This could be paradise: Malaga!

 Okay before I forget everything in a sleep deprived haze, I want to say how completely amazing Malaga is. It is like Hawaii but everyone speaks Spanish so basically like my idea of heaven. Maybe it was because I was so tired (actually it probably had a lot to do with that) but it was so pretty and perfect. To begin with it was 70 and sunny. What’s the weather like in Ithaca my freezing friends?

 So literally the second I checked in to the program, I was faced with more bad news: they ran out of hotel rooms, so my room wasn’t ready yet. At this point I’m out all my clothes and a place to sleep. I figured not much more could be taken from me before I would come a beggar on the streets. But I had no time to dwell in the bad news because my things were shoved into a closet and we all set off for lunch. As we walked along in the sunshine, it began to sink in that I was actually in Spain, which was extremely exciting (I might have gotten a little teary).

 Before I knew it, I was sitting down at an outside restaurant right on the water. Really, I thought, how could it get better than this? Because even with no hotel room and no luggage, this was still ranking among the best days ever. As we sat, I began to notice cultural differences right away. I think our lunch was five courses and took probably two and a half hours to eat. I was told that this is not really normal, but the relaxed lifestyle is something I could get used to. After lunch, we walked around the city, which was really pretty. I wish I had my camera to take pictures, but it was at the hotel because I clearly did not have my game face on when we left the hotel, but I figure I’ll just have to go back to take some pictures! I took these two on the way out, just to prove that I have been there!

 By this time, we were all struggling. Most of us had been traveling for over a day and had yet to take a shower. I realized that I hadn’t taken off my shoes on over a day (in retrospect that’s really gross and wearing shoes on the plane was very unnecessary). But regardless, we were so toast. On the plus side, we found everything hilarious, which made our next activity way more bearable. We are required to have a phone, which makes sense, but having 50 kids trying to get phones all at the same time not really a fun experience for everyone.



 On the plus side, it’s possible that this sexy phone is an upgrade from the one from home and it cost me 9 euro. That’s whats uppp! Actually, not only is this phone the cheapest thing I have ever seen, but it is impossible to use. And in Spanish. Also, the settings are either having all the volume up (including the keypad) or not having sound at all. I guess you get what you pay for! The struggle to use the phone has provided countless hours of frustration for all members of the program.

After an exhausting day I finally dragged myself up to bed and collasped. In the morning, we had orientation and then we took off for Granada, where I met my wonderfully perfect host mom who is literally probably the kindest woman I have ever, and will ever meet. But more on that later!