The rest of week 1 and the start of school

Our second day started with a knock.  I woke to a noise that sounded like a knock on the door.  It can't be our door.  Who would knock on our door?  I lay in bed listening.  There's another knock.  Maybe that is our door.  I get up and head for the door, and there's another knock.  The door has windows, but the windows are shuttered.  I open the shutter and find our friend Augustine looking back at me.  I must have looked surprised (because I was), so he lifts up a bag.  One of our bags.  One of our carry-ons. Oh my goodness.  What is going on?  Haila also heard the knocks and is now at the door with me.  Augustine tells her that he saw the bag on the side of the road at 5 AM and then again at 8 AM and realized that it must be one of ours, so he (kindly) delivered it to us.  Wow!  How sweet is that?  Haila thanks him profusely.  What would we have done without our angel Augustine?

It was also this morning that we discover our most friendly neighbor, the rooster who lives down the block.  He crows during the night.  He crows during the day.  We initially thought he lived across the street, but we now think we lives around the corner.  Regardless, he's still loud enough to wake us up at 3 AM.  Welcome to Calle Hoya!

That night we walk to the closest restaurant, Papa Miguel, for dinner.  Haila explains to the owners (husband and wife) that Shawn and I don't speak Spanish.  The wife shows her our choices in a refrigerated case and explains them to her so she can explain them to us.  Again, many thanks to our favorite translator, Miss Haila Mae!  We order and toast to our first full day in Spain when our drinks arrive.  It was 9:30 PM and we are the only table.  Before long, another family comes in.  We are chatting at our table when one of the boys from the other family says, "Oh, it's fellow Americans" in English.  Their family of seven is in Alozaina for a few days to hike in the nearby Sierra de las Nieves Biosphere and Nature Park.  They live on a U.S. naval base on the west coast of Spain.  It's a small world after all!

This family tells us that Monday, January 6th is a holiday in Spain.  Three Kings Day is equivalent to Christmas Day in the States.  I had heard about it from a friend (Thank you, Dinah!) but had forgotten about it.  When I looked it up online, I discovered that Malaga has a big parade the day before.

On Friday, we explore town and visit many of the shops just to see what they sell.  There are many small markets in town, and many of the shops are specialized: a seafood shop, a bread shop, etc.  We tried to find European sim cards for our phones but were unsuccessful.  We decided it might be best to visit a bigger city, so why not head to Malaga for phones and a parade?  We don't know how we'll get there, but we can figure it out.

There is a bus schedule on the side of our frig.  I says that there is a bus to Malaga on Saturday afternoons, but no one in town seems to know anything about it.  We decided to pack our backpacks as if there is a bus and see if we can't find someone to confirm it.  Sure enough, there is a bus and we take it to Malaga.  We get our phones set up at the nearby mall and decide to check into our room before going to dinner.  I booked lodging on Expedia when we arrived in Malaga.

After walking in circles following a navigational app on Shawn's phone, we finally get our bearings and walk to the address of the loft we rented.  The address lists two street numbers, 4 and 6.  We come to 6 first, so we go inside.  There doesn't appear to be an office in 6, so we head for the door only to find we are locked inside.  That's right... we are locked inside the building.  You have to have a key to get out.  What the heck?  Again, Haila to the rescue.  She calls the number on the reservation, but the person doesn't know where we are.  What?  How can he not know where we are?  We are at the address listed on Expedia.  He says he'll send a friend.  We wait.

After awhile, a resident shows up and unlocks the door to enter... so we escape.  Now we are standing on the street waiting for "the friend".  People are coming and going from the building, others are walking by, but no "friend" appears.  Haila calls again.  This time there's no answer.  Uh-oh.  This is not looking good.  She tries again.  This time she gets through, but they can't find our reservation.  It's been over an hour at this point, it's dark and getting cold, we're all hungry, and Shawn's getting grumpy.  The phone rings; someone is on their way to let us in.  Thank you, Lord!  I was getting a little nervous myself.  The place was great.  Very hip!

We dumped our backpacks and walked to a restaurant for a delicious meal.  Aliah discovered her favorite tapa... Gambas al pil pil or sizzling shrimp in garlic.  Yum!  We all get some sleep, if fact we oversleep (Shawn forgot to set the alarm), so we are out the door in 20 minutes.

Sunday night we stay in an actual hotel.  We are able to check in early, so we all bathe (which is a treat because our house in Alozaina is really cold and has limited hot water) and get ready for the parade.  The Three Kings Parade is near the Port of Malaga.  There are fancy restaurants and expensive shops nearby.  It kind of reminds me of downtown Chicago.

The parade is pretty magical with all the lighted floats. 

On Monday, we took the bus back to Alozaina, and on Tuesday, we walked to the bigger market on the edge of town for some groceries.  Not a bad hike!

Aliah started school on Wednesday.  She has ten kiddos in her 2nd grade class.  Her school starts at 9 AM and is done at 2 PM.  So far, she really likes it!

Haila started school on Thursday.  She's in high school here, also in second grade!  Her school starts at 8:30 AM and ends at 3 PM.  She's enjoying it as well.

It's now Friday night and we are heading out to have tapas!