Stories from Euskadi: What I've Been Up To: An Update

It's been a long time since my last post, and I'm sure some of you must have thought that I had fallen off the face of the earth. The good news for you is that I have not fallen of the face of the earth, unless, of course, you were hoping that is what happened to me. In that case, I am sorry to disappoint you. Now that I know I have a couple of readers besides my parents, I will attempt to post more frequently. The key word here is attempt. Keeping up with my blog hasn't been at the top of my priority list.

After finishing my teaching at the end of May, several of my friends helped to prepare me for the upcoming Basque exam. I was so nervous, specifically about the oral exam, that I wasn't sure I was going to pass, especially considering my previous performance. During the mid-term exam in January, I got so nervous during the oral exam that I almost completely forgot my name. This time, though, I remembered not only my name, but everything else I was supposed to know as well, and passed both the written and oral parts. I know enough that I could probably hold my own in a conversation with a three-year-old.

Shortly after finishing the Basque exam and before heading back to the United States for a long vacation, I went with the choir to the town of Sodupe for a concert. However, this was not just an ordinary concert, this was a gathering of many of the choirs from Bizkaia, numbering close to 1,000 people. If you have ever been around choir people, imagine putting 1,000 of us in the same room. It was crazy, but incredibly fun.

Part of the crowd

After that, I packed my bags and headed to Seattle for my little brother's high school graduation, visit family and friends, and play tourist. What follows are some photos of how I have spent my vacation, because pictures are usually more entertaining than words.

This summer I:
watched my little brother graduate from high school,