A happy and long awaited moment.

WE FINALLY GOT OUTDOOR FURNITURE!!! The terrace is gettin pimped!

Is this information worthy of a blog???

WHY OF COURSE IT IS!!!

holler!

My CITY, Malaga, Spain

I realized that I speak so much about Malaga this and Malaga that, but I never really blogged about Malaga!

Malaga is the second largest city, after Seville, in the south of Spain. It's a beach town on the Mediterranean Sea. It's famous for it's warm climate, beautiful beaches, and because Picasso was born here.

Living here is a HUGE change and shock from living in NYC. Just look at the pictures and you can imagine how much better and happier I live here. I mean, I LOVE New York, but Malaga has everything I could ever want, beaches, parties, culture, food, centrally located, EVERYTHING. It makes me happy just to take a walk because everything is so gorgeous.

This is a typical street on the outskirts of the city center:

A view of the whole city including the bullfighting ring with
the Mediterranean Sea in the background:
This is part of a Churinguito, a restaurant on the beach,
they roast the sardines on the small boat here:

Another view of the city, with the port:
Calle Larios at night, the main street in the city center:

A view in the opposite direction, facing the mountains:
On the beach:

Cruise ships come through every week:

The local beach:
Calle Larios during the day:

the boardwalk at sunset:
beds on the beach:
Everyone here is big on plants, these are just sitting on a mountain overlooking the sea:

And that's my city... I don't know if I could ever leave it...

meeting the "in-laws"

Ughhh... for so long I had a "bad" relationship (or no relationship at all) with Spanish guys family. They didn't like me because I am "foreign", because I'm not Spanish, and they LOVED his ex-girlfriend, so for them, I was double-trouble in the family...

I never spoke to them, I never met them, I was with Spanish guy for 7 months now and they never called or came to visit...

Well, today, I had the surprise of my life. His whole generation came to visit! Mother, aunt, cousins, brother, grandparents, sisters of grandfather, etc. WOW!

I was like OK-- this is my house-- I am ME-- I am nice-- I adore Spanish guy-- I treat him good-- and I am friendly-- so I will just be me and ya esta, or "tomar por culo" as the Spanish say.

Well, it was a great success and a great time! I LOVE his grandpa's aunt, we had a good time, talking, eating, they brought LOTS of presents for the house! We spent time on the terrace talking, I was playing with his cousin (who also happens to be a student in my school, so me and her loved each other before, awww...) His mom took pictures of us, she invited us to go shopping with her next weekend, his grandma asked me to come and stay at her house with an overnight bag, and best of all, they were all so proud of him for what we have here!

So, I hope that I changed their mind, and they know that although I may not be his ex and I may be from another country, that doesn't make me bad, mean or a monster. I am a good girl, happy, smart, and most importantly, Spanish guy and I get along GREAT!

I needed to get rid of this prejudice once and for all, it's HORRIBLE! And I think I accomplished it today.

building the immune system

So, I've been partying like crazy recently. Almost every night for a while. I know it's bad, but it's so hard not to when you live in a party town and everyone you know calls you to go out-- dinner-- salsa dancing--house parties-- drinks-- Churinguitos (bars/restaurants on the beach with loud music)-- to watch a soccer game and have a few beers. It's hard to resist. Last year while I was living here in Malaga I went out and partied every night... and in Spain, the clubs and bars don't close until 6am, so you can imagine...

Well, I got sick and went to the hospital yesterday, low and behold I got an infection, I asked the doctor how did this happen, why do people get this infection? It's nothing serious, but I am CURIOUS ABOUT EVERYTHING! "It's a common germ actually, but people with weak immune systems are more prone to getting it" he said, WHAT!!!?!! ME?? WEAK IMMUNE SYSTEM?!? It couldn't be! I'm an extreme athlete, eat only veggies, fruits, whole grains, beans and nuts, with olive oil and sea salt-- I use GARLIC on everything for gods sake! I walk everywhere, I swim, I hike, I rollerblade! How can I have a weak immune system... so I went home and I thought... and I thought a bit more... and a little more...

It has to be the partying... it has to be, there's no other reason. I am a healthy person otherwise. We all have our weaknesses, someone people love cookies, others love fast food, others hate to exercise, mine happens to be drinking and partying!

Also, when I sprained my ankle in the beginning of September, I was house bound, I couldn't move or walk around, and my lovely Spanish guy would bring home beer and wine when he got home from work, I'm sure that all of this combined has lead to my weak immune system. Lack of exercise, drinking, and partying.

Well, now I'm on a mission, to build my immune system, I hate being sick, and I DEFINITELY don't want to be unhealthy, it's like my worst nightmare! I am almost healed, my ankle, I mean, and I started slowly running, I am adding more water and veggies to my diet and am toning down the partying. I won't eliminate it completely, it's what I like to do, but I can still have fun without damaging my own body, and that's what I plan on doing. I'm happy and excited about my mission.

a day trip to Álora

Álora is a small village about 45 minutes by train outside Malaga Center. It's a typical white village in the mountains. I saw a picture of it on the internet last week and I thought (and said) I WANT TO GO THERE! And we did, today, this morning.

The pictures say it all. The village has such character, beautiful streets, typical Spanish restaurants with cheap tapas and drinks, precious views and of course a castle at the top of a hill!

My Spanish guy and I talking about it:
(wow, there really isn't anything more than white houses mountains and restaurants, we say it over and over again)


the gorgeous village, a view from the castle:
everything is just a tiny bit smaller in the village, including the height of the doors:
cute fountain:
the towns church, it was closed for renovations:
in the heart of the town with the castle on top of the hill:
this is also part of Álora but not in the heart of the village, still gorgeous:
beautiful scenery and HAPPY me!
♡

a splash of immaturity...

I came across this balloon in the toy machine in una cafeteria and had to buy it!!! It reminded me of when I was a kid, and it was so comforting, not to mention, it scratched a restless itch I had. This was last May on our way to Cadiz for a weekend trip. I love these silly moments, and this one was caught on video...

hmmm...

Everything in Malaga is closed on Sundays (except churches and restaurants), so there's really no choice but to go for a walk or have a coffee in one of the many restaurants. This past Sunday my Spanish guy and I took an early morning walk through the city. It also happened to be Columbus Day weekend, so the city was close to empty, I guess everyone went away for the long holiday weekend...

When boredom ensues (which rarely happens, but for some reason happened this weekend), the result is usually creativity, Spanish guy decided to calm his boredom by talking my ear off and taking pictures, here's the result of his photographers spasm and my impatient-ness with it all, ha:




The truth is I secretly liked that he was taking pictures and documenting the walk... shhhh... I love art and I love documentation, so the boredom, and closed shops in Malaga produced something nice and unique, the artist in Spanish guy came out...

there's something missing

You ever feel like you're missing something? Like you look around and have everything you need, but inside you feel like somethings just not right?

Well, I'm feeling that way now. And really, who am I to complain? I shouldn't complain actually, I mean... I have no reason to, I live in the south of Spain with the best man in the world, with great people around me, and I have a healthy/happy living environment. I'm learning a new language, a new culture, I swim in the Mediterranean Sea regularly, I run along the beach, I mean, for goodness sake, I have a spiral staircase in my house!!!! COME ON!

Sometimes I look at that spiral staircase and think, it's such a beautiful structure, but there is no practical value to it, we can't bring whole furniture upstairs, it doesn't fit. I think about the practicality of life, sometimes it makes sense, like when you are in love and you are with your love, other times it doesn't, like when you work in a shitty job to make money to buy food and shelter, when instead, you can grow your own food and build your own house... oh I don't know...

Somethings missing, not anything big, but something big enough to tug at my heart/mind sometimes just to remind me that I need to keep searching, keep looking, and never get too comfortable, the world is out there for us to explore, people are around for us to get to know, and that's what I need to do, I think...

I love my babies!

I want to have more; I want my whole terrace to be filled with my babies!

LOVin it right now!

serenity

I'm sitting on my rooftop terrace right now. There's a strong breeze coming from the sea which is just a few minutes away, my hair is blowing in my face, but I don't mind, I leave it there, with no attempt to push it behind my ears, because the serenity of my surroundings, and the peaceful state of mind I'm in at the moment is stronger than anything.

Cuban salsa is playing softly in the background, and the church bells ring every 15 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays; it's a soft bell, and doesn't last for more than a few seconds. The green mountains are a natural backdrop to all this, along with the neighboring terraces and city views. Everything combined, all of this, the warm breeze, the strong sun, my beautiful plants in their super cute pots, the clothes drying with the slight sent of Ariel detergent in the air-- all of this combined makes for one of the most peaceful afternoons I've had in months.

No rush, no stress, no responsibilities, just to be.

just to admire,

just taking in my environment and reflecting.