Today was an early start. We met up this morning with Mikeal before 8, which meant a 7 am wake-up, which was brutal. We walked to Hospital Basturto with him and met the head nurse, who introduced us to the history of the hospital and introduced multiple speakers from the staff to inform us of different, unique details of the hospital. My favorite of these features was a Google map-type application that allowed patients and visitors to tour the hospital on the phone to get familiar with the hallways. I actually created the idea for a similar project during a contest I participated in down at PPG Paints Arena.
Next, we met our tour guides. Mine was a Spanish woman who had lived in America for years and was able to give great insights into the differences between the two healthcare systems. We then embarked on our long tour of the hospital, which is 20 buildings big! It almost felt like a college campus with how large the complex was. The tour was too long to talk about everything, so I will go over my favorite things they showed us. We started off strong with the infant room, where they showed us how incubators worked, and I was able to look around to see the joy on the parents’ faces looking down on their babies. The next experience that stuck out to me was the children’s emergency room. I just have so much respect for the nurses and doctors we were able to talk to, and how amazing the work they do is. My girlfriend actually wants to work in pediatric oncology and is going to nursing school next year. Finally, my favorite detail that I noticed about the hospital was the culture behind it. The fact that the crosses on the ceilings are from the Spanish Civil War to prevent bombing of the hospital is fascinating, and I love that they kept the design to call back to their history.
Another thing I loved doing today was the time I was able to spend with Mikeal. I had coffee and pinxtos with him, and we were able to talk about engineering and a little bit about his life. And I was able to connect with him in their Formula 1 club, where he explained everything they do for the club, which included building an entire electric racing car, testing it, and also building an autonomous driving system for a different car.
Finally, to top the day off, we took the tram to the Guggenheim Museum. I was able to get two jerseys outside the museum for cheap, so I got my souvenirs! Then we were able to fully immerse ourselves in the beauty of the Guggenheim. My favorite part was this massive art piece, and the artist only used leftover wrappers to build the piece. It was so impressive. After a great time at the Guggenheim, we headed back to the hotel to catch up on some sleep after our early wake-up. I’m excited to see what San Sebastian has to offer tomorrow!