It's the holiday season...

And I've been celebrating!! As you know, Thanksgiving is of course just a Canadian and American holiday, so the Spanish don't really know anything about it. But, we decided that we would have a Thanksgiving dinner of our own! Jane and Jess are the only ones who have an oven (I didn't at the time), so they hosted the dinner and cooked the turkey and stuffing. Everyone else brought the side dishes, and it ended up being quite a feast! I cooked a green bean and corn casserole and made a cheese ball, and everyone LOVED both of them! The casserole was the first dish to be completely empty :). We also had mulled wine, potatoes, sweet potatoes, a few Spanish dishes, pumpkin pie and Spanish cookie cake, and let me tell you, I was stuffed. There ended up being people from eight different countries there...how cool is that?? The United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Turkey, Spain, Germany and Italy. I thought it was Thanksgiving at its very essence...and therefore America as well! We had a wide mix of foods and a melting pot of nationalities. I absolutely loved it.

(pulling the wishbone!)

In addition to Thanksgiving, the Spanish are celebrating a few holidays this weekend as well. I'm currently on a "puente," which technically means "bridge" but the Spanish use it to describe a long weekend. December 6th is el Día de la Constitución, which is their Constitution Day, and then the 8th is La Immaculada, which is the holiday that celebrates the Virgin Mary and her immaculate conception. However, the 4th of December is also a holiday in Alosno, so they just took Thursday off too to make an extra long "puente"! Therefore I'm currently on a 6 day weekend. Awesome right? To celebrate el Día de la Constitución, on Tuesday my school had what they call a "hachas," which is basically a big bonfire. Here's a video!

For the puente, Rachel, Miriam and I are going to Granada! There are a few more of our friends going as well, so it'll be one big group trip...I'm super excited! Because this is such a popular weekend to go, La Alhambra might be sold out...we're trying to figure out tickets currently. I went when I was studying abroad, but it was so incredible that I would LOVE to go again, so let's all cross our fingers! 

Of course, in addition to everything else, IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! The Spanish Christmas candy is out in all the stores, the street decorations have gone up, and my absolutely wonderful, amazing, beautiful, "cariñosa" mother has sent me a package with a "regalito" to open each day until I come home for Christmas, which is the 17th!!! I am SO excited to come home, and opening a present each day brings me that much closer to my departure!

That's it for now I think, but I'll write about Granada when we get back! Love you all!!

I've moved!

Hi all! I'm so sorry for the long absence...I've been moving and transitioning to a new flat!! Sudden, I know. Here's the story.

Last Monday, Regina (my flatmate) told me that the people who were renting from her mother just suddenly up and left. So, to help out her mom financially, Regina and her brother Patrick were planning on moving into the flat. The whole time she was explaining this, I was thinking "AhhhhhWhatamIgoingtodoI'llhavetofindanewroommatebutwhatifIcan'tthenI'llhavetopaythewholerenthowamIgoingtoafforditI'llhavetomovealsobutwhowillhaveaflattorentatthistimeoftheyearWhatamIgoingtodoAhhhh!!!!!"
But then she informed me, "And you can come live there too of course, if you want. There are four bedrooms."
WHEW!
Thank goodness. She explained that the flat was bigger, still close (Avenida Italia), the rent was the same but we wouldn't have to pay the water bill, so also cheaper! Sounded great to me. So this past weekend (I literally had less than a week to get used to the idea) we moved to our new place. The move was difficult, since I had to carry my stuff from the old place to this one (about a 10-15 minute walk, three different trips with help from Rachel), but I finally got everything moved in. My room is actually about the same size (a shoebox), and there was only a bed and a broken wardrobe in it, but I've adjusted and now I'm quite happy and cozy in my new home. We also didn't have internet until TODAY, which is why I'm just now writing about it! But I'm writing from my bright and colorful living room, which leads out to a balcony with a pretty good view. I live closer to Kedaro and both of my private classes, but most importantly, I live closer to my friends! I can now skip on over there in about three minutes. The post office is right across the street, and the market is across from the post office! Oh, I forgot to mention...this place has an oven!!! My new address is Avenida Italia 15 1D, 21002 Huelva, Huelva. Write me!!

Niebla

This past Sunday my friends Emily, Miriam, Emma and I decided to go to a tiny little pueblo called Niebla about 30 minutes from Huelva. In all the architectural guides and highlights that I've seen about Andalusia, Niebla is pretty much Huelva's only claim to fame. The history of Niebla dates all the way back to the time before Christ, and it is home to a 2 km long wall that surrounds the city, as well as the famous Niebla Castle. In almost all architecture in Andalusia, there are both Roman and Arab influences, and this is also the case in the structures in Niebla.

Well, there were only a few buses to and from Niebla, so we decided to take the 1 pm bus. Of course, the castle was closed for siesta when we arrived, so we decided to go eat a big (and long) lunch at a little restaurant right by the wall. Turns out that the food in Niebla (or at least at this restaurant) is delicious!! And super cheap! Miriam and I shared patatas bravas (basically fried potato wedges with a slightly spicy sauce on top) and salmorejo, and then I got gambas al ajillo by myself...SO good. Gambas are shrimp, but "al ajillo" means that the shrimp was drowned in melted butter and garlic. Delicious. After eating we walked back to the castle, paid 3 euros to get in and then explored! The castle is really well preserved, with staircases that lead up to towers and pathways on the outer walls. Inside the walls, you look down upon the large courtyard, and outside the walls, you can see for miles!

The entire castle is full of small "windows" in the shape of a cross sitting on top of a circle...the symbol was everywhere. There was a replication of a bedroom at the top of one set of stairs, and an armory that opened up to the courtyard.

But the best (and worst) part of the castle were the dungeons...which house a torture museum. You walk down these steep, creaky stairs into a dark dungeon, and the first thing you see is the bench that was used for water-boarding people! It was crazy, because there are more than 30 of these authentic "instruments" situated throughout the winding halls underneath the castle. A little plaque with an image and information accompanied each one, and let me tell you, it was enough to give you nightmares!

It didn't take us long to see everything we wanted to see, and by that time the castle was closing anyway. We had coffee at the little "castle cafe" and then walked BACK over to the same restaurant to get a snack while we waited for the bus home. It was a short day, but well worth the trip!

And that's why the coffee's so good

So many things about Spanish culture are starting to make sense to me. The siesta, for example. The siesta is the solution to all of Spain's inefficiencies. Let me elaborate. After amazingly being paid almost on time, my money was in the form of a check. (Direct deposit would just be way too easy.) The check was from a certain bank called "La Caixa." My bank account is with BBVA. Since my check was from this particular bank, I had to go all the way to the ONE branch they have in Huelva, wait 30 minutes to cash the check (700€ worth of cash) and then go back to MY bank to deposit the money. However, only one of the three ATMs was working, which means I had to wait another 20 minutes to use it. After that process was complete, I needed to put some money on my phone credit ("saldo" in Spanish). This had already been a pain because, long story short, the company I use is new and you can only make transactions online but my online account wasn't working. I finally figured THAT out (after a week of no credit, no data on my phone, phone calls, store visits, and tears of frustration) but by that time, it was about 2 in the afternoon--a.k.a. siesta time. After my morning, my week really, I needed one. I was tired and frustrated...but when I woke up from my nap, life was good again.  

Another example: why is the coffee here SO GOOD? Because we need all the energy we can get for a day of wild children and inefficient governing/businesses. Every morning on the way to school, Rocío and I stop for a cup of coffee. For her, "café solo"...basically a double shot of expresso and sugar. For me, "café con leche"...the same expresso but with steamed milk. I'm telling you, with a packet of sugar it is like the best thing in this world. Yesterday we didn't have time to stop for coffee and I thought my day would never end. I had a headache that lasted till this morning. But as soon as I had my first sip of café con leche this morning, the headache disappeared. All Spaniards must be addicted to caffeine...because the coffee is just that good. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about certain Spanish tendencies! Every country has its problems. But I just have come to appreciate (more than I already did) the benefits of an afternoon nap and an excellent cup of coffee. 

I'm worn out today

I'm not really sure why. School was great today! I'm sooo grateful for all my lessons in classroom management, because I'm telling you, sometimes the teachers need help. The kids are just wild! But they respond really well to simple things like singing in a whisper, or a high-pitched voice, or a low-pitched voice...or telling everyone to "tip-toe to your seat" instead of simply saying "sit down." I'm trying to assert myself whenever possible so that maybe they'll see that I can do things too! Rocío asked me to explain Thanksgiving Day today. I used the word "Indians"...politically correct? I thought it'd be easier than saying "Native Americans." I'm going to show them how to make Pilgrim hats and Indian headdresses! Maybe we can do a play of some sort.

I think my private classes are what has made me so tired. (Also, that sentence...grammatically correct? My English is deteriorating with all my Spanish usage.) My three students are more work than my 16 students at the academy! Clara and Paloma just love to compete, but in doing so they disrupt each other and me while I'm teaching. Also, their mothers stayed for the entire class today! At first I was a little intimidated but then I thought...whatever. They probably only understand half of what I'm saying anyway. But, a pat on my back--they both were super impressed with me! Clara's mom asked me how long I had been teaching last week and this week they both were impressed with my level of patience. (Because trust me, I needed it.) At least I have some gratification that I'm doing a good job! ALL of them have just loved Pete the Cat (thanks Tracy!!!) and I'm excited to teach them more songs and games.

Right now I'm going to chill at home for a little bit and then head over to Rachel/Miriam/Ilaria's place later on! Rachel has a friend in town but he's in Granada since she has to work. I've been pretty MIA these past few days, so I figure I'll go hang out a little bit. Sometimes it's nice to just do nothing by myself! But then I get lonely. Sometimes I think I'm an introvert...and then I laugh at myself. Yeah right.

Hasta luego!

A month in...

I didn't know what to expect coming to Huelva. As I've already written, I was basically terrified...the unknown is a scary thing. Huelva is home to 150,000 citizens...but how big is that really? A really big town or a really small city? It turns out that it's a mix of small town comfort and big city adventures. Sometimes you need someone to give you contacts without a prescription because you don't have time to make an appointment (shout out to my eye doctor), or someone to pass your car inspection when the windows are clearly tinted too dark (cough cough Caroline and Alex). There's that type of small town mentality here...but at the same time there are things to do, new people to meet and opportunities for new experiences. The other day I was walking home from work at the academy and randomly saw two different friends on the way home. I was having coffee at a café another day and I saw the family of one of the little girls I give private English classes to. However, I'm never bored. We always have things to do or places to go explore, and I can't emphasize enough that the beach is only 20 minutes away!! I'm just really enjoying my time here, and I feel like it will only get better with time. 

Speaking of my private classes and my job at the academy, I'll just say that they're going really well! I randomly see some of my students out and about, and I think they really respect me as a teacher but also appreciate me as a friend...I would love to hang out with some of them!! My private classes are also great. I just acquired another student in the same hour that I teach Clara. Her name is Paloma, and she's a neighbor and friend of Clara's. That upped my wage a little bit, so now I'm making 15 euros an hour for both classes! And all three of my students are 7 year old girls...which is PERFECT for me because I can play with them and draw and color, but they still are really smart and are interested in learning English. We're learning about clothing right now, so last week I brought a variety of my own clothes for them to dress up in! With Clara and Paloma, I put the clothing on the floor and whispered a different item in each of their ears...the first one to find the item and put it on won! They loved it. With Cecilia I just had her layer on ALL the clothing, which was hysterical. When I first started teaching her I let her listen to the song "Cecilia" by Simon & Garfunkel, and I didn't think she liked it until she asked me to play it last class! Turns out she DID love it, and tried to sing along with the words, but most of all her own name of course. I took a video of her while we were playing dress up...it's absolutely precious:

As for my classes in Alosno, that's a different story. I'm still loving it, and all the teachers are SO nice and the kids are great, but they still aren't utilizing me like they should be. I'm not one to complain about not having extra planning to do, but my days can get a little boring. But, Rocío said that they're going to celebrate Thanksgiving!! I will definitely be able to give my expertise on that one, as I'm the only American, and I'm sure we'll start making a lot of crafts, hopefully including turkeys made out of handprints :). The town of Alosno is just so tiny, and the ride to school every morning is beautiful. We pass by orchards of orange trees and olive trees and tons of strawberry fields...and whereas North Carolina is beautiful because of the tall trees and the changing leaves, the province of Huelva is quite different. The trees don't grow taller than our house in Sanford, and even that height is rare. That means you can see for miles and miles and miles....the sky seems so massively expansive because of that. The sunrise every morning is stunning, and the white windmills set atop the distant hills and mountains make it all the more picturesque. I wish I could take a drive through the countryside on my own sometime, so that I could stop and explore and take pictures, but I just don't think that would be possible without renting a car. I'll try to snap some pictures on the drive sometime. 

Back to the Thanksgiving thing, have I mentioned on here that I don't have an OVEN??? How does one live without an oven? I'm going to have to borrow Jane's and Jessica's for when I cook a casserole for our own Thanksgiving celebration in Huelva. But, what's one thing I CAN cook without an oven? No bake cookies!!! Mama texted me the recipe, and after I went to TWO different grocery stores looking for vanilla and peanut butter, I suddenly realized...they don't use "cup" and "tablespoon" measurements in Europe! So I went online to find a measurement converter and then realized that I didn't have ANY type of measuring cup. Ahhh!! So what did I do? Guesstimated. And for not being much of a cook, I'll say that I did a pretty fine job. The cookies were delicious, just like Daddy makes, and Regina loved them and said that they made a similar type of cookie in the Dominican Republic. Rachel, Miriam and Jane also loved them...it was like a tiny little taste of home :).

Well, that's about it for now. A lot of people are going to Sevilla this weekend or have friends coming into town, so I'm just not sure what my plans are. I might just decide to have a me-weekend and explore Huelva a little more, maybe go to the beach. We'll see. Can you believe it's already November?? I can't. I finally got paid though, and only one week late! I'm one of the lucky ones. 

I love you all, and thanks for reading! It makes me feel a little more connected to home knowing that you read about my adventures...I would love to hear about all of yours! 

Córdoba

Another trip under my belt! This past weekend I went to the city of Córdoba, which is still in Andalusia about two and a half hours away from Huelva. Rachel and I decided last week that we wanted to go somewhere and decided on Córdoba...but instead of booking a hostel, Rachel used her account on couchsurfing.com to find a host for us! How the site works: you make an account, and you can host people when they visit to your city, but you can also search for other hosts for when you travel to different cities. Rachel found a guy named Ricky...he had great reviews, seemed like a fun and interesting person, and so she contacted him and set it up! We arrived in Córdoba around 6:30, but since Ricky was out with a friend we just walked around and explored the city center for a couple hours. When he was ready we met him at a hookah bar (I didn't partake!) where he was with a couch surfer that had stayed with him the previous night...and this couch surfer was someone quite special. He introduced himself as Thor, and we learned he was from Denmark. About 30 minutes into our conversation with him and Ricky and another American and her boyfriend from the Basque Country (the north of Spain), we learned what he was actually doing in Córdoba...in Spain for that matter. It turns out that he is on a quest, a saga if you will, to travel to every country in the world. He is taking off 3-4 years of his life to do this, sponsored by a company he used to work closely with. As you can imagine, when the Red Cross got wind of his project they also wanted to be a part of it! I won't go into detail here, but basically this trip will take him about 4 years with him spending a minimum of 24 hours in each country. 201 countries!!! Without ever traveling by plain. AWESOME. Here's his blog: www.onceuponasaga.dk You have to go check it out. He'll be only the second person in the WORLD to ever accomplish this. If only we had gotten a picture with him!!!! Anyway, after we parted ways we went and dropped our stuff off at Ricky's and went out for a bit! The next day, our first and main stop was the famous Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba. It. Was. Incredible. The origins of this massive building date back to the Visigoth Era, where it was called the St. Vincent Basilica. When the Moors invaded and conquered Spain, they converted the church into a mosque, or "mezquita," which is when the majority of the architecture dates back to. Finally, in the 13th century, the Christians reconquered the area and transformed the mosque back into a cathedral. It was an amazing/overwhelming feeling to be in a place so old and so full of history and culture. Unfortunately we were kicked out because it was closing time, but we got to see the whole church so I was happy!

Córdoba is famous for being a very important city in the past...it was the capital of two different eras, one of them being the Roman era. One of the biggest displays of this time period is the Roman bridge that crosses the Guadalquivir River. Also amazing.

One of the teachers I work with is from Córdoba, so she recommended a restaurant called La Taberna Salinas. We went there for dinner, where I had pig's cheek. Delicious! We looked around in some of the shops and then went back to Ricky's apartment. We went out for a little bit more but went to bed early. The next day we explored more of the city center and did a little shopping (for Christmas gifts ;)!!), and ate salmorejo, a dish that Córdoba is famous for. It's like a cold, creamy, delicious soup...by far one of my favorite things I've had in Spain! We also checked out the famous "Calle de las flores," a street full of potted plants with a view of the Cathedral Tower. It was beautiful!

We walked around a bit more but then had to catch our bus at 4. It was an excellent trip!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! To answer your question of "Do they celebrate Halloween in Spain?" I can now answer with certainty and tell you that they do in Alosno! The children have been excitedly anticipating Halloween for weeks now, and the decorating responsibilities all fell to me! I truly don't mind though, since I love crafts, so that has been one of my main jobs. We taught the younger children the words "witch (weetch)," "pumpkin (poon-kee)," "monster (moan-stair)" and "owl (ohl)," none of which they could pronounce correctly, but oh well. They've been making their own trick-or-treat bags and containers, as well as various Halloween crafts, all of which we hung up all over the school today. After the break, each grade came downstairs to the lobby to get their class pictures taken, and then they all had to tell ME "trick or treat!" to receive candy. This job also fell to me, I guess because I'm the English speaker, but I loved it! Oh, and it was MY camera that took all the photos...I guess they were just planning on using their phones! Apparently later today there's going to be a Halloween festival in Alosno that all the kids will attend...a lot of them seemed really excited about it, and they all wanted to tell me what they're going to dress up as (mostly witches and zombies). It's funny, because here in Spain Halloween is actually about scaring people/being scared...different from the US, where people dress up as anyone/anything, and most of the time for a good laugh! Anyway, it was a good day, and everyone loved all the decorations and of course the candy, so I think that this Halloween was a success! My friends and I are going out later, dressed up as what? Haven't gotten that far yet. BUT tomorrow Rachel and I are leaving for Cordoba, so it's going to be a great weekend!

Sevilla

First destination on my list? Seville! (In Spanish, Sevilla.) Sevilla is only an hour away from Huelva by bus, so it's an easy day trip or weekend trip or anytime trip, really, so my friend Rachel and I decided that this would be our first weekend excursion. Neither of us had left Huelva yet (besides going to the beach and our schools in outlying villages), so we thought Sevilla would be an excellent choice. Come to find out, the weekend we chose to go (October 19th) just happened to be the same weekend that an international food festival was taking place! Clearly this proved that we had made the right decision. As we left on the noon bus, the clouds in Huelva were looking pretty ominous...NOT what we wanted to see on our departure. But, as the Spanish say, "no pasa nada!" We left with high hopes for the day, and we were determined to not let the rain get us down. We arrived in Sevilla, got a map (fully intent on being as touristy as possible) and charted out our route, our main destination being the food festival. Give us a break, we were hungry! I really wanted to walk alongside the river, el Río Guadalquivir, and our first sight was a terrific display of graffiti--and no, I'm not being sarcastic. It was actually pretty cool.

The river itself was beautiful, with people kayaking and boats sailing along. Before too long we came upon the Torre del Oro...a huge tower on the edge of the river. It was crazy to actually see it in person, because I had taught my 3rd, 4th and 5th graders all about the sights of Sevilla the previous year! Don't ask me about the history, because I can no longer remember...and the Tower itself is a museum, but Rachel and I decided to save our 3 euros for something else. But I'll be sure to go back!

About this time, my camera died. I know, I know. "Olivia! How could you go without a fully charged camera???" These things were going through my head as well, trust me. But, thank goodness for my handy dandy iPhone! What would I do without it? We continued to mosey along and finally made it to the food festival...and it was AWESOME. It was hard to choose just which countries we wanted to eat from, but we finally decided to share some from South Africa (a zebra sandwich) and Peru (aji de gallina) and then I got Mexican and Rachel got Indian. I had been craving Mexican for a while, because the Spanish do NOT like spicy things! Everything was delicious, of course. 

(Costillas OBAMA = Obama ribs...ha!! Obviously the American booth)

Once we had gotten our fill and had done a little shopping at the various puestos (booths where they sell all sorts of things) we walked about 100 yards over to la Plaza España, which neither of us even knew existed. I don't know what it was used for in the past, but I can tell you that it was BEAUTIFUL. Needless to say I took about a hundred pictures here alone.

We tore ourselves away from la Plaza España and continued on in a circular route back to the river. On the way we went through lovely gardens and tiny winding streets, full of hidden treasures I might add, and ended up at the famous Catedral de Sevilla--the Seville Cathedral, which is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world. It was quite impressive...we got there right as a wedding was ending, so we saw un montón of people dressed to impress, which also meant that the cathedral was empty of tourists! We popped right in, took a look around, and then left again (you could only go so far into the church). 

By this time, we were getting tired so we decided to walk back to the bus station. On the way, we happened to come across some sort of processional going on (no idea what) where people were carrying a big throne and a boys' choir was singing! We also passed a few flamenco street performers, which was pretty amazing.

We finally arrived back to the bus station, and after waiting about an hour for the last bus on a bench by the river (we were really tired...), we journeyed back to Huelva. It had been raining all day in Huelva, but not only did it not rain in Sevilla, the weather was PERFECT because of the cloud cover. It turned out to be a perfect day trip, and we definitely want to go back! 

Vamos a la playa!

Let's go to the beach! One of my favorite phrases. One of the main reasons I chose Andalusia as my number one preference of regions in Spain was because A) it's in the south and B) there was a good chance of my being placed somewhere near the beach! Huelva is situated beside a river,  but a 20 minute bus ride will get you to the beach in Punta Umbria (Poon-tuh Oom-BREE-uh). I've been to the beach three times now, and because the weather is still so nice I was able to go this past Sunday! I even went in the water! I'll admit, the water was a bit too cold for my liking, but I wanted to get one last swim in before it starts getting cold. The beach is beautiful, and not TOO different from my beloved beaches in North Carolina. The sand is more yellow, there are no dunes, and the waves are a lot smaller, but besides that I could still imagine myself laying out on the beaches of Atlantic Beach like I did so often this summer. I've met a lot of friends there, because everyone seems to gather in the same place, and many of the people all know each other from previous years in Huelva. Where we go in Punta Umbria, there is a small little café called Chiringuito Cazorla (no idea what that means), but it's painted navy blue with lighter blue curtains that blow in the breeze with bright red chairs on the patio. Quite picturesque. One of the best tapas they offer is called "salpicón," which is a mixture of diced peppers, tomatoes and onions mixed with pieces of shrimp and crap covered in olive oil and vinegar. DELICIOUS. It's basically a summer seafood salad. I'm afraid that our days of going to the beach are numbered, but I'm sure I can still convince people to go with me when it gets colder...we'll just have to bundle up!

Alosno (Pronunciation: a-LOW-snow)

Alosno: population of 4,000, located 45 minutes north of Huelva by car, one primary school, one secondary school. Talk about a small town out in the boondocks. I ride with my language coordinator Rocío everyday, and I've been working there for three weeks now. I work three days a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, which means a four day weekend every week! Besides the stellar schedule, I am happy to say that I absolutely love it!! I work with kids ages 3-12, and they are intrigued by me...a new teacher from the United States whose Spanish is WAY different from their Spanish, and who is teaching them English! I am greeted with a chorus of "hello teacher!" everyday, from the shy and bold students alike. Since I'm just an assistant, I don't actually teach full lessons. The truth is, they don't actually ask me to do much at all...I walk into the classrooms, most of the time having no idea what they're studying at the moment, and am asked to do various English tasks with the kids. This is frustrating at times, because I feel like more of a hindrance than anything, but the students seem to enjoy my presence--and since I enjoy their's, I can't complain! I work with the fourth grade class the most, and they just happen to be the WORST behaved class in the entire school, not including the 3 year olds of course. However, the difference in their bad behavior and that of other children I've worked with in America is that in no way is it malicious. Most of the time they're loud and unruly because they're excited about something...and I'll take a loud interested class over a quiet apathetic one any day! I have a feeling that as time goes on I will be more involved and have more responsibility, so I'm just taking things in stride. In addition to my job in Alosno, I have also picked up two private classes teaching English to two different 7 year olds an hour a week. These classes are great because we just get to have English fun for an hour and then I get paid cash on the spot. I also got a job teaching English in an academy! I teach a B1 class and a B2 class, which are just different levels according to the European standard. The classes are an hour and a half long each on Mondays and Wednesdays, and I'm teaching people my own age, which is new for me! I love these classes, because I feel like I'm imparting knowledge with peers as opposed to lecturing a class. The pay from these classes will pay for my rent each month, and the private classes will pay for gas to and from Alosno! It was amazing how easy it was to get these jobs. With "la crisis" in Spain, everyone is desperate to learn English so that they will be more desirable job candidates. And I must say, I'm happy to help! 

Hace tres semanas...

Hace tres semanas, or three weeks ago, I arrived in Huelva after traveling for 15 hours. I flew from Raleigh to Philadelphia, from Philly to Lisbon, Portugal, and then from Lisbon to Faro, Portugal. From Faro Airport I had to take a bus into the city, and from that bus station I took another bus into Huelva. Talk about a long day! I had made arrangements to stay with Jane, the other auxiliar working in Alosno, for the first night, so I dragged all my luggage a block away (¡qué suerte!) to her apartment building, where I was supposed to be meeting her friend that was also staying with her at the time. Well, I had arrived thirty minutes earlier than expected, and no one was home when I buzzed in. So I plopped myself down on a bench and waited, all while listening in on the canoodlings of two Spanish teenage lovebirds. Half an hour later Rachel showed up, and we tried to be as un-awkward as possible with each other, since neither of us knew the other and neither of us lived in this apartment. I was able to take a nap and shower all before anyone else showed up, which was nice, but then everyone else came back home! I finally met Jane, her roommate Jess, and Miriam, Rachel's roommate. Miriam and Rachel were planning on moving into the apartment directly below Jane and Jess, but it was still under construction. After eating some snacks while everyone else ate dinner (I lived on granola bars and crackers for the next few days, thanks Mama!), I decided to go out for un ratito (a little bit) with Jane and Rachel. It was there that I met my roommate, Regina! She was a friend of Jane's, and just happened to be looking for a roommate, unbeknownst to anyone. Again, ¡qué suerte! I continued to stay with Jane for the next few days, but I finally moved in with Regina after talking more with her and seeing her apartment. During those few days I explored the city a little bit, went to the beach, met with Rocío, my coordinator at the school in Alosno, and made a ton of friends! Rocío and I decided that I would ride with her to school everyday, which for me is only Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Four day weekends? I'll take it! Since then, I have opened a bank account, applied for my NIE (my Spanish identification card), picked up two private English lessons as well as two English classes in an academy called Kedaro, all while managing to take full advantage of the famous "siesta" that the Spanish love so much. ¿Qué bien, no?

Huelva (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈwelβa])

Now that I've been here exactly three weeks and one day, I think it's time to give a little review of what exactly I'm doing here and how it all came to be. My title is an "Auxiliar de Conversación," which basically means a conversation or language assistant. I applied to come here through the Spanish government, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport to be exact, and I will be here for one school year, until the beginning of June. I was placed in a school in Alosno, Huelva, Spain (you can think of that as the town, state, and country, e.g. Sanford, NC, USA), but since Alosno has a population of roughly 4,000 people, I decided that it would be best to live in Huelva, the capital city of Huelva the province.

A little bit about my journey before actually coming to Spain: I applied for this program back in February, and I was supposed to have heard back by March/April. Well that date was pushed back to May...and then to June. I got an email in June saying that "Candidate number such-and-such has been given a position, but there will be few given after this number." Well, my number was hundreds above this number and so, as you can imagine, I gave up and lost any hope of being assigned. I started applying for jobs and even signed up to take the Praxis II for ESL (English as a Second Language), a test that would give me extra certification and hopefully widen the job pool for me (which I passed by the way!). Soon after these decisions were made, wouldn't you know it but Amy Talley, the elementary Spanish teacher that was my cooperating teacher during my Student Teaching, emailed me telling me that she was leaving Ashley Elementary School. What an opportunity! I already knew the principal, the teachers, and most importantly, the students. I immediately applied for the job, and was soon granted an interview. I interviewed in Winston-Salem, and a few days later I received a call saying I had gotten the job! I was THRILLED! Weeks passed; I was working at Chefs 105 in Morehead City, living at our beloved trailer in Broad Creek, and life was good. Until one afternoon when I got an email from the Ministry of Spain: "Olivia, You have been granted a position in the Auxiliares de Conversación Program." Excuse me?!? My dream, the one thing that I was absolutely set on doing after graduation, the opportunity that would allow me to perfect my Spanish skills and give me confidence as a Spanish teacher, was now possible. But...what about Ashley? What about my commitment to my new job? In my heart I knew that I couldn't renege on this opportunity. Not only had I found a great job doing what I love, but I had also found a GREAT living opportunity with one of my wonderful friends from Wake Forest: her house in Winston, rent free of charge. A preemptive sense of regret weighed heavy on my heart. I pushed the thought of Spain from my mind...for 24 hours. Because the very next day, I got a call from the principal at Ashley. My job, my precious job, had been taken from me and given to a "transfer teacher," a teacher already in the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools system, a teacher who by law is promised a job if she wants to stay in the same county but move to a different school. You'd think, "But Olivia, this is perfect!" Oh no. Talk about an emotional roller coaster. I wanted Spain. I didn't get Spain. I forced myself to want a job, and I got a job. I wanted Ashley, and I got Ashley. I get Spain, but I can't have Spain. I lose Ashley, and now...what? I hadn't been saving money. I hadn't applied for a visa. Keep in mind, all of this happened at the end of July, and the program in Spain started October 1st! I only had five days to decide, and the clock was ticking. To be honest, I was scared...terrified really. Could I do this? Could I go to a foreign country, in a region unknown to me, find my own apartment, find friends, and start a whole new life? NOT having saved any money?? I talked to Mama. I talked to my family. I talked to my professors at Wake. I talked to Amy Talley. I talked to my new but incredibly wonderful friends at the beach, and of course to my oldest friends from high school and college. Almost all of them said to go for it, despite my having no money. As my mother's good friend Robin always says, "If money can fix it, it's not a problem." With so much support, and with a CLEAR sign from God that this was the path to take, how could I not just go for it? How could I live the rest of my life regretting my decision not to? So I did. I had two months to save, I started the visa application process, I researched as much as possible, I joined various Facebook groups, and I talked with the assistants from the previous year. And even though my visa arrived at the last minute and I had to fly into Spain a week late, everything worked out for me. And so here I am, writing this post a content, housed, befriended, employed and well-situated temporary citizen of Huelva, Spain.

¡Bienvenidos!

¡Hola a todos! I've finally decided to start a blog so that everyone can keep up with all my adventures! However, I should post this disclaimer: I'm not a writer. That being said, please excuse the potential mistakes and/or lack of clarity...as well as the length of time between posts. It's not in my nature to write, but I NEED to document my time here!! Feel free to request/demand more posts at any given time...I need the encouragement.

SO, bienvenidos a my new blog! And oh, I feel certain you can expect a good amount of Spanglish in my writing as well. Here we go!