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.
