Well this weekend was quite the weekend...since we had a four day weekend, we decided to travel and we assumed it would be full of excitement and going out and having a good time. I have...well we have (the four other girls I was with)...concluded that going out isnt really our talent. But none the less it was a great weekend....here we go.
Joy Michaela and I left for San Sebastian on Thursday around 2 oclock. We decided to take the train so after a quick lunch and some travel munchie buying we walked to the train station...which was obviously the wrong one...so luggage and all we walked to the other side of Casco Viejo to find the right one. After getting inside we took a good oh I dont know, 25 minutes trying to figure out how to buy our tickets on the automatic ticket thing. We even changed it to English but when all the names of stations and towns and what not are in Spanish it just all seems the same. After successfully buying three tickets we found our train and waited. After getting on we figured that it would take about and hour or so to get to San Sebastian (SS)...and hour came and went....hour and a half....2 hours....at about 2 1\2 hours we kinda started to wonder if we had missed our stop...but we were pretty positive it was going to be the last one and we were excpecting to see paradise when we were getting close, and paradise had not yet appeared. At the 3 hour mark we finally arrived.
For the weekend I had booked rooms in hostels for us for each city..after asking for directions we trecked out to find our first hostel....long story short...got lost...asked for directions...twice...got a taxi....got to the hostel an hour later.
Joy and I had never stayed in a hostel so we really didnt know what to expect...but the first one was pretty decent. There were several bedrooms...two bathrooms and three showers. The room that we had, had three bunkbeds. The three of us girls shared a room with three other people. A girl that was only there the first night..dont know her name, and then two boys...we like to refer to them as Creepy Pete (Sam) and Sinky Feet boy (Rob). Both very nice haha. That night we didnt really know what to do cause like always it was raining....lets just say for the whole 4 days we were gone it rained 97.4 percent of the time. So Thursday night Joy Michaela and I first went to go find something to eat because we were pretty hungry. We found a little bar that had sandwiches. After that we decided to go to the grocery store to get stuff for breakfast for the next morning. At the grocery store we got simple things...granola cereal, oranges, bread, cheese, and some drinks. While trying to decide our drink choice...a guy came up to us and started talking to us in english....very accented, but none the less english...lets just say he had had waaaaaay to much to drink and all three of us nice innocent girls about knocked him in the teeth. He kept following us and we told him in spanish we didnt speak english and to leave us alone...and hes like nooo u guys are americans! why wont you speak english to me??? and Micheala...who is party Hispanic said no we are from Mexico...so after laughing and me speaking english cause i just couldnt help it we got in line where he again followed us...he budged in front of us and kept making weird comments to us...It was hard not to laugh because he was clearly embarassing himself in front of everyone else in the store. We got our stuff and high tailed it back to the hostel so he didnt see where we went.
That night we assumed that we would get dolled up and go out...another long story short...we played a game...brushed our teeth...and were in bed at 11 pm to chat for a while before we hit the hay...haha. That night was pretty hilarious...at about 6 am...Sam aka Creepy Pete decided that he wanted to sleep in the same bed as Michaela...drunk of course...he climbed up into her top bunk and kept telling her he wanted to spoon...and she kept saying umm no thanks, get out of my bed....pretty funny...he finally got out of her bed and crashed in his. That is how he got the name creepy pete.
The next morning we got up at a decent time, ate breakfast and got a move on it to go out and walk around, shop, and what not. At around noon, Sarah and Ashley called us and said that they had gotten to SS and had checked into the hostel and would meet us at the bridge. After meeting them we went to this mall...I bought a new camera (Mom, I will explain at a later date)... and then the 5 of us headed to lunch. We ate at this place right on the coast...beside the fact that it was windy....really windy...and raining....reallly raining...it was beautiful haha. We ordered Paella (rice and seafood dish...yum yum yum).. and sat and talked and then had coffee after dinner like a bunch of old women. We then headed back to the hostel because it was so dang cold out... (oh and a side note...Joy and I thought we would be awesome and just bring our jackets for the weekend...not our winter coats....really AWESOME idea). At the hostel we hung out for awhile, talked to some other people that were staying there and then decided to go to the store to find stuff to cook for dinner (we wanted to save money as you can tell...) We bought spinach noodels and sauce, some chicken nuggets, more granola, and more oranges. Cooking dinner that night was a lot of fun. We figured that we would go out that night after dinner....another short story...after dinner we talked...watched some music videos, met more new people, went to bed...at about 1am-ish. Again, another successful night. The next morning we wanted to get a good start since we had to go to Pamplona. We ate breakfast, packed up our things, and headed on foot to find the bus station. Fail. We walked around way to long with our heavy backpacks\duffels and did NOT find the bus station (P.S. I cant wait until my dad gets here...because I will spend two and a half weeks never being lost). Sooo we got two taxis, piled in, and finally got to where we needed to be. Another long story short....Joy almost got hit by a bus (not her fault)...we got tickets, waited in the raining....went the bathroom....then it started pouring, didnt know which one was our bus...finally found it with 10 minutes left...got on the bus..half wet...half dry...laughing of course...and headed off to Pamplona. Arrived in Pamplona (city where the running of the bulls takes place for those who dont know) early afternoon....checked into our hostel. This one was way less sketchy than that other one, and didnt smell like stinky feet. The rooms were nicer and the the common room was waaaay nicer. All five of us were in the same room with one other guy (who didnt sleep in the room that night...hahah i wonder why....)We then decided to go out in the rain and walk around to see the arena where the bulls fight and to walk down the path where they let the bulls loose chasing people. After taking lots of pictures...we found someplace to eat...bocadillas y tortillas....yum. After that we headed back home to put on dry socks and to warm up. We played some card games...met some new people...and hung out while it poured. At about 8:40 we decided we should look for a grocery store to buy stuff for dinner and breakfast....we asked the guy where one was and what time it closed and he said right down the street and at 9....lets just say we hightailed it out of the building...all forgetting our umbrellas of course, and sprinted down the street so we could make it. After thinking of stuff to make, we decided on rice...we could use it to make spanish rice for supper, and cinnamon rice for breakfast...and it was cheap...so along with that we got more oranges, yogurt, rice cakes, nutella, and of course some teramasue icecream. We headed back...made dinner...like a bunch of old women...ate...laughed...cleaned dishes....ate icecream....talked to new friends...got ready for bed...and talked in our beds for a good hour before we all passed out. Oh wait I forgot a part....we had bought some Cava...basically bubbley white wine...had a bottle of that...then went to bed. In the morning we got up, showered, made our cinnamon con leche rice...packed up and got ready to leave when the guy at the counter said that he would check what time the next bus left....it was 11:45...and yes with our excellent luck, the next bus didnt leave until 4 pm....haha. He said we could just chill at the hostel and do whatever until we needed to go. So another long story short....we talked....watched some tennis....wathced some music videos....wathched it rain....made more rice...ate the rice....cleaned dishes...and then hit the road towards the bus stop. From here on our the rest is pretty much got on the bus got off the bus..got to Bilbao...got on the metro...got off the metro...got on the bus...got off the bus...got to the apartment...did homework...ate supper...went to bed.
This weekend was a lot of fun....a time to relax and bond...a lot of laughing...a lot of memories...but we all decided to do the same trip again in late April or early May so we dont freeze.

Sorry this is so incredibly long and not to eventful, but I need to remember it somehow...haha
Love and miss you all
Prayers for Haiti

-Mel