A People-First Traveler's first weeks of acculturation to Bilbao
Normally in Bilbao, it’s dreary and it rains almost every day. For the past few weeks, it’s been sunny and when it rains, it drizzles, unlike the downpours back in Raleigh. Bilbao is in the north of Spain, in a region called the Basque country. There are two parts of the city that is split by the river: the old town (Casco Viejo) and the new town. The old town has narrow, pedestrian streets where people can get packed together on weekends and at peak hours of the night. The new town has more space for cars to drive easily and it looks a lot more modern than the old town. The first week I was here, a local festival was happening: Aste Nagusia, which lasts for nine days starting the Saturday after August 15th. Surprisingly, the moment I stepped in my new apartment for the next four months, I met my roommates and they dragged me to the festivities not two hours later. The city was packed with people near the river and around the city centers, with several different stages hosting