Take me back to Nerja

I just got back from visiting Málaga for the weekend. We didn’t have class on Friday, so it was a 3-day weekend for all students and a lot of people also went to Málaga, which is a coastal city in Spain. We took a bus there on Friday and as we were sitting, we made conversation with some guys who shared that they were from Argentina. They asked us where we were from and we said the U.S., which then led to a conversation about how things were like between the two different countries. It was interesting to see how easy it was to make conversation with people, and I’ve started to note just how widespread everyone’s background is. At this point in my program, I’ve gotten the chance to meet people from all parts of the world, heard a number of different accents, and even learned how to ask for a straw in Spain. They use the word “pajita.” Nevertheless, meeting those guys on the bus was the first of many people I’d get to talk to this weekend. Upon arriving in Málaga, we struggled to get into our Airbnb and attempted for about an hour to open the door to the apartment we had rented out. One of my friends figured that perhaps we were doing something wrong and I went with her to ask one of the locals for help. A woman was kind enough to help us out, and she opened it within 5 minutes. She laughed at our surprised faces and I asked her to let us try it while she was there just to make sure we’d be able to do it on our own later on. I thanked her and it was such a relief. I laughed at how silly we must’ve looked struggling to open that door, but it was understandable considering we were tourists. Málaga was beautiful, but my favorite part of our weekend had to be the day trip we took to Nerja, a nearby town that is also along the coast. It was absolutely breathtaking, I want to go back! We took some photos, and decided to eat at a restaurant that overlooked the ocean. The menu was in Spanish and English, which I figured was because we were in a popular area for tourists and a number of people spoke English. Our waiter spoke both languages, and when she brought out an appetizer for us, I asked her what was on top of one of the slices of bread. I learned that “trufa” is the Spanish word for “truffle,” and it was pretty good considering it was my first time having it. From there, we spent our time at the beach and saw the cutest little blue door, decorated with white walls and flowers. I also swam in the ocean, and even saw some fish! Being there in the water, looking around at the beautiful scenery around me, I couldn’t believe I was in Spain. I was smiling so much! My nerves were completely gone and I had no worries in mind. I was actually enjoying myself and how independent I felt. It was such a nice feeling. We ended our time in Nerja with gelato, of course, and made our way back to Málaga. Overall, it was a day well spent and I felt so happy to have been able to enjoy my weekend in this way. I will definitely be returning to Nerja one day, hopefully very soon. These two pictures I have included are from the trip, one of the blue door and the other of the beach in Nerja. I hope you enjoyed hearing about my 3-day trip!