Málaga! ~ Happening With Hillary

Hey everybody, I haven't updated in a week because I have been busy! Last week I had classes and I have finally gotten into a daily routine of things to do. The highlights of the past week was going to watch the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid soccer game on Wednesday night at a local bar with my roommate and some of my Spanish friends I have met. It was so intense and I love how passionate and intense everyone gets about soccer here, haha. Mostly everyone is a Real Madrid fan because Barcelona is "independent" with their own language, banner, and pretty much anything else anti-Spain. Unfortunately, Real Madrid lost 2-1 but it was a great game.

The real highlight was leaving to spend the weekend in Malaga from Friday-Sunday. Myself, five other girls, and one guy left Friday after classes to Malaga. It was only a 1.5 hour bus ride, so it was simple. While we were taking the bus to the bus station, we met two super old guys who we think were hitting on us, but we aren't entirely sure. They were friendly, and they ended up buying one of my friends Washington Irving's "Tales of the Alhambra" in Spanish.... It was quite odd. After we arrived at Malaga, we had an adventure trying to find our hostel, but we had time to spare anyway. Luckily most of us are pretty easygoing, so we didn't get into any arguments or hissy fits. We found our hostel and it was nice, only five minutes walking distance from the beach, so we were happy about that. We spent most of the weekend on the beach and we also went to a Castle similar to the Alhambra. It is called the Castillo de Gibralfaro and it also contains the Alcazabo de Malaga. I don't want to admit it, but I almost enjoyed it more than the Alhambra, maybe because there were a ton less people and for about a fifth of the price of the Alhambra. I will post a few photos below. The view on our hike up to the top was breathtaking! We stopped to take photos all the time and I didn't mind one bit.

The beach was fantastic as well, we took a long walk along the coast of the Mediterranean and relaxed awhile. It was about seventy five degrees in Malaga, so the temperature was perfect. I didn't go swimming (I'm not the swimming type), but other people were complaining before we left that it would still be "too cold" in the middle of January to go swimming. I didn't think so... I could have easily gone for a dip if I felt like it. Well, other than relaxing, we went out Friday and Saturday night to a few bars and had a good time hanging out together.

I am trying to think about what else to update... Oh, I have a new food addiction here: A snack called "Príncipe". They are two shortbread cookies with chocolate in the middle (similar to Nutella spread). I am in love with them and I snack on them all the time. I don't think they are quite the healthiest snack, but I monitor my input. They are amazing. Much better than Oreos by a long shot.

I have one more week of my "intensive-language" course and then I have a week long break where I will be going to Barcelona and Madrid with one other friend. After that, I will begin my "real" classes, which I am looking forward to. I am really enjoying the University so far, it is very fun and I have a lot of chill people in my class. My professors are very active and they are willing to help us and answer any question, so I feel very comfortable.

I can't think of much else to write right now... but here are some photos!