Nerja > Clase

I never got to do Senior Skip Day in high school.

As part of their communist-totalitarian coalition, my principal and vice principal decided that Senior Skip Day was a violent uprising against their supreme authority and declared harsh penalties for anyone that participated my senior year. Robbed of the chance to take a day off and enjoy the company of our classmates before graduation scattered us to the wind, my classmates and I trudged our way through classes while a dozen foolish individuals still skipped.
The administration called their parents, and they were all back by noon.

With this tragic history, you can imagine my excitement at the change to take a skip day in Malaga. Two Fridays ago, June 18, we decided to take the day off and go to Nerja, a nearby city. On Thursday, we informed our teachers that we were skipping class, and they responded by suggesting places to go and things to do. I love Spain and Spanish teachers.

Our group met by la Plaza de la Marina at 9:30 the next morning to buy our bus tickets. We got on the bus, napping during the hour-long bus ride. Nerja is known for both its beautiful beaches and also its epic caves, and while most of the group was only interested in the former, Daniela, Meghan, Cristina, Andi, Polly, Rubia and I wanted to see the caves. We paid the bus driver an extra euro to keep going after he dropped the rest of the passengers off in the center of Nerja.

When we got to la Cuevas, Meghan discovered that the sweet old lady next to her had stolen her clutch, containing 40 euro, her driver's license, a copy of her passport, and her credit cards. The bus driver helped her look for it and took her to a lady at the gift shop who spoke English to give Megan advice. Meghan called her mother to cancel the cards, and by the time her mother called, the woman had already taken hundreds of dollars out of Meghan's bank account. It is sad that you cannot trust anyone when you are traveling.

After that big mess, we headed into las cuevas. The caves at Nerja are HUGE, but they only let you see about 1/3 of them. We read some information about them at the entrance after having an awkward interaction with the photographers at the entrance, and then entered the main cave. I was immediately overwhelmed by the grandeur and immenseness of the cavern. We had met two little old British ladies earlier when we asked them to photograph our group, and they summed up my feelings perfectly when they began to sing "How Great Thou Art" while walking through the cave. On our way out, I found a floppy white hat they had left on a bench and gave it to a security guard, telling him it belonged to "las ancianas inglesas que cantaban." He knew exactly who I meant.

We took the bus back to Nerja, and then walked our way through town down to la Playa Burriana. In contrast to the sandy beaches of Malaga, la Playa Burriana consists of smooth, small rocks which I greatly preferred. Malaga has two main beaches and both fall short of Nerja's beach. El Palo leaves you covered in sticky sand, and La Malagueta dirties your towel, suit, and body with dust.

Upon arriving, I discovered that quite a few people had already gone to lunch so I went and joined them. Nerja has an amazing all-you-can-eat paella place right on the beach. I sat at a table with Matteo, Alejandro, Elena, and Pedro and quickly signaled the waitress to bring me a plate. She brought me a plate covered in delicious paella made with whole crayfish called langostinos and small clams called almejas. Elena taught me how to rip the head and tail off of the langostinos and how to remove its shell and legs. It was kind of an epic fail and I got crayfish blood on my shirt, but I ate until I was stuffed.

After lunch, I decided to conquer my fear of heights and jump off a cliff. While I was paralyzed in fear my first time climbing up, the rest of the times were much easier and I jumped six different times. At the top of the cliff, I met two Spaniards who apparently lived in Nerja and jumped off cliffs all the time. I felt a little like Bella Swan meeting the Quileute cliff jumpers. We chatted for a little while and they told me they were rooting for me. They also told me that you had to yell "Gazpacho" when you jumped. I love traditions and quickly embraced this one.

Stepping out on the edge, I gazed out all the clear blue water and resolved myself to the jump. I took a deep breath, launched myself from the cliff, and yelled "Gazpacho!!!!!" My body hit the water hard, but the adrenaline and rush of the jump kept me from feeling the frigidity of the Mediterranean. As my head broke the surface and I gasped the sweet air and tasted salt water on my lips, I felt complete euphoria. God clearly made cliff next to the sea so that we could jump off of them. Our whole group enjoyed the jump, and despite the fact that the sharp rock cut my hands and feet on the climb up, I felt like I could do it for the rest of my life.

After jumping over and over, I decided a nap was in order. I laid out my towel, put on Glee soundtrack on my iPod, read some Crepusculo, and then drifted off to sleep. Beach sleeping is so relaxing and has the added benefit of rewarding you with a tan. Over the next hour or so people began to head off to the bus stop to go home.

When I awoke, Lisa, Elena, Rubia, Alejandro and I decided to go for a little adventure before heading back to the bus. My culture teacher, Cristina, had told us about el Balcon de Europa which is a beautiful lookout spot in Nerja, and I really wanted to find it. We traveled down the beach, coming to a little cove where two teenage girls were hanging out with a much older man. It was a little sketchy. We ignored them and heading over to a broken stone staircase. Elena and I waited there while the other three went off to climb some rocks and take pictures.

After that extensive photo shoot, we climbed a staircase up the cliff, spotting a secret garden of cats. We walked for a while, and I fearlessly led the group as we wondered narrow streets, trying to find el Balcon. After about 20 minutes of walking, we found it. El Balcon is huge and extends out over the sea, giving us some more photo ops and letting us soak up the wonder of the Mar Mediterraneo.

After our photo taking adventure, the five of us hurried back to the bus stop, hoping to make the next bus. We made it with a few minutes to spare, finding the rest of the group ready to go home as well. Rubia and I shared a bus seat, and we read our respective books in Spanish. Everyone was exhausted and fell asleep on our way back to Malaga. As Rubia and I walked back from the bus stop, we saw a flamenco concert going on in the park. This country never stops fascinating me. When Matteo and I got home, Tere was already in bed but she had left us delicious bocadillos, chips, and flan. We love her.

Nerja was infinitely better than class.


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