You guys. YOU GUYS. I’m moving to Spain!
I’ve been dying to be able to talk about my future with any kind of certainty, and now I can. Back in July, I was accepted to the North American Language and Culture Assistant Program (NALCAP – Auxiliares de Conversación), but heard nothing else for NINE WEEKS. Nine weeks! Last week, after placing a few international calls, I finally received my placement at an elementary school in the province of A Coruña, Galicia. It turns out Bellsouth has xenophobia and was blocking – not spamming, simply blocking – all the emails the Ministry of Education tried to send me. Who says technology doesn’t discriminate?
As you can see, Galicia is in a rather remote corner of Spain. Unless you’ve taken Spanish (and even if you have), you probably haven’t heard of it. When tourists hit up Spain, they gravitate towards the sunny beaches of Barcelona and Andalucía in the south. However, I have heard an abundance of wonderful things about Galicia, namely its rugged lushness, friendly inhabitants, and fresh seafood. It’ll be exciting to get off the beaten path!
It would be fair to call this journey “constructive procrastination.” The word “constructive” is important here, because I have three major goals for this experience:
- Get a feel for teaching. I have graduated from college and, to no one’s surprise, have no idea what to do with my future. I may want to teach as a profession at some point, but not immediately. Time to try on the Teacher Hat and see if it’s for me.
- Achieve fluency in Spanish. As a graduated Spanish major, you would expect me to be able to speak the language, right? How very presumptuous of you! No, I speak elevated Stutter Spanish, but nothing respectable.
- Indulge my wanderlust. I am not delusional enough to believe I can satiate it, because ohmygosh there is so much to see in the world, but I am so excited to get out and explore. OHMYGOSH THERE IS SO MUCH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.
And so the scramble begins. This week, I am off to Miami to apply for my visa. It would appear that I have a (temporary) future. 🙂
I hope you enjoy it here! I’ve just moved to Galicia from England as part of the auxiliars program. No rain so far, although I have bought an umbrella. And yes, people are very friendly here.
Stevie, I’m so so excited (and I’m sure you are too)! I won’t be arriving until the end of October, but I’m glad to to hear you like Galicia so far 🙂
This is too exciting! I absolutely can’t wait to visit! Just promise me you’ll eat lots of seafood and blog like every day.
I think I can make that promise pretty safely 🙂