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.