Submitted by Daniel Schilling on the 2017 summer session program in Granada, Spain sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
At least one weekend of my free time in Spain had to be dedicated to a weekend at the beach. This came in the form of Málaga, a town on the Costa del Sol, and Malagaleta, the beach there. We decided that after two weeks of intensive Spanish learning and class a bit of relaxation was deserved, and Málaga offered not only the beach, but many other cool places to visit.
When we first arrived in Málaga, we immediately went to the Picasso Museum. Everyone was super excited to go, and I am a big fan of Picasso. I have to say I was rather unimpressed with the museum, as you could not take pictures and the collection was small. They didn’t have his most famous paintings, such as Guernica, but it was still pretty cool inside. They had a lot of his sketches as well as paintings, and I have to admit I was unaware he also made art in a realistic style. I always thought he only did his geometric, interpretive style, but I was pleasantly surprised by his multiple styles and the outright uniqueness of his photos. In fact, many were so “unique” I couldn’t tell what they were unless I read the title, such as his work simply named “bowl of fruit”.
After spending some time at the Picasso Museum, we could finally check into our hostel. I was already nervous since I’ve never stayed at one, and my Mom has had some bad experiences at them in her youth. I thought they would be dirty and the people would be scary, but I was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, I booked the hostel “Feels Hostel Soho” rather than “Feels Hostel City Center”, which was 10 minutes away. This means I was alone and away from everyone and I was very nervous and scared. I almost came home, but I put on a brave face and checked into the other one. I met some very nice French guys, and they told me the fun clubs to go to around Málaga, which eased my anxiety.
That night was a little boring, because after all the traveling, we were very tired. We checked into the hostel and took a nap, while I took the best shower of my life. The hostel was actually super nice, with a free sangria or Aquarius at check in and comfortable beds. I thought they were actually nicer than the beds in my host family’s house. That night, we all went out to dinner, and then went to some clubs. Needless to say it was very fun, as first we played Heads Up in the lobby of everyone else’s hostel, and got to know the other people staying there. There were people from Britain, Holland, Australia and Sweden, and I was shocked by the cultural diversity in this one hostel. I was also surprised they knew many of the slang terms in Heads Up, and it was very cool to know that many of the same youth phrases are universal. After Heads Up, we went to the club, where I had another shock. I saw the French guys from my hostel there, and instantly became the center of attention for the night. They kept calling me their little brother, as I am very short and look young, but had the same white dyed hair as one of them. I introduced them to my friends from our program, and we had a lot of fun. Afterwards, I went to bed semi early to rest up, intending to head to the beach early in the morning.
The next day was a blast. I went to the beach at around 9:00 am, and everyone was already there. We swam for hours in the ocean, soaked up a lot of sun and despite the fact I was the only one not wearing sunscreen, I didn’t burn. Levon kept telling jokes that made us laugh for hours, and Michael and I walked along the beach to see different seaside restaurants. To be completely honest, the beach reminded me a bit of Ocean City, as it was very crowded and the water wasn’t very clear. With that being said, it was warm and sunny and the mountains in the distance made it spectacular. There were people walking up and down the beach selling drinks, and I ended up getting a Coke which I haven’t had since arriving in Spain. It was very relaxing and I was also relieved that it was a bit cooler than in Granada.
After the beach, many people had to head home. They had their bus at 3:00 pm, but Michael, Beau, Levon, Phil, Jisha and I had later buses. We went to get lunch, and I was surprised that many restaurants made you pay for tapas in Málaga. It made me miss Granada a bit. Still, the food was good, and we walked around the Centre Pompidou which was pretty cool. It reminded me of the public art in Philadelphia, but obviously a lot more colorful and nice. I also saw a lot of cool graffiti along the bridge, and I pointed out the repeating styles to my friends. Some of it belonged to a famous Spanish graffiti artist, and I am now sad I didn’t take pictures of it.
Soon after lunch, everyone, but Michael and I left. We had two hours before our bus arrived, so we caught a taxi to the Alcazaba of Málaga, which was super cool. It reminded me of the Alhambra quite a lot, accept it wasn’t as well preserved and the style was more Gothic. I didn’t see any Christian symbolism on the outside though, so that was just one difference from the Alhambra.
Connecting to the Alcazaba was the old Roman Theater, which I thought was awesome. It’s free to see and sits in the middle of a popular plaza, and stands as a reminder of the old Roman civilization in that area. I was surprised to learn that Spain pretty much built the city on top of old Roman ruins, as the theater sits below city level and there is also an old Roman coal warehouse in a glass case below the ground. As someone who loves artifacts and history, I was a bit annoyed by this, as I would rather see old artifacts from the Roman period than concrete in a plaza, but nevertheless I’m glad I still saw it. There were a lot of cats just hanging out on the ruins of the Roman theater in the shade, and I joked with Michael that they were waiting to see a show. In all, I felt lucky to see something from so long ago, and it makes me wonder how many more years it will continue to be there.
After our little excursion, Michael and I got authentic Italian flatbread pizza (which he had been talking about for the entire program) and got a taxi back to the bus station. We made it just in time, and I got on the bus when Michael had a huge problem. He bought his ticket to return in July, not in June, and the bus was leaving. My bag was locked underneath the bus and I was panicking that he would be left behind. Luckily, adrenaline and our Spanish skills kicked in, and Michael was able to explain what happened at the customer service desk to an employee that didn’t speak English. She fixed it just in time, and Michael came running out into the parking lot just as the bus was leaving the station. It was a frankly nerve wracking way to end the weekend, but at least we had a funny story to tell our friends the next day in class.