Sinead in Malaga 💃

Hola, Que Tal!?

Welcome to my Erasmus blog. My name is Sinead and I'm studying music production in BIFE. I'm a full-time musician so my hobbies are basically my job haha. I love gigging, recording music, writing songs, singing and teaching music to others. At the moment, my career goal is to release a few new songs under a new project whilst teaching more students. I am honestly so lucky to be able to play music all the time as a job and am so happy how my life is filled with new and wacky experiences every week.

The weekend before our mobility has been quite mad, to be honest. I've been gigging a lot, working on a few different projects, and finishing off assignments. I did try to pack on Thursday night but then needed everything I packed for the weekend, so that was big oops moment 👺 Thursday night was actually my only night off too in a while, so I was able to sit down and actually process that the Erasmus was happening this week! The fact we're given the opportunity to work in a music venue in Malaga is so unreal, I am so lucky! Nevertheless, I've been enjoying saying goodbye to friends and family, and really getting into the headspace for what lies ahead. It's going to be such an insane three weeks and I actually can't wait to go!! I'm proper buzzing, it's just going to be a wild ride. I am so grateful for being picked to go 😇

Tonight (Sunday), I'm going to enjoy a nice dinner with my partner as a final goodbye and pack those last-minute essential items. In less than 24 hours I'll be on the plane! Eek! 

Day 1

I wake up at the lovely time of 7.30am in Ireland to go to the airport. It's a sad one saying goodbye to my partner Darragh, but it's only three weeks. It'll be absolutely grand!

We all arrive at the airport at 8.45am, so excited and unaware of what the next three weeks will be like! We check in and get a dreamy Aer Lingus flight. I am sitting beside Romy, who I have never spoken to before. As we chat for a bit, I learn that Romy is so funny and nice. I just know the group of students I am with are all lovely. When we land in Malaga, the warm heat hits our faces and the smell of suncream hits us like a tonne of bricks. One thing I absolutely love about traveling is the difference in vegetation. The palm trees and overall color scheme of Malaga are breathtaking and make me realize how I am just one tiny human in the world. 

Accomodation

We are staying on Calles Frailles in a lovely one-bedroom apartment on the second floor. It is a 1-minute walk from Plaza de la Merced , which is super handy. We can walk to all the local areas and famous tourist attractions in minutes which is fantastico. Location is always huge to me as I don't drive and hate the bus in Dublin haha. So, this location is absolute perfection. We're across from a supermarket (mercadona) as well. I'm very lucky to be in the bedroom and Rachael is on the pull-out double bed in the kitchen/living room. I think it would have been nicer if there were two bedrooms but she is happy and so am I. The bedroom is absolutely gorgeous. I really like having my own space, so the room is gorgeous. The apartment also has air con!!! Can you believe it, we are so spoilt! I think my favourite thing about the apartment is the roof terrace. It's so beautiful and a great way to look down at the world. 

Work Place

I am working in a music venue called 'The Hall'. To get to work, we get the 1 bus which takes 20 minutes. It is a frequent bus and has air conditioning which is nice. Traveling to work reminds me of when I worked in Vancouver for a Summer, so it's an interesting memory unlocked. We arrived for our first shift on Friday. There are other students working here too but only one of them (Oscar) speaks English. As it is very technical work, I find it quite difficult to understand the problems they face when performing sound checks. 

The positives are that I get to see how a music venue in Spain works. I get to see how it is pretty much the same setup in Ireland and all the sound engineers working there have the same energy as the sound engineers in Ireland. The difficulties are that everyone is speaking in Spanish so I honestly can't follow or learn. The sound engineers are students who are also learning. I would like to watch an expert work the desk and ask me and Rachael to set up for the gigs. As they are students, they are taking the work. It's a bit of a pain but it's okay. 

Our work is quite infrequent as we are only needed when gigs are on. I sometimes feel quite lost during the weekdays and maybe even losing out a bit as the other students are learning so much in their work. To help this problem, I decided to visit Katie-Lou in her work placement during the week. She is working in a music store and it was actually glorious to attend the shop and get to play the instruments. On reflection, I think working here would have benefitted me more than working in the music venue as I am already very comfortable in this environment. So, I wrote to Migel and asked if I could do the third week of my work placement in the music store with Katie-Lou. I only have to work on Friday evening in The Hall this week, so I can easily do the two work placements at the same time. I really love the music store. At the moment, we're putting together an instruction video for the KAWAI K300 ATX3 piano. It's a stunning piano, with multiple features, which is great to learn about. I have weak knowledge when it comes to music gear, so this experience of learning an instrument's features in-depth is very helpful. 

Spanish Culture 

I have not studied Spanish before, so speaking and hearing the language for the first time was daunting but surprisingly, became much easier as all the girls on Erasmus are trying to speak Spanish in restaurants and shops. It gave me the confidence to give it a go. It's funny how quickly your ear adapts to new environments. I'm just about able to walk into a store on my own and purchase items through Spanish. It's really interesting, I think if I was living here permanently, becoming fluent in Spanish would definitely be achievable. When I go home, I know I will have Rachael's 'Hola, Que Tal?' ringing in my ears for the next few weeks.

Museum Day 

National Museum Day! This means that all museums in Malaga are free! I went to the Interactive Music Museum and the Picasso Museum. The abstract art is amazing to see and think about. Me and Shauna even got a photo taken in Picasso's studio.

Day Trips to Granada, Nerja and Frigiliana

We visited these three towns, and they were actual dreams come true. The viewing point in Granada was breathtaking - definitely a core memory. The little white houses in Frigiliana were so picturesque and Greek-like, and the beach in Nerja was simply gorgeous. I am so lucky to have been able to visit these three beautiful locations :)

Positives of the Trip

• Independence 
• Life experience
• Opportunity to travel again post-covid
• Trying out a new language
• Being capable of travelling alone 
• Getting to live in beautiful Malaga in the sun 

The Last Day

 As our flight is at 11.30pm tonight, our group is staying in Romi & Maria's apartment for the day. It's pretty funny, as we've all bonded so much, and everyone is just fast asleep waiting to be picked up to go to the airport. 

I took the day to go shopping for friends and family back home. I walked around the main areas in Malaga and took in the city one more time. It is truly such a perfect place to visit in Summer. It has everything, from historical monuments to a beautiful beach. 

I couldn't imagine a better place to have been for my Erasmus. I really feel so grateful, thrilled and unbelievably lucky to have been part of this programme. It has truly been life-changing. Beforehand, I wasn't able to follow Google Maps to save my life. During the trip, I was leading the group and arrived at locations successfully. It's been a time where I've been able to reflect and think about where I am in life, especially after the pandemic. I honestly can't believe BIFE gave me this opportunity. Thank you so much!