Swimming and Stress

Have I ever not begun a blog with a commentary on how exhausted I am? I'm exhausted.

This weekend excursion was definitely a success. We bused to Málaga Saturday morning, arrived early to our hostel and set our things down and then went to the Picasso museum, which was really interesting. It's insane how diverse Picasso's work is. Some of it is so lovely and interesting but some of it completely fails to capture my attention. Some of the cubism does really fascinate me, especially the ones that seem to be executed with care, but some of the more "sloppy" type ones really baffle me. I don't know if this means that I don't know how to appreciate art, but sometimes it seems like Picasso is just fucking with everyone and seeing what he can get away with. For some reason I really loved his goat paintings/sketches/sculptures, though. Each room also had quotes on the walls that were really interesting and kind of gave me a lens through which to look at the art. There was also a really awesome exhibit of David Douglas Duncan's photos of Picasso.

I'm so jealous of Picasso's cluttered, art-strewn house, it looks so alive and creative. I also loved this photo of Picasso dancing with Jacqueline. I'm also pretty sure he went shirtless like 90% of the time.

After the museum I was starving to death, so we stopped and accidentally had horrible tapas, and then went to the hostel where we actually checked it. The hostel we went to is called Oasis, and it was really nice. Pretty, clean, friendly, AND, when we checked in we were told that there was going to be a concert on the rooftop terrace which would be free for us, although locals were paying to see the band... More on that in a moment!

The next stop was the beach, of course. The beach we went to was not that lovely or beautiful and the sand burned my feet to death, but all in all it was infinitely worth it to float in the blue-green Mediterranean. The water was cool but easy to get into, it was a hot day, and the waves were soft. It was divine.

Once we were thoroughly pruned we had a seaside dinner of these almost-pizzas that were on thin tortilla crust, these salad and meat filled tortilla wrap things and toasted sandwiches. Delicious. Unfortunately I was too hungry to do take photos; the food went directly into my face.

It grew dark as we caught the bus. We rode in the scrunchy part of the bus that gives it flexibility around turns and things and it was kind of like a ride. On the walk back to the hostel we took photos of some of the magnificent old buildings all lit up.

We also witnessed some snazzy dancing in the street, as well as some nice live music. I love street performers, truly I do. It's so nice to be constantly surrounded by beautiful sounds. At one point, just before we reached the hostel, we caught the tail end of a marching band which was following a procession which I couldn't really see. I caught a glimpse of a big golden cross, so I presume it was a religion-related procession.

Once we got back to the hostel we didn't really have time for trivialities like hygiene, so instead of showering we got our free drinks (one free drink with a room in the hostel!) and then headed up to the terrace to see the band that was playing. The band we saw was AWESOME. We had no idea what to expect and it turned out to be this fantastic bluesy kind of alternative rock band with eerie and beautiful vocals, super fun slide guitar, drums, and even a washtub bass.

They're called Guadalupe Plata; I even looked them up when I got back and downloaded both their albums. They're awesome. Check it out. After the show we met a few people; British, Irish, Hungarian, and even American. We went out for drinks with a few of them but having barely slept the night before we were pretty sleepy. Plus we had to wake up early to catch the bus to Nerja.

Our first stop in Nerja was the caves, and although a bit pricey, it was an awesome sight. I felt like I was traveling through some huge alien body part. It was enormous. Really enormous; there were rooms and rooms with stairs and walkways connecting them. There were giant stalagmites that looked like big crooked spines and big stalactites that looked like prehistoric chandeliers, and in some places they were touching. The whole thing was damp and felt like it was breathing and growing as we looked at it. It was just barely lit up in strategic parts that illuminated it enough for it to be wonderful and creepy and impossible to photograph.

They took these cheesy photos as the entrance and then tried to sell them to us but it was ridiculously expensive. Of course. After our cave excursion we had to wait for the bus, so we sat in the gardens at a picnic table and read until I was delirious with hunger. When we finally got into town, we found an amazing restaurant where I spent way to much money buying a Caprese salad (oh the joy of things that are fresh! I've never loved tomatoes so much!) and a Margherita pizza. We found a lovely, lovely, amazing, wonderful beach close by. The sea was the most beautiful blue. The waves were a little scarier than on the beach in Málaga, but it made swimming kind of exhilarating.

As with most (or all? I don't know...) beaches here, this was a topless beach. No one in our group seem particularly keen on partaking in the toplessness, and, not wanting to impose my nudity on anyone, I kept my suit intact for the majority of the trip. However, after lot's of fully-clothed swimming, when I decided to head back to shore, a giant fucking wave broke right on top of me and knocked me on my ass. Okay maybe it wasn't that big, but it was gnarly, and it was immediately followed by another, and then another, that ended up rolling me around a lot and eventually spat me out at the feet of some strange man with a huge sunburned belly. The awkwardness of the situation was not lessened by the fact that both pieces of my swimsuit had become absurdly stuffed with sand and rocks, so, although I attempted some discretion in dumping out the contents of my bottoms ("I'm not shitting bricks guys, just a few pebbles...") I eventually embraced the toplessness of the beach in order to avoid the horrible discomfort of pebbley boobs. Also, toplessness is great.

All in all, successful trip. As far as the beach goes, Nerja definitely beats Málaga. The bus ride home for some reason took a billion years; we were supposed to have dinner with Chelo last night but missed it by a long shot. The post-beach shower was divine, and I slept like a rock. Monday, however was a whole new story.

Today we were supposed to begin our interviews with Inma, the program coordinator, so that she could sign us up for classes. We were assigned ten minute intervals to do so, despite the fact that many of us are really, really confused. Tomorrow, I was supposed to sign the contract for my piso, pay the deposit and pick up my keys. However, the dueño emailed me and asked me to come by today, after 8pm, which, incidentally, was my appointment time with Inma.

This didn't really seem to a be a problem; I emailed him back saying I'd be there around 8:45 or 9, giving myself plenty of time to walk over after the appointment that would presumably be over around 8:15... Not the case. After the stress of trying to finalize class decisions (which ultimately didn't happen... I wrote down a list of options in the hopes that Inma would help me decide between classes with conflicting schedules) I went down to Inma's office where I discovered the girl with the 7:20 appointment was still waiting. This did not bode well. When Chelo arrived at 8:30 to accompany me to the piso, there were still two people ahead of me in line to speak with Inma. We decided to make a run for it, told Megan, who was after me, to take my spot if I wasn't back in time, figuring that I could take her slot.

The contract signing and deposit paying all went smoothly (I found out I'm living with a French guy who apparently has been living in Spain for several years, which makes me wonder how old he is, and a British guy that better not speak to me in English) but by the time we made it back, Inma's office was closed and I just barely made it to dinner. I'm hoping she's not super angry, but also feel vaguely justified, considering I waited half an hour. Luckily, I have a break between classes tomorrow so I'll be able to talk to her then. Hopefully.

Today was definitely a glimpse into something like real life. It was scary, and stressful. I don't think I stopped jiggling my leg all day, and I had to succumb to some cookie therapy, but, hey, at least I officially have a place to live, right? One thing off the list. I'm still scared shitless; I can't believe we have finals this week and then start our REAL classes next week. Holy hell, I feel like I'm going to die a little, but like mom says, the unknown is what makes this an adventure... It's hard to keep track of my adventurous spirit when I'm all jittery and spazzy with stress, but I think that's half the reason I make myself do insane things like this. If I didn't push myself, who would? I want to become someone better than I am, I want to see what I'm capable of. I want to learn; about the world and about myself. I guess that's why I'm here.