Today was another fantastic day in Bilbao! We started the day by visiting the Gogoa Company, where we got to see a fascinating exoskeleton that helps primarily stroke patients to recover and regain their walking ability. Even some of the members in our group got to try it out, which was super cool! After visiting the company, we got a tour of the nursing school and physical therapy program, which was super interesting to see the differences between the nursing schools at Pitt and in Spain. Following the tour, we took a bus back to the engineering school where we got to hear a super engaging lecture from our professor, Dr. Abramowitch on his research on prolapse in women and how he has been working to fix it. We learned all about how they are manufacturing a new kind of mesh to be able to make it as effective as possible to improve women’s quality of life who are suffering from prolapse disorders, which is a topic that is vastly under researched.

After Dr. Abramowitch’s lecture, we enjoyed a lunch at the cafeteria at the school before hopping on a bus to head to San Juan De Gaztelugatxe, which is a mountain with a path of steps leading to a church surrounded by the ocean. We took a long hike down the mountain and up to the church, which was very fun and had absolutely incredible views. After we enjoyed the views making it to the top of the church, including ringing a bell at the top, we began our descent down the stairs and had to climb all the way up the other side of the mountain, which was very challenging but worth it for the views. In San Juan de Gatztelugatxe, it is tradition to ring the bell three times at the church and say “We’ll be back!”, which is definitely a statement that I hope is true! After the hike, we enjoyed some time exploring the beach and gelato before hopping on the bus back to Bilbao. Once we returned, we chilled at the hotel for a little bit before walking to a delicious Mexican restaurant, where most of us got enchiladas and tacos for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and rested up for a busy day tomorrow! Overall, today was an amazing day in Spain and I am finding how much I am falling in love with this place!