking for.

After checking in, we walked into the “Parte Vieja” of S.S. and engorged ourselves with tapas, Spanish finger foods sold at bars, until we all were in a food coma. We then returned to the hostel where we introduced ourselves to our fellow hostel mates: 3 australians, 3 germans, and an italian. Naturally, we all got along just fine and we decided to go out as one big group. Many bars, discotecas, and laughs later we all returned to Beti Anayak for some well-needed rest. Which brings me to yesterday, when we hit the beach for a well-deserved day of relaxation. Though my whole upper half got fried to a crisp and I unfortunately lost my wallet (minor detail. didn’t lose much money though…I know, I know, you told me so), it wasn’t enough to bring me down on this perfect trip. I’ve made new friends from all over the world and experienced things that I never have before. All I have to say is: bring on Palma! Of course, insiders:

kate’s rap/hi bryana’s dad/i’m not too experienced in this stuff but I’m pretty sure this is…/keith?/YOU PUT ZA BREAD IN ZE TOASTA!/maria, mariahhh/joe the pickpocket/Marengo is ridiculous!/Ugh, Andy’s lost

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