Art & Arrupe

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

Our Correspondent today is Nina Carrino:

Today we woke up at 8:30 in the morning and met up at 10 in the lobby.  We were not supposed to visit Bilbao, so today was exciting and held some unplanned adventures.  The itinerary was completely our decision: we could go to the Guggenheim museum, the beach, shopping, do laundry, or a combination of all options.  Without exception everyone wanted to check out the Guggenheim, so we all went there as a group.  A long sweltering walk later, we arrived outside the Guggenheim. Frank Gehry's architectural wonder is an artistic work in itself. This silver cornucopia of twists and turns reminds me of the school lunches that would be wrapped in aluminum foil: as soon as we would finish our lunches, we would take the aluminum foil wrap and sculpt it into anything we could imagine. The Guggenheim is of course of much better quality and design with its swooping arches and deep curves.

We purchased tickets as a group and entered the cavernous main hall. The indoor design was of rounded white columns and hard wood floors with slits of windows peaking in from along the walls. The first exhibit most of us visited was called The Matter of Time and it was configured of several massive varying wooden spirals that observers could walk through. Another interesting exhibit was the Pop Art gallery with such artists as Jean Michel Basquiat, Gilbert and George, Sigmar Polke, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. My favorite work from this gallery was one of Warhol's Marilyn Monroe works. This one in particular was on a black canvas with the same crop shot of Marilyn in different vibrant colors and portrayed the overexposure and passage of time that has turned Marilyn into a myth and a consumer product. From artistic films to propaganda art, my favorite exhibit was Marilyn Minter's hyper realism section. She takes photos of different subjects covered in or moving in a mixture of glycerin, vodka, and silver cake power, which caused a distorted effect, then painted the result. Her pieces depict movement and eerie beauty. 

The students all left the museum at different times and split up into smaller groups. Quite a few students took the metro to the mountainous beach, others went shopping, and my group decided to get lunch first. We ate pintxos (pronounced “Pinchos”) and drank mostos.  Pintxos are a common lunch in the Basque culture.  They are like tapas, but are a smaller portion intended for one person. There is usually a long bar laden with small morsels of food (such as tiny sandwiches) and you would point at what you want with a helpful ," Quiero éste por favor.”  In Basque country there are only three culturally acceptable drink options when going out for pinxtos:  wine, beer, and mosto.   Mosto is the only option we are allowed to indulge in; but mosto is delicious.  You are probably wondering just what is mosto? Mosto is a classic Basque beverage that is very basic: chilled white grape juice, an orange wedge, and an olive. Simple as it is, it has just the right balance between sweet and refreshing that makes it so delicious.  My favorite part of these simple pintxo lunches is the mosto.  It's an affordable lunch as well because one could get two options and a mosto and only pay 4€.  

After lunch, we took advantage of the lavandería, or laundromat, down the street from our hotel to wash our stinky clothes. Personally, my socks were beginning to ferment in my suitcase and spread to the rest of my clothes. Glad to have clean clothes once more, we lugged our bags of clothing back to the hotel and put them away before going out shopping.

Some of us also played Tute Rey, a Spanish card game, to pass the time. It was surreal playing a Spanish card game that we had learned in class in Spain! Some of us also partook in the Spanish tradition of the midday siesta during the hottest part of the day. We all gathered at the end of the day and went to dinner in the town. We were seated at an elongated table and were served a salad, chicken and potatoes, and gelato for dessert. The whole dinner was delicious.

After dinner, Mr. Bizga gave the option for a group walk around Bilbao. After briefly stopping at the hotel, a group of us ventured out on a stroll by the river, flooded with the light from the street lamps and rippling in the slight breeze. Our walk along the river led us to the Guggenheim and we stopped in the children's park that was just next door to the museum. To our surprise, there were still some children playing on the jungle gyms despite the late hour. The attractions were huge, inviting, and, full of giddy, we eagerly began climbing, spinning, and teetering on the glorified playground. A half hour of pure fun later, Mr. Bizga insisted that we should begin our long walk back to the hotel. So we set off again on the trek back to the hotel and arrived at five till midnight. After saying "Buenos noches," we all went back to our rooms to do some quick packing for tomorrow then fell into bed, exhausted from our exciting day. 

Fun Ignatian fact about Bilbao: It was the hometown of Pedro Arrupe.