and Other Accomplishments
What is one of the first things people do when they move to a foreign country after they have found housing? Normal people would answer that they would open a bank account or find the nearest grocery store. What is one of the first things I did? I joined a choir. I went to the tourism office about a week ago to see if there were any choirs in the area that could use another member until the end of may. The woman gave me the names of three different groups, one had just a phone number, and the other had an email address. I decided to email first, because my written Spanish is better than my spoken. It turns out that the choir I emailed, the Orféon Durangués, is a very well-known group in the area. They quickly responded to my request for information and said that they were excited for me to join them as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, I went to my first rehearsal, where the director gave me a brief audition before the others arrived, mainly just to tell me which part I was going to sing. For those of you who know me pretty well, you know that I don't particularly like singing by myself in front of other people, so this experience was a bit nerve-wracking. Not to mention that it was conducted entirely in Spanish. It was a fairly simple process, the director told me to sing a song, any song, and he would determine where I should be placed. Unfortunately my nerves took control and I couldn't come up with anything, not even a Disney song. Between the two of us, we were able to find one and he told me I would be singing soprano. I knew this was a mixed group, of both age and experience, but I didn't realize how mixed it was until the other members arrived. The earliest arrivals were men and women who seemed to be about 70 years old. The two women that first approached me were beyond excited that there was a new person in the choir. When they found out that I was a foreigner, their excitement grew and they went to tell the others who I was. They began the rehearsal with sectionals. For those of you who don't know, this is when the choir separates into the individual voice parts and move to different rooms to practice. The soprano section had a difficult time paying attention because each time a new person entered the room where we were practicing, several of the women would attempt to introduce me at the same time. It was complete chaos. If you can imagine 12 small, grandmotherly-type women and a couple of 20-somethings who quite possibly had never met an American before, loudly talking about me and to me while another was constantly introducing me as "Rita, like Rita Hayworth", while the section leader was trying to keep us focused, that was the scene. All I know about Rita Hayworth is that she was famous for something, so I hope that was a complement. Basque people and choir people have a lot in common. From what I have seen so far, both are very welcoming and helpful, and they quickly adopt you into their family. I am very happy that this is the group that I decided to join.
Another, perhaps astonishing, accomplishment is that I managed to make it to the school where I will be teaching on the first try (after being shown once) without getting lost. I have now met all of the English teachers, as well as teachers from several other departments. The problem is that I have met so many people, almost all of whom have very Basque names, that I can't remember them. They have all been very instrumental in my attempting to accomplish all of the things I need to do. I now have a conversation partner, Idoia, who used to teach at my school and wanted to practice her English. In exchange, she is going to begin to teach me Basque. I have attempted to enroll in several Basque classes, but there is never enough people who have level zero to form a class, so this is a good alternative.
I did also manage to establish a bank account on my own. Idoia was going to help me, but we ran into a few problems. The first time we went to the bank, I had asked her if it were necessary to bring my passport for identification. She told me that just knowing my number would be sufficient. While this is true for Spanish nationals, it is not true for foreigners. Sadly, the account could not be opened that day. We agreed to meet on Thursday afternoon, because that was the only afternoon in which the bank was open, as the banks here are only open Monday - Friday until 2:00pm. Unfortunately for us, the bank had other plans. Despite the sign on the door saying that it was open, it was, in fact, closed. Knowing that I had to open the account as soon as possible, I decided to go yesterday morning on my own. Opening the account was easy, describing that I lived in "the other Washington" was not.
Other things I have managed to accomplish in the past couple of weeks include: making a grilled cheese sandwich that was neither burned nor undercooked, finding two grocery stores near my apartment and buying mandarin oranges, buying a cell phone, and taking a day trip to San Sebastián/Donostia.
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| Durango upside down |
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| The view from Playa de la Concha, San Sebastián/Donostia at sunset |
