amazing

This weekend was amazing on so many levels. Kerrie is here which is awesome, she is our first guest! Friday night we went to a discoteca that was on a giant ship in the harbour that was a replica of the Spanish Armada ship. It was really cool especially when we snuck by the barriers to run upstairs to the top deck until the security guards made us get down ( they weren't really that mad). It is crazy how fast time goes, we got home at five am but it felt so much earlier!

Saturday we managed to get up by noon and decided to do a day trip to Nerja, a beautiful town I had been to before on the medditerranean. It is only about an hour bus ride away! On our way we stopped at " Dunkin Coffee" a really good Dunkin imitation, Spain pretty much disregards all copyright law. We tried to get ice coffee but since Spain is against it I got coffee and a cup of ice, Kerrie tried a donut and said it was not up to us standards.

We took the Bus and got to Nerja around 3 pm where it was still super hot! The water there is incredible, very green and clear. There is a place called the Balcon de Europa which looks out onto the ocean and is one of the most beautiful places I have seen. We decided to head down to the beach to have some of the most traditional Paella you can find, it is made on the beach on an open fire and was soo good. Since we then had a food coma we took a nap on the beach ( tough life). We were only planning to stay for the day but decided that we needed more time there. We by accident found the hostal I had stayed in before and booked a night, it was only 50 euros for 3 of us in a really nice room; the only downside was that all we had was what we were wearing but we decided being dirty was worth the view.

That night we went out and had a great time, we made lots of friends. Nerja is super populated by British people so we made friends with some kids working there and did not pay for a single drink all night.

We got up around ten and headed to the beach! The sun was so hot that we only stayed about 2 hours but it was beautiful. The water temperture was perfect and I had a great time until I got bit by a fish. I really did and it kinda hurt, I screamed and made a little scene on the beach super embarassing.

We headed back later in the afternoon, and despite the fact that we probably smelled a little we had a phenomenal time :)

this has been such a crazy week, but after lots of stress and running around we finally have a very nice apartment in Malaga. Finding apartments was crazy we literally walked around looking for " se alquila" signs and calling to ask how many rooms there were etc. After having lots of failed attempts we decided to go through a realator, and althought it was pricey it was worth it. We ended up finding a nice three bedroom apt ( me Jacqui and a girl Kristen) with pretty equal rooms, two bathrooms, a nice living room and kitchen. We literally have seating for 21 people. Our land lords are super nice, they went out and bought us new bedding, pans, cups, couch covers, and much more.

I had my first day of school yesterday and it went very well. The director of the school Inma showed me around and introduced me to all the teachers and kiddos. I am also working with British woman who has lived in Spain for a few years with her husband and daughter. I am going to be working with the first, second and third graders who are super cute.

I am starting to get to know Malaga pretty well, it is very different than sevilla. It is much more of an industrial city and less pretty but it is also nice and I am sure we will learn to love it. I am glad that I get to go teach in a quiet town and can take a nice walk on the medditerranean right after I get out of school.

Yesterday we took a very long bus trip to IKEA to get some houes necessities and decorations, it went pretty well minus I broke my french press on the way home :( I also had a bad experience today with my laundry, I somehow dyed all my white clothes blue...oops, at least its not an ugly blue.

I am meeting my friend Kerrie at five at the bus station, she wil lbe here for four days and I am super excited! We are going to make dinner tonight with some kiddos then go out for our first real outing in Malaga! OLE.

Sevilla. Malaga, Torre dios mio

Today was crazy! Yesterday we were set on living in Rincon ( the town we are teaching in) but after a night of trying to find one person under the age of 50 and failing, we decided that was a poor decision. Then we decided we would live in Torre del Mar with Lc and Toren, we packed up our overnight bags and were ready to find a place to live. We took the bus and luckily had the same nice bus driver ( our only amigo in Rincon) who told us where to get off the bus and arrived in Torre. Torre was beautiful but also pretty quiet. All of these small Costa Del Sol towns look amazing for summer but pretty dead in the winter. In Rincon people were not really friendly and when we asked them where to go at night they pretty m much laughed at us and said," es tranquilo" basically meaning its tranquil here. We actually looked at an apartment in Torre which was very nice, but after talking to a few people decied it we should live in the City. So we got back on the bus and headed to Malaga. Malaga is not the most beautiful but it is supposed to be a lot of fun, it is a University town so at least we will have a lot of amigos. There are two other girls we met from our program Ashley and Chrysten who we are going to live with so we spent the afternoon looking for apartments. We only found one realator that had a four bedroom and we really liked it but the problem is for comission we have to pay first months rent. Tomorrow we are going to look at a few more places then hopefully make a decision since we start teaching soooon I just can't wait to be settled.

finally in Rincon

Jacqui and I finally got to Rincon, the town we are teaching in today which is exciting. It is beautiful and just outside of Malaga but it is a little small so I think that we will be looking to live in Torre del Mar with our other friends. Next few days will be full of apartment hunting and hopefully setteling in. After being in Sevilla for a week I am glad we chose to live in a different place, because although I love sevilla it willl be great to have a completely new experience. The most fun night I had in Sevilla was when we went out with our Spanish friends to a botellon also known as a street party, it is literally hundreds of people drinking out of bottles outside and hanging out. We were the only Americans and it was a ton of fun, although the Spaniards were very angry with us when at five am they wanted to go to the discoteca and we decided to go home. We also saw a really nice Flamenco show in the center.

photos

HERE

Hola todos,

I am finally in Sevilla, Ole! It is amazing and just as beautiful as I remember. My flight was pretty good minus that on the second part I had to pay 230 euros for my luggage and had a baby crying in front and in back of me but that is ok. My first day was great, lc and toren rented an apartment right in the center of the city so I went straight there and although I was very tierd decided to power through the day. We went to get tapas at one of the popular bars and then just wandered the city, we went back to visit our old school but sadly most of our favorite teachers where not there. But we went back to our favorite cafe and they remembered us all and gave us so much free food and sangria they just kept bringing us more yummy treats. At night we made our own dinner at the apartment but forgot a lemon so we just asked the restauraunt next door and they gave us one, I love spain!

one day to go, ole!

I feel like its fitting that this weekend was Rosh hashana and it's the start of a new year since there are a lot of big changes going on and I am excited to see all the good things this year will bring. I am super excited especially since LC just told me that they are renting an apartment for a few nights so I don't have to worry about a place to stay on my first day. I am going to pack all of tommorow considering I have not started ( woops). Thank you to everyone who has come to say bye it really has meant so much to me I have some amazing people in my life :) Next time I write I will be in Espana! OLE!