Soy malagueño

Malaga has begun to feel like home.

First of all, I want to apologize for not updating my blog in a while. Despite the fact that my life is mostly free time, I feel like the days go so quickly. However, I do not really have an excuse, so I will man-up and try to be better in the future.

Wednesday (2 weeks ago) was our first day of class. Matteo and I got up at 7:45 since we had to be at the school at 9. Tere made us cafe con leche and gave us pan tostado with mantequilla and mermelada de fresa. In English, that is coffee and toast. I had purchased my bono-bus pass the night before, so Matteo and I walked half a block to the bus stop and waited for el Once (number 11). Here's a traveler's tip: Matteo couldn't buy his pass yet because he couldn't cash his travelor's checks. NOWHERE IN SPAIN TAKES TRAVELER'S CHECKS. Matteo FINALLY got them changed to money yesterday, and he has been trying for over two weeks.

When the bus came, we quickly missed it because we had no idea what we were doing. Eight minutes later the next bus came, and we got on. At this point we were a little worried about making it to school on time. Our nervousness made us get off 4 paradas (stops) too early so we had a bit of a hike before making it to school. However, Spanish school never starts on time so our lateness did not really matter. We took a placement test, and I made advanced, exactly what I needed. Since I was not taking language, I had three hours off, so Jen, Andrea and I headed back home to la Playa Malagueta to catch some rays.

Since then, we have fallen into a nice pattern of school and nightlife. Each day I have culture class from 9-11 and literature class from 1-3. During the two hour break in the middle, Andrea, Jen, Kendra and I hang out, sometimes buying fruit at the fruit stand at the corner, getting bocadillos across the street, going to the beach, checking our email, napping, reading books, or watching the Bachelorette, although that last part is mostly Andrea. I have a love/hate relationship with the bus--I love the idea of mass transit but practically it is annoying.

After class I head back to Tere's piso for comida (lunch). I usually get home around 3:20 but Matteo gets home at 2:20. I found out today that he usually eats lunch with Tere's 8-year-old nieto (grandson) during which they both watch Kim Possible in Spanish. This makes me more jealous than I think you can understand. By the time I get home, everyone else has eaten, and Matteo is enjoying one of his 2-5 hour siestas. The typical Spanish siesta is 20-30 minutes, but we Americans tend to abuse the system a tidge. Sometimes Tere's adult son or adult daughter come for lunch, and that takes longer, giving me some dining companions.

I usually spend my afternoons at the apartment or at the beach in front of our building. Sometimes I watch a tv show, take a siesta, or go grab some rays. A few days we have gone shopping--there are some great malls and shops that we can reach with a short bus ride. Supper is usually eaten around 9-10, and Tere prefers 9 since she goes to bed a little earlier. Tere goes out a lot at night to visit friends and family, so she frequently prepares our bocadillos beforehand and leaves them in the toaster oven for when we are hungry. We love her.

After dinner, we see what the night brings. There are seven of us from ISA Malaga that live on la Playa Malagueta, so people meet on the beach every night at 10:30 to hang out. Sometimes that means just chilling; other nights it means hitting the Centro and going to the Discotecas to dance the night away. A few days into our time at Malaga Matteo bought a guitar, and now he brings that down to sing and play. He and I are collaborating on a recording of Kanye's Heartless. Other nights we go out for tapas or helado. Ironically, our two meeting points tend to be the Burger King at Plaza de la Malagueta and McDonald's at Plaza de la Marina. We are so American.

One night Pedro, Sarah and I went to el Centro Comercial Larios to watch Prince of Persia: Arenas de Tiempo in Spanish. Thankfully you do not need to understand much of the dialogue in action films. I highly recommend it--I really enjoyed the film. It has one of the happiest endings of any adventure film I have seen in a long time.

So many crazy things have happened, and I have more stories than I could every tell or write. I have been catcalled by a transexual, interrogated by an old crazy man about where the Weapons of Mass Destruction are in Iraq, dined in the shadow of the Arabic castle and the unfinished Cathedral, danced with Jen to protect Rubia from a creepy Spaniard that would not leave her alone at the discoteca, had several old ladies think I was Spanish and call me guapo, attended church with six other people, gotten very lost in el Centro, pretended I did not understand Spanish, eaten so many pitufos de tortilla, gone swimming in the Mediterranean, made friends with two kebob guys, climbed Mount Gibralfaro, met people from Australia, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain, the DR, Cuba, Colombia, England, France, and Canada, and so much much much more. I cannot wait to tell people everything in person.

We have taken a few trips since coming here, and I have enjoyed them all. Iker, a native Spaniard and one of our directors, gave us a tour of Malaga on our first day. Since then, he also gave us a tour of la Alcazaba, a Muslim fortress and castle, and took us to the Museo de Costumbres y Artes (Museum of Customs and Arts). We also took a day trip to the picturesque city of Ronda which is divided by a HUGE ravine and may have the prettiest vistas (views) I had seen since coming to Spain. Tomorrow we head to Sevilla for the weekend, and I am excited to see yet another magnificent city of Spain.

Life is beautiful. Skype me!


Click here for photos of MALAGA
Click here for photos of LA ALCAZABA
Click here for photos of RONDA