De vuelta a España

It doesn't seem so long ago that I found myself walking the streets of Granada on my way to the University to attend my classes at the "facultad". As I left Granada to return to California during the summer of 2006, I wasn't sure if I would be back for many years. While finishing my degree in Santa Cruz, I began searching for an opportunity to return to this amazing country to continue my education. With one year of experience in Spain, I felt confident to return to Spain and continue where I left off, enjoying the Spanish culture and language. I received an email from a professor of mine about a Language and Cultural Assistant grant that is offered by the Dept. of Education in Spain. I applied immediately and upon acceptance, began to prepare for another year in Spain, this time with Aaron by my side :)

The position involves working as an assistant English teacher in a school, providing not only my native expertise (there are few native English teachers in Spain) but also offering the students a chance to learn about another culture by introducing traditions and cultural aspects from the United States. I work minimal hours and the pay is just enough to get by, but having this opportunity is priceless. I also consider another year in Spain as an opportune time to reflect on what I am most interested in and what I most enjoy doing so I may start focusing on what I might want to do in the coming future.

I was assigned to the autonomous region of Andalucía, to a High School/Middle School in Mijas (in the province of Málaga). The school is within walking distance of the coastal town Fuengirola, which is where Aaron and I have chosen to live. Most of the kids come from low-income families and the class sizes are much too large. With 1,000 students and 80 teachers, it is a school facing many challenges. The hallways are constantly in a state of chaos and culturally, Spanish people (in the south, at least) tend to be very loud, so you can imagine how loud the kids get. However, the students I have been chosen to work with have been wonderful so far. Their eagerness to learn makes up for their occasional off task behavior. I also am not working full time so I have a lot of time to relax and do other things while the teachers at the school are there all day long, which is why many of them seem quite stressed out. I help out in the bilingual program with the younger kids, most of which are between 12 and 14 years old. I provide English teaching in Social Studies, Physical Education, and English as a second language, working alongside the other teachers to make sure the kids are learning good pronunciation since there are no teachers in the school who are native speakers of English. Overall, I have enjoyed it so far...I really have to take charge and be spontaneous and often have to improvise to keep things going smoothly. It's a great challenge.

The Costa del Sol (The Sunny Coast) lives up to its name with about 300 days of sun a year and moderate temperatures in the winter. It is quite beautiful and the water is warm.
Aaron and I have already been in Spain for about a month, and so much has happened in that time. We first arrived in Torremolinos, a town just outside of Málaga. A friend of ours was generous enough to offer us a place to stay for the first few days, allowing us to recover from jet lag and ease ourselves into the Spanish schedule. From there, we traveled to Fuengirola to find an apartment before my school started on October 4th. Thank you Virginia and family for helping us settle in!


Upon arriving in Fuengirola, it was apparent that this experience would differ greatly from my time in Granada. Fuengirola is not a university town, so shared apartments were scarce and most of the young people are working and have more of a regular work schedule (as opposed to the student schedule of studying and socializing). When I say "regular work schedule", I'm referring to the notoriously relaxed Andalusian work day, which involves arriving to work around 9:30 or 10:00, taking a siesta from 3:00-6:00, and then returning home from work between 7 and 9pm. It has definitely been more challenging to meet people here, but it just takes time and effort. I have slowly connected with colleagues at my school and Aaron and I have made friends while travelling to nearby cities.

When the weather is hot, some shops here may not even open, and good luck trying to find a coffee shop open before 8:30am....not many people are on the streets at this time. I can't say this lifestyle I've come to know so well is Spanish, as many of my friends from the north of Spain assure me it is not the norm everywhere. Andalucia, as I have experienced before, has a unique flavor that does not seem to favor productivity or organization. They value social and family time more than their work, although this is slowly changing, it seems, due to the influences of television, over development, and the need to compete in the global market.

The plazas here come alive at night, when everyone sits to have a cafe and the old Spanish people sit on benches just to gossip and watch the people walk by. That is one of my favorite aspects of southern Spanish culture. The plazas are beautiful. This following photo shows La Plaza de la Constitución near our apartment. It is specially decorated in honor of the Feria del Rosario, a fair which lasted the whole second week of October.

The city of Fuengirola is very diverse because of the amount of immigrants who have come here to live and work, or simply to retire. There are many Africans from Nigeria, Senegal and Morocco who come in search of survival. On the other hand, it is an extremely popular holiday destination for the well-off British and Irish, so there is a very interesting mixture of cultures here. Aaron and I were lucky enough to find an apartment near the beach, but close to the center. Aaron wishes he had the Spanish schedule but unfortunately, he has to stay true to his American schedule to report back to the office in California. No need to shed tears for Aaron, however, as his life here is quite tranquil considering he can enjoy the beach on his lunch break by simply walking 100 meters.

After finally finding a place to settle, we were off to Granada, my old stomping grounds, to meet up with old friends, experience the magic that is that ancient city, and to attend an orientation for all the Language and Cultural Assistants who are working in Andalucía. The orientation was amazing and I was able to meet people who had received the grant from all over the world, including Belgium, France, China, England, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, Holland, and the U.S. At this point, I had yet to start teaching at my school in Mijas. Granada was an amazing weekend trip and good times were had with old friends. Thank you to all the people who have written us....we appreciate hearing from everyone. I have created this blog to make it easier to share my experiences and I hope you enjoy them. Salud!

To be continued...