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Published: February 19th 2007
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I love Spain and when I think of Spanish people, many fabulous qualities come to mind: they are warm, friendly, eager to help strangers, devoted to their families, jovial, easy-going...the list goes on and on. But one word would never appear on this list: ATHLETIC.
So during a mid-day coffee break last week while my co-workers chatted amongst themselves about going hiking on the weekend, I listened and tried to imagine this crowd of coffee-drinking, churro-eating, middle-aged teachers on a mountain. Ha. Not going to happen, I thought to myself.
But then one of them turned to me and asked if I would like to join them for some hiking in Malaga on Sunday. Now, you must know that on this particular day I was trying to be more social than normal, and also, that I despise hiking. So when I weighed my hatred of hiking with the possibility of hanging out with the teachers on a Sunday and getting to socialize in Spanish, I decided that the incredible Spanish practice was worth a couple hours of boredom on a trail. Besides, there are no major mountains in Malaga, so I assumed we'd hike up one of the hills,
have some cheese and wine and call it a workout.
This is the part where I humble myself and admit that I have totally underestimated the athletic abilities of Spanish people.
Misunderstanding #1: Malaga is both a town and province. When they said 'Malaga', I assumed we would be hiking in the outskirts of the city, but actually we drove over an hour to a respectable mountain range on the edge of the province of Malaga.
Misunderstanding #2: The hike would be short and easy. WRONG!! The estimated time to reach the mountain peak and return was 7 hours.
Having already committed myself to going hiking, I couldn't very well back out just because they hike was going to be more difficult than I had anticipated. So I woke up at the crack of dawn and prepared myself to suck it up and get through this miserable hike.
Knowing I would be representing all Americans on this hike, I was determined to look like I knew what I was doing. So I packed water, a pear for a snack, some sunglasses, a ponytail holder and wore several layers so I could take them off as
I got warmer from all the hard work we'd be doing. And I felt so smart for remembering to bring sunscreen to put on after I'd stripped down to the tank top I was wearing underneath.
Misunderstanding #3: If I needed to bring food, someone would mention it to me, right? Wrong again. Effective communication and planning is not a big priority here in Malaga. I should have anticipated that one. Luckily, perhaps to compensate for all the poor communication, Spanish people are very generous. When they found out that I only had a pear with me, they offered to share the omelettes, ham & cheese sandwiches, dried fruits, nuts, chocolate, juice, beer and potato chips they had packed.
Feeling the fool already, I was dismayed to learn that the weather on the border of the Malaga province was very different from that in Malaga, the city. I was cold before we started up the mountain and it just got worse as we went up. After about an hour of hardcore hiking, we paused to check out the scenery. It was gorgeous (this being the only perk to hiking in my opinion). But we couldn't help but notice
the snow and ominous clouds in the distance. The head hiker, Luis, assured me that we wouldn't hike to the top if it was snowy.
Misunderstanding #4: Spanish people always tell the truth.
The first spots of snow were cool. My co-workers' kids had fun throwing snowballs. But then the snow got deeper and the hike got steeper. And I didn't find it particularly amusing when Luis pointed out a tree covered in ice. You see, frozen precipitation is exciting for people who live in a warm place like Malaga. Many kids have never seen snow. But I, also a lover of snow, know that hiking up a steep mountain covered with snow and ice (when I'm wearing a tank top under my jacket and have no gloves or hiking boots) is a BAD idea. But we just kept on hiking. Someone had an extra windbreaker, thank goodness, or I don't know how I would have made it.
Eventually, about 3/4 of the way to the peak, we huddled against an icicle-covered rock to take shelter from the wind and explained to Luis that we couldn't feel our fingers and we wanted to turn back. Determined to
reach the top, it took us a good 10 minutes to convince him to turn back. Slowly and carefully we made our way down the mountain. Unfortunately the temperature had been dropping all day, so we went nearly to the bottom before pausing briefly to eat. It was just too cold to linger and enjoy the view.
All that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the company and got to speak in Spanish all day. My muscles still ache today, which is a sign of a good hike and I've learned a valuable lesson: never agree to an excursion without first getting all the details!!
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