Walking around Málaga at present time is getting a little disgusting to say the least. Since Tuesday of this past week - 1st March as the weather started getting more pleasant, Limasa the street cleaning service in the city walked out. It doesnt matter who you are, whether you live in Málaga or you are a tourist, the site is getting more and more gross. Of course during most of the months we are told that during the day we can´t throw away our rubbish until 9pm. The problem is that if you have very little space to store rubbish during the day and especially in the summer this can be a bit of a pain. The strike we are told is indefinate and by Thursday there were around 1222 tons of waste sitting in the streets, flowing out of the top of the bins and occupying large areas of the curbs. This isnt the first time that Limasa has done this. Ok its alright to fight for what you think should be yours. They want 427 euros productivity bonus and a weeks holiday in the summer. I presume, althought the job is a little disgusting at some times, they DO get a pretty good wage and to get into a company like that isnt easy. Malaga council want to pay the bonus money starting in 2017 apparently, increasing the amount to 1119 euros in 2018. Don´t forget this is a bonus!! They want employees to accept 2 weeks holidays between June and September and then it seems they get another 3 weeks to use up during the year. Not everyone would see this kind of money as a wage, some people are struggling to make ends meet. I´m not taking anyones side but i just think that these men are allowed to threaten by them not working and nothing will happen to them even id they dont come to an agreement. They will still have a job. I guess it shows just how important services are like this. Companies on industrial estates can always bring in private companies to take away their waste but in the city it seems like another thing. I presume if the council called in another company, if there is one, then the Limasa workers would do what they can to stop them from doing it and things could get out of hand. Other companies if they tried to go on strike would be no doubt risking their jobs; there are plenty of people still unemployed in Spain. The worse scenario that i can see is that this starts to go on into the summer. That would be just awful. There are course risks that insects begin to appear and worse than that rats. When the heat starts to beat down in the summer months the smell will be atrocious. The strikers know what theyre doing, they know that their service is one of the most important in the city along with hospitals and public transport. I have been so glad that the amount of tourists had risen also in Málaga and i have always said that its wonderful to walk around the city. But not with that site and that odour. People will divert from coming and go elsewhere which i think is a shame. Fingers crossed that Limasa sort themselves out and come to some kind of agreement for everyones sake, the sooner the better. Right now we wait....
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Ok this isnt a normal theme for a blog in Spain but it has all to do with watching films in Spain and its all about a big event coming at last on the 18th December. Its the day all Star Wars fans have been waiting for since the release of the third film - from the prequel series - Revenge of the Sith in 2005. Lets rewind a bit to one of the first films i saw in Spain 1993 in Málaga in spanish - Jurassic Park. Now i saw this film in spanish. I had been in Spain for 3 years now and it was the first time i had sat through a whole film in spanish really - it helped a lot being the film it was though. That was one thing i had missed when i first came to Spain; my regular visits to the cinema in the UK. I am a huge film fan and most Saturdays i would go to the local Regal cinema in Melton Mowbray, my home town and see a comedy or an adventure film from time to time. The 80s was the best time for me for films. I remember going to see all the latest James Bond films as a kid and i finally got to the see the first Star Wars film not when the film came out in 1977 but in 1980 as a double bill with The Empire Strikes Back, maybe for me the best of the saga - up til now. The reason why i didnt see it when it first came out was because of a big mix up between this new blockbuster and a trailer i saw for The Planet of the Apes with the apes pounding on the ground with the bones. That trailer frightened the hell out of me and i thought Chewbacca was one of those apes and i was 5 years old still in May of that year so i told my Dad and brother that i didnt want to see it. They were trying to get me in and i was very certain that i didnt like the idea. They really wanted to go in and see it and looking back now I wish i had. Anyway - these things happen and theres no turning back the clock now but i was mind blown 3 years later when i saw that double bill in Bridgenorth, seeing Star Wars for the first time and then the second instalment ending with that cliffhanger!! Return of the Jedi i saw in Wigston Magna also in Leicestershire. Now these films back then, in 1983 now were shown in small cinemas with maybe 3 screens or some even just one and the queues back then when a film came out sometimes went all the way down the road. What i remember about that film was some moron that was waiting in line to see the film for a second time and talking to his mates about what happened in it. Me and my mates had to stop him politely and just tell him to shut up, he was ruining the film for us. Now by the time we went to see it i had bought a book about it with photos and had seen a trailer so i went in with a jist of what was going to happen. So that trilogy was over so we thought. Then around 1995 they started talking about a new saga, a prequel one, set 30 years before the events of Star Wars. Of course i had been in Spain 5 years now and has begun to go to the cinema more and more. I went a few times to the America Multicines (Multi Cinema) which was one of the first multiscreen cinemas in Spain with i think 10 or 12 screens which sadly isnt there anymore; now its an apartment block next to the Vialia Shopping Centre where the main train station is in Málaga. I had also been to the Larios cinema which was at the top of the Larios Shopping Centre that had the same amount of screens and that too has gone. All this for me was a big shame, although i wasnt watching films in the original english language i loved going to the cinema with my kids to see the latest Pixar or childrens film. Soon 1999 came and The Phantom Menace came out. I was there the first day of screening. I think i went to see it twice, the first day in the most terrible place, right on the front row with the worst neck ache but i had to see it on the first day. I really loved it, it was a new Star Wars and when youre a fan of these films you just want to see more. I went back to see it a second time in a decent part of the cinema and still enjoyed it. Years later people have a go at the prequels saying that they are took filled with CGI and didnt like the way George Lucas, its creator directed and scripted the films, adding unpopular characters and too many political issues. I went to see the next two i think on each premiere day as well - Attack of the Clones in 2002 that i must have seen in english with spanish subtitles as the new Plaza Mayor Shopping Centre had opened that year - Yelmo Multicines. This was the start of something great for me, finally being able to see films in english. Being in Spain 12 years now i could watch english language films dubbed in spanish, but its not the same. Revenge of the Sith was a tremendous finale to the prequels, the best of them with its darkness and tragic ending. John Williams did an amazing job of all three films with the soundtracks. New themes and bringing back old melodies. Its the 3rd December 2015. I got the day off - the 18th December, the first day of officially of the screening of the long awaited JJ Abrams project - Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens. I think when the title of a new Star Wars films comes out us Star Wars fans sit and ponder on it a little. The Force Awakens is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi. So the force went to sleep for the past 30 years and now its waking up? So a teaser came out and then a big eye opening trailer came out that was damn amazing and now there are all these Tv Spots and other trailers and to tell you the truth - I DON´T WANT TO SEE THEM!! I DID slip up and watched a Harrison Ford interview on YouTube last night and i saw a couple of shots of Han Solo in 2 clips i hadnt seen - DAMNNN!! But i feel that if there are too many trailers then it ruins the film. I need to see this without knowing too much about it. George Lucas himself had said he hadnt seen the teaser even. He wants to see the film on the opening day, or whenever he decides to see it. I presume he will attend some kind of pre-screening on the 17th when a lot of lucky blighters including a mate of mine who has been a fan a little longer than me will watch it. I originally was going to wait until the 19th or 20th to watch it but a week ago i said NO WAY and i got the day off and bought my entrance ticket to see it at Yelmo Multicines at 5pm, the first screening there. From now, until then i am dodging any signs of TV spots, Tweets, Facebook posts and other manner of ways of finding out anymore about this new instalment. I do know one thing its going to be huge. Its a great early Christmas gift for me. Normally a Star Wars film comes out in May but Mr Abrams needed to get this right i think and filming was stopped for Mr Fords scenes as a mechanical door on the set broke his leg and he survived a light airplane crash. A true hero. So here i am, like millions of fans old and new, patiently waiting for Star Wars.
The best way to arrive at Muelle Uno is coming from the port, via Muelle Dos - Quay Two. Muelle Uno as you walk from the port along the promenade is covered by what appears to be the skeleton of a very large whale.
The promenade towards Muelle Uno is spacious giving people plenty of room to walk and cyclists room to ride. To the right you can see some very large boats, some cruise ships and the boat that goes between Malaga and Melilla at the very beginning of the promenade. On the left you find restaurants and building from where passengers board their cruisers, the start of their journey around the Mediterranean or further away. It seems no matter what day you walk down this part of Malaga you will find it busy with tourists and locals. This pleasant stroll takes you past gardens, benches and places for children to play. Muelle Uno was completed in December 2011 and had become a pleasant location for people to stroll, have a drink or a meal. Below you can see my Video Blog all about Muelle Uno. If you cannot view the view in your browser then click on the button below. Enjoy!! Alistair Watts SpainLINKED Muelle Uno - Video Blog. Filmed at Muelle Uno, Málaga Port. Vlog videoed for SpainLINKED. Video recorded 9th November 2015 by Alistair Watts. Final edit and publication 11th November 2015. Copyright SpainLINKED - 2015. There are a few ways to get up there. You can pay to enter from below and walk your way upwards, visiting the Alcazaba itself. You can drive past the bullring and the English Cemetery, up steep roads, curling around the edge of hill, luckily a one way street!! Or you can take the adventurers way and walk up the side of the hill, up a zig zag mountain of steps opposite the park near the town hall. This is the way I decided to take. A Tuesday, one of those funny spanish October days. Bits of clouds, the odd bit of breeze and then the sun would come out almost as hot as a summer day. You wouldnt make this trip, as i would call it, bang in July or August, that would be suicide - ok maybe i´m getting a bit dramatic here!! But those that have lived, live or have been to Spain in the summer know what i mean. This trek i had been thinking about doing for some time. You start saying to yourself, hmmm i´ll have to do that one day and today was the day. So I started the walk up, jogging at first for the first 20 odd steps. From that point i had a bit of height now. Although i dont go out running in the mornings or doing sessions on the exercise frames that the town hall set up, jotted around Malaga, I do like to go for my walks. The slope started getting a bit steeper now, the steps longer but you soon gain height after about 5 minutes. There are benches to stop and sit on and the odd bit of shade which comes in handy. I just kept stopping every few metres to take photos with my smartphone, documenting it in pictures. I had done the car journey up here a couple of times and when you reach the castle you walk downwards towards a mirador, a viewing area with a spectacular view of the port, Muelle Uno, the bull ring, the cathedral and the long park below you. So i was wondering how close these steps got to the mirador, this was the first time in all my years living in Malaga that i had done this. Many people i passed as they came downwards. I started wondering how many of them had done what i had done or if i was the only stupid bugger to do it. Maybe they got the bus up even, yes there is also a good bus service in Malaga and one of the routes takes you up here, and decided to walk down. Its easier going down that going up. There was one pretty big mistake i made, something i do all the time. Forget to bring water with me and the heat was getting pretty intense. I kind of ignored that important fact as i was on my mission, gazing up, stopping taking more pics and looking downwards, feeling like Indiana Jones on a new adventure. Told you i get a tad dramatic. But yeah bits of the Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack were going through my head. I was on my own, on my journey, upwards. People were sitting on the stone ledges on the edge of the path resting as they went down i presumed. I was the only one going up. What I like about my walkabouts and especially as you reach the centre of the city and especially in these kind of areas is the amount of different languages you hear. Tourists from all over the world. Groups of students, japenese with their cameras, tourism is good in Malaga. After many photos I can see the mirador above me. I can see now that the path leads right up to it, then past it towards the Parador. I was taking photos from different levels which I found interesting. You can see postcards in the souvenir shops of the view of the port and bullring from the past and I would say they were taken from the mirador just below the Parador. I had made it. From the bottom to here it took me about 40 minutes and as on all my journeys, it was worth it. Next to the mirador there was a separate path that I had presumed lead downwards, maybe down towards the English Cemetery. I had rested briefly, no water but wanted to carry on to see where it led me. The tree lined hills path had been trodden on well. There were footprints and dog prints. The good thing here that it was shady, it was coming towards 5 in the afternoon. The path went right around and i took more photos, of the view and of the path itself. It was very pleasant here and I was the only one on the path. It would have been very easy to slide and fall downwards as there were old railings pulled down by some clever sods. It was daytime still and being a guy, wasnt too bothered but i wouldnt like to walk along here after dark for a couple of reasons. I noticed now that I wasnt actually going down towards the street, more like up. Three quarters along by now - i presumed - so i wasnt going to go back no matter where it took me. There reaching the end of the path, right next to the road where the bus goes up, towards the mirador and the Parador. I felt conned. Thats what happens when you dont ask first! Spirits were still high though, trekking a few metres back up the road, past the castle and then back down the infamous steps leading back down from where the journey started. Very few people were walking up which made me feel adventurous once again. As I said before, its easier going down. My mission was completed and more. It was time to start walking back home from my lovely afternoon out. I took a slightly different path as I got to the bottom, towards the gardens. Still without water, stopping off at a chinese supermarket, to claim my Ark of the Covenant, my prize, a big can of Cruzcampo lager, sod the water. All photos copyright - Alistair WattsAs I have said to myself many a time, to get away from the madness of a city sometimes you don´t have to go too far. It isn’t far away the Montes of Málaga – the Málaga hills, only 15 or 20 minutes away. Leaving home at 8.30 am ish , grab the car and start heading to Carretera Colmenar on the outskirts of Málaga is the beginning of the journey. Its cooler now in October as well. The car hasn’t got air conditioning but with the windows wound down its a pleasant drive. You start to leave behind the city streets and progress upwards, the high windy roads. Here you begin to see the Ventas – restaurants that get very busy from autumn through winter. They normally have large rooms to hold wedding and other special parties. The view is breathtaking already and i have only left the city of Málaga 5 minutes ago. I pass a sign thats says Málaga with a cross through it meaning that i have left the edge of the city. As a keen photographer i am keeping my eye open for places to stop the car and take photos of the amazing panorama. It wasn’t the best of places to park a car but there was a slight siding where a car WOULD fit so i parked. Next thing was to cross the road. With it being early morning the traffic was still fairly quiet, but being on a bend i had to be careful. The next thing was to climb up a slightly awkward slope of stones and plants, getting a grip with my trainers – not the best of footwear for a morning in the country – steadily climbing on foot to the top of a small hill to get my first photo of the morning, a view of most of Málaga from above. The sky isn’t like it is in July or August, its a little hazy but then there isn’t the intense heat which i am glad of. You could see that there was a track from another point that walkers had made, no doubt from a much better place where i had started to climb. But what the hell!! The worst thing was going back and going back down the hill. Now i´m not talking Everest here but when youre going downwards and there are rocks with trainers you have to be very careful! Getting back in the car i proceed further away from Málaga. Up and up, passing bikers. Most doing what they should do, in single file. Some biking beside on another a danger when you are trying to drive past them, especially when you have cars coming down from above. Anyway, its time for a coffee and something to nibble on. As i park up once again to take some more snaps the Venta where i park up is opening. Good timing. I order a large mitad, a large coffee thats half coffee, half milk. In Málaga there are various ways of having coffee depending how much coffee you want. A bit of toast to go with it as well, pan cateto, a bread thats very tasty, harder on the crust and served toasted the way i like it , just with butter. One euro for the coffee and 1.50€ for the toast but it was well worth it. The quietness of the place with its views of the treetops, that is priceless. Onwards and upwards. Now more and more bikers. Maybe Sundays is the best day for them as there seems to be less traffic. There are not many vans carrying tools and whatnot today. I glimpse out of the corner of my eye that the view is getting more awesome, i mean that, without sounding American , it is a view with awe. Next stop is on the edge of a national park. Cars are parked here, joggers exercising their legs. I had spotted a dirt track with a no entry sign but it was a difficult place to stop. So walking back 50 metres i reached the destination i was looking for, a great place to take pics. When i got there i just stood there and took in the view. A type of valley, tall slopes filled with mediterrean pine trees, little white houses in the middle of nowhere. This was the place to be, total tranquillity. It’s hard to describe a place like this in words without either being there and witnessing it or seeing it in photos. That is the reason this blog is accompanied by pics. There was no entry here by vehicle but and a barrier. Sometimes you just have to step ahead and go past the barriers and i´m glad i did. I am still pretty fast on my feet in case there was sometimes carrying a gun, joke! But no it was a place you could go on foot. I could see why cars couldn’t go past the sign because the road went precariously downwards. The pine trees looked strange as they jotted our from the sides of the slopes. This is probably where i took most of the photos. Moving onwards, going back up the dirt track i drove up 3 more bends towards a Venta i had been to various times in the past. El Mirador. To my surprise it was closed, it looked like they were doing work on it, extending. This is where i had eaten a delicious plate that they do in the area, the plato de los montes – the plate of the hills. This consists of a wonderous plate with many flavours especially created in this area, in the Málaga hills pork loin, chorizo, morcilla, potatoes, fried and peppers. Bliss. The food, the beer (or wine) and the view makes a great mix. I would recommend it any day. Right now there were guard dogs patrolling, i presume while they do the work on it, at least i hope so. This Venta every time i came was always busy and the staff very friendly. After taking a few more photos of the coast from where i stood it was time to get back in the car and drive downwards back to the city, carefully driving by the bikers and keeping your eye open for drivers wanting to pass you. Some Spanish seem to be in a rush even on a Sunday where as i wasn’t in a rush at all, i could stay there all day. I imagined what it would be like living in one of the houses there on the top of the Málaga hills, looking down. I think it would bother we a little at night-time though or in the winter maybe. But besides that the life here seemed to be so relaxing, so quiet and only 15 or 20 minutes from the city. Blog and photos : Copyright Alistair Watts
Ive lived in Spain for over 20 years, and when I moved over in 1995 with my 1st husband, 2 very young kids and a handful of clothes, we brought our dog with us. Oh how she loved lazing in the sun, until it was time for her to pass over rainbow bridge. It was so painful, I couldn’t see me ever having another, well, not for a long time anyway.
But life seemed empty in some way. I was busy with work, raising kids and at that time being a single mum. However, a few years ago I met my soulmate, now my husband, and a few months into our flourishing relationship, he mentioned about getting a dog. Well, I had just got used to peace and quiet, no mess, and now hmmmmm hairs and stuff! But when we saw an 11 month old Golden Retriever needing a home, we couldn’t say no. We had our own office, we were both working in the property sector, and so why not was really the thought. Excitedly we drove up to Murcia from Marbella and took delivery of this gorgeous boy. Who pulled like a train and ate like a horse! A few months later with intensive training, and he had us trained beautifully! LOL no, he was great fun to have, and so it was only fitting a few years after that we would go the Spanish Settlers way and adopt more – we only ever adopt or rescue and now have 5 fur-babies – great fun and yes hard work but they don’t have to dampen your lifestyle. After all, what better way than to spend a Sunday, knee high in cold water extracting a retriever from a river who doesn’t want to leave his stone behind?? Spain is really catching on to pet owning too, several beaches are designated dogs only – the 4 legged kind not the ugly ones J, loads of dog parks and of course well behaved ones are welcome everywhere – which reminds me of a funny story, my kids went back to the UK several years ago while under the age of 16. Their dad tried to take them into a pub, and they had to wait in the porch while he asked. They noticed a sign on the door saying No Children, but also that Dogs were Welcome, at which point a lady with a dog walked past them into the bar. They were most offended as in Spain kids and dogs can go everywhere. Did make me chuckle though . Have a great week all of you and thank you for reading . Blog by : Inez Robinson After living in Spain for 25 years you learn to appreciate things more in Spain. Not just the wonderful beaches, the bars, restaurants, hotel pools and views from a balcony or terrace. Much more than that! For around about 15 years i have lived in the Costa del Sol´s capital, Malaga. It was a move i had to make after my father in law died and we moved in with the mother in law. From living in the Carihuela area in the past, Torremolinos and Benalmadena Costa it was a bit of a blow for me, the BIG CITY. It was fine though, we moved into a large apartment with lots of lovely views of the hills of Malaga and a park very close by. There was room for two familes and there was a communial pool as well and a garage to park the car below. It was a very comfortable way of living. I think we basically kept nipping back to the Benalmadena park of the coast, never go much to Marbella really and spend days off walking around, missing where i used to live but knowing at night i was sleeping in a great place. Sadly my mother in law passed away 11 ish years ago and we had to sell up the apartment, rent for a while and look for somewhere else to live in Malaga. Having kids it had to be that way, couldnt go back to where i used to live because of schooling. It was impossible to find a place the same in another part of Malaga that was in the school area. I was made full time at a cold warehouse where i still am, where we store and distribute Danone, Telepizza, Tropicana, Sunny Delight etc etc and having a car it was handy to get to work as it was a short way away from Malaga. Modern day and youre still in a big city and you still miss where you used to live 20 minutes along the coast. You miss the walks along the promenade, chatting to expats in bars you frequented between the coast and Arroyo de la Miel. You live in a street with an awful view of another building. You put up with kids playing beneath that particular building and a bitch of a neighbour that calls the police if you make the slightest of noises!! Youre still in the big city, you feel trapped and working and it stresses you out. So what do you do? Do you sit around and suffer and stay inside miserable? No you don´t you take a walk down the street and head towards the river, where an Ibis hotel stands and as soon as you cross that river youre stepping into another world! You start to relax as you wind your way through the streets of Malaga, walk past the Thyssen Museum and into La Plaza de Constitucion, the square that lays right next to the long pedestrianised street called Calle Larios. A large fountain stands in the square and the feeling of the whole place is awesome. From that point you can do two things, walk down Calle Larios towards the Plaza de Marina, the Marina Square, and head towards the port, Muelle Uno or take a left and head towards tons of other cool places. You have it all in Malaga and every month or so youre amazed at how many more places you can find in the heart of the City. You have the very impressive Cathedral, the Plaza de Merced another square with its bars, very close to a tunnel leading you to the bull ring and from the bull ring you can also head towards Muelle Uno, a smart area of restaurants and shops right in the port, watch all the cruise liners, yachts and take in views of the Gibralfaro, the castle and over the other side the newly installed Big Wheel, The Mirador Princess. Between the Plaza de Merced, you pass by the Roman theatre, a famous bar in Malaga called El Pimpi, the Picasso Museum - Malaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso. At the foot of Gibralfaro you can climb up and see the castle, not far from the roman theatre. You can circle back towards the Calle Larios area either by turning right and see the Cathedral in all its awe or straight ahead past the old customs building where the are going to open another museum. Then you can either go past the tall palm trees and walk through the park or go past the luxurious Hotel Malaga Palacio where all the spanish actors stay when they celebrate the Malaga Film Festival yearly in April. If you get the opportunity to go up to the top terrace then you will have the most fantastic views of Malaga. I fell into the same trap when i started visiting Spain, particulary this area. Ok i was a child and in 1983 staying in a Torremolinos apartment you went to Tivoli World a theme park or to the water park, then called Aquapark. You went with your parents on the trips if you were lucky enough to have parents that actually wanted to venture inland and you did the typical Donkey Safari or the Kontiki excursion where you went to the lake, El Chorro and swam or went in small boats. All a lot of fun mind you. As an adult you learn to appreciate other things in life. You start to go on long walks and take in views of fantastic places more. You take a look of an area of Malaga thats only 20 minutes walking distance and start taking photographs of the streets, the parks and the places of interest. You yourself have found a new interest, well i have and thats photography. Well i wouldnt say NEW, i have always enjoyed talking photos even as a child with the old 35mm cameras, where you only had one shot at taking a decent photo. Most of the time only 15 out of 24 photos came out decent enough. You look back at those photos and you wish they were better quality. Now the thing about the digital area is that you can take photos, stored on a memory card and delete any of the photos you dont want. I do not own a professional camera. I have experimented in the past maybe 10 or so years with digital cameras. The first mobile phones that had cameras one them. Now i stick to smartphones starting with a 2 megapixel then a 5 megapixel and now a large screen 13 megapixel camera on an up to date smartphone, believe it or not a chinese one, not a Samsung or iPhone. Now i can see a better picture quality, better results, more memory to store more and more photos, i have a much larger passion for photography. Finding all these places in Malaga, having the means to record it all, part of history, you get more and more excited in taking photographs, here in a wonderful place called Malaga. Currently i am creating a photographic profile of all the photos i have taken past and present. Now i am very interested in anyone contacting me for any magazine, newspaper or online activity. I have transport and can travel anywhere along the Costa del Sol or inland Malaga province. Anyone interested in contacting me as a photographer can email me at my personal email account [email protected] or WhatsApp me at 600740732.
Please click on any of the photos to see in a larger format. For extra information please visit the Tourist Information Centre at the Plaza de Marina or go to the website here. Anyone wishing for any extra information can also email me at the email address stated above. Photos copyright - Alistair Watts. Blog by: Alistair Watts - Owner of SpainLINKED do as the spanish do? Well yes you have to in order to get along with them, same as anywhere in the world.
For me it took some getting used to in the beginning. Youre here in a new country... I was left here for a week on my own when we first moved over here from the UK.... and at first Spain is different. The following isnt me having a go at the spanish, its my admiration for them above all. At first you are in a fresh place where youve only been on your holidays and now youre here to stay. At the very start you seem to stick with your own people and just frequent english bars, restaurants and shops even tyring to make it home from home. You have the spanish with a different language that talk Oh so VERY fast and the two or three words you know arent really going to get you anywhere. In the small bar where my family started we got a lot of taxi drivers in and gardeners from the Hotel Pez Espada in Montemar, Torremolinos. You had two sides of the spanish, the taxi drivers who wanted to practice their spanish and the gardeners that went on and on making you learn as fast as you can. Personally i never attended a spanish class, it was me just picking up words and then stringing them together as neatly as i could to try and form sentences. Later on i went on to work in Tivoli World on the laser games and there was a mix of spanish, english and other tourists and you had to kind of learn a script there to TRY and explain the game to the spanish even though my spanish was still pretty week a couple of years after moving here. I was amazed at how people has lived in Spain for over 30 years and these expats were still doing what i had done when i first moved here, they would stick with their own and a lot didnt know a lot of spanish at all - a big shame. I found that with everyday things that you had to do like shop and pay an electricity bill, you had to speak some spanish at least to get by. After this job i started working in souvenir shops and i was on the benalmadena costa promenade where sundays was a lot of spanish coming into the shop in the summer for cold drinks and a lot were from the villages, with a broader accent who i understood less. This became a challenge really now, these people spoke even faster, cutting off the words and using phrases that were unknown to me and again going through another phase in expanding my spanish. I have lived in Malaga city itself for over 15 years now and this was a completly new kind of living, living in a city. Old ladies in the supermarkets jumping queues and then saying that they hadnt even seen you and you had been there 20 minutes before them. Drivers giving a good use of their beeping, as soon red went to green on the traffic lights there hand must have been poised to beep you as soon as it had changed and you had to start becoming a psychic and trying to figure out where they would turn as lots didnt bother to indicate, with eyes at the back of my head, a bag of nerves. Again i am not digging them, this was the way they lived and i was in no mind to try and change their way of thinking. Its no good even trying to be a good driver even; just the other day i was slowing down to let an old lady pass. She was with a younger man and i could see him staring at me weirdly, they took AGES to cross and i started waving a bit saying "Come on then i´m breaking and letting you cross." They eventually crossed so i began to speed up and the man starting waving at me saying "Hey why dont you slow down?" - I was the only one that had stopped, was fairly patient and he was having a RIGHT go at me. You just can´t win these days. Blog by ALISTAIR WATTS - Owner of SpainLINKED |
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