Students of our school went to Malaga to do their internship. The journey started on 3rd September 2016 in Sandomierz. All students gathered in a parking space in front of the school at 4:30 in the morning. Some of them were more excited than others as not everyone has had the pleasure to fly by plane yet. The trip to Chopin’s airport in Warsaw took about 3,5 hours but even though it was still dark and early no one could sleep. We heard the whispers of joy mixed with the fear of unknown among the youngsters.
We arrived to the airport 3 hours before the flight so we had plenty of time to look around and get used to the thought of flying. The check-in process was very quick and in about 45 minutes we were waiting at our gate. Most of the people went to airport restaurant to have some snack and spent the remaining time in a nice atmosphere. When the time came we started boarding. Again the excitement and a little fear was written down on some faces but as soon as we took off it was much better. Few of us got even some sleep.
The landing was really gentle and we were very happy because of that. We claimed our luggage and met with Rebeca who took us to our families. On the way from the airport to the houses Rebeca answered most of our questions and assured us that we will manage to communicate with the families. After meeting with our hosts we had a lovely meal with them and we went out to see the neighborhood.
Because it was still early and the weather was wonderful we went to see the beaches. The seaside was 5 minute walk from everyone’s home. We fell in love with Malaga immediately and spent the evening and the following day sunbathing and enjoying the Sun.
On Monday the 5th we had a meeting in a Tribeka’s office in the center of Malaga. We were introduced to the rest of the staff: Barbara and Gulia. The meeting was quite short. Rebeca explained where and when students were supposed to meet her to go to their companies. After that we had a lovely tour of Malaga. She showed us the Roman theatre and gave a small insight into the history of that beautiful place. We saw an impressive Cathedral, market squares and typical for that region street art. She also showed us where is the Museum of Picasso and the house where he was born but we visited that on the 17th September.
In the afternoon students went to the companies to have an introductory presentation and to meet their supervisors. The internship was in the Toys R Us company, Malaga Micro, Bancosol, Librería Luces, and Residencia la Rosaleda, Plataforma del Voluntariada y Amelgar. The next three days passed very quickly as students spent most of their time working and studying the basics of Spanish language.
On 8th September we had a trip to Granada with Rebeca. She again introduced us to the history of that place. The greatest artistic wealth of Grenada is its Spanish-Muslim art — in particular, the compound of the Alhambra and the Generalife. The Generalife is a pleasure palace with attached romantic gardens, remarkable both for its location and layout, as well as for the diversity of its flowers, plants and fountains. The Alhambra is the architectural culmination of the works of Nasrid art that were undertaken in the 13th and 14th centuries. After that we had some free time for lunch and exploring the city on our own. When we came back home we were really tired.
On 14th September Monitoring from our school arrived: Mrs Maria Długosz – Kędziora and Mrs Magdalena Kubiak. On the following day we met with Gulia and Barbara in Tribeka to follow up on students’ progress and to discuss current issues concerning the documents connected with the trip. We set up a date to go to some of the companies to make sure that everything is going as it was supposed to.
The visit within the Malaga Micro and La Residencia de Voluntariada was on Monday. We were happy to see that our students were doing really well and their employers were undeniably satisfied with their performance at the workplace. We took some photos and talked to the supervisors. It was really nice to finally see our students participating in the conversation. We were then calm that they are in really good hands.
During the weekend we went to see the famous Museo Picasso Málaga. Museum is only 200 metres from the Plaza de La Merced, where Picasso was born. His art was strongly influenced by that place. Even though it is quite controversial we really enjoyed learning a little bit about that great artist.
On Sunday saw the magnificent Castillo de Gibralfaro which sits on a high hill overlooking Malaga city and port, and dates back to the 10th century. The castle is famous for its three-month siege by the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, which ended only when hunger forced the Malagueños to surrender. Afterwards Ferdinand occupied the site, while his queen took up residence in the town. Some of us also went to see flamenco dancers.
On 21st September Mrs Maria and Mrs Magdalena came back to Poland and we had only three days left in Malaga. Some of the students wanted to come back because they really missed Polish cuisine but most of us wished to stay a little longer. The remaining time we tried to spend mostly on the beach getting the last bits of sunshine as in Poland the weather was not so nice. We returned safely to Poland on 24th of September.
The time in Malaga was absolutely wonderful and it passed definitely too quickly. We are looking forward for a next adventure like that. We know that this was one of those experiences that we will never forget.
Angelika Andrzejewska
Teacher of the Institute ZSE, Sandomierz (Poland)
