Everything started when I stumbled upon the scholarship offer of UniSpain searching for a Spanish course in Spain over the Internet. I was so ecstatic since I thought I would fit perfectly to their description for the candidates, so I wrote down an essay explaining all the things I had done to learn Spanish. I never lost hope through the competition even though I knew so many people apart from me would apply as well, and my motivation within the votes of my friends helped me acquire the scholarship to study Spanish at Universidad de Malaga, which would only be the beginning of such an incredible journey.
The scholarship included the expenses of the course itself and accommodation in a shared student apartment, in which I had the best two housemates ever. I had a one-month Intensive Spanish course at C2 level at Universidad de Malaga in July 2014 with great professors who had been of huge help to all of us. After two weeks, there was only four of us in the class, which made it a lot easier to participate and concentrate on everyone individually. Also, the school was situated in a really nice area where you had to walk only three minutes to go to the beach, which was full of great restaurants.
At first, I had my doubts about Malaga, not about the school, since they speak Spanish with an Andalusian accent and I actually did have some difficulty understanding a couple of people there. But it turns out that not every Malagueño has such an accent. However, I think this was not a drawback but an advantage for me because if you manage to understand that accent, for which you should put a little more effort, you can understand any Spanish speakers! Moreover, I don’t think I could have spoken more Spanish on the streets if I was in a bigger city like Madrid or Barcelona, because Malaga is a city where people are so warm and friendly, even on the buses they might just try to have a conversation with you out of no reason without knowing who you are.
Honestly, I never thought I would miss Malaga so much but now that I am gone, all I can think about is to find a way to go back as soon as possible. In four weeks, I had the opportunity to visit many other cities of Andalucia, tried almost everything Malaga had to offer, significantly improved my Spanish both at school and at the streets of Malaga, met some amazing people, and got to know Spanish culture right at the heart of it.
Thank you so much UniSpain for arranging this scholarship in not another school of Spain, but in Universidad de Malaga. Thank you for granting me this scholarship and helping me have this incredible opportunity that made me come back to Turkey with unforgettable memories. You are a big motivation and hope for many Spanish learners out there and I hope many more people that desire to learn Spanish in Spain and that are willing to strive as much as I have, will have the same chance as well.
