PLEASE DO continue using this thread as your BLOG for your studying experience in Benalmadena, robbieroy. How very very interesting! Enjoy your time.

Saludos, MadridMan

Thanks for the comments MM and filbert. I was enjoying the school SO MUCH that I have decided to enrol for one more week!!!!
On Friday in class, we read a short story by Pablo Neruda - a nice story about being in a foreign country but difficult vocabulary. We had some homework to do on it.
I conversation we discussed certain jobs and social issues, focussing on the use of the subjunctive.
There was no surprise test this week - thank goodness.
Saturday was the trip to Córdoba. In a word - Brilliant.
There were three coach loads went - 10 adults and 100 + youths from the other section of the college. It took us about 3 hours to get to Córdoba, including a half hour stop for breakfast (at 10.30 this was my second of the day!).
Everything was well organised. We ten adults had one teacher all to ourselves as a guide, and my goodness, she knew her history.
(On the trip to Malaga, it was evident that the teacher new her history as well. It is quite evident that the teachers are all very knowledgeable about Spanish history. This puts my knowledge of Scots history to shame!)
First stop was the old Roman bridge that crosses the main river, the Guadaquivir and then to the Torre (tower) de la Calahorra, which dated from the 8th Century Muslim era.



After that it was on to tour round the historic centre of Córdoba including the Jewish quarter. AMAZING!



You can feel the atmosphere in the very narrow strees and around each coner, you can see hints of the Arab influence.



Next on the agenda was the Alcazar - the Royal Palace).



The gardens anre MAGNIFICENT and cooling.



http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~lls013/summer2005/cordoba/cordalcazargdns1.jpg

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~lls013/summer2005/cordoba/cordalcazargdns2.jpg

The weather was HOT, HOT HOT - 42 degrees, but it is a dry heat and does not drain your strength.

After a tour round the interior and a visit to the Arab baths. We had free time for lunch. A group of four of us found a small restaurant specilising in tradition food from Córdoba.



The group had a selection of food:-
Cod in tomato and peppers
Paella
Solmorejo - a cold soup like gaspacho but thicker
Chocos fritos (no, not fried chocolates but large squid fried in batter)
Artichoke hearts.
All this with 2 rounds of water and cokes came to 39 Euros, not bad for four people.
After lunch we all met up again and toured the Mezquita - hugh, impressive and interesting.





After that we set off for home ad got back about 8 pm. Some of had a drink with the teacher before setting off.
This organised trip was really well organised and informative. It cost 36 Euros.
In Córdoba, watch out for the women beggers, they are pests.
Robbieroy

Monday 18th July
The weather on Sunday was hot, hot hot. 41 degrees in Málaga! and very, very humid. When cooking the evening meal of fajitas I took a packet of tortillas out of the cupboard and the were already hot!!!! When I went to bed, the sheets were hot! Everything was hot! This morning in Benaladena, there was a nice cooling breeze.

Today, the grammar lesson was hard work. It was about the estilo indirecto or reported speech. Although the grammar rules about the use of the subjunctive in the various tenses is straightforward, the problem is with the verbs that introduce the reported speech. They come from different categories and different rules are applied to them. The problem is caused by not knowing how to classify different verbs and therefore apply the correct grammatical rule when reporting what was said. Some take the indicative and some take the subjunctive. Looks like I will need to do some homework tonight to learn these.
The vocabulary and conversation class was good again today with the focus on wishes and desires using subjunctive and conditional. We also looked a phrases that use parts of the body.

The activities on offer this week are again interesting and well thouht out:
Monday:
1400 - a talk and a film on Ronda
1730 private tutorials
Tuesday:
1600 - practise your Spianish using songs
1800 a film - Habla con ella
Wednesday:
1500 - an excursion to Marbella and Puerto Banus
Thursday:
1730 - a talk on Goya the artist
1800 - International Film: Los otros
Friday:
1530 - student and teacher sport in the sports centre
2000 - a tapas tour in Fuengirola

Saturday:
0800 - a whole day trip to Ronda

The tapas in Fuengirola and the Ronda trip appeal to me.

Yesterday afternoon was taken up doing some household chores and some shopping.

Fluchos in Fuengirola!!!!!!
I found a shoe shop selling Fluchos. The were advertised as being on sale with an average price of around 60 Euros. MM - any advice? Do you think that this is a good price?

The evening was taken up doing some homework.
Robbieroy

Tuesday 19th July
The grammar class was again hard going, matching the 9 indicative tenses to the 4 subjunctive tenses. The teacher worked hard to get this across to us. I think I see some light at the end of the tunnel!
The vocabulary/conversation class was outstanding. We taked for a bit about our personal priorities in life, debated homosexual marriages and religion and then, BEST OF ALL - went through INSULTS and SWEARWORDS in Spanish!!
Great - now all I need to do is learn them and put them into practice (but in a controlled environment with someone who is sypathetic, otherwise it could be very dangerous!!).
The afternoon was taken up with some lunch, a light siesta and some tennis, followed by a meal in the house.
The weather continues to be very hot and humid. The dry heat is OK but the humidity is sapping.
Robbieroy

Wednesday 20th July

I recently changed my morning routine by taking my coffee in the train station at Fuengirola (where you can also have breakfast and watch the TV), instead on the bar near the language school in Benalmádena. In this way, I can go directly to the school, check my email and post the next instalment of this blog.
Grammar class was difficult today. The class (including myself) seemed tired. The teacher did a lot of talking about things unrelated to grammar, but nevertheless, culturally interesting.
The main focus of today´s lesson was the use of the indicative or subjunctive along with verbs of the head and verbs of influence. This was done in relation to different times (present past etc)and so was quite complicated.
Vocabulary/conversation: today we looked at at exercise and information of the different meanings of "the language of the fan", by women. This was quite entertaining. The discussion and conversation was quite stilted because of the tiredness of the students in the class.
In the aftenoon, following lunch, I went and did some shopping for groceries etc and played tennis in the evening. Instead of going out or cooking in we got a chineese carry-out. We has 2 spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce, sweet and sour pork and beef chop suey along with a portion of fries and a portion of fried rice. All for just less then 10 Euros in total. That, for a Scotsman, is good value! :p
Robbieroy

Thursday 21st July
The grammar class was slightly easier today. We did relative pronous like el que, cuyo, cual etc and also relative phrases where the subject of the sentence is known, in which case you use the indicative tense, or where the subject is unknown, where you use the subjunctive tense. For example I know someone who speaks Spanish, versus I would like to meet someone who speaks Spanish.
We also discussed the state exams and the benefits of working for the state in terms of financial security.
In the vocabulary/conversation class, we reviewed some previously learned vocabulary and somehow the conversation got around to contraception and that opened up a raft of totally new words connected with this ....! Great!

Tomorrow we have a grammar test!

The walk to school from the train station is very pleasant, through the side streets to keep out of the already hot 9.00am sun. There are a range of smells to awaken the senses - that of fresh bread from the bakers (some with the grand title of "despacho de pan" and also, from the small pescaderias, the smell of fresh fish.

It looks unlikely that I will be able to go on the trip to Ronda. Some friends have organised a party to celebrate the birthday of my ladyfriend, and I guess that I should be there. Maybe next time.

Yesterday, we watched TV quite a bit due to the further bombs in London. The Spanish take a big interest in this because of 11-M in Madrid.
Later, I played some tennis, and we had a nice meal in the house.
Robbieroy

Friday, 22nd July
The grammar test was hard today. The good thing was that we did it orally and filled in the blanks!
In vocabulary/conversation, we discussed the London bombings and then listened to a some flamenco songs, but especially one by el Camarón called "Como el agua". We then listend to a song called "Vivir sin aire" by Maná and filled in the missing words. GuesS what happened next? - yes, we sang it.
The weather continues to be very hot and at times very humid, but it is bearable when you avoid the worst times of the dat between 2.00 and 6.00 pm

I have decided to stay on a the college for yet another week!
More later
Robbieroy

Robbieroy,
If any board members sign up for a session at the school you deserve a free week at least! You info-blog is delightful and full of solid info -

A should/must read link for many of the questions that surface here re studying in Spain.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to relate your experiences.

Hi Puna - thanks for the comments - I am glad that someone is reading this!

Monday 25th July
The weekend was taken up with domestic chores and social events with a bit of tennis thrown in. As expected, I was unable to go on the Ronda trip due to a dinner party being held on behalf of my ladyfriend´s birthday on Saturday. This took place in a magnificent villa, but more than a villa - it had a bodega, servants quarters and guest cottages as well as the main house itself. Set in beautifuly mature gardens, this residence commanded outstanding views to the sea, across the valley and to the mountains. We were a party of 10 and were treated to a grat meal of gambas with avocado and salad, pineapple stuffed chicken in a chilli and cream sauce with vegetables and potatoes, followed by a magnificent trio of desserts - banoffee pie, chocolate birthday cake and strawberries with cream. WOW - I don´t need to eat for at least three days.

On Sunday morening there was tennis to be played and then three of us went to a Venta (a low cost roadside bar/cafeteria/restaurant)



and enjoyed a shared meal off mixed salad, berenjenas con miel (sliced aubergines, fried and served with honey) and gambas al pil pil (large fried prawns served in a garlic and oil), along with lots of water and bread to soak up the sauce. Following this, we had coffee. All this for a total price of 19 Euros. The venta is situated between Mijas and Coin and is called Los Condes. It commands outstanding views.



In grammar class today, we studied the inicative/subjunctive with time phrases such as cuando, mientras etc.
In vocabulary and conversation, we discussed what qualities a good teacher should have (to practice the subjunctive), went over some new set phrases and did a "test" on vocabulary.
Four new people have joined the superior class - 2 from France and 2 from Italy. We are now back to 9 in total.
Robbieroy

Tuesday 26th July
This weeks´s activities are:
Monday:
1400 - a talk on Sevilla
1730 - Private tutorials
Tuesday:
1530 - A talk and film on Flamenco
1800- Film: La mala educación
Wednesday:
1800 - Film: Gladiator
Thursday
1730 - Private tutorials
2130 - Party at the school
Friday:
1530 - student and teacher volleyball match
1500 - a excusion to Mijas (10 Euros)
Saturday:
2000 - a tapas tour in Arroyo de la Miel
0800 - a whole day trip to Sevilla

I have been to both Mijas and Sevilla so I will probably not go on these trips. The trip to Sevilla will be quite long - 3 - 3.5 hours in a coach! (But would be worth it if you have never been there)

Folowing classes yesterday, I had lunch and then did some homework before playing tennis at the tennis club. At night four of us dined at the small and picturesque restaurant Pueblo Lopez in the Pueblo Lopez area of Fuengirola.



I had a nice meal of melon and ham, lamb shank with vegetables and the dama blanca as dessert - the food was very good and the price was right - free.
This is because it was my ladyfriend´s birthday and because she takes a lot of custom to the restaurant, the give her a free meal for four on her birthday.

In grammar class today we studied conditional expressions using si again and also con tal de que, siempre que, a condición de que etc.
In conversation/vocabulary we talked about the differences between different educational systems and began a quiz on Spanish culture.

I had a nasty experience at the train station in Fuengirola this morning! When I went to pay for my coffee, I took out my wallet and noticed that my credit cards were not there!...
To be continued...
Robbieroy