Even in the final weeks of being in Spain, I am making the most of being able to explore such great areas of the country. The day trips to La Rábida and Málaga held very different things in store for me.
The Saturday that we visited La Rábida was in the middle of a streak of rainy days. La Rábida was advertised as a beach trip so therefore the morning of the trip, many people did not show up because they knew it would not be a day appropriate for the beach. Just because it’s rainy doesn’t mean you can’t explore the historical and cultural things that a new town has to offer. And that’s exactly what we did.
First we visited the monastery in La Rábida, significant as a place where Christopher Columbus stopped on his journey discovering the Americas. The monastery had many model of ships that Columbus sailed as well as official documents. One room that struck me the most held flags of all of the places that Columbus discovered ranging from San Salvador to Spain to the United States and beneath the flags were boxes filled with dirt from that country. It’s a very neat concept to collect part of the land to always be associated with Columbus. The colors of the soil were much different than what I had expected. When you think of dirt, you think brown but there were so many different shades of brown.
After La Rábida we went to Las Tres Carabelas which has replicas of the three ships that Christopher Columbus sailed – La Pinta, La Niña and La Santa Maria. Being on the ships made me realize how close of quarters the sailors had and the fact that they had all of their food and water for the journey on the ship was quite astonishing. On August 3, 1492, Columbus sailed from a neighboring port Palos de la Frontera. They arrived at the Bahamas followed by Cuba and La Española.
The visit to La Rábida and Las Tres Carabelas was a historically enriching experience. While it didn’t promise any beach time, I preferred to learn about the significance of this little town in Huelva to the discovery of the Americas.
The weekend after the historical visit to Huelva, I took advantage of my last weekend in Spain to explore Málaga. Málaga is located two hours and forty-five minutes from Seville by bus. Located on the southern coast of Spain, it is known as a beach town but also has many monuments with historical and cultural significance. My friends – Shannon, Laura and Sarah – and I made a day trip to Málaga on Saturday. Upon arriving we immediately recognized the beauty that Málaga has to offer. It’s a city but also has many green spaces such as parks and gardens. Like many other cities in Spain, Málaga boasts a gorgeous cathedral in the center of the city. Málaga is the home of the famous painter Pablo Picasso. Museo de Picasso has some amazing artistic wonders by Picasso. Anyone who approaches the paintings looks at them for a moment and then turns his head to the side as he contemplates the meaning behind the painting. Many times I had to look at the title of the work before being able to comprehend what was going on with the morphed geometrical shapes. In addition to seeing the mind-boggling paintings we visited the casa natal, or home where Picasso was born. On our way to the beach we passed the Alcazaba which is a Moorish castle built during the 11th century and the Roman Theater which sits underneath the Alcazaba.
At the beach we were all ready for an afternoon of relaxation. For several hours we absorbed the strong sunshine of Málaga. After only half an hour under the sun I couldn´t stand the strength of the heat anymore so I made for the freezing cold ocean. Just standing up helped so much but the cold water on my feet was a much more significant cool down. Then something you would never think happened. We were lying on the lawn taking little naps and listening to music when a starkly thin man wearing green swimsuit trunks walked past us asking for a cigarette or a lighter. I told him we didn´t have one. Once he left I looked behind us because I could feel someone watching us. There he was standing on the sidewalk staring at us. I thought it was just because we were American girls lying out at the beach. Several minutes later a young woman with short, bright blond hair came over to us asking, “Do you speak English?” We responded yes. She continued to tell us that the man standing on the sidewalk had just stolen my friend Shannon´s purse out of her bag. Since he realized that this woman saw what he had done, he began to run. The only word I can use to describe how we felt is shock. Immediately Shannon looked in her bag to confirm that her purse was not there. “How could that have happened?” was all that Shannon could respond. All of us froze, not knowing how to react or what to do. We wanted Shannon´s purse back but didn´t know how to go about getting it.
We decided to go in the direction that the thief went to see if we could somehow find him. Meanwhile Shannon called CC-CS in search of help and guidance. When diners at a nearby restaurant saw us in distress, they asked if someone had stolen our bag. He said that a man came running by with a purse and handed me a five euro bill that had fallen out of the bag. We asked for recommendations of what to do since none of us had ever had anything stolen in the U.S. let alone in a different country. The waiter told us where the nearest police station was so that we could submit a report in hopes of recovering the stolen purse and its contents. On our way to the police station Shannon cancelled her debit card and called her credit card company to put a hold on that account.
Upon arriving at the police station I entered a room with Shannon while Sarah and Laura waited outside. Shannon wrote down her personal details such as her name, address and phone number. I proceeded to tell the police officer what had happened with as many details as possible. Shannon recounted the articles that we stolen from the purse as well as the value of them – her wallet with credit cards and identification and her camera. After our visit to the police station Shannon said that she was shocked at how fast my Spanish was firing out of my mouth. I guess when I need to say something and need to use my Spanish in an urgent manner, it just works for me. It was definitely a new experience in Spain, one that I hope to never encounter again.
As we left the police station we took note of the time – 5:00 p.m. We planned on leaving the beach at 4:45 p.m. to get to the bus station on time for our 5:30 p.m. bus. Getting to the bus station in thirty minutes would be a time crunch especially since we were starting from a farther point and later than anticipated. Nonetheless we got our legs pumping as we sped walked to the bus station. At about 5:27 p.m. I looked at my watch and was not very hopeful of making our bus. We needed to get to the station, make sure the bus hadn´t left and buy Shannon a new bus ticket since her pre-bought one was stolen. The plan was that Sarah and Laura would go straight to the bus and delay the departure of the bus while Shannon and I would go buy a new bus ticket for her. After asking an information desk worker at the bus station, Shannon and I confirmed that our bus to Seville had already left and that there was another leaving at 6 p.m. In search of Sarah and Laura to tell them that we needed to change our tickets, a man working for ALSA bus company approached us asking if we were going to Seville. He showed us to the bus where Sarah and Laura were awaiting us. When Shannon explained her situation to the bus driver and told him that she needed to buy a new ticket from him, he merely signaled us to get onto the bus. As Shannon said, the moral of the events of the day is that there are still nice people in the world. She was almost in tears from the sincerity of the bus driver.
Exploring different cities always holds something different. Whether it´s learning more about Christopher Columbus and his ships than I could ever imagine or having to visit the police station for a stolen purse, each is different and offers new growth. Reflecting back I took the leader position in making sure that everything went smoothly after Shannon´s purse was stolen. I´m so thankful for the leadership opportunities in my past that have given me the initiative and courage to do so.
Sense Seville 