Orientation

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The first day of orientation started the day after we all met our host families. We went to the center of the city to "La Plaza de la Marina" which is naturally right by the port. Anyways, I found my way there using the trusty public transportation system a.k.a. bus #14. I get off the bus and immediately become completely disoriented... so I bust out my impressively large Malaga map and awkwardly twist and turn it in the wind until it's right side up. An older man must have seen me struggle because he came over to me to help give me directions. After he told me which direction to walk he casually says, "I don't have a wife right now and you're very pretty and you'd be good for me" or something. WHAT!? It's like my second day in Spain and I get proposed to. Great. I was just like, "uh, I gotta go". Funny guy though, I mean - really? He was like 50+ ... I mean I was expecting to get harassed and cat-called here because of my blond hair/good looks (hehe)

It's remarkable the strange experiences you have in a new place when you first arrive. My first night in Malaga, for example, I almost got hit by a car! I was crossing the street, and the little green walking man totally indicated my right to cross, and almost got side-swiped by this car coming at me. But he stopped in time. Which is lucky. For him. Apparently there are no stop signs here, just yield signs and flashing yellow lights that mean 'watch for pedestrians'. I guess when a bunch of cars are stopped it means go around them as fast as possible? Oh well.

Meh, after the group found each other in the plaza we went on a walking tour of downtown Malaga, or rather the commercial part of the city. We stopped at a bar/restaurant called "El Pimpo" and ate a variety of Tapas (appetizers) and tried some local wine (more like sherry) there. 'Twas delightful. Apparently it's a pretty famous place because Antonio Banderas ate there once (there was a pic). But then again, it could just have attracted his attention b/c of the pimpin (pun fully intended) name... or the fact that he was born in Malaga, whichever.

Later on we went up to "la Alcazaba" (basically the look-out point of Malaga) and took some sweet pictures. The best views were up there because it's where they used to look for enemy ships approaching...

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Photos

the admirer
statue in the garden outside the town hall
Malaga, Spain

generations
the old looks down on the new

job well done
incredibly old 14th century construction at the Alcazaba