Que pasó...

On Thursday the ETA set off a car bomb in a University in Pamplona. I don’t think anyone died, but last I heard 17 people were injured. You would think that being so near to Basque country makes me hyper-aware of the ETA and all the possible dangers associated with it, but…no? Really Santander feels so safe, and so isolated that I haven’t really spared the ETA a single thought this entire trip. Maybe if I was in a big city, like Madrid or Barcelona I would be nervous, but Santander is very safe. By all means maybe I should be worried. The ETA has targeted public transport and universities, two things I frequent. But really, are we ever safe? Can I claim to be safer in Corvallis when things like the shooting at Georgia Tech and the abduction of Brooke Wilberger from Corvallis prove that, no, we’re not safe. We only think we’re safe until the worst thing possible happens, then we know for sure that we were never safe. So, just fyi, I feel real safe! PS if the ETA was gonna blow shit up, they sure as heck wouldn’t do it in Santander…Santander is a tiny little tourist town as far as Spaniards are concerned.

I talked to my dad on Friday, and he told me that my mom wanted to bring me home right away…And surprising enough, my immediate gut-reaction was “No way, I want to stay!” Which suprised me at first, because at first I was counting the days until I get to come home and drink Starbucks and play with my cat. But you can't deny an immediate gut reaction, and that's what I got when I thought about coming home halfway through. I'm glad that I am here, and I'm even more glad that I want to be here.

There’s tons of little Confeterias around town that sell frutas secas(gummy candy). I got some on my way home from church…and ate way too much. Now I feel sick. Tonteria, no? Oh yeah, I went to church. It was very suprisingly similar to regular church. It was an evangelical church, so not too different. Not catholic mass. I have no desire to go to Catholic Mass. I don't understand what's going on when the service is in English, much less in Spanish. Anyways, church was fun. They sang some of the same songs we sing at Trinity, only in Spanish (dur). Another thing that is similar about going to Spanish church- I spent the entire sermon day dreaming. Hey, at least I have an excuse this time. I didn't really understand. When I daydream during church at home it is because I am a bad lutheran/ i´m not sitting by my friends and can't pass notes.

I stepped in my first pile of mierda de perro español (Spanish dog shit). I feel like an authentic Spainaird.