Time Changes in Malaga

While spending more time in Malaga one of the most interesting things that i have had to grow accustomed to has been the concept of time here in Spain. Mostly due to the fact that meal schedules as well as other daily activities such as: classes, work, stores and nightly activities are all affected by the spanish concept of time. As i first arrived in Malaga in August it has been very difficult to adjust to the change of time of meals. I am accustomed to waking up, at the latest, around 9 am then having some type of quick breakfast in a form of a granola bar and then going off to class. Arriving home from class at around 12:30 just to go directly to lunch (that usually lasts at the most a half an hour) and continuing my day until 6pm to have dinner.
But as I arrived in Malaga i quickly learned that my time perception was quickly in the need of a readjustment. Due to the fact that classes here are at 4:14 pm most days i have the luxury to sleep in until 10:30-11 with all the time in the world. I usually do not have breakfast mostly because i am not usually hungry at 11 in the morning, so my usual "breakfast" consists of water. After taking my time in some daily reading or finishing up homework from the night before i usually find myself getting hungry at around 2:30 pm, wondering when lunch is going to be ready. Normally lunch is served at around 2:45 and it usually lasts about 20 minutes at the most followed by a few minutes of gathering my books and then making my way to the bus to go to class. As i said before classes begin at 4:15 and don’t end until 7pm. I usually end up taking the bus back to El Palo at around 7:30 and arriving at my house at the beautiful hour of 8.
Arriving home after an afternoon of classes, I am nether tired nor hungry but when 9:40 comes around i find myself once again wondering about food. Dinner usually lasts a good hour, mostly because my host family is very talkative and very curious about my day. The time to go out is also very different. Since at home, I find myself leaving my house at the latest 9:30 pm and stay out, at the latest, until 1:30 am. But here time is very different, by the time i finish dinner (usually at 10:30ish) I have time to get ready and go catch the 11 before it stops running for the night, and it changes into the N1. Calle Larios (the Center/Downtown part of Malaga) is usually close to empty at 11 at night, not because its late but rather because it´s early. Both the streets and the night-life locations do not fill up till about 1:30 in the morning. Due to the fact that people eat late and thus finishing their dinner at a much later time then 10, they find themselves leaving their houses to start their night of fun at about 12:30ish. People usually tend to stay out until the early hours of the morning, thus enjoying their free time and taking full advantage of the fact the work day does not really start until 9:30-10 the next morning.
Slowly i have changed my perception of time and have learned to adjust to the different timing of things here while also, from time to time, missing my old 'American' time. It will be very interesting to see if it will be another time shock to go back home at the end of the semester and try to readjust to my 'normal' routine. As for now, i am enjoying the abundance of 'free' time and the great opportunity of being in Spain and actually experiencing this difference first hand.