Arriving in Malaga for your Spanish course

I kept a diary during my Spanish courses in Malaga, and I had such a great time there that I thought I’d share my experiences with you!

I have travelled to Spain in the past but I had never been to Andalucia before. The excitement only hit on the way to the airport, but it was accompanied by a few nerves as this was the first time that I had really travelled alone. I think most students feel this the first time they go abroad on a language course, but don’t worry – you’ll be fine!

When I arrived in Malaga Airport it was very easy to find a taxi. With the address in my hand in case he could not understand my pronunciation, I asked the taxi driver, in my broken and very rusty Spanish, whether he could take me to the student residence of Malaga Option 2. Confident that he looked like he knew where it was, I hesitated for a moment, not sure whether the etiquette in Spain required me to get in the front or back seat! Deciding that I did not want to look too ‘English’ and aloof, I squeezed myself into the front seat with all my unnecessary bags of hand luggage.

During my taxi ride I realised just how bad my Spanish had got over five years of decaying away in the recesses of my brain, but the taxi driver was patient with me, although he was rather entertained by my attempts to comment on the sunset (using the direct translation from French of ‘the sun is going to bed’)!

The man who was on duty at the 24 hour reception of the Malaga (Premium) residence was an extremely kind, friendly and helpful man, although in retrospect I have no idea when he slept because every time I went through the reception he was smiling at me from behind the desk!

I found my way to my room and was pleased to find it clean and spacious, and see that all the bedrooms have telephones, so I could receive calls in my room. I dumped my luggage and went to the onsite café where I had a mixed vegetable toasted sandwich. The menu cards are in the bar area, where you also order your food and you are given an order number. You then wait for your number to be called, when you go and collect your food from the window of the kitchen.

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed and excitedly pulled on my summer strapless top and skirt, relieved to be away from the British weather. Even though I’d found out lots about the school before I left, I could still not help but be impressed by the quality and extent of the facilities there. For example, the self access centre had such a range of books and videos available for the students that I imagine they could always go there and find something to do that would suit their mood and be linguistically beneficial.

Anyway, that’s all for now – look out for my next post on Malaga!

Miriam