Vitoria, Espana

Hola Todos!

Well I have arrived successfully to Vitoria, Spain in the Basque Country. After arriving to Madrid I had to take a 41/2 hour train ride to Vitoria. At the bus station I encountered a girl who helped me with all of my luggage. Clearly I brought too many things for me to handle by myself. It turns out she was also going to Vitoria to teach Japanese at the University in the city. It was my first opportunity where I had no choice but to converse in Spanish since she spoke very little English and I know absolutely no Japanese. I have met up with her a few times since I have been in Vitoria which has been nice.
The night I arrived I met up with one of the Americans doing the same program as me. Her name is Kelly and she is from California. We went out for pinchos, which is like small Apetizeris in the U.S., with a few girls from Italy that she had met. I was once again forced to speak in Spanish with the other people in the group. They were all understanding of my inability to speak Spanish completely sufficiently since it has been a while since I have used the language. I have continued to hang out with several students from Italy along with the few Americans in the group which has helped me improve my Spanish already. This past weekend there was a medieval festival in Vitoria. The old section of the city was decorated to give it a medieval feel. There was a market set up outside with many different stands consisting of different types of foods, tapas and items from boutique stores such as jewerly, scarfs and leather items which is a very popular material in Spain. This festival also consisted of many different performances in the streets and many of the employees in bars and stores all dress up.
I just moved into my second piso (apartment in Spanish). As soon as I arrived I was in a rush to get out of my hostel and move into an apartment. I found that the first one was not very accommodating to my needs. My room was very small and I found it hard to interact with the others in my apartment. I am now living with three Italian girls who go the University here for a year. The apartment is much nicer and I have enjoyed spending time with them. This opportunity will definitely help improve my Spanish since they speak very little English. I am sharing a room with one of the other Italian girls who is very nice.
I have yet to start teaching yet. I will be going to Bilbao next Wednesday with the rest of the people here in my program for an orientation where hopefully we will learn everything we need to know about teaching English as a second language. I am planning on stopping at my school tomorrow to maybe meet the teachers I am going to be helping and find out more information about my job. I will definitely keep you all updated on how my job goes once I start.