¡Un finde impresionante! (One incredible weekend!)

Friday I got a text from Iban, one of the friends from Couchsurfing that I met on Monday before going to Oktoberfest. He invited me to a free Basque cooking workshop but said they were meeting up before hand for drinks and pintxos at a bar called Txindoki.

Ivan lives in Vitoria but visits Bilbao often to see his friends. From the way he carries himself and interacts with others, he reminds me a lot of my brother-in-law Jamie. He, though still in his late 20s or 30s, I think is retired due to back problems, so he doesn't work. Instead he has a good time and travels often. He wants to learn English and French, and he loves to cook. For some reason, he's taken an interest in me and wants to introduce me to the authentic País Vasco. In talking with him this weekend, I've learned a ton about the País Vasco and about the colloquial language here. However, I never know if the words he's teaching me are considered vulgar by others. I guess I'll find out...

So I went to the bar in Deusto. All together there were four people I had met Monday (Iban, Abi, Rocio, and Anasomething). Anasomething's sister Giselia and Giselia's boyfriend Jon also came, making us three Spaniards, three Argentines, and me. After we all had a drink and a pintxo at that bar, we all paid together and walked to another bar (in true Basque form) and spent a few minutes there getting a drink and a pintxo. This activity (barhopping) is called txikiteo, and the group of people you do it with is called your cuadrilla. The word can also just be any group of friends that you regularly hang out with, but here, this is what "hanging out" usually is. People don't go to each other's houses or (more accurately) apartments; that's family territory. Friend territory is in the bars and streets.

This is Giselia, surrounded by an array of pintxos.

Rocío left us after the txikiteo, and we went to one of the buildings at the University of Deusto where the cooking workshop was. The only people who showed up for it were us six, so three of us learned the entree and the other three learned the dessert, and then we switched. The dessert is called goxua, and it's kind of like a tiramisu, made with nata (whipped cream), bizcotxo (a sweet bread), and natillas (a vanilla custard) topped with caramel.

Abi eating the goxua.

The entree is called talo, which is like fajita, but in the tortilla we just wrapped some cooked onion and choice of meat: cerdo (pork), sausage, or morcilla (blood sausage made with rice).

The cooking instructor thinks I'm doing a horrible job.

The room we were in, by the way, looked like a kid's playroom or nursery, hence all the board games if you saw them in my Facebook album. Since there were so few of us, we had our fill of everything. On our way out, we saw another workshop going on downstairs: an art workshop featuring "water papel."

After that we parted ways, but Iban told me that tomorrow the Guggenheim Museum would be free to enter and that they were going. So, the next morning, I arose and went. The "Goog" is guarded by a giant dog sculpture covered in flowers and named "Puppy." Every time I hear a native talking about it, I crack a smile, because they pronounce it "poopy" shamelessly.

The first floor had large works that you had to walk through in order to experience. One consisted of columns of vertical marquees, and another was made of wood. Everyone I've talked to has mixed feelings about the works in the Goog. The descriptions of the works are filled with flowery language, which seem like they're trying to prove that the work is indeed art. At any rate, the museum did leave me wondering what made the cut. The giant abstract works were certainly more interesting than some of the Dutch still lifes, that's for sure.

The second floor was closed. I'm pretty sure they're installing a new exhibit. The third floor was divided up into categories of Dutch works such as still lifes, historical pieces, etc., which I liked. I especially liked the painters who tried to capture the non-flowery parts of life. One painter in particular spent his career perfecting the the facial expression of disgust. After experiencing the Goog, I said "hasta luego" to Iban and Abi, my tour guides, and went home for a break before going to the Saturday Bible study.

After the Bible study, I met back up with Iban and Abi. They were heading over to Adrian's house to hang out and have some pizza. I stayed at Adrian's for quite some time and met French Julie and a couple guys with Basque names I can't remember. We watched some fútbol (soccer), and talked. While there, I was trying to hear from the other auxiliares who said they were getting together tonight. Also, I was trying to help out Bryce who was in Bilbao for the night and looking for a good time. Bryce came to Adrian's, and then at 11 we left and met Pinky (Irish Debbie, long story how she got the nickname) and had some drinks before meeting the rest of the group at the metro stop. We all went to a club called Fever. Things with English names here sell better apparently. I made it home around 5am.

Irish Debbie "Pinky" and Australian Steph

The next thing I knew i was getting a call at around 10am from Abi to tell me she was buying a ticket for me. We had arranged to meet up around 11am, but I really didn't know what I was getting myself into, just that we were going to some mountain with a funny name. I got ready as fast as I could, but not very fast, and I wasn't going to make it to where I needed to be by 11. I only had a vague idea of where I was meeting them. I alternated sprinting and speed walking down the streets of Bilbao to get there, and when I arrived, there was a huge crowd on the bridge and all along the side of the river. I called Abi to figure out where they were, and they were in the crowd. I finally caught up with them and learned what was going on. It was the first annual Martxa Popular public hike up the nearby peak called Artxanda.

What started in confusion turned into the best day of my life in Spain thus far. I was part of crowd of 4,500 bilbaínos, joined with them to raise money for a charity, despite the off-and-on rain. I walked through parts of Bilbao I hadn't seen yet and saw amazing views of the city.

Throughout the hike I talked with Iban, Abi, Giselia, Jon, and Giselia's dad Luis, learning more about Bilbao, Spain, Spanish, and each of them individually. I hadn't spoken English all day, and some time in the middle of the hike, I forgot that I was an English speaker trying to remember how to say things in Spanish; I was just talking with friends with little concern about correct grammar and conjugation.

Jon, Luis, Iban, Abi y yo

We continued talking as we waited for over an hour in a long line to receive our pintxos and gift that came with our ticket purchase. Afterward, I went home and had a siesta before meeting up with Bryan at Plaza Moyúa before church at 6pm. Bryan is another auxiliar who just arrived on Friday. I invited him to church via Facebook, and he was pretty excited about checking it out.

After I got my all-too-necessary coffee, we went to church where Bryan met everyone. He, as I was, was immediately loved on and plugged in. He's going to lead worship next Sunday. Bryan can play the guitar, and they're stoked about having him. He's also stoked about having been plugged in so quickly. I was also asked to plan a skit for the four kids to do around Christmas time. It's funny because I woke up one day this week and realized how much I missed theater and wished I could get involved with it again. I was also asked to give a brief statement on Sunday about anything I want. I think they take turns doing so, and it's already my turn. We'll see what I can come up with for both of these things. One thing's for sure: this church is not one who will let its members stand idly by. Three weeks ago, there was only one person in her 20s who went to the church. Now there are 5 of us, and she is really pumped about being able to spend time together. God has big things in store for this little church that loves Him, and it will be fun to see it all pan out. Sunday also happened to be Anne's 12th birthday.

Anne with her birthday dessert called brazo de gitano (gypsy's arm) as Andrea looks on

Today (Monday) I did domestic things like cook, clean, and do laundry before meeting up with Bryan to go to the men's prayer meeting. This group of guys is really uplifting. When I came home I cooked up the bulgogi (Korean food) that was marinating while I was gone, and now I'm up way too late. I have to get up early for my second round of chaos!