53 degrees

This is what it usually looks like.

Today the thermometer peaked at 53 degrees Fahrenheit, and it rained for part of the day, both of which made Málaga residents feel like it is the end of the world. It's been a warm, sunny, dry winter here and it's amazing how fast you feel entitled, isn't it? I was wearing a thick sweater and leggings under my jeans and I still got scolded by a motherly old lady at the bus stop for not wearing gloves. Another teacher noted my lack of scarf. "That's how you get sick" she clucked ominously. I was wearing a turtleneck, for crying out loud.

I've got to say though, even though 53 degrees sounds unbelievable wussy to those of you spending a winter in actual cold temperatures, the difference is that here there is no heat in buildings. At all. And the buildings are all built for the heat instead of the cold, with marble and porcelain and never, ever with carpet. So when it's in the fifties outside, my school is in the low to middling sixties, which is a pretty cold temperature to hang out all day in, and our apartment is often colder than it is outside.

There is, however, a rather charming Spanish custom to combat all this. It involves gathering friends and family to a nice big table and draping the table with a huge tablecloth that reaches the ground on all sides. Then, put a space heater called a brasero under the tables and crank it up really high. Keep the tablecloth tucked around waists and dropped down nicely, and you'll have nice warm butts in no time! I've been told that it's an old-fashioned custom that had been going out of style until the recession kicked it right back in as a nice way to conserve the heat and save on electricity bills. I just think of it as a nice social way to keep my toes warm!