Weekend in Malaga

 My brother Lukas asked me recently what I had been doing for “awesome-ness” since I got to Malaga. At that point all I had to say was that I had settled in well, was enjoying being here with the Pringles and that I was working with kids every day. Which in itself it pretty awesome, but not quite what he meant J

Enjoying the awesome weather we've had almost everyday since I arrived almost two weeks ago!

This weekend however I was able to do three pretty awesome things. On Friday Jeannine and Moriah brought a friend home from school to sleep-over and the four of us went to see the new “Les Miserables” at the local Cinema. The theater was really nice and I loved the movie! I’m kind of a Les Mis fan as it is, having read the book and sung quite a bit of the music in choir in highschool. Afterward we came home and had late night pizza.

Saturday is shopping and cleaning day at the Pringle home, so there is always something to keep busy. In the evening, Jeannine and I were able to attend "Ruge", a city-wide prayer and praise time at a church in Malaga. We got a ride with another couple attending, and Jeannine’s friend Ben Eller joined us as well.  It was a wonderful experience, even though it was all in Spanish.  As long as people are talking slowly, or if the words are printed on a screen I am finding that I can usually figure out a little bit of what’s going on, but Jeannine and Ben were also great at helping to translate when I was completely lost.  It's also helpful that Spanish is pretty much phonetic. So I can sing along even though I don't know what the words mean! :)

The worship leader, Martin, is also the youth pastor at the Pringle's church.

Excited to be with Jeannine at "Malaga Ruge"

 The most marvelous part was though that God’s Spirit was so present. I love how the Spirit is not hindered by language barriers. Though I didn’t understand most of the words spoken, I understood the spirit and was able to worship and join as one of the family.  The family of Christ really is the greatest family ever! It was a very enjoyable and encouraging evening.

On Sunday we all slept in and Dan and Tara prepared a delicious breakfast.  Instead of going to church we had quiet time in our respective rooms. It was very restful just to sit and read, listen to music and be in God’s presence. Dan had to pick people up from the airport around noon so he dropped me off at the metro station on his way there. It was about a 10 minute ride into downtown Malaga where I spent the afternoon wandering around and exploring a bit.

Plaza de la Marina. It looks like there is a big fountain, but unfortunately it wasn't running :(

Alcazaba

Most of the historic buildings and things to see are clustered in a small radius near the port right downtown. I walked down the paseo (main avenue), which is lined with trees and further down turns into a lovely park. On the right is the water’s edge lined with hotels catering to tourists. On the left is the old city.

The Cathedral. Built in the Renaissance style it only has one tower because the funds for the other one were spent elsewhere.

A hilarious band of chefs I happened upon in the restaurant district. I think they may have been trying to rev up business for their establishment.  

Outside the entrance of the Alcazaba

View of the bull-fighting ring from the top of the Alcazaba.

Quaint corner of the Alcazaba. In my exploring I was trying imagine what it would have been like as the residence of a Moorish king and the harem and family that would have lived there.

It’s nice that I have the option of going back and seeing things I didn’t the first time! I took myself out for lunch to a cute restaurant where I sampled some of the seafood that Malaga is apparently famous for. I had grilled fish with creamy sea-food paella, which is a rice dish. Delicious! J

The waiter was amused when I asked him to take a picture of me :)

So that was my eventful weekend. To those who get all the way down here, thanks for reading!!

With Love :)