Week 2 Abroad: Mosquitoes, Midterms and Málaga

Nice alliteration, right?

This week’s weekdays weren’t super eventful, and thankfully I was much less anxious this week than during week one. I mostly was getting into the swing of things. Here’s what has come to be my schedule:

• Wake up at 7:45 a.m. Get ready for classes and eat a quick breakfast.
• Start the 25-minute walk to the university at 8:30 a.m.
• Spanish art history class from 9:00 to 11:30, with a short 10-minute break somewhere in between.
• Eat a sandwich my host mom makes for me during the 30-minute break between classes with some other students.
• Spanish literature through film class from noon to 2:30, although it ended early a few times this week.
• Walk back to the apartment.
• Wait about 30 minutes for my host mom to get back from work.
• Eat lunch that my host mom makes for us, sometimes accompanied by her daughter.
• Siesta (basically, sleep) from about 4:00 to 7:00.
• Eat dinner that my host mom makes for us and sometimes her daughter at about 8:30/9:00, which is early for her. (She said she usually eats dinner around 11 p.m.)
• Do homework, have some leisure time, go to bed.

I’ve been following that general schedule every day this week. I would like to explore the shops and restaurants in the downtown area that are just a street over from the university more, but the timing doesn’t really align how I’d like it to.

I’m a big fan of the Spanish siesta, where many businesses close for 2 or 3 hours so that people can go home and rest in the middle of the day. If you know me, you know I love sleeping, and 3:30/4:00 is my perfect midday naptime, especially if I’m awake and doing things in the morning.

However, the start of the siesta coincides with the time my classes end, so many of the shops and restaurants on the main street, Calle Mayor, are either closed or not accepting customers by the time I get there. I could go back to that area of town after my siesta, but since I live a good 25 minutes away by walking, I’m not super inclined to walk back to the same area. One of these days, though!

An update on my sleep: I’m adjusted! This girl is getting her whole 7 to 8 hours in! However, there’s a new problem: mosquitoes. If you’ve ever spent any amount of time with me during the summer months, you may know that I’m slightly allergic to mosquitoes. I don’t break out in hives or anything, but my mosquito bites are always considerably more swollen than normal.

I usually leave my window open all day and into the night because it’s so hot here, and my host mom doesn’t turn on the air conditioning. One night this week, a mosquito or two flew into my room and attacked me all night. I woke up with five large mosquito bites on my face, which made my nose and forehead look even bigger than usual. It was a great look for me. I guess I’m going to have to stop keeping my window open at night and resort to using the fan my host mom provided me. But I feel a little bad about using that energy overnight…

My classes are going well. I’ve learned so much in my class on the history of Spanish paintings already! I’m really excited to visit some of the places where these paintings are being kept, like the Reina Sofia, Museo del Prado and a handful of cathedrals throughout Spain. It’s really cool to actually know some things about art, haha.

For the most part, I’ve been enjoying the food my host mom makes me. She even remembers that I detest cheese! Anyway, the foods that make me really excited when I see them sitting on the table prepared for me are tortilla de patatas (which is not what you’re probably thinking of when you see the word “tortilla,” lol), empanadillas (small empanadas), gazpacho Andalucía (salty, tomato-based cold soup that originated in southern Spain) and a little chunk of French baguette. (See photos.)

bread, gazpacho, salad, tortilla de patatas

empanadillas, pasta with tuna and corn

I also have been getting used to living with my 8-year-old host sister Janice. She often comes into my room while I’m lazing around before bed or doing homework and climbs into my lap to give me kisses. That, or she picks something of mine up and hands it to me. I can only make out about 10 percent of the words she says to me because, as many kids no matter their first language, she doesn’t enunciate much. But we seem to be doing just fine.

As far as my classes go, I had midterms! After just 5 days for my Spanish painters class and 6 days for my Spanish literature through film class, I took my midterm exams. To update you guys on my classes in general, I’m enjoying my Spanish painters class much more than my other. Although the material is all new to me, and the course is very fast-paced, I like my professor’s method of teaching. There’s a lot of time for critical thought and discussion.

The lack thereof in my other class is one of the reasons I’m not crazy about it. My professor for my class on Spanish literature/film rushes through 70-slide PowerPoints of long paragraphs and random photos of Spanish paintings we don’t really talk about. It’s difficult for me to understand the words he says due to his Cuban accent—quick pace with little pause between words, so they all kind of run together—and I can’t read and translate the words on the slides before we move on. I’m not stressed about it, though, because I think he’s also just trying to make it through this class and doesn’t require much work from us (which is a little disappointing because I wanted to actively learn about literature).

Despite how quick midterms came and my difficulty with my second class, I aced my midterms! It was definitely more satisfying to do well on my Spanish painters midterm, though, as I feel like I’ve learned a lot from that class.

Alcalá

Alcalá

The study abroad program took us to Málaga for Friday into Saturday morning. I’m really glad I got to visit a southern city of Spain with my friends. I even could’ve stayed in town for another whole day! The trip began with a very fancy program-sponsored lunch. Then, we checked into our hostel, The Urban Jungle. It was my first time staying in a hostel, and I think the idea of hostels is really cool.

bread and white wine

guacamole and plantain chips

salmon poke bowl

lobby of the hostel

sun window of the hostel

I got to visit the Museo Picasso Málaga (not to be confused with the Picasso museums in Madrid and Barcelona) and Playa Malagueta. Also, I visited a market and bought some fresh, Málaga-famous almonds!

Playa Malagueta

Playa Malagueta

apartments right on Playa Malagueta

our walking tour guide explaining how many names Picasso had

fish vendor at the market

fish vendor at the market

nuts/oil vendor at the market

dried fruits vendor at the market

fruit vendor at the market

Sunday, my host mom took me and her daughter to Parque Warner, which is kind of like a smaller-scale Disney but with Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo and the Marvel superheroes. We met up with her sister and their family with two young kids. I got to ride some really cool rollercoasters with the adults, like the Batman one that has a virtual reality option that makes it as if you’re Batman flying through Gotham City. I also got to ride the more chill rides with the kids. Parque Warner has their own version of Disney’s teapot ride and the Buzz Lightyear game, yet theirs are both Scooby Doo-themed.

I feel more comfortable in Alcalá now, so I’m looking forward to exploring the city more in week three. Stay tuned for my next post!