Today we spent the day exploring the city of Bilbao. We started off by going to a restaurant that specialized in serving churros with a side of thick hot chocolate for dipping. Then we headed to the flea market which had an assortment of different CD’s, jewelry, books, and whole section for flowers. After browsing the different stalls, I ended up buying a Kenny G CD for my car. After that we headed further down the street to the funicular, the Bilbao equivalent of the Duquesne incline. While we waited to go up the funicular we saw a group of people performing traditional Basque dance which was pretty cool. After reaching the viewpoint we got a great view of the city where I was able to spot the different places we had visited over the course of our trip like the Guggenheim, the football stadium, and Old Town.

Following this we had a group discussion about the different things we had learned during our first week in Spain. One of the things that people point out is that the process of receiving care in Spain is much simpler and cheaper compared to the United States. Another thing that we noticed is that nurses and engineers seem to be way more passionate about their work and compassionate for their patients because they are not as overworked as their counterparts in the United States. Next, we wondered whether the socialist healthcare system that is employed in Spain could replace the current healthcare system in the United States. We said no due to a variety of cultural, social, and infrastructural reasons. Overall, today was a chill day and allowed me to reflect on everything I’ve seen during my time in Spain.