Roommates of Plaza de Guipuzcoa (AKA the UN Subdelegation on Enjoying San Sebastian)

Four days have passed since that last surprise, and I think everything will be alright. 

I have managed to find 7 great roommates and we’ve smoothed things over with the landlord.  She claims that the construction was a surprise to them as well, but that we will be compensated financially. 

I am too excited to worry about it.  As we approach the first of October, the dream apartment in Plaza Guipuzcoa is slowly transforming from a hostel to our apartment.  We are disassembling beds, sweeping and cleaning, and unpacking our bags. 

Kevin and his nasty moustache

We’ve got a great line-up of roommates. 

First, my buddies from California, Nick and Kevin, will take a room each.  We’ve been hanging out a lot so far, so having them as roommates will only further cement our friendship.  I foresee our trio doing a lot of surf trips, guitar jams, cooking up communal feasts, and making weekly raids into the nearby Parte Vieja.   

Milo, a student from Cornwall in the UK will also join us.  Like me, he is an Auxiliar de Conversacion here in Spain.  He works in Irun, near the French border. 

Nick Ivarsson - The Swede from Cali

From Brittany in the NW of France, we have Maria.  She is also an Auxiliar de Conversacion, working in Hondarribia near the border.  She´s a super-cool girl, an excellent violinist and she´s even promised to teach me French this year.  She and Milo share a common heritage despite being in two different countries.  Both Brittany and the SW corner of England are homes to Celtic populations, much like Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, or Asturias and Galicia in Spain. 

Next is Felipo, a Brazilian student of Gastronomy.  He is a surfer, a cook, and an all-around chiller.  We are glad to have him join the party. 

Maria, the violinist from Brittany, France

Isa is our token Spaniard!  She is great, a really funny, cool girl from Castilian Navarre.  I think she is a little intimidated by being the only Spaniard in the apartment, but what could we do?  It seemed like most of the people looking for apartments were foreigners.  Perhaps this is because many Spaniards live at home until they get married, but I am not sure. 

Lastly, we have Elin, a cool Swedish girl who works for the hostel that owns the property.  She’s been in San Sebastian for a half year and she will certainly show us the ropes as we get acclimated to the life here. 

So that is our dream team!   As Isa says, our apartment looks a bit like the UN! 

It’s going to be a great year and we will all learn a lot from each other.

Now I gotta go, it’s time to get back to unpacking!