Am I actually working now?

School is now in session and I have successfully completed my first week as an English Teacher.  When I say English teacher, I do not mean a teacher who teaches English, but rather one who teaches subjects in English to Spanish students. 

On my first day I met the math teacher, Manuel, as we were both walking into his classroom where his students were sitting on their desk chairs ready to learn.  He asks me if I remember how to do equations that involve exponents and the use of the square root.  Luckily I did since I ended up teaching that day’s lesson to the class.  The entire lesson was in English, of course, and all of the students are under the impression that I do not speak Spanish, so all questions are directed to me in English. 

My students are great!  I love how hard they try to speak and to understand everything I say.  I also appreciate their participation and interest in being bilingual.  They all seem to put a lot of effort in explaining to me why Madrid’s Futbol team is better than Barcelona’s team.  They’re all so adorable!

I have lived in España for a month now and I finally have a weekly routine.  I work Monday through Thursdays during the daytime, then comes siesta, and at night I have some extra-curricular activities I have joined.  On Tuesday and Thursday nights I take the bus down to La Universidad de Almeria and practice with Almeria’s professional volleyball team, named Unicaja. On Wednesday nights I am taking a Flamenco class with Maria and Christina.  As for my three-day- weekends, I hope to travel and explore as much as I can. 

My first trip is coming up next week as I discover Lisbon, Portugal.

Getting Settled In

I am now moved into my apartment with the roommates.  We are sharing a four bedroom place and picked our rooms last Wednesday.  There are two large and spacious bedrooms with queen beds and then two small bedrooms.  We have drawn names to see who gets which room and of course, I got stuck with a small bedroom with a twin sized bed.  I got very creative though and put the twin beds together to make myself a king sized bed and I am very happy with my bedroom. 

Our apartment is nice but lacks a few things that are very common in the U.S.  For one, it lacks an oven.  I didn’t realize that the apartment was oven-less until I tried baking my frozen pizza on the stove.  The apartment does not have a dryer either, so we hang dry all of our clothes.  All in all, I am thankful to have a nice place to stay during my Spanish lifetime.

I spend most of my free time going to Almerimar, which is the beach that is about 6 Kilometers from our apartment.  I have walked there twice now and it takes about an hour and a half but I always seem to take the bus on the way back and it only takes about a half hour on the bus.  The beach is breathtaking, the water is warm, and the breeze is relaxing.  I am going to go to the beaches here in Almeria as much as the weather allows. 

The food here is very different.  Spaniards eat a lot of ham and seafood.  At the grocery stores, I find it hard to find chicken and cow meat.  One of the things I miss the most from the U.S. is hot sauce (both the powder and liquid kind).   But to be honest, I miss all American and Mexican food.  I ordered tacos de carne last Friday night since I saw it on the Tapas menu, but what I got was a plate with small pieces of lamb meat mixed with some creamy white sauce.  No Mexican tortilla or burrito wrap included. 

I have been surviving off of Mediterranean pizza which mostly consists of the pizza bread, tomato sauce and seafood or ham on it.  I have yet to find a pizzeria that offers pepperoni, but pizzas seem to be my go-to food here in España nonetheless.

My roommates and friendly Spaniards are what make me love this country.  The lovely views of the Mediterranean are not bad either J 

I start teaching English on Monday!  

Week 1

Well, I have been in España for a week now and have had many emotions thus far.  I have been completely lost and alone, specifically on my very first day here.  I've been frustrated about not finding the correct streets or even any street names, and I've felt like giving up due to the heat and walking distances I have taken. 

However, I am now getting acquainted with the culture, my city, and the long walking distances.  In fact, I am now starting to appreciate the Tapas!  I am still a picky eater (let’s not get carried away here, I can’t change my eating habits in one week), but I am getting into the way in which Spaniards live their everyday life.  I get up in the morning and have a large breakfast (something I hardly ever did in Portland), during the day I run errands and maybe have a small snack, and then at night (late at night) my roommates and I have tapas, which is our dinner. Tapas are like small appetizers that you have as you drink a cervesa or a copa de vino.  An ice cold Cruz Campo (Spain’s most common beer) is the perfect end to my eventful Spaniard days.

So far I have toured the always-beautiful city of Sevilla and my region of Almeria.  I feel SO BLESSED to live in this region.  It is STUNNING!  And the Mediterranean water is perfectly warm. 

My roommates, Maria and Christina, have helped tremendously in keeping my lonely self company.  Tonight we had a Zumba party in our Hotel room and worked our butts off!  Props to Maria who has a GREAT sense of direction and keeps Christina and I from getting lost. 

I am looking forward to moving into our apartment here in El Ejido tomorrow and Wednesday!  Pictures coming soon!