In the third part of our Growing Up in Andalucía series, we talk to Maša Ložar who moved from Logatec-Slovenia to Malaga at 15 years old. From those early days to university life, she tells us what it was like to move to Spain as a teenager…
I was 15 years old when I move to Málaga, Spain. When we first came to Spain, the only two family members who spoke Spanish were my stepmother and my older brother.
I have lived in Andalucía since I first moved to Spain. For the first four years I lived in Málaga with my family, and then in September 2019 I moved to Granada to attend the University of Granada to study Social Work. To be honest, it was easy to adapt to the Spanish way of life. When I started school and for my first year in Spain, it did not take me long to make friends and integrate. By having a group of Spanish friends, it was easy to adapt to their way of life.
Most of my friends here are Spanish and I’ve either met them at school or doing track and field. When I started my first year of school in Spain the people accepted me quickly. They helped with anything I needed help with. At the start, I obviously had a little bit of a communication problem with them, but as soon as my Spanish knowledge improved my friendships grew stronger and I started to feel like a part of the group.
Doing track and field also helped me to meet new people and do something I love, while making new friendships. I really advise taking part in extracurricular activities because it helps you meet new people. This year I started university and had an opportunity to meet not only people from Andalucía but from all parts of Spain (like Barcelona, Albacete, Madrid, etc.). Every region of Spain has its traditions and getting to know people from other regions of Spain helps you learn about them.
My tip for anyone thinking of moving to Spain is don’t be scared of moving to a foreign country. It might be hard at the start but sooner or later things will get easier. Especially when you learn the language and you start integrating. And a tip for learning a language fast is to try speaking it, even though you will make mistakes; not get worked up about it. Laugh about it and learn from it. That really helped me to start doors for you.
If you are soon to be a university student and you are deciding on where to attend university, I strongly recommend Granada. It is a beautiful city and filled with students. It is a very affordable and student-oriented city. There is nothing better than going to get tapas and later take a walk up to the viewpoints. Good luck!
