Día Cinco y Seis
Part One
It is funny what a little time will do for one’s self. You have time to think, you have time to breathe, you have time to walk, time to play, time to reflect. It is easy when we take away all the distractions of the day. I haven’t been distracted about cleaning the kitchen, changing the litterbox, attending meetings, etc, etc. Although my mind is consumed with work, because that is what we are trained to do as Americans, work to the bone so we can pay to live, not live to play. It makes me sad to think about.
I look at my Aunt who is going to be 81 on Wednesday. She is agile, she is energetic, and she wakes with every morning a curriculum of cleaning, reading, washing, walking, shopping until her siesta in the afternoon. Her batteries are worn, but she is stepping to the beat of a thirty year old woman. Even the way she looks, her face with a few wrinkles, but always with a smile. She doesn’t find it necessary to answer every call or to waste much of the day doing things that aren’t a requirement. She is however, my mom’s sister, and there are patterns within my family’s genetics that adhere to a life of service and productivity.
This trip for me has been another discovery into my family history. My cousin from Panama, Nena have reconnected after almost 40 years. 40! It seems strange to be so estranged from my family. I’m disappointed that I have not been back to my country in so long. My aunt who lives here in Málaga with her son, César has lived here for 54 years. They are basically Spaniard. My mom has lived in the United States for the exact same time, Nena in Panama since she was born 60 years ago. It is just interesting to see them interact in language, culture, and lifestyle—all with different histories.
Enough about my family, so on Friday Nena and I took a very long walk along the beach. It was glorious. I find myself most at peace when I am near water. When we made our way back near the condo, my cousin and I sat down to soak up the sun for a little bit. I’ve been so very hard on myself on how I look lately—tired, out of shape, more weight than I’d like, and super self-conscious where I was once confident. I look around at old couples hand and hand, saggy boobs and all, but not a care in the world. I see women in all shapes and sizes, out for everyone to see and nobody cares. I see young couples on the beach, canoodling in the sand, but in a natural way, not in a lewd sort of way even though they are close to be naked. I like that attitude here. It is very liberating to see and another reason for me to envy this lifestyle.
We took a very easy day on Friday and I rested for the most part. Yesterday would be different. I wanted to go to the Museum of Automobiles and Fashion. I love vintage as you all may know, and vintage cars and fashion are just a natural combination for me. It’s all engineering, texture, shape, function, and art in different mediums. To be that close to an Aston Martin DB4 V-series Vantage in addition to vintage Dior and Chanel, well it’s enough to make a girl all aquiver inside. A truly impressive treat and even the exterior of the museum was beautifully manicured and landscaped. I took lots of photos.
Once we ended our excursion there, Nena and I ventured to the El Centro and walked around, people watching. Here there are lots of bachelorette and bachelor parties—parties of participants that is. They all dress in distinguishing attire, usually customized shirts describing their role in the wedding party with the main groom or bride dressed in some ridiculous outfit. You can spot them all over the city.
The weather has been quite pleasant. Not too too hot and with a fresh breeze during the morning into the afternoon. Having the sea right there is quite helpful. We ended up eating some tapas at Casa Lola upon my Aunt’s suggestion. This looked like quite a popular destination for dining as we had to wait for seating, but turnover was fast. The place was full of tourists and very good food with an extensive menu. The staff was also quite pleasant in demeanor despite how many tourists were there.
My favorite thing to do in the Plaza is to amble down the side streets. There aren’t a lot of people here, but little Asian restaurants and pizza spots. I don’t like touristy places, give me a hidden gem and I’m happy. I don’t like, despite me living in NY, people bumping and touching me as I’m exploring. I want it to be more tranquil so I have time to learn and look. I also like the side streets because you see all the “sleeping” bars that come alive around 8 or 9, very much like Paris. Lastly, I love the combo of modern and old. Perfect example, in the Plaza you will find The Cathedral of Málaga built in the 1500’s next to a Sephora. I also prefer the marble tiling to our cobblestoned roads, much more heel friendly.
NOTE: I have more to finish here but I’m being summoned to get dressed already.
Part Deux
After coming home around 3:30pm for lunch—the buses here are reliable but sometimes take a while due to the amount of stoplights they encounter before the next stop. I like sitting on the bus and listening to an array of conversations and of course people watching. I think I’ve mentioned before how much more tattooed people are here in terms of numbers of people, but I’ve also noticed how it’s all black ink, not a lot people with color in their designs. Another thing about being here is the lack of air conditioning. They don’t really use it here. I would die in the summer or I’d just live on the beach to deal with the heat. After our scolding due to our tardiness for lunch, César called to tell us he was available for a little drive around.
We popped over to the neighborhood where he lives in the other condo my family owns which resides right on the Mediterranean—Benalmádena. This area is in the South of Málaga and is bustling with city and tourist life. You’ll see bars, English/Irish pubs, LGBTQ social clubs, and lots of restaurants. After telling my cousin I wasn’t into going to a touristy area, that I preferred places off the beaten path, he exclaimed, “Ah, lugares secretos! (Secret Places). He told he would take us to one of his secret places and was I curious.
But before we could get there we ventured on to Buddhist Stupa, a Buddhist Temple that had a view to die for. Up the steps and into the temple we went where one could definitely find their zen. We took some photos and i noticed as we were leaving there were several open “stages” where apparently they have performances for festivals and holidays.
From here, César took us to Fuengirola, a very ritzy part of town. He took us to Avenida del Higuerón where lies million dollar homes of expats and those looking for snow bird situations. It truly is a stunning view. Hilton has a resort hotel here that boasts some really nice architectural elements. These homes would probably sell in the 7M to 8M dollar range in places like California. I was surprised to hear they are usually maxed out at $2M, that isn’t to say there are properties here worth more than that. We dropped by the Higueron Hotel Malaga which was like “whoa”.
Short and sweet we took off and arrived at this place that didn’t look like much except for some painted stairs labeled with words of allyship—diversity, unity, respect, etc etc. As we ascended and through a small hallway I looked around to see a pool room with band and movie posters everywhere. We went through Bar Elements and out onto the balcony where there were lots of people representing all lifestyles which made me feel oh so comfy. As I walked through and scanned the walls adorned with The Cure, Sex Pistols, a huge poster of Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby, I secretly patted my cousin on his back for figuring me out.
We sat and overlooked the sea as we drank our cocktails and I watched a couple playing Rummikub casually. The cocktails were large and for three of them it was but 15 euros. Incredible! It was a relaxing time and a time for us cousins to catch up on life. Afterwards, we arrived back at home to once again…come on everybody say it with me—Comimos! We ate left over pizza, the ladies played Rummikub, and I edited photos. That was a day indeed.
I have one more thing to attend to tonight and then I will pick up with today. Hope you are well.