Paella festival in Getxo

Saturday was another BIG DAY consisting of the Paella festival in Getxo, midnight beaching, and another jaiak (festival) in Gorliz. It was an amazingly good time. The paella festival is based solely around the making and eating of Paellas. There's an official Paella contest, where people (who are actually good at making paella) compete and then sell plates of their paella for €1. However, there were many (MANY) people like us (Eva, Marta, Leire, Cecilia, Aitor, Javi, Josu, Emanual, Iker, me and many more) who set up a tent, prepared sangria and a not-so-professional paella, and kept it just for ourselves.

We arrived Saturday morning to claim the site we rented and set things up. By noon we had multiple buckets of sangria and the fields were packed full of people doing the same things. There were also many txosnas that had been set up so as you walked around the fields you could stop and listen to music and dance in the outdoor bars. Also, the fields were located along the river bank and the views and walks from along the bank were beautiful.

After dark the paella festival started to thin out a bit and everyone that was left moved to the txosnas. We packed up our site and headed down to the beach in Algorta (one of the neighborhoods in Getxo) for a midnight swim. The water suprisingly wasn't that cold (by my Canadian standards anyway) and then went to the mellow bar on the beach for some hot cider before we went all the way to Gorliz (close to Plentzia) for the jaiak (festival) there. It was a great day filled with ridculous amount of sun, food, and sangria.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Paella festival in Getxo

More concerts and Santurtzi

The last week was filled with concerts and jaiaks in Santurtzi. After spending a very windy late afternoon at the beach with Eva recovering from the night before and having to get up for school, we went for delicious Vietnamese food and then to see her Mother (who used to be the lead singer of Mocedades) perform in Santurtzi. She really has a beautiful voice. She performed some songs from Mocedades and some great classics translated into Spanish. I enjoyed seeing the concert with Eva.

On Saturday, I went to see Mago de Oz, a Spanish Rock/Folk band that was a mix between 80s hard rock and folk music consisting of rock fiddle and rock flute, in Baralkado with Jontxu (my roomie, not Eva's boyfriend), Sandra, Javi, Santi, David, Gorka, and Patri. One of the songs was reminiscent of The Final Countdown with interludes of rock flute and fiddle. The singers were big guys with big hair that could truly belt out a rock scream and head bang like there was no tomorrow. It was pretty awesome! You can see one of their singles here.

After the crazy concert in Baralkado, we went to the jaiaks in Santurtzi where there were SO many people. Unlike Wednesday, it was impossible to dance at the outdoor bars, or even move. But Sandra and I ran into her friend Pedro from Columbia so we went with his friend to practice my salsa skills...I'm still terrible. I may be a hopeless case when it comes to latin dance. Gora Santurtzi!

Hasta la proximá,

Kathlene

More concerts and Santurtzi

Conciertos de Santurtzi

This week marked the beginning of the jaiaks in Santurtzi. Santurtzi has one of the bigger jaiaks in The Basque Country with rides, games, txosnas, and free concerts during the week. On Tuesday, Eva, Marta, Carolina and I went to see Carlos Baute (see his latest single here) in Santurtzi. It was my first Spanish concert and it was interesting. It was typical Spanish-romantic pop complete with a lot of fan fair and dancing. However, Carlos Baute seemed to think that he was God's gift to music. I've never seen someone shaking their hips in skinny jeans be more full of themselves. It was pretty hilarious.

On Wednesday, Eva, Leire, Sandra, Patricia, Javi, Jontxu, Ivan, and I went to see The Village People!! That's right, The Village People are actually still around and are performing again. Though they may be old, they still have an amazing stage presence! It was a much better concert! I had such a good time even though I may have been the only one who understood the band when they addressed the audience. But, I translated for my friends so I wasn't the only one cheering at the appropriate moments. After the hilarious and thoroughly entertaining concert, we went for drinks and to dance at the txosnas. I attempted to learn how to salsa, but I'm really not a talented dancer. However, at a truly Basque txosna there was a basque band playing and I was able to teach Ivan how to polka (traditional basque music consists of a lot of accordion), so maybe I have some talent haha.

Of course, because this is Spain, the festival/jaiak continues 24 a day for the 10 days it's in Santurtzi, so even at 4am we were able to ride the rides or dance the polka on a Wednesday. Summer in The Basque Country is most certainly not filled with sleep and rest, but is absolutely filled with activity and fun.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Conciertos de Santurtzi

Pamplona for San Fermin a.k.a the running of the bulls

I went to Pamplona for San Fermin a.k.a. the running of the bulls this weekend. Very unfortunately, Eva couldn't make it. But Sandra, Javi, Ivan, Santi, Patricia, David and I went without her. And what an experience it was! The amount of people there alone was quite the spectacle. Thousands upon thousands of people pack every street and plaza of the small city. San Fermin (who is the saint that is celebrated during the outrageous week) starts every year on July 7th with the lighting of a rocket. After the rocket is launched, there's the tradition of 'fuenting' which is jumping off of the fountain in the main plaza. This tradition started because of an American who jumped off the fountain and died. So now, people jump off the fountain every year (I don't understand). Then the chaos begins and doesn't stop for anything until the 14th rolls around. The bulls run at 8am every day, the city is littered with seven giant stages that pump out the tunes 24h, and all of the bars and the pubs stay open 24h. You can't escape the party. And you don't sleep. We arrived at about 4pm and kept going until we made it to our bus home at 11am the next day. Some people just pass out in the field and wait for the next night, but there's no way I could've handled two nights of insanity.

Also, there are people from all over the world. Everyone comes to see the running of the bulls, even though it's next to impossible to actually see the bulls run. Most people watch the run from a bar at 8am. However, if you're determined enough, you can camp out all night along the street and try to hold your place for the morning (my friend Marek did this and I stole some pictures from him and put them in the slideshow below). But, you have to keep in mind that bulls have hopped the fence and these spectators have been horribly injured. So... maybe the bar isn't so bad. I find it amazing that every year, people die (this year one died from a horn injury to the neck) or suffer terrible injuries, but it just keeps on going. I guess the Spanish like to live life dangerously.

But... wow... San Fermin.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Pamplona for San Fermin a.k.a the running of the bulls

Mungia Jaiak

This weekend the Jaiak (which is Basque for festival, roughly) was in Mungia, so the girls and I went to Mungia for an evening to celebrated both the Jaiak (whichever saint was being celebrated this time) and CANADA DAY!!! We caught a bus from Plaza Moyua after having GIANT food for dinner at Deluxe. The bus was completely packed with only twenty-something people, all carrying makings for kalimotxo (which, if you forget, is Coca-cola and red wine). It was an interesting ride to say the least.

Mungia was a cute town with some interesting architecture and a GIANT M that we got our picture taken in front of. The jaiak was in a large field in the middle of the town, filled with people, a concert stage, txosnas (outdoor bars complete with dance floors) all around the outside of the field, and some occasional sad fireworks in the sky. It was nice to be able to enjoy the ambience of multiple discos outside where the smoke of the Europeans doesn't hover around and stick to your clothes, and you don't get so warm being surrounded by so many people in a closed space. Although, it didn't get below 24 C that entire night.

The beginning of the jaiaks has most certainly changed the atmosphere in the Basque country, with festivals up and down the coast. Next weekend is San Fermin!! On Friday, I'm off to Pamplona in Navarra to witness the running of the bulls!! The week after that, the festivals continue in Santurtzi with The Village People performing on July 15th haha. Can't wait for either!!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Mungia Jaiak

Dr. Dalai and his family in come to Bilbao

I had a VERY busy week. Dr. Dalai and his family arrived Monday morning after spending a week in Italy and a couple days in Barcelona. We all spent the rest of the week seeing Bilbao and some of the surrounding coast. On Monday, I took them to Getxo to see Puente Colgante, enjoy some of the beaches, and have some delicious ice cream from the new port. Tuesday was spent at the University where Dr. Dalai gave a presentation and got to know the lab, faculty, and Eva who may be his future visiting student. After the university, we went to the Guggenheim and enjoyed the new exhibit by Cai Guo-Qiang who does all of his art with gun powder, and was responsible for the amazing opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. It was really quite interesting, especially for modern art. We saw everything in Bilbao from Gran Via, to El Corte Ingles, to the ribera, to Casco Viejo and made a day trip to Mundaka to enjoy some of the coast and a typical Basque village. They also got to see my flat and meet my roomies over dinner at Bilbao's only Indian restaurant. It was Jon and Ibai's first experience with Indian food. Dr. Dalai and his family seemed to enjoy their stay in Bilbao quite a bit. Also, after translating for an entire family for a week, I think I can officially say that I speak Spanish. My communication skills seem to have improved a lot.

Being a tourist in Bilbao again was interesting. The city has changed a lot now that it's summer. In the slideshow below, I included the first picture I took of 'Puppy' by the Guggenheim, and you can see how much he's changed in the four months I've been here.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Some Bilbao in the summertime