After the mishap of the car breaking down from my last post, yes I’ve learnt my lesson, the rest of that week went by pretty smoothly. While the office is in a beautiful location it’s not exactly ideal in terms of accessibility. A tree fell down that same week due to some of the heavy rains we had and blocked the single gravel track so no-one could get in or out. Hence the library became our office for the day with our editor emailing back and forth.
For those that didn’t hear, Malaga which is only about an hour away from me had huge floods recently with around 10 people losing their life. It was devastating and the clean-up is going to be huge, something I’m sure Spain’s economy hadn’t bargained for. While we were ok here in Estepona the debris from both the recent fires and now the floods has started washing up on Estepona’s beaches. Lots of logs and tree branches as well as dirt can be found along the shore.
My work at the newspaper is forcing me to adapt and learn a different style of writing. In terms of the newspapers audience I’m learning that in general the British expat is not that interested in hard news so my stories so far have been pretty soft. Not trying to stereotype, I’m sure there are British people over here that enjoy some hard hitting news but generally speaking our audience is not interested in this form of information.
The newspaper is very tabloid, a style of writing I’m not used to so I have to adapt to that form of journalism. I’m also having to get used to the way they put together content. From university and other internships I’ve done I was always taught to get two sides to every story and only publish what you know as fact. At the newspaper this isn’t always the case. Again it’s a different style than what I’m used to, I guess being able to adapt can only make me a better journalist...I hope.
I did get to attend the Marbella International Film Festival which was a good chance to get out of the office and interview some people for our (Dana and I) story. There were a whole bunch of different films being shown from independent film makers from across the globe, some made on a budget of 30 pounds. The day was a nice break from routine and a good chance to get out and meet some people.
As for my free time I’m still enjoying the delicious tastes of Spain and I went a step further last night joining my fellow Spaniards to watch the Madrid v Barcelona game. While football isn’t really my sport of choice as they say when in Spain…..It was pretty intense, all the bars were packed and I actually got really into it. I decided to go for Barcelona having done a stadium tour there years ago but unfortunately they didn’t win, it was a draw. I really wanted there to be a winner so I could see some people go crazy but it was still a good match.
Four day working week this week then off to Sevilla for a little getaway, counting down.
