Car Bomb at the University of Navarra

As some of you may have heard, there was a car bombing yesterday morning at my school, the University of Navarra.

I was sitting outside the classroom on the third floor doing last minute homework when I heard a loud 'boom' and the floor began to shake. I looked up, out the window, and saw a huge cloud of black fumes. After a few minutes of just staring at the smoke, I gathered up my stuff and joined the rest of my classmates evacuating the building. When I reached the first floor, I saw a lot of people filing out, some crying, and a few with blood on the side of their faces. When I exited the building I looked to the left and saw a lot of black smoke as well as police officers.

The fire on the left side of the building.

Surprisingly, everyone was pretty calm. When evacuating we filed out of the building, there was no screaming and shouting or pushing and running. Some people were crying and few people were in hysterics but in general everybody was pretty calm.

After asking around, I found out that there was a car bomb in the parking lot right beside my building. I'm very thankful that I was on the other side of the building when it happened. There was a fire inside the building, and a lot of the windows shattered. I'm also very thankful because I normally pass that parking lot on my way to classes. Today though I had to do my homework at the center so I passed the other side. I have a friend who told me that she was walking to the building when suddenly car parts started landing around her.

Up to this point I was pretty calm and then the shock started reeling in. I walked behind the building to get to the other side and tried to find my flatmates or some of the other girls from Larrabide. I started getting a little panicky because I had lost my phone in San Sebastian the day before and I didn't have the cellphone numbers of anyone I knew in Spain. I decided to start walking home and luckily I met two other girls from the Larrabide Pisos. We walked home together, and I waited in my apartment. A few minutes later Marina came home and then soon after all the other girls were home as well. At this point I was very emotional; scared and in shock from what happened and relieved that everyone was alright. We watched the news and prayed the rosary.


The attack was done by ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna-Euskera (the Basque language) for "Basque Homeland and Freedom"), a terrorist group of the País Vaco (Baque Country) who want the País Vasco to be an independent country. It was founded in 1959 and they're still very active to this day with a lot of kidnapping, bombings, killings, maimings.

The bomb exploded at around 11 in the parking lot beside the Edificio Central. The car in which the bomb (80-100 kilos of explosives) was planted was stolen the night before. An hour before the explosion, an anymous caller on behalf of ETA phoned the DYA in Vitoria, the Basque capital, and said that there was a bomb in a white Peugot at the university campus, but not specifying which university. (Today, it was on the news that the man who owned the mobile phone has been arrested.)

Twenty-eight people were injured but fortunately, nobody died. This was the sixth attack of ETA on the University of Navarra in the past 30 years, and miraculously nobody has ever died. (One of the girls at Larrabide claims it's because there's a chapel in each building of the university.) Another fortunate thing was that it was raining and there were less people outside than usual.

Classes were suspended obviously, and I spent the rest of the day calming down. I went out with some girls, bought a new phone, had lunch in McDonald's, caught up with my school work.

Today, everything reutrned to normal. The chancellor of the university said that we must return to normal "without fear and without rancor." At 12:00, hundreds of students, professors, employees gathered outside the Social Sciences Building, and we stood in silence for five minutes to protest "in defense of justice and coexistence." It was a solemn moment as everyone stood together and the only sound you could hear was the pitt-pattering of the rain on our umbrellas. After five minutes we all broke out in applause. In other universities around Spain, they echoed this act as well.

Silent protest.

It was a terrifying experience, but I'm really thankful that few people were injured and I am safe. Thank you to everyone who's prayed for me and for all the well wishes.

Getting my Residency Card

This week, I’ve been working on getting my residency card, which will allow me stay on Pamplona (since my visa is expiring on October 28).

I was able to completely finish registering and paying for my tuition on October 3. Only then could I start working on my visa. There’s a guy, Aires, at the University’s International Office that helps students out before having to go to the police station. I e-mailed him, but the earliest appointment he gave me was for October 10. I met with him and he told me the list of documents I would have to get. When I told him my visa was expiring on October 28, he told me I needed to move fast. He told me to get all my papers ready and meet him again on Tuesday. One of the requirements was a Certificado de Empadronamiento, which I had to get at the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall). I started worrying because the Ayuntamiento is only open from Mondays-Fridays and in the morning.

On Monday, I had no choice but to skip classes. I went to the Ayuntamiento right after xeroxing the letter and I.D. I had to show them. I got a little lost but managed to find the office. I was early so I didn’t have to wait that long. But once I was called, there were some complications. Much, much later, I emerged with my Certificate.

The next day I met with Aires again (missed yet another class) and he checked all my papers and made sure they were all in order. Then he told me that I had to go to the police station on Thursday at 12, meaning I had to miss classes yet again. I got lost on my way there, but managed to arrive at quarter to 12. There was a line though, and I ended up waiting for an hour and a half!

I read Harry Potter (in Spanish) but then it started to drizzle. Then the guy in front of me asked me if I was Sofia Gomez, then introduced himself as Adi. Apparently Rocio told him about me (“She’s tall and she looks like a Filipina”). He’s also a Filipino and did the Bridge Year Program last year. We passed the rest of the time talking, and he couldn’t believe I wasn’t going home for Christmas. (“But Christmas is such a pamilya time!”)

When we finally were able to enter the office (we were waiting outside), I got kinda nervous because the lady handling us was a little sungit. When it was my turn though, my papers were all in order and she was relatively nicer. After she processed my papers I then had to go to the bank, pay, and then go back to the police office. Fortunately, the line at the bank was short. When I returned to the police station, I waited a few more minutes where they made me sign papers and they got my fingerprints. Two and a half hours after I first arrived, I emerged with my “temporary card” (which is a piece of paper, albeit an importanat piece of paperr). I have to return in a month to get my actual card.

But I’m finally glad that’s all done. Now I can relax and look for other things to do. I’m proud of myself though for going to the Ayuntamiento, Police Station, getting my documents, etc. by myself.

Oh, I've finished reading Harry Potter as well.

Zaragoza - La Fiesta de la Virgen del Pilar

Yesterday, Sunday, I went to Zaragoza with ShanShan and Isabel to join in the celebration of the Virgen del Pilar. La fiesta de la Virgen del Pilar lasts about one week in October (Sunday being the last day) to commemorate the patron saint of the Aragon region. There are plenty dances, performances shows, games, parties, parades, flowers, and masses all day long, all week long.

A little background which I looked up on the internet. The history of the Fiesta del Pilar began when the Apostle James came to Spain to preach the word of God to the pagans. While traveling in Aragon, the Virgin appeared to him and asked him to build a church on the marble pillar he was standing on. The Virgin disappeared but the pillar remained. Later on Santiago granted the request of the Virgin and constructed the beautiful Basilica del Pilar. The pillar, which is supposed to be the symbol of the strength of the church and a road linking Heaven and Earth, is the basis of the feast. The most important tradition is the offering of flowers to the Virgin in the Plaza del Pilar. People dressed in beautiful Spanish dresses (varying depending on the region they come from) line up to offer the Virgin different types of beautiful flowers.

The flower offerings to the Virgen del Pilar.

Some people dressed in Spanish dresses.

There are plenty more parades, dances, and shows but we were not fortunate enough to catch any.

We left rainy Pamplona at about 9:15 (because it took us 15 minutes to find the car). The drive was about two hours, pit stop included. When we got to Zaragoza it took us awhile to find parking but we managed to find a space quite near to the basilica. Unfortunately, it was still raining.

We headed to the Basilica to attend the 12:00 mass. After mass we proceeded to the Shrine to pray. The shrine of Pilar is really very beautiful. After saying our prayers we decided to walk out and look for a place to eat.

The Shrine in the Basilica

It was still raining, but it wasn’t raining that hard. My shoes, socks, and feet were drenched and after awhile I stopped sidestepping puddles and just walked wherever. It was nice to walk around in the rain. The streets weren’t two crowded yet there were many people celebrating in their own ways. It was easy to admire to beauty of the Zaragoza-styled streets and see the many different Spanish dresses as the people walk by.

We found a bar to have lunch in but then transferred to a small café for coffee and dessert. Afterwards we walked around some more and visited another church. I was also able to clearly see the Basilica, and wow, is it beautiful! I couldn’t stop talking pictures of it, determined to get a perfect shot.

Rainy Zaragoza streets.

ShanShan and I at the café.

ShanShan and I outside the Basilica.

Last shot before heading home. Me with the Basilica del Pilar and Ebro River in the background.

For university, I got my results for my first Spanish quiz. I scored a 91, and I'm happy with my score. I only had two mistakes but one of the mistakes was worth 7 points. For my first Redacción (essay) I got an 8 out of 10!

If anyone’s been wondering how I wake up in the morning, I simply wake up. I can’t really explain it but my body seems to know just what time to wake up. I normally wake up at 8 on a school day, one hour before my classes start. I shower, dress, eat, fix my bed, and then leave at quarter to 9. It’s been working pretty well for me, and so far I’ve never been late for class. On the weekends, I don’t pull down the blinds completely, so that when the sun is strong, the sunlight wakes me up. (And therefore, I don’t waste the whole morning in bed.)

This morning however, I woke up at 8:30, and my classes start at 9. Sunlight didn’t wake me up because at 8:30 the sun is still only rising. I took the quickest shower I’ve ever taken, dressed myself in the first clothes I saw, stuffed my books in my bag, got some biscuits, and ran out the door. To complicate things, there were workers working on the elevator so I had to walk down 7 floors. I walked to school as fast as my legs would take me eating the fistful of biscuits I managed to grab. I entered the classroom with one minute to spare, and just as I sat down on my seat, the professor walked in the room.

Fortunately, the rest of my day went well. We had a quiz in Spanish that I think I did well on. My other two classes were okay as usual. When I got back home, Bea was there! Bea had been gone for a week (she went home to her village) and just arrived back. I was glad to see her because 1) I missed her and 2) I missed food.

Bea is usually the one who takes care of buying our food and cooking our meals. The whole week, Marina and I had been eating all the food, while the food supply continued to diminish. We “never had time” to go to the supermarket and we soon ran out of bread, coffee, milk, meat, butter, and fruits. When Bea came home, the first thing she did was restock our refrigerator with food and then we had a yummy lunch!

As for how I’m passing my time in the afternoon, I still haven’t found something to do. But I’ve started reading Harry Potter in Spanish! Since I memorize the first chapter and more or less know the others, it’s not that difficult and I’m learning a lot of new words.

Life as it is

On this side of the planet, the weather's been as unpredictable as usual. In the morning, I open my window, stick my hand out, and determine how much layers of clothing I have to put on. If I'm uncertain, I look to see what passerbys are wearing. So far, my predictions have been pretty accurate. The weather's been okay the past couple of weeks, but lately it's starting to get harsher. Yesterday it remained 10-15º the whole day. Today it dropped down to about 8º and it was windy and raining. (At night I sleep with the window closed and with four blankets!)

I walked to school as quickly as possible. During my first class, my hands were so numb i was copying down notes really slowly. Thankfully, the school is equipped with radiators, and I warmed up a bit. Also, all except one of my classes are in the same building, so I don't have to go outdoors to change classes.

Speaking of school, it's been great for me. My lessons are not difficult but they're not exactly easy either. Not only am I learning new things, but I'm learning them in Spanish as well.

Literature is by far my hardest Spanish course and Español my easiest. Right now we're studying poetry in Lit. I've never had an easy time understanding poetry in English, what more in Spanish. It's also kind of hard to tell if words rhyme in Spanish because you have to pronounce the words exactly and properly to see if they rhyme. In one of the poems we took up, the last words of each verse were, aire/mar/olvida/va. The whole class thought that the rhyming pair was olvida and va, but it was actually mar and va, which the teacher explained after properly pronouncing it over and over again. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the class, and it's giving me the chance to widen my vocabulary. Español is my easiest because we've started from the very beginning (..the very best place to start), and we're now conjugating the present tense which I must admit I think I know well enough. Everyone tellls me my Spanish is improving and I hope they're not just saying that to be polite.

What with all my Spanish classes, Spanish has really been getting in my head. In fact, when I sat down in my European Media Class yesterday, it took me a while to realize that the professor was talking in English and I could understand her!, which is good because the class is really interesting.

I've settled into a pretty normal routine. I wake up, shower, get dressed, then have breakfast. I walk to school and attend all my classes. After class I go home and have lunch in my apartment with my flatmates. I spend the afternoon doing my homework or hanging out with my friends. Sometimes I go for a walk with one of the Larrabide girls. By walk, we literally just walk around, talking, and me learning Spanish words and phrases.

In the evening I have dinner back home. Sometimes, we all gather in one of the apartments, eat and talk together, then watch either a rented movie or whatever's on TV. For some reason, I like watching "Al Pie de la Letra," a Spanish game show where the contestants have to sing the next line of the song. The songs are all in Spanish, and I don't know any of them, but it's pretty fun to watch especially when the other girls all start singing along.

On the weekends, there's always something interesting that comes up. Whether it's someone who invites me out or an activity at Larrabide.

Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of Opus Dei. To celebrate, there was a benedicción at Larrabide followed by pinchos! It was a really great night, I met more girls from Larrabide and learned more words in Spanish.

A few days ago, it was also the birthday of Carmen, one of the girls in the Larrabide pisos (apartments). All of us from the five apartments (5 apartments x 3 girls in each apartment), gathered in one of the apartments and we surprised her! There was food and fun. I really like all the girls here, they're nice and really great.

I'm meeting Marina now, my flatmate, for a walk. I hope everything is well with you, wherever in the world you are.