It's officially Christmas in Malaga. Once you get out of the city center it's not as obvious, but for about a square mile section every available surface is covered with lights, wreaths, and poinsettias. The streets are littered with gigantic figurines...tree ornaments bigger than people, a bell I could stand under if I wanted, a five story high Christmas tree. Anyone who says that America is the only country of excess has clearly never been to southern Spain during the Christmas season.
Having no Thanksgiving to act as a buffer between this holiday and Halloween, the decorations go up quite a bit earlier. That's not to say that they do anything tacky, like stick the trees up the 1st of November. No, they wait at least two weeks into the month, to give a little breathing room between decorating sprees, and then jump back armed to the teeth with holly and fake snow. Even the palm trees get some attention. The stuff also stays up later here, since the traditional day to exchange gifts is actually Three Kings Day, which I believe falls on the 6th of January (I could be wrong about this of course - there are heaps of religious festivals, and I haven't quite gotten them all straightened out as of yet).
Seeing all these lights reminds me that my time here is running out. I now have 13 days left in Spain, 14 before I'm back in DC. It's gonna be a packed 13 days, but in a good way. My field research is underway, and Keon is coming on Monday. I turn 21 on Tuesday - a bit of an anticlimax, since I've been legal here since I was 18. I still need to do my Christmas shopping, and I'm applying for jobs so I'm not poor when I get back to MN.
on that note, if anyone wants to hire me, I make a great coffee-runner :)
Spain has been amazing and enlightening. I don't know how much I've grown or changed as a person (I hear you're supposed to do that on study abroad) but I'm happy I came here. It's given me opportunities that I wouldn't necessarily have had in other places. Like this research project. Or easy access to the boyfriend. Or amazing, cheap flamenco lessons and a host mom who's a semi-professional chef.
I hope I get to come back here someday.
But for now, school isn't over. I still have 8 pages on the society of Al-Andalus left to write by tomorrow night. so let's go, shall we?
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