Brian's languages

Brian with a group of friends

The teenager who was riding a horse in the fields bathed in moonlight in Georgia, United Stated, could never have imagined that many years later he would be responsible for creating a large language exchange group in Malaga, Spain. Back then, Brian Justice was a boy who used to get in trouble at school in the mornings, and helped out his mother in the farm in the afternoons. During the sun-beaten days of summer, they waited for nightfall to ride their horses and to observe the stars on those fields with no light pollution. This place, along with Jacksonville, Florida, is where he spent his childhood and his teenage years.

He wasn't too bothered about his status as a "problematic student". What meant expulsion from school for other students, was usually settled with a couple of spanks for Brian. “First my teachers spanked me, and then my mother spanked me too,” he recalls. His good marks always saved him from a certain expulsion. “It was a dilemma for the teachers, how to expel a kid who gets in trouble every day but who has excellent marks?” University was another matter. Building was something he felt passionate about, so he decided to study architecture. After finishing the studies, he decided to pack his bags.

In 2005 he landed in Spain. Until then, his only experience in a foreign county had been a week in Mexico. Without knowing a word of Spanish, his life was about to change completely in Spain, and in ways that he had never suspected. Some things that he had always considered normal, started to change. For example, country names. He had thought that the Germans called their country Germany, the French referred to Germany as Germany and Russians used the name Germany when they were talking about Germany. “I hadn't realized that there were Germany, Alemania, Deutschland...” he recalls laughing. “Such things make you think, how is it possible that I didn't think of something so obvious before?”

In one of the last language exchange events

At the beginning, his new life in Spain was similar to the life he had finished in the US. He came to study Spanish for a year. During that time, he lived in many cities before coming to Malaga. First there was Salamanca, where he spent 3 months, which was enough time to be able to start communicating in Spanish. After that, Granada. He was impressed by that city, because back then Granada was full of bars that offered a beer and tapa for 1 euro. And the lifestyle was in stark contrast to the lifestyle in the United States. “In Granada you could go out with 10 euros, have a good time, have dinner and get drunk”. After this Andalusian city came Valencia and Madrid, neither of which convinced him to stay, so next he moved to Tenerife. The life there seemed very relaxed to him. Even too good. “I was there for 3 months, and they offered me a job working 30 hours per week in a bar, but I felt as if I was retiring.” That's when he decided to go to Malaga.

A year after his arrival, he started the language exchange events. At first, it was nothing more than project to integrate the students of the school where he was working. La Casa Invisible, a social cultural center, was the first venue. There have been many changes since the first step: they joined another group, and instead of five to ten people a day, soon there were 30 or 40 people coming to the event; after a little while they found their own place. “A run-down garage that we turned into our little space”. Later they moved to another space next door, which was a bit bigger and where they spent about one year. This is where the language exchange group had its best days. They organized auctions, art exhibitions, potluck parties...The group became so big that they even organized barbecues and volleyball tournaments at the beach. But more events also meant more work. Since he needed help, Brian made a deal with people who were willing to lend him a hand: food and lodging in exchange for a few hours of help in the group. The place was on the ground floor and his house on the first floor of the same building, so it was a reasonable deal. “In total, I've had about 15 people helping me out—he recalls—. “A guy from Korea, who is still helping me to this day. Also people from Spain, Brazil, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Ecuador...” Some of these people are still in Malaga. They were just passing by or planning to stay for a short period but ended up finding their destiny here: a job, an interesting activity, a partner...

In a barbecue last year

And that's how this multicultural experiment actually works. Not only has it helped all kinds of artists and musicians share promote their art, but it has also worked as a social filter. For the people who come from other countries, it's easier to integrate. For those who live here, it's easier to communicate with foreigners. This has been a starting point for many groups of friends, brought together by common interests; some people have managed to find a job; others found a flat more easily thanks to the group. “If you get together a group of people from different nationalities and put some alcohol on top, these things happen. I don't have to do anything.

Now, Brian's language exchange has returned to the place where it started: la Casa Invisible. He keeps on looking for more alternatives to keep this group going. He might have many plans, but only some of them are immediate. Brian is not too worried about it, he's always moving step by step. Right now he is working on his terrace, to fix it up for weekly meetings of his group. He is also trying to reach an agreement with the city council to get the right to use one of the many abandoned plots that belong to the city. Meanwhile, the language exchange continues, moving according to the circumstances. And even though he might think that he hasn't done anything, the truth is that he's done a lot. A lot of human stories have been created thanks to his project; a lot of bonds of friendship have formed, crossing the borders of many countries; many ways of thinking have changed; a lot of humanity has been created.

Brian from Florida, United States.