Thursday

I have just bought the most delicious chocolate ever! It is milk chocolate with coloured bits like smarties in it. Very yummy!

I am so impressed with the quality of teaching at Málaga ¡Si! The 2 teachers I have are so different, but both are amazing! Whilst Teresa is like a flamboyant actress and carries us along with her enthusiasm and drama, Sergio is calm and patient with a twinkle on his eye. I have learnt some extremely complicated grammatical concepts this week and the lessons are entirely in Spanish. I never imagined that I would be able to learn so much in just 4 days.

Teresa's lesson briefly revised what we have been doing with the subjunctive in present and imperfect. I was thrilled to remember something I had read on a sheet the other day and got something right that no-one else knew: when the word that expresses probability (maybe/perhaps etc) is at the end of the sentence, you do not use the subjunctive, but stick to the indicative. I now know how it feels to be a star student! We then looked at SER and ESTAR (the 2 verbs 'to be' in Spanish). I have taught this, so am quite comfortable with it and was able to relax a little bit!

In Sergio's textbook lesson, we read an excerpt from a book by Gabriel García Márquez (he also wrote 100 Years of Solitude) and answered questions about it. There was a lot of vocabulary that I didn't know, so much frantic dictionary searching took place!

Then it was Sergio's grammar lesson. I really enjoy this because there are only 2 of us in the class and so it feels really special. The other student, a German girl called Laura, is very nice and her Spanish is somewhat weaker than mine. She is only here for 2 weeks, so I wonder if anyone else will join us or if I will be on my own when she goes. Today we looked at when you use the pretérito perfecto (I have eaten) and when you use the pretérito indefinido (I ate). I kind of knew this, but was quite hazy because French doesn't use the indefinite past much and we use it differently in English. The way Sergio explained it was so clear and methodical and now it makes total sense! I find myself using the tenses I have been learning/revising - the first time, I have to think "which tense, what is the stem, what is the ending???) and then the next time it feels natural. It is like my brain has been crying out to learn Spanish properly and now I am letting it do what it so yearned to do - I love learning!

After a quick chat with my parents, I headed to the beach. I even had a little swim in the sea when I got too hot sunbathing! I bought a Telegraph today and was extremely pleased with myself when I completed the cryptic crossword, although am not sure why 28 across is 'dressed'.

I finally got myself a tarjeta bus today which means each bus ride I use costs just €0.70 instead of €1.10. You pay €1.80 for the card and then top up however many trips you want in multiples of 10 at a cost of just €0.70 each. I might even treat myself to a bus ride into school tomorrow instead of walking...

Now I need to go and do my homework!

El día de la Huelga General

So today was the day of the strike. The day when everything was meant to grind to a halt in sympathy for the impoverished workers... as far as I could see, everything except the buses was business as usual!

I managed to work out a good temperature for my aircon last night and, as a result, slept really well. I woke up feeling ready to work.

Teresa's lesson (8.30-10) was grammar as always. Today we looked at the imperfect subjunctive. In French, this is very rarely used, but Spanish seems to use it far more. The subjunctive generally in Spanish is far more necessary and the imperfect is the common past tense use for it. It was far less complicated than I was expecting!

Sergio's main lesson (10.15-11.45) continued with more conversational Spanish. We looked at some photos and had to suggest what was happening and use the subjunctive to do this "maybe/perhaps/I hope that..." We also looked at how you use the future tense for present tense hypotheses.

Sergio is away on Friday, so I had a longer 3rd lesson with him than normal. Normally, I have this from 12-12.45, but I stayed until 1.30 to make up the lesson we will miss on Friday. Laura is doing the 30 lesson intensive course, so she always has a double then (I am doing 25 lesson intensive, hence 1 extra lesson per day on top of most people's 2 doubles). If you understood that, well done! We continued with the preterite and looked at irregular verbs.

Then I was able to use my new toalla. I went to the beach and sunbathed for a couple of hours, before returning to the school for a swim in the pool. I also did my homework whilst sunbathing! I love homework... I know, crazy, but there you go! I enjoy the process of consolidating what I have learned - completing worksheets and taking my time with verb tables. There is something very pleasing about the whole thing. I'm sure my students never said or thought this. (Then again, I don't think I enjoyed homework or worksheets when I was at school and uni... must be an age thing!)

In my culture lesson, I was told about Spanish pop music and we listened to a few songs. I really like Spanish music. French music generally seems a bit lacking, but Spanish is just the right kind of language to sing about heartache and desire!

The weather is glorious: blue sky and hot sun, but not unbearable, stifling heat. I am starting to change colour and have that panda look that comes from sunbathing with sunglasses on!

First whole day of lessons

Just got home and am knackered! Definitely one of those days when you are quite glad to be able to get home and relax!
Quick summary:
Teacher for first 2 lessons - Teresa. Had her favourite students and kept saying how beautiful and wonderful they were. Doesn't exactly inspire you... She seemed quite dramatic and hypermanic at first and I wondered how this lesson on the subjunctive would be. In the end, she was a great teacher and I understood the (fairly complicated) stuff well. I managed to get on the wrong side of the American student when I contradicted his "we don't have a subjunctive in english"... um, what about "I would prefer that she stay there"??? Oh well, must be the teacher in me!

After break, we had Sergio again and did some more text-type things, then another break and then my lesson with just Laura and Sergio.

After that, I dropped books off at home and returned to school to chill by the pool until culture lesson at 4.15. At this point, I was feeling a bit ill (too much sun) and regretted signing up for cinema trip, especially when I discovered no-one else had signed up and poor Joanna (non teaching staff) would be taking just me. I decided that I would still go, as I have made the decision to take up all possible chances to practise speaking etc. I was feeling a bit homesick (and missing Pip) after a quick phone call home, so in fact the cinema and a chat with Joanna was just what I needed.

We got the bus into the centre and I even managed to buy a beach towel before we went to the cinema. A proper swim tomorrow!!! The film (Inception) was far too complicated for me (I think I would have struggled to understand it in English, let alone Spanish!) but was interesting. Before catching the bus home, we made a quick supermarket trip as the shops and everything will be closed tomorrow because the whole of Spain is on strike (huelga) about something!

Please excuse the brevity of this entry, the lack of photos and any mistakes: I need to eat something then go to bed!

On the other side of the desk!

So, my learning has started. I got to the school at 8.15 and immediately started my test to determine my starting level. It was a grammar test and it all started so easily... then got quite a bit harder. The tenses necessary for GCSE are fine. After all, I have been teaching them for 3 years. Suddenly, I found a large flaw in my grammar. El subjuntivo. The subjunctive in French is always a hard one for students (A level students), but I am quite comfortable with it. For some reason, I have never learnt it in Spanish and so I was extremely sketchy and wildly guessing random uses and endings.

I finished fairly quickly and then had a coffee while I waited for the rest. At 9.15 we were given a presentation by Sjef (pronounced Chef) who is one the non-teaching staff. He told us about Málaga and the school. He also gave us information about the extra (optional and free of charge) cultural classes, which are every day from 4.15-5pm. The topic changes weekly and is in order to inform us about random aspects of Spanish culture. This week is la música española. The whole culture side is an important part of the A level, so I signed up. Finally, Sjef told us about the trips and visits we can take part in. I have signed up to go to the cinema tomorrow evening, to see Origen which I think is Inception, a film I wanted to see and didn't get around to seeing in the UK.

After the presentation, we had a tour of the school. It used to be a family's house and has several classrooms and a lovely garden out the back with its own little pool.

Then we got our results individually. I was where I had hoped to be - higher intermediate. This means I am starting at a respectable level but have room to go up too. I asked Sjef about my TV and I now have TV in my flat! (I have to put it on channel 15 and then use the digibox remote... I had given up at channel 10!)

Then it was straight to lessons. My timetable is a morning one, so I start at 8.30 and have 4 lessons of 45 minutes in a full class (with a couple of breaks). Then I have a final extra class with just one other girl, Laura. (I think she's German, but I have forgotten. There is only one other english speaker, an American bloke, which is great.) This extra lesson is because I am doing the more intensive course. We focus on grammar - today we started on the subjunctive! In the bigger class, we were studying from the textbook and looked at a text about paranormal-type things. It was a very discussion-based lesson and was great for general conversation and improving confidence.

My teacher is called Sergio and he seems really nice. All the staff are very approachable, in fact.

After my classes ended (12.45), I headed home to drop off my textbook and laptop, then popped to the beach before remembering I had signed up for the culture class and made my way back to the school. It is a good 15 minute walk, so I think I might have to wear shoes other than flip-flops in future: my feet are killing me now! I decided to relax by the pool for half an hour before class and it was great - the sun hits the garden in the afternoon and the sunlounger was perfect! I only brought towels for shower and have not been able to buy a beach towel yet, so I didn't go in the pool before my class. I did have a quick dip after though!

The class was very interesting. The teacher was Isa and she is lovely. Only one other student had signed up (the American, Timmy). Isa told us all about the origins of Flamenco (I hadn't realised it was from Andalucía) and we watched some clips of the guitarristas, bailaores and cantaores. After a quick dip and sunbathe by the pool, I made my way back home. Now I am aching from all the walking and carrying a heavy bag, but I am looking forward to more learning tomorrow.

Day uno

I have just discovered that my internet is not wifi and plugging in the cable makes it work, so I have been able to upload entry today after all...

Sunday, 5pm
I'm having to write this offline, as my internet is not yet up and running. Hopefully I'll be able to upload this tomorrow.

So, I got to the airport at about 4.45am! My poor dad dropped me off. He didn't have the fun of a Spanish adventure ahead of him, so I am sure the early start was much tougher for him than for me. I checked in my suitcase with some trepidation: I wasn't entirely convinced it would weigh less than 20 kilos. It was 19.9 kilos much to my relief! I had put a lot of heavier things into my hand luggage as that bag simply has to fit into overhead lockers - there is no weight restriction on hand luggage.

After a lot of waiting around at the airport, I finally boarded my plane around 6.30am. We were then told we would have to wait for a while before taking off, as the French baggage handlers were striking and this would affect us since we had to fly through French air space! The captain said we would probably be waiting for an hour and a half... I panicked... The school had arranged for me to be collected from the airport and taken to my accommodation, but I had been warned that, if I was over an hour late, my taxi would leave without me and I would have to make my own way. I decided to ring and warn them about the delay. Just after doing this we were told that there was a space for us and we could leave with just a 30 minute delay. Then we proceeded to make this up due to the "tail winds"... I decided that I would rather wait for a bit at the airport than have to make another call to Spain on my mobile.

When I finally got hold of my bag (black wheeled case I borrowed from parents - note to self, tie a brightly coloured thing on it - everyone has black wheeled cases!), I made my way to the meeting point. It was hot (>25)but cloudy. The weird thing is that the sun seems to pierce the clouds better in Spain. You know in England when you are sunbathing then a big cloud comes over and you get cold? Here, the sun shines hot through the clouds. Anyway, within about 5 minutes a man appeared with my name on a card - my taxi driver! His name was Pedro and he had sensibly checked online and seen that we were not delayed anymore and decided to forget the 90 minute later business! I immediately started speaking Spanish and it was very tough going at first. I am so rusty! He seemed to think otherwise: apparently most brits he collects don't even know how to say hello and thank you in Spanish so Pedro was impressed with my continuous (if fairly inaccurate) banter.
New/revised words: grados (degrees), nubes/nublado (clouds/cloudy)

We drove through the centre of Malaga and then to the barrio where I will study and live for the next month. We drove past the escuela and he pointed out opposite the only supermercado that is open on Sundays. He offered to wait while I popped in for milk etc, but I decided that it would be good to walk there and that way I would know how long it will take me tomorrow.


Then we arrived at my apartamento. From the outside, I was struck by how modern the building was. Clean and bright and... well, modern! Inside, we had to try a couple of doors to work out which flat my key might open (the doors are not labelled!) and then I stepped into a beautiful pad - I was expecting a rather run-down studio flat. I know I am paying €250/week, but I still thought it might be quite cruddy. Imagine my delight to find something like a posh mini hotel suite! The kitchen/diner/living room has a sofa, coffee table and TV, dining table with 2 chairs and a fully equipped kitchen including own washing machine. No kettle, so I felt rather smug that I had brought my own and also my own mug. (I have a thing about mugs. They have to be the right size and shape and the inside has to be white. I know, it's odd, but there you go. Anyway, back to the flat: the bathroom is lovely - small but clean and with plenty of cupboard space and a nice, big shower. The bedroom has 2 single beds and a big wardrobe. There are even French doors leading to a small outside space from the bedroom. All in all, much better than I had dared to hope for. The only 2 small issues: the TV doesn't seem to want to work (might just be that the remote batteries are dead) and I have not been told the WEP key for the internet, so can't get online yet. I'm sure I will be able to sort these things out tomorrow.

Once I had unpacked, I ventured to the supermarket. It took about 15 minutes to walk to the school, so definitely doable and will mean that I will be able to walk off all the tapas! I bought milk and some food and, claro, sunflower seeds! Then I came back here and chilled out for a bit.


Next I decided to find the sea. It didn't take long - a 3 minute walk to be precise! I sat on the sand for half an hour or so but had not brought a towel, so found the sand getting stuck to me and went for a wander instead. I bought a couple of very pretty bead bracelets that will work as anklets and chatted in Spanish to the man selling them. I eventually sat down at a cafe and drank a lovely cafe con leche and read my book. Some random English speaker saw my book and came over to me. I stayed strong and said "No quiero hablar inglés. Estoy aquí para ameliorar mi español" and so we conversed in Spanish. He was American and has been here for a month already so I felt pleased that both my vocabulary and my accent were better than his! Maybe I am not as weak as I had feared (or maybe I can blag well!!!) I guess the test tomorrow morning will tell...

So, I then pottered back home with a slight geographical embarrassment* on the way. My plans are to relax this evening ready for a rather early start tomorrow. I have to be at the school by 8.30am and so will leave here just before 8 (which is just before 7 in the UK - aaaargh!)


*a geographical embarrassment is a ten tors coined expression for getting oneself rather lost but then finding oneself again before too much harm has been done or time wasted.

Thinking ahead to my exams!

As my time in Spain approaches, I have started looking at the requirements for the A level I will do on my return. I plan to do some of the reading etc while I am out there. The exam board I will use is WJEC as I have taught their French A level and the course is quite straightforward.

The reading list for the World of Literature mainly seems to consist of books about the Spanish Civil War and most didn't appeal, but the following 2 look quite good:
Ernesto Sábato's El Túnel ("dark, psychological novel written by Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato about a deranged porteño painter, Juan Pablo Castel, and his obsession with a woman.")
Laura Esquivel's Como Agua Para Chocolate ("The novel follows the story of a young girl named Tita who longs her entire life to marry her lover, Pedro, but can never have him because of her mother's upholding of the family tradition of the youngest daughter not marrying but taking care of her mother until the day she dies. Tita is only able to express herself when she cooks.")

The World of Cinema component has an easy winner for me:
El Laberinto del Fauno directed by Guillermo del Toro is amazing and I will enjoy watching it again.
I also like the look of Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios directed by Pedro Almodóvar because the title makes me giggle.

The Regions of Spain bit contains El País Vasco where I used to live and Andalucia where I will be this time.

I only have to do one in total in the exam, but better to have a few to choose from. I'm quite looking forward to getting stuck into it all while I'm there.

Payments, the pound and the euro

So I paid the deposit yesterday. The process of paying in euro was quite complicated and made me realise that if we were in the euro zone, things might have been very different... of course, we'd all be bankrupt but at least I'd be able to make transfers more easily!

The deposit is €90 and the outstanding costs are €1,675 (to be paid on the 27th). To transfer euro from my bank incurs a £20 charge for each transfer and to pay by card costs 3.75%. The cheapest way would be to pay the whole lot now and just pay 1 £10 fee. I found out that if I then can't make it for any reason, they will keep a large percentage of the money paid, whereas if I pull out having just paid the deposit, that is all I lose. I don't anticipate not going, but can't risk losing a grand!

In the end, I have paid the deposit on my card and will transfer the rest just before I go (it takes 3 working days to clear). This way I am not incurring too many fees...

So, it's getting very close now. I leave 2 weeks tomorrow! I have been informed that my studio apartment is just 2 minutes from the school (with swimming pool) and 5 minutes from the beach. It will have wi-fi and my own kitchen and bathroom.

I'm being collected from the airport and should be able to get straight into my apartment. I then have a whole day (Sunday) to explore before classes start on the Monday. The weather in Málaga is currently hot (28ish) and sunny. Some storms are predicted over the next couple of weeks, but looks set to be around 27-29 and sunny when I arrive. Lovely! I anticipate spending the Sunday getting brown!

New words

On a hen night tonight I learnt a new word: interrobang. This is like a question mark (an interrogative) and an exclamation mark (a bang) together. When I came home, I researched it and was excited to discover that the gnaborretni also exists. This is the equivalent for the start of the sentence in Spanish. My Spanish learning has already started!

All booked!

Yesterday was the first day of my Spanish adventure... I booked the flight and the course!

Let me explain a bit. I have been teaching in the UK for 6 years now. I mainly teach French and also some Spanish, but I have been increasingly frustrated by the standard of my Spanish, which is far below my French. I desperately want to be able to teach A level Spanish but am not at a high enough level myself. My teaching post came to an end recently (long story which I will fill you in on at a later date!) and I have found myself with a sabbatical year and quite a lot of savings. What better excuse do I need to head off to the south of Spain, soak up some sun and get my Spanish up to a high level?

I have always wanted to go to Málaga. Not sure why, but the 300 days/year of sun and autumn temperatures on a par with our summer ones might have played a part :) So I investigated courses available there and stumbled across ¡Málaga, Sí! The courses seem appropriate and the reviews online are good. They also sort out your accommodation and I have chosen to have a single self-catering apartment. The costs are all very reasonable and I can fly with sleezyeasyjet from Bristol directly to Málaga.

So, as I said, I booked this yesterday. I am flying out on Sunday 26th September - just 3 weeks tomorrow! I start the course the next day and have initially enrolled for 4 weeks, but will surely extend this by a few weeks if the weather holds out!

I am now getting very excited and manically buying new luggage and a mini laptop to take with me (the apartment has Wi-Fi).

I'll keep you informed on the progress...