A Pro-American Spaniard....say it isn´t so!!!!

One of my roommate´s just arrived back about an hour ago after spending the past week and a half at her parent´s home. Her father drove her here, so I was able to meet him. We all had an interesting conversation in the kitchen about America and Europe. Her father was the first person in Europe I´ve met that was so pro-American. At first he was talking about the Spanish way of life and said that Europe and Spain are very antiquated and aging. He pointed out that Spain is a "country" with autonomous communities, yet no one is united. He referenced the fact that if you visit America, everyone has a high sense of patriotism and nationalism, which I´ve never disagreed with. He used the example that if you pull out a Spanish flag in the northeastern community of Catalunya (Barcelona), people would get rid of it or even burn it. He pointed out that this lack of unity in Spain has hindered it from growing over the years. He went on to say that America is going to pull the world out of this financial crisis and that we´ve always been the one constant country over the past two hundred years.

It took me aback to hear a European, and especially a Spaniard speak so highly of the USA. 

Grad Schools and the GRE

*Let me give the disclaimer that the information I am writing about does not mean I am moving back to the states next summer. I'm just exploring my options*

Work and school are in full swing, yet I have somehow found a way to make myself work even harder. I'm currently in the process of shopping for grad schools. Well, let me rephrase. I've already narrowed down my list of grad schools, now comes the fun part of filling out applications, writing essays, etc. Oh, and not to mention studying for the GRE.

All of this came about very sudden. Part of it is that I'm worried about not having a job next year. This week it's been in the news that over 3,000 teachers in Madrid alone are unemployed (and receiving benefits - this is why it was newsworthy.) I'm a little nervous that the Ministry of Education won't give my school permission to "hire" me next year. I mean, why would they let an American take a job away from a Spaniard? Anyways, I need to have a contingency plan. Well, it started out as a contingency plan....

This past week, I've been seriously considering graduate programs. I've been looking at jobs online, such as working for the UN or the Department of State and most of the require a master's degree in political science, international relations, etc. A lot of them also require a second foreign language, which I'm not worried about. So, here we are.

I've narrowed my list down to American, Georgetown, GWU, UK, and UL. The first three are my top choices - they're in the top ten programs in the country, plus their location in DC is an obvious plus. The downside is the cost. They're all private universities, with tuition out of this world. Speaking of which, today I was talking to a co-worker and he told me he paid 5,000 euros for his master's program. I would kill for that. When I told him how much I pay per semester, he couldn't believe it. I'd seriously consider studying in Spain if tuition is that much cheaper. This is where UK and UL come into play because of their in-state tuition. Although I'd only be able to major in Public Policy or Public Administration, the financial picture is a key part. Plus, my political science professor told me that either one of the degrees would be completely fine for the type of work I'm thinking about going into. However, I've also realized that it is urgent that I start learning French. As in last month.

Needless to say, I'm going to be working on all of this, on top of my regular homework and lesson planning. I'm also taking the GRE on December 27th. Just in time to send in the scores by the January 15th deadline. I'm already stressed out thinking about this. And then I freak out when I remember that it's almost October!

Last week I said I needed to pray about everything and this week has been amazing for me. Before I left Louisville, I stopped by Border's and picked up a devotion book by Sarah Young, that also happened to be 40% off. Before I came back here, I vowed to do a better job of daily devotion and prayer. It has payed off already. It blows my mind how right on these devotions are. Every day when I think about a problem or stress about something, the devotion is right there to calm me down. God is speaking to me directly through these devotions. It gives me goosebumps when I think about it, because I know that he knows what my thoughts are each day. Had it just happened one day, I would have said that it was a coincidence. But four days in a row? Impossible! Monday's devotion told me my mind is in the midst of a power/control struggle which is absolutely true. Tuesday's directed me to see things from God's perspective and to not be upset if something doesn't go my way. (I took this as confirmation that if I don't get to stay here next year, everything will be okay.) Wednesday instructed me to not rush the process, but instead give everything to God and wait. And yesterday's devotion jumped out at me because the first line said Trust Me and refuse to worry. I've been blown away!

So at this point, that's what I'm doing. Sitting and waiting. And praying. A LOT I hope you will pray for me as well! 

Year 2 is in full swing!

Well this is embarrassing. I've been back in Madrid for almost three weeks now and this is my first "official" blog of year 2. I hope you got a kick out of the last post that commented on the food my students were going to be eating this month. I've alerted the authorities and they are fully aware and saddened that the kids will be eating grilled breast....

This week was our first week of school and honestly, it felt to be back. I was really happy to see my students, parents, and grandparents. Lots of hugs and happy faces all around :) This school year my role has changed a little bit. I'm teaching twenty hours per week, but I feel as though I'm "moving up the English Teacher ladder" as my Mom puts it. I teach five hours to a 1st Grade class. They're part of the bilingual program, so I speak to them only in English. It's definitely a challenge because they're so young, but I can already see an improvement after one week! I then teach three hours to a 3rd Grade class. With the 1st Grade class and then during one hour of the 3rd Grade class, I'm co-teaching with another teacher. My principal paired me with her so I can help her improve her English. It's also a way for me to actually teach the curriculum, as Spanish regulations make it difficult for myself and the other native speaker to teach. We're both still working on getting fully "certified". I then have eight hours with various 3rd-6th grade class, teaching conversational English. This year some things have changed, so I won't be teaching English to the other 1st and 2nd grade classes, because they have so many hours of English already. BUT, I am going to start giving "apoyo", which means support four hours a week to students in the 1st and 2nd grades who are going to be identified as struggling in English. I'm really excited about my new position(s) and love that I'm doing several different things.

Classes are also in full swing at the university. My life is pretty much consumed by reading 19th century Spanish novels and Latin American testimony books. Somewhere and somehow, I find time to read for my Political Communications, Latin American Philosophy, and Theology.

I'm also in the midst of making some huge decisions, namely what I'm going to be doing next year. Yes, some of you are probably thinking to yourself that I just came back, so why am I already thinking that far ahead. I have to plan that far in advance due to a thing called Residency Visas and plane tickets. I'm exploring all options. I feel that I have several leads on jobs back in Louisville, but I would also find it hard to leave Spain. At this point I have no clue what I'm going to do, but I have complete faith in God to give me an answer in the next two months. I ask for your prayers as I go through this difficult, yet necessary decision-making process.

Grilled Breasts?!

Okay this is going to be short and quick because I have homework to finish, but I HAD to blog about this. Work has started (more on that later) and we've been talking about the new website. Tonight I decided to go check it out. I clicked on the section about the cafeteria, wanting to see this month's menu. We've contracted with a new company, because so many people complained about the food last year. I saw enough kids throw up and cry in the cafeteria last year to understand their pain.

Since our school is a bilingual school, they decided to have the menu in English and Spanish. I'm pretty sure whoever did the translations doesn't speak English very well. Let me share a few of my favorite "dishes" the kids will be eating this month. I'm halfway tempted to try them out myself! I PROMISE I did not make these up, although I wish I had! This is straight from the website....

• Vegetables cream
• Three delights rice
• Creme caramel
• Sauteed courgettes and carrots
• Macaroni with thon and cheese (that's supposed to be tuna)
• Letter soup
• Fillets of croated fish
• Bows with thon and cheese
• Grilled thon loin
• Grilled stuffed loin
• Grilled breast

Like I said, I wish I had made this up myself. For anyone who doesn't believe me, check out the PDF! http://jesusmaestro.es/app/download/5778545653/septiembre.pdf

What meals look appetizing to you? Any favorites?

Journey

I can´t believe how fast the summer has gone by. When I first came back to Louisville, I was excited about having 8 weeks at home. And now I´m down to less than 1. I´m ready to go back and get this last year of school over with, but this time at home with family has been wonderful. Figures - now that I´m finally adjusted to being back here, it´s time to leave again. It´s crazy when I think that out of the past 52 weeks, I´ve only seen my parents for 10. When I think about it in terms of those numbers, it´s hard! So here I am again, getting ready to start the packing process. As many times as I´ve done this and even though I´ve become a professional packer, it´s the one part I dread.

Airlines are now charging $70 for the second checked bag. Thankfully I bought my ticket before they changed the prices, so I only have to pay $50. But this is becoming ridiculous. Airline tickets are going up and from what I can tell, there is no shortage of flyers like the companies say. All of my flights are always booked solid. On my flight to Madrid, I´ll be sitting in row 24 or something like that. I normally sit in the teens, so this annoys me. With all the money I´ve been spending on tickets (three round-trips in the past year,) I could have had a new car with a low payment by now!

My grandmother told me she´s going to cry at the airport on Monday. I keep reminding her that this will be the fourth time I´ve left for Spain and she can´t keep doing it! But everything is just a part of my life now. From the tears at the airport, to being limited to seeing my parents 80% of the year on my computer screen, to dreading the packing of the suitcases, this is my life.

Tomorrow marks the one year date from when I left the first time. I started this journey a year ago amid lots of questions and whys from friends and family. Not once did I doubt my decision, because I was following my dreams, but also I was searching for myself. It hasn´t been easy for me - I wouldn´t suggest moving across the ocean to just anyone. But it´s been life changing. This journey has been such a blessing to me and I can´t wait to continue it. I´ll close with a quote from the book Eat, Pray, Love. The protagonist reminds me of somebody I know. I´ll let you all decide who that somebody is!

"If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared most of all to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you."

Thirty-One Party!

I'm hosting an online Thirty-One party, in part because I want a lunch tote to take back with me to Spain! All you have to do is shop online and everything is delivered to your home - it's that easy! The party closes on August 18th, so make sure and get your order in! Here is the link:


http://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx?eventId=E846638&from=DIRECTLINK


Happy Shopping!

Summertime in Louisville

Wow, it really just seems like yesterday that I was blogging about traveling back to the states for summer break. And here we are six weeks later and it's almost time for me to head back to Madrid. So far the summer has been wonderful, but hot! Oh, and it's been going by way to quickly!

One of the hardest things to do is to transition from speaking 100% Spanish to 100% English. The first few days were really hard, because there were some words that just automatically came out wrong or in Spanish. In my head I kept thinking Spanish, but reminding myself to speak in English. Now, I'm dreading the transition back to Spanish, because my brain has been processing everything in English these past few weeks. It's going to be interesting.

I've gone through a reverse culture shock. I do miss the long coffee dates or just meeting a friend for a coke and sitting on the sidewalk. I had an awkward feeling the first weekend I was here, at church. It was 4th of July weekend, so everyone was on their higher-than-normal patriotic ship. Someone mentioned from the pulpit how glad they were to live in the best country in the world and I immediately tensed up. It made me appreciate the fact that I'm living outside of the US and am gaining so many new perspectives on the world. When I tell people that it is very arrogant to say the above statement, people mistake it for my being "un-american". What gets to me more is that people proceed to say, "it's the truth." I'm pretty sure if I asked my friends in Spain how they felt about this statement, they wouldn't tell me it was true. I really can't explain this feeling, other than to say it's something you can't understand until you live overseas. Regardless if I'm currently in the world's best country or not, there isn't a better feeling in the world than to be with your family. It seems like every single weekend has been planned out, but spending time with them has been priceless. One of my biggest concerns was gaining weight and I think I've done fine until this week. Today is the first day in a week that I haven't eaten out. So I guess we can call this my fat week! :)

A funny thing I've realized since being here is that Spaniards think I'm on vacation while I'm in the states and Americans think I'm on vacation while I'm in Spain. I can reassure you that neither is true. This summer has been a busy one for me Not including the first Tuesday I was here, I've been working every day, Monday-Friday, 7:30 am until 6:30 pm. So even though this is my "summer vacation", vacation is such a false word....

One thing I've been reminded of is how much has changed in one year. It's been a year since I've seen some people and a lot happens in a year. Mom reminded me that this is part of choosing to move. Honestly, I just wanted to come home and spend time with my family, so it hasn't bothered me that much at all. I've also changed over this past year, so it works on both ends. In two weeks I'll be back in Spain and life will go on not only for me, but for everyone here.

Until next time....