Málaga- Sunscreen & passports required

Bathing suits optional.

Three lessons learned outside of the classroom. We got to our hotel "Las Vegas" on Friday evening and were greeted by an ever-so-cheery front desk attendant. (Hotel attendants in the States aren't always that warm, so here I wasn't entertaining any high hopes. These Spaniards have a soft spot buried under the often rude exterior. [And yes, of course this is an over-generalization.]) And I found my suspicions correct, as he demanded...I mean asked for, our passports. Our passports? Sorry, we don't travel with them. We have other identification. That didn't suit him. He asked us where we were from and upon hearing Estados Unidos, indignantly told us that Americans always travel with passports and furthermore, gave us some food for thought: what would they do to him in America if he came up to a hotel desk with merely a copy of his passport? Well, since three-quarters of us could only wave a sheet of paper at him with a poor picture of our face in black and white, I decided to shield our weak argument with Nadia's passport. The tried-and-true blue USA passport and a new angle did the trick. Assuring the girls it would all be okay (everything will always be okay, somehow) I re-approached the desk. The loop-hole in his argument was his stance that Americans always traveled with passports. He wasn't saying "Our hotel requires you show them," but he insisted that we just ought to have them. Really, he must have been annoyed that we waltzed up there expecting to be let in with a piece of paper, while, in his words, they would laugh in his face in the States if he tried it. A few kind words and signatures later, we were in.

The beach the next day was beautiful and almost everyone there decided to put up with wearing a bathing suit. Maybe they just lost part of it--I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. We lolled around on the beach for two days and explored ruins of a castle and Alcazaba on Sunday.

It was a great weekend with these girls but after a few days of doing nothing, I'm glad to return to Sevilla and start a new routine here with classes beginning tomorrow.

If you go to Málaga: wear a bathing suit and suncreen (plenty of it! the insides of my elbows and the front of my shoulders and my shins sure wish I hadn't forgotten them while applying the skin-saving cream) and book a hostel once you arrive (maybe call beforehand). It will probably be cheaper and you can definitely find some as near to the beach as we were.