Our third day in Bilbao brought together academics, innovation, and hands on cultural experience. We started with a presentation by Dr. Iñigo Lorenzo Ruiz who explained the structure of nursing education in Spain as a whole as compared to how healthcare functions in the US. We then heard from Dr. Mikel Diez Sánchez, a colleague of Saioa who works on the Oreka-Balance project as well. His presentation, “How to Design a Medical Device,” used the Oreka machine as a real world example, walking us through the process of turning an idea into a functional tool that can improve patient outcomes. I learned that the main focus of any device should be the “who” that is going to use said device in the end. Afterwards, we had lunch at the school cafeteria where I ate seafood orzo, beef with blue cheese and piquillo peppers, and chocolate flan which were very delicious. We then took the metro to El Corto Inglés where we ventured around the many floors in one of Spain’s most well known department stores before heading to a cooking class that became a highlight of the day.

During the class, we learned how to prepare several traditional Basque dishes. We made gildas, a simple pintxo made by skewering olives, anchovies, and piparra (pickled green chiles), drizzled with olive oil, which made for a salty and tangy snack. We also prepared Bilbainito, or a half a hard boiled egg and prawn skewered together and garnished with grated egg yolk, drizzled with mayo (traditionally kewpie), and topped with chopped parsley. The main dish was tortilla de patata, a type of Spanish omelet made with eggs and diced potatoes and onions. For dessert, we had sobaos, which are soft, buttery sponge cakes, served with goxua, a Basque dessert layered with cream, custard, and carmelized sugar. We wrote our initials on top of the dish with the custard, and the chef even let us use the torch to carmelize the sugar on top! The dishes were even more delicious being handmade by yours truly with love!