Year 8 Spanish Trip

This year, Year 8 students were given the opportunity to go on a spectacular Spanish trip. After an early wake up on Monday morning and a short bus ride, we all arrived at East Midlands airport filled with excitement, evidenced by the spontaneous applause as the bus pulled into the airport.

After a fabulous plane ride, we arrived in Málaga airport. Despite the early rise, everyone was full of glee with a spark of adventure in their eyes. We made our way to Benalmádena by bus and then walked up to the Spanish Language School where we ate typical Spanish food for lunch – ¡qué rico! The favourite item on the buffet was the watermelon which turned out to be a running theme throughout the week.

That evening we headed back to the hotel and after some amazing dinner, we all went to the park for some fresh air and the opportunity to explore the local culture.

After a very tiring first day, we headed to bed early and woke up the next morning feeling mostly fresh and energised. Our first full day started with lessons in the language school to expand our knowledge of both Spanish language and culture. We had an entertaining and informative lesson on how to cook paella in which many students helped out with stirring the enormous dishes.

After we’d tasted our cooking efforts, we then had a brilliant active learning experience with a flamenco workshop and even some of the teachers tried out their best dance moves!

On Wednesday, the midway point of the trip, another morning of lessons greeted us at the language school. It was an incredibly hot day and in the afternoon we had an amazing time at the beach, playing volleyball and going in the sea which was very refreshing. The day was finished off with a bit of souvenir shopping and a tasty ice cream.

The next day we had our last morning of lessons at the Spanish school and all received certificates, thanking us for our engagement and noting the level of Spanish we had achieved.

After lunch we walked down to the port and had a short window of more souvenir shopping at a small centro commercial. We then boarded a boat, off in pursuit of dolphins! We were incredibly lucky to see a phenomenal sight of a pod of dolphins (even baby ones) and had the opportunity to take beautiful photos. We were also allowed to take photos in the Captain’s cabin where he was kind enough to take pictures of us sitting in his seat, pretending to steer the boat.

On Thursday evening, the teachers were very kind and handed out awards and gifts to many students for their efforts and contributions during the week. There was even a prize for the student who ate the most watermelon!

Finally on the last day, we had a lie-in and calmly checked out of our hotel. We then went to visit the Alcazaba where we learnt about Spanish history and the invasion of Spain by different people throughout the ages such as the Romans and the Arabs. In the last moments of our trip, we were allowed a full shopping experience in Málaga town square. We then waved goodbye to our Spanish experience and flew back to England with lots of great memories and stories to tell.