All Angels are Terrifying (June 3rd)

Ack…. So much going on with me, I feel like the pace of this trip is slightly overwhelming, with all the trips, museums and class work that we have to do, I am really feeling exhausted a lot of the time.
Explaining things backwards. Today we had an exam for our history class and I even got up early so I could study some more. I was quite worried about it mainly because we were expected to write one essay out of two choices in Spanish. I was worried that she would pick one of the more difficult topics like La Republica or the King right at the beginning of the century. Of course when I got to class, she told us that we could either write about the Civil War or about the dictatorship of Franco, two of the things I knew the best. I chose to write about the Civil War because it was a shorter period of time and I knew I could remember much more of what she taught us and remember how to say it in Spanish.
After I got home I ended up taking a nap, and I was so quiet that my host mother didn’t even realize I was here. Then we had lunch, which was very similar to chicken noodle soup, except that instead of noodles there were potatoes and garbanzos beans. Once I was done eating I met up with a lot of my classmates on the beach. This morning started out pretty cloudy, one of the cloudiest days I’ve been here but by the time I got to the beach it had cleared up. I then found out that we had tutorias today instead of tomorrow which made me kind of sour because I really wanted to relax. So during tutorias we went to la Plaza Mayoria, which is actually in Malaga but not in the centro. We actually took a train that cost about 1.45 euros which is very cheap and it took about twenty minutes to get there. Then we got ice cream and walked around a little. My tutor had her car there and we all squashed in there (there we five of us) and we had to put one of the girls on our laps and then we had to make sure no one saw her because we could get pulled over for that. Then my tutor, the other girl and I ended up shopping around a little and I actually found this great dress, that was a little expensive (30 euros) but it fit me so well and I think it was worth it (I’ll try to put up a picture once I wear it). It was perfect timing because we were all planning to go out tomorrow and now I have this great dress to wear.
One thing that I have been noticing while walking around is the English on the tee shirts that the Spanish are wearing, which seems to be a popular trend here. Sometimes it makes sense but sometimes you get shirts like “All Angels Are Terrifying”, “A Bathing Ape” and “I <3 Night.” All Angels are Terrifying was on a guy’s shirt and made me laugh so hard…
Yesterday we went to the Picasso Museum in Málaga. Picasso was actually born in Málaga and his children and grandchildren donated much of the work. It was an interesting collection in that it followed his growth and change over the years. His painting when he was 13 was so amazing and it made me feel like wow even at 13 Picasso will be able to paint better than I will be able, even if I work on painting for the rest of my life. It also has a lot of his other works in different mediums like printmaking and ceramics. After taking ceramics for a semester I really appreciate ceramics forms so much more now when I see them in museums. One of his pieces especially caught my eye, "Vase with Flowers and Plate with Cakes" because he used a mix of ceramics and metal, like nails and I was very curious on how it was fired, since I know that at least in our high fire kilm at Dickinson, metal will melt if you put it into the kilm. And of course after struggling to create basic forms on the wheel, seeing his large amazing wheelwork forms was a totally different experience because I know how difficult it is even to make the most basic small form. Honestly I’m not the hugest fan of Picasso but I did enjoy a lot of the works and I thought the museum is a good stop.