Reisverslag Taalcursus Málaga 2018 Week 1

¡Hola, mis amigos! ¿Qué tal?

I'm finally back. For those of you who wonder what I'm talking about: two years ago I went to Barcelona for 4 weeks and had the journey of a lifetime. Being there, I wrote a blog every Sunday evening to give you guys a little insight of what life in Spain was all about. And this summer is no different: I'll be updating my blog on Sunday which I will share on my Facebook timeline for you guys to check 'em out. So, if you want to know what life in Málaga is all about, be sure to stick around. Before I begin I want to point out a couple of things: the first three blogs will be written in English and the last one will be written completely in Spanish, putting myself to the test and see whether what I've learned within a month will have paid off. That's all for now and without any further ado, here we go...

Sunday, July 8th: Fully packed and ready to go I'm heading to Brussels Airport by train. To my own surprise, everything went really well, not a single complaint, and within two hours I arrived at Brussels Airport. After having checked in my suitcase and after having gone through customs, I had about an hour and a half spare time before I had to board the airplane. And when the moment finally arrived we entered the airplane and awaited departure, only to find out that there would be a one hour delay because the air traffic in Málaga was quite busy that evening. Once the delay was over, we were set to depart and within minutes we were airborne. The flight was quite pleasant and without any troubles we touched down in Málaga about three hours after departure. After having picked up my suitcase at baggage claim, I went to the arrival hall looking for an EF staff member to pick me up and unlike in Barcelona two years ago, there was actually someone waiting for me. So, when all of the other EF students had arrived, we got into a car and each of us were brought to our respective place to stay (for me, it was the campus located right next to school). I was the last one to be dropped off and I arrived at school around 11 p.m. where I needed to check in. I got the keys to my room and I went upstairs to drop off my luggage. Once I entered the room, I got mentally ill for about a minute. What I saw there was awful: clothes flying around everywhere, filthy sh*t on the floor, food leftovers, and dirty plates. I thought I had lost my mind there for a second. My supposed roommates (three of 'em) hadn't returned yet but I wasn't gonna wait for 'em, since I was exhausted from all that travelling. As it turned out, my roommates had gone out and returned around 2 in the morning. I introduced myself and right away I figured out that these are the kind of guys that go out all night and are the most untidy people I had ever encountered in my life. I knew that this was gonna be a nightmare. I had a rough time falling asleep that night.

Monday, July 9th: My first day at school. I had to be at school (which is where I live) at 9 a.m. along with all of the other new students. That day was used to determine which level of Spanish you belong in. First, I got to meet all the new students. Second, we had to do a placement test and afterwards we had a conversation with a Spanish teacher to determine our level. Next, we got a tour around the neighborhood we live in, followed up by our first Spanish lesson. After that lecture, we had two hours of spare time in which I got lunch with some of my newly made friends. Once we were done, we headed back to school to receive our personal timetable and we got told which class we'd end up in. In my case, I ended up in level B1, which is great 'cause in Barcelona I had level A2. So, I did manage to make some progress over the past two years and I'm really happy about that. After that, everyone headed home to have dinner and to freshen up 'cause that night all the new students were invited to join the Welcome Drinks Party. The party actually took place on the rooftop of a youth hostel (weird, right?). It was a fun night and once it was over I went home being very tired.

Tuesday, July 10th: my classes didn't start until 12.30 p.m. so I took advantage of that and I slept in 'till 11 o'clock. Once classes were finished at 5.10 p.m. I went to the supermarket to buy some groceries, including pizza for dinner. That night I watched the World Cup Semi Final match between France and Belgium and I met a Dutch girl on campus whom I talked to for over two hours. I went to bed around midnight. About those roommates: it got even worse. They returned every night between 3 o'clock and 7 o'clock, drunk as f*ck, really loud, they brought girls home with them (completely violating all the rules) and caused me not to get a single night sleep since I left The Netherlands.

Wednesday, July 11th: I didn't have classes until 4 p.m. so I joined an EF activity and we headed to Aqualand, a park with lots of water slides. It was great fun. In the afternoon I went to classes which lasted 'till 8.10 p.m. Afterwards, I had dinner and watched the second Semi Final World Cup match between Croatia and England. Once it was over, I went to bed.

Thursday, July 12th: I had to get up really early, because my classes started at 8 a.m. and lasted until 12.30 p.m. Once classes were finished a friend and I headed into town to get some lunch. I insisted we'd get some churros 'cause he had never eaten them before. But it turned out that churros only is served in the morning and after siesta hours (around 5 p.m.). So we got something else instead. After that, we parted ways and I headed to the grocery store to buy some food and drinks. Once that happened I headed back to school to relax 'cause that specific day it was 35° Celsius. In the evening I had dinner and when that was over, I hit the bed early.

Friday, July 13th: Classes started around noon and were over around 5 o'clock. In between there was a graduation ceremony for all of the students that were leaving the next day and all of them received a certificate. Once that (and my class) was finished I once again went to the nearby supermarket to stock up on some food and drinks, because the next day I had a very exciting activity planned.

Saturday, July 14th: I got up really early 'cause I was going to Gibraltar. It took about two hours by bus to get there. Upon arrival, many people had to use the bathroom. After that, we headed to customs where we had to show our passport and our bags were being checked (for those who are unaware: Gibraltar is part of the UK). Once we got through we had to cross the airstrip (I ain't kidding) where all the planes land. Luckily only three planes a week pass through here so we were in luck. Once that was completed, we took a bus to the cable car station. We had two options: either take the cable car to the summit or climb up there. Me and my group chose to climb all the way to the top and we didn't regret our choice at all. On our way to the top, we encountered a group of a very special specie of monkeys, harmless until they see food. That's when they become really scary. Did I get robbed by a monkey, I might hear you guys ask. Yes! Yes I did! He stole all of my cookies and he didn't share any of them with his friends. Bastard monkey