Spaniards take us hostage...

Ok that might not be the best choice of words. No foul play was involved. Just some gringos not yet accustomed to the hospitality of the Spaniards. Case in point: Friday, my roommates and I went hiking with our teacher friends (seriously, they are ridiculously nice for asking us along on these outings!). We were told it'd be a fairly short hike and it'd be ending around 6:30. No worries. The sun has started to set just about 7 pm so I knew my choice of shorts would be okay if I was going to be back at my house around 7.

Stephen, yo, Sarah

Matei, Pepe, Mame and Natalia

We started off... the hike was beautiful! We walked over hills for some gorgeous sea views and down into some valleys with ramblas (dry river beds). Halfway through we stopped to snack at a tiny compound that was a family's self-sustaining house and farm about 100 years ago. You can still see the spot where clothes were washed and now a herd of sheep have taken over the nearby hill. We passed a tented area that the mountain goats use in the summer for shade HA I liked that. Finally we caught a glimpse of Almeria (the big city) and we proceeded to hike down into the city pretty close to the castle. It was amazing - such a cool way to enter a city! Reminded me of the camino quite a bit!
So we got back at about 6:15 and we were all ready to head back home and shower. No no. Spaniards say it's time for a snack aka tapas to reward ourselves for hiking! So we headed to 2 bars (what they call cafes here) and had some tapas. The second place we went was apparently a Mexican place (all I could tell was that they had a Mexican flag?) where they barbecue-grilled ribs and chicken right at the bar! The custom with tapas is you buy a drink, a plate of food comes free. So at that restaurant, the food that came free was a BBQ sandwich. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see real BBQ. Only after downing the sandwich was I told it was tuna covered in BBQ sauce. I cannot lie... it sounds gross but it was so good. I couldn't even tell. Still can't top Little Richard's though :)
So the trip that was supposed to end at 6:30 ended up lasting until 9:00 and my legs were a bit chilly but who can complain when you're being taken care of by a bunch of Spaniards? It was a fantastic little afternoon/evening excursion!

start of hike - Almeria in the distance!
end of hike - walking down into Almeria!