Spanish Exchange 2011
On Friday May 27th, 2011 at noon a group of F3 pupils piled onto a coach outside the school gates and began the second leg of an exciting exchange between the High School of Dundee and St. George’s Málaga. We, the exchange students, were all filled with nervous excitement which grew as the journey to Málaga came to an end and we stepped off the plane, however our fears were soon forgotten as we were greeted by cheers and a banner in the arrivals lounge. Hugs and kisses were shared all round and we were carted off to our homes away from home.
On Monday, after a weekend of getting to know our families, waterparks and shopping, we all met at school to go to Cordoba for the day. We had an interesting tour of La Mezquita, an ancient mosque which is now a Catholic cathedral and we learned about the history of Spain’s exciting past. We also had to conduct a scavenger hunt together with our partners and prizes were awarded at the end of the week.
The next day we visited St. George’s and spent the morning playing paddle, a ball game that is a mixture between squash and tennis. After an energetic morning we were given a tour of the school, made cartoons about our trip in the IT lab and then after lunch were given a lesson about the history of the Alhambra which we were to visit the next day.
Wednesday was an interesting trip to Granada learning more about the ancient days when Spain was ruled by Islam and how the Christians claimed Spain back as their own. After our visit to the Alhambra we went to Los Italianos a famous ice cream parlour and we all enjoyed a scoop or two of the ice cream just as Michelle Obama had last summer at the same place.
On Thursday our exchange partners were left at school as we enjoyed churros con chocolate for breakfast and a walking tour of Málaga led by Ms. Aguero, we had a little time to shop then we went to the Picasso Museum where we got ideas from a few of his pieces and applied them at a workshop where we made our own pieces of art. A tour of the Alcazaba, an old Muslim fort, followed then it was back to St. George’s. Later that night we watched their school’s talent show and then they put on a disco just for us.
Friday was our last day with the school and we all enjoyed a more relaxed day of sunbathing and playing volleyball on the beach at Nerja. We toured the famous caves of Nerja in the morning and enjoyed a paella lunch at a chiringuito, which was made famous by the television show, Verano Azul, Ayo’s, in the afternoon.
The trip was a massive success and after another fantastic weekend with our host families we didn’t want to leave on Sunday. There were tears and hugs all round and promises to stay in touch and visit again. The exchange did not only benefit our spoken Spanish but it also provided us with the opportunities to meet so many new people, learn new things, visit new places and make lifelong friends. It was an experience unlike any other and we were lucky to have participated.
Report by Betty Henderson, F3.