Second day here!

     Sunday, I went for a walk through Mungia. I love it here. It's like a little baby city, but clean and safe and adorable. It's SO Euro. There are narrow streets solely for sitting or walking. I love that almost every restaurant in Mungia has tables on the sidewalks or in the streets. It's so open and free. I am in love with it. There are parks, stores, restaurants, cafes, bars, libraries, an "iglesia" (church) that looks exactly like what you would expect a Spanish church to look like, and there's even a castle that's been turned into a library and small movie theater. I swear, everything is beautiful here, even the people. 

     I went to the beach with my family, which was absolutely beautiful. I'm talking so beautiful it was breathtaking. They are infinitely better than those in America. The water is blue, it's less crowded, there are pebbles all over the beach, and the people are actually attractive.... But one thing that's going to be hard to get used to is the shirtless women. And it's not like it's just beautiful, fit, young women. No, there are young girls without tops, there are "out of shape" people without tops, and there are some seriously old, saggy women without tops. I mean, hey, good for them, you've got to be pretty confident to do that, I would think. Here, it's totally normal. But every time I see someone without their top, I keep thinking, What is she doing? Doesn't she know where she is? Does she not realize how many people there are here? Why isn't anyone telling her to put her top back on? It's just totally different here. 

     After the beach, we went driving, and my host parents showed me the country side, traditional Basque houses, which are of course gorgeous, and the place where they got married. Oh, another thing, in the Basque Country, they don't call their parents "madre y padre" or "mama y papa," they call them "ama y aita." I'm not sure if I spelled it right, but you get the point. 

     I absolutely love my family. I feel like I'm a part of the family, and I feel totally at home with them. They also say that I'm good at Spanish, which makes me feel so much better. I actually understand a lot. There are a lot of times when I can understand exactly what they're saying and there's no problem. There are also times when I have no clue what they are saying to me. But most of the time, I'm stuck in a middle ground, where I understand the general idea of what they're saying to me, but I don't know the details, and I don't understand everything. I feel bad, because I feel like it's so frustrating for everyone else to have to talk slow or explain things multiple times. Then again, it's also frustrating for me...I'm the one who can't understand anything! Plus, it's only been a couple days. I'll learn eventually... "poco a poco."