La Vida en San Sebastian

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to sharing my new San Sebastian life with you. Let me tell you though...it's AMAZING! My first week has been quite a whirlwind! The first few days were all about adjusting to the time change, language change and life change! My boss, Erika, met up with me the day after I got here and helped me get a Spanish cell phone, find correct converters so I could make my computer work and showed me around town a bit. Over the weekend, I took some time to explore my new town. The Concha Beach is gorgeous and is always packed with people! In the background of the beach picture, you can see a big hill - Monte Urgull. I hiked up to the top today, where there is a huge castle and on top of that is a statue of Jesus! It was so beautiful. There were also some videos and information about San Sebastian history. The hill is very close to were I am staying, so I will probably do the hike quite often, since it is only 30 minutes and is a good exercise. Sadly, I have not bought tennis shoes yet so I had to hike up in my flip flops haha! It was definitley worth it and had great views (as you can see in this pic on the left! That is the Concha Beach from the top) The weather has been nice - 70s-80s most days. It's all in celcius so I am not too good with it yet. I am also not very good with the time yet - 24 hour clock! I am impressed that I make it to my bus on time!

I am trying my best to blend in and not look like too much of a tourist. It is such a change from NYC - no one really rushes to walk anywhere, people smoke in every building (eww) and everything shuts down for siesta. While it is a very stark difference, I am really loving it and trying to embrace this new life I have. While I was at the busstop yesterday, people were asking me for directions about the bus schedule - haha! I did the best I can with the Spanish I know.

Work has been pretty challenging so far. I wish I spoke better Spanish! For the first week the school asks that you don't use books, so I have been coming up with activites for the kids to play. Yesterday I played memory, colored a bunch of pictures, played pictionary and sang songs ha! The kids are all adorable. My classes range in age from 5-12 years old and all are impressivley decent at English for how young they are. Once I get the swing of things, I am sure it will be really fun.

It seems like I have been here for awhile when it's really only been a week. I am trying to take one day at a time. I am still in the process of looking for an apartment but should know before the end of the week. Things are really falling into place! I miss everyone and love hearing from you all!

Besos,
Amanda