Long time no see

Hey there. Sorry that it has been forever since my last update. There has been an unfortunate combination of lack of Internet and lack of motivation for the past few days.
On Friday we left for Nerja. As usual we took a bus from Segovia to Madrid, then waited for the long bus ride at the station in Madrid. While there, we sat and talked with a 70-year-old American expatriate who we later called Bill. Bill was a simple guy; after talking to him, you got the feeling that he was the kind of guy who enjoyed the simple things in life. He told us a series of stories that seemed to make up the vast majority of his life. I felt like I was in Forrest Gump.
We talked to him for about an hour and a half. He would later return and give us some of the bottle of the water that he had just purchased. I think he realized A: how expensive water is B: that we were college kids that were poor by reputation and C: that he probably wasn’t going to be able to finish an entire liter and a half bottle by himself. We thanked him, and wished him safe travels. Its kind of interesting to think that we won’t ever see him again.
After that we took off for Nerja. We had a bus transfer in Malaga, and we were able to see the sun rise over the Andalucía Mountains as we drove through them. I was listening to “Quiet Houses” by Fleet Foxes while this event unfolded. What a beautiful amalgamation of audio and visual.
Anyways we grabbed a quick nap at our hostel/apartment, and then went to the beach. We had a fun day at the beach, but we had some unfinished business to attend to. We needed to find some Spanish speakers to talk to about the subject of apologizing for our linguistics class.
Alejandro and I scoped though the busy plaza in Nerja and happened upon two girls that seemed, by visual observation, nice enough to talk with us. Unfortunately, when I asked them if they could help us in Spanish, one of the girls responded with, “Where?” I let out an expletive. Nerja is filled with Englishmen and Scottsmen (its like the Cancun or Cozumel of The United Kingdom); if you ever need to find a hispanohablante, don’t go to Nerja.
Fortunately, these girls were on an exchange trip and their sponsors both spoke fluent Spanish. After a quick dinner, we agreed to meet them back at the plaza at 10:30. They didn’t make fools out of us; they showed up, and we were able to get that incredible monkey off our backs.
After that, we celebrated. We mixed some “cuba libres” (coke and rums), took them to the beach, and watched the tide, and reflected on the trip that is quickly coming to a close. It was a little warm, we were all admittedly sweaty, and the full moon was casting a sufficient amount of light on the wake, so we went back to the room, changed into our swimsuits, and went for a midnight dip in the Mediterranean. This was probably the highlight of the weekend.
Another beach day came and went with sun and more swimming. I’m sorry if I’m rushing through this a little. Truthfully nothing really eventful happened… that is until we returned to the room where a note was on the door explaining to us that checkout was at 12, and that our bags were up in the apartment owner’s room. So we scurried up there, and after being told very sternly that she had to put someone (who was checking in that day; a Sunday. Who in their right mind checks into a room on a Sunday?) in a different room. She told us that the only way we were getting our bags back was if we paid for the next night. A cool 60 Euros. That’s right, this heartless wench was holding our bags for ransom. So like those poor train passengers that are propositioned at gun-point in those old Western films, we emptied our pockets and fished out the necessary means. I was pissed. I felt victimized; like she was stealing from me. She didn’t tell us when checkout was. We were promised air-conditioning, Internet, and a fridge before the weekend started. These promises weren’t fulfilled and I would’ve looked the other way had this not happened to us. This is a family owned and operated business. If this woman had any tact or anything that even resembled character or manners, she would have allowed us to get our bags and leave, but she decided to take advantage of the unknowing college-age tourists. Life has a crazy way of sorting things out though. I chuckle at the fact this woman has to live 365 days of the year in this air-condition-internetless shanty that she calls an apartment building. What goes around comes around, señora. Hope that extra 60 Euros that you now possess, buys you a nice jetski lesson that ends tragically and causes your ultimate demise. (JK but seriously I needed to get this anger out.)
We took the red-eye bus back to Madrid where we arrived somewhere around 6 AM. We got on the first bus to Segovia, and Nate and I were able to take a nap that surprisingly, and abruptly ended at 10:30, when we both realized that we had 20 minutes to walk a distance that normally takes us close to 25 minutes to cover. We made it; covered in sweat, no less, but we made it on time.
Class was quite all right. Today was the first of the final three days, and I’m starting to feel closure. We did class evals and we read the last article for linguistics today. I’m excited to go back home, but I’m going to miss the people that I hung out with here and seeing the cool places that we have been able to visit.
I have 4 more days here. Can’t wait to see everyone. Until next time…¡Adios!