Los españoles, "no pasa nada"

You know when you have one of those average days, then some random stranger makes your whole day great?  Well...that happened to me yesterday. I had a typical day; went to school, gave private English lessons at night, and decided to stop by a local shop to get some fruit.  The two owners of this store near our apartment are always in a great mood. They tell us hello, bye bye...and the English stops there but its their kindness that is the best.  I simply asked where their apples came from and then they asked where I was from.. (What you can't tell that I'm not Spanish?) They said, "Eres inglesa?" (Am I English?)..no, no..los estados unidos (USA).. Then they immediately started asking me how my family was, are they in the hurricane? etc, etc.  They truely cared about what was going on. Once you leave the United States, you realize just how much the world pays attention to us, what we do, what's going on, etc. 

Hurrican Sandy leaves 40 dead in the United States

Back to the store owners; smiling at me through the entire transaction, they ended the conversation with "you are always welcome here, our home is your home!" --In my mind I was thinking, thanks for an invite to come live in your fruit store, sir..but no it was a sweet gesture, this is an example of how nice the people are here. 

We open in the afternoon..5-7:30, this is a very typical sign

The Spanish people in general are very personal.  They get 2 inches away from your face when speaking to you, they touch you when speaking to you, you get 2 kisses when introduced, they greet you when you walk into a room (stranger or not), they always ask you how you are, etc.  Of course this isn't everyone in the country, but this is my experience with them so far.  I figure that when I return home, I'm going to be able to talk to anyone about anything - or start saying hello to random strangers, hopefully without kissing their cheeks :) That'd be a little awkward in the states.

Be calm, its nothing!

 

Another viewpoint that I hope I can bring back with me to the United States is the Spanish point of view; "NO PASA NADA".  Which translates to; don't worry about it, no big deal, its nothing.  This is a great way of thinking when it comes to relaxing and enjoying your life, minimizing stress.  Everything can wait for tomorrow, it can be done later, we will open our store after siesta hours, come when you can, etc! These people are truely relaxed people who enjoy the little things in life. 

You're a what? An Auxiliar?

colegioinmaculada.org

 Auxiliares de conversación ; who we are and what we do

 

"Oh you're moving to SPAIN? To teach 12 hours a week!?" What! ...sounds pretty nice, it IS pretty nice..but there is much more to it.  Much, much..mucho mas, more.  So if you are interested in being an Auxiliar for next year (you should've already started planning, if not then please start A.S.A.P) I started thinking about applying for this program in August of 2011, I applied for it in November 2011 and have been preparing for it ever since.  If anyone has heard me talk about everything this program puts you through then you have an idea of how much work is involved. The following is a timeline of how this works;

 

August: Start thinking and researching

November: Apply! As soon as possible because it is first come first serve

August- April/May: Wait until you receive your acceptance

Late May: You get your placement, accept or decline

June- September: Save money, plan, buy plane tickets, pack! Say goodbye to loved ones and start meeting new auxiliares on Facebook
September-October: Find an apartment, become a legal resident, open bank account, start school

 

I left the USA on September 24, 2012 and arrived the following day in Madrid.  Luckily, I had 4 other Auxiliares on the plane with me.  There were a lot of us en route to Spain.  I believe a little over 1,000 of us were accepted into the program this year.  I'm going to break down the application process later on a separate page on my blog entitled; Auxiliares.  If you are interested in listening to me go in depth about this topic then by all means check it out.  For the rest of you, I'll give you the overall idea. 

 

An auxiliar is a "helper" in Spanish.  We are "Helpers in the class room to facilitate conversation in English".  We are also given the title of Language Assistants, Cultural Ambassadors, etc.  They all sound pretty cool. In fact, we are employed by the Spanish Government.  I don't see why this wouldn't be an impressive entry on my resume considering I work for a foreign ministry, I got a FBI background check and everything. 

 

Now, we come from all over.  There are lots of Americans, but also French, English, Irish, Canadian, Italians, etc.  I have met so many other people from all around the world which is pretty neat.  We are provided with free health insurance, a salary of 700 euros/month (we'll chat later about this) and can work in one or more schools.  For example, I work in two schools.  I have Mondays off.  I am physically at the school from 9am until 2pm but I only am to work 12 hours.  My second school (which is in a tiny village) has me working 3 hours more than they are suppose to be working me so turns out I get to have several Fridays off to balance this out. 

 

What I mean by "I work 12 hours".  By work, I mean I am physically in a Spanish classroom.  My work varies from school to school and teacher to teacher.  Each teacher uses my native English speaking skills in a different way.  Some teachers have me actually plan lessons and make powerpoints (food, holidays, etc).  Others just have me show up and read the lesson they have already planned for the day.  Some teachers hardly use me at all.  Sometimes, I literally just sit in the classroom and the kids stare at my like I'm an alien.  A very tall, blue eyed alien. 

 

My classes range from; English, Art and Science.  For example, this week I explained Halloween and we did arts and crafts. The kids don't really understand everything we do in the United States (some of us don't even really know why...it's just the norm) but I try my best to explain vocabulary and songs.

Trick or Treat!

It has only been a month so far but I can say that this experience has solidified the fact that I know now FOR SURE that I don't want to be a teacher :) If you think children misbehave in American schools, ooooooooh boy. I have heard of 2 teachers getting vocal cord surgery here because they scream so much.  Now, I can say that this is mainly true for my school located in the tiny village.  My other school is in the bigger city where I live and they behave better than the village children.  The hours of school are also more laid back, 9-2pm? Nice! They typically don't eat lunch at school though.  The kids pack a sandwich or fruit and eat it during recess then they go home to eat their big lunch with the family. 

 

On the Auxiliar page, you will soon find more information about...Living in Spain, working here, meeting people, becoming legal residents, acquiring a bank account, getting paid and many more topics, tips, warnings, etc! I hope it helps you understand a little better, if not..please don't hesitate to comment or email me.

Have you got any biscuits?

gilespublications.com

The Americans vs. the British; Round one

 

One month ago I came to Spain to teach English, however I wasn't aware of the lack of American English spoken in Spain.  It actually makes sense that the Spanish speak like the British because of the proximity of the two countries.  I guess this is the same reason that I struggle with the Spanish accents because I am used to the accents in Central America or Mexico.  There are also a large number of British teachers here doing this program.  The only difference is that all of the North Americans have graduated college and the British are 20 or 21.  The students study abroad for a year, which is a thing called Erasmus.  So there are many British that will return to school once this program is over.  From my understanding, they also get financial support while doing this ON TOP of getting paid from the Spanish Government, pretty nice set up. 

 

Now that we (North Americans) have experience in the classrooms, we come home and laugh about all of silly British sayings these Spaniards say.  For example, the biggest issue I have is with the teachers teaching the children to say "I have got".  It may sound better and more proper coming out of the mouths of the British but you would sound very strange saying that in the United States.  Any time a student asks me if "I've got a pet, boyfriend, etc..I repeat the question.  "DO I HAVE a dog?" why yes! "I have a dog". I suppose at the end of the day, the focus is for them to learn English whether or not it is what I'm use to.

 

Last week I made a comparison chart for the students so they could understand the differences between our vocabulary and spelling, for example...

 

 Americans: eraser                                                              Americans: cookies

 British: rubber                                                                   British: biscuits

 

 Americans: French Fries                                                  Americans: mall

 British: Chips                                                                  British: shopping center

 

 Americans: movies                                                            Americans: garbage

 British: films/cinemas                                                         British: rubbish

 

 You get the picture! They also get confused with the spelling differences (favourite, colour, organisation)  and the pronunciation of words such as; I am 22 years old.  (I am twenny-two) A Brit would pronounce the second T in twenty whereas I don't. 

 

And P.S. 7:30 is read, SEVEN THIRTY right?! ---nope not here, half past seven :)

 

My time in Spain has been great so far, not only am I learning things about the Spanish culture and language but I've been learning a lot about my own language, British culture and I haven't even mentioned my Irish roommate yet!  His accent could be another post in my blog.  Sometimes we cannot understand him but its been great getting to learn about the Irish and their culture as well.

 

Here's to another week in the class room! Topics this week include; the digestive system, how to go grocery shopping, Halloween, and who knows what else I will be thrown into but I can't complain because this job is one of the easiest things I've ever done.  The tricky part is to separate myself from all of this English speaking and dive into more Spanish, my main reason of coming here :)

 

 

 

 



Crossing borders

Elvas, Portugal



So it has already been a month that I've been in Spain, pretty crazy.  Time is going so fast and I keep trying to plan my future trips because there are endless opportunities here.  We are so close to so many countries, it can get overwhelming when trying to think of when and where you want to go.  Today however, the choice was pretty easy..Portugal!! My friend Kate came to stay with me for the weekend and we went to Portugal for a couple of hours.  Elvas is a town that I can literally see from my apartment.  It was a 25-30 minute bus ride that cost 2 euro.  We were the only ones on the bus and the ONLY tourists in the city of Elvas.

 

Signs in Portuguese

Crossing the border is simple, no police, no passport checks, nothing! I was hoping that that would actually be the case so I could get another stamp on my passport but oh well.  It was such a nice day because we had no itinerary, no where to be and everything to explore.  We noticed right away how strange the Portuguese accent seems in comparison to Spanish.  The words can be similar to Spanish but the accent is definitely different.  Luckily, most people are able to speak Spanish so that was our easiest mean of communication.

Elvas was a super cute little town even though there was nothing going on. We walked around most of the city in a couple hours and sat down to have a nice lunch.  We ordered the "Menu of the Day" which is a great deal that includes beer, bread, soup, a dish of your choice, dessert and coffee (all for 9 euro).  I ordered some chicken that came with fries but everyone else ordered a typical Portuguese dish called Bacalhau. It's a dish with salted and dried cod, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and olives (it tastes better than it sounds).  Below are two versions of it.

 

Since there wasn't much to do in Elvas, we made the most of the day and ended up having a really good time.  Of course, we took lots of pictures :)

Photoshoot!

 

We were a little excited to be reunited again 

Next stop in Portugal will either be Lisbon or Porto :) 

 

Beach weekend!

With Tara (my roommate)

My first weekend out of Badajoz was great.  We had an extended weekend (Friday off) so we went to Cádiz..a cute beach town in the south of Spain.  It didn't take us very long to get there.  We had to stop in Sevilla to switch buses, which was great because Sevilla is impressive.  We were welcomed with beautiful weather and even better sights.  The town was filled with the usual here in Spain, hidden streets that make you feel as if every one that you end up on should be another great picture to remember.  They are all so clean, breathtaking and each have their own variety of small shops.  I could wander the streets of Spain forever! The shops are endless, the people live out in the streets and everything has so much culture and history. We took advantage of our hostel because it offered a pub crawl that included drinks and stops to several bars.  Our host was Mike, a Cadiz resident but Chicago native.  He told us that we would spend 30 minutes at every bar..which was an understatement.  If you haven't heard by now, the Spaniards party..and they party hard.  Long story short, our pub crawl went until 5:30 in the morning!! Which WE ended before the club even shut down.  The parties go until the sun comes up, I don't know how these people do it. It was a good thing that we had the entire next day free to sleep on the beach :)


Cadiz beach- photos from my roommate Tara

Cadiz by night was also fantastic.  Like I mentioned before, the Spaniards LIVE outside and are always outside socializing, eating, drinking, playing in the streets.  It is such a great atmosphere to be around because generally the people are extremely friendly.  Cadiz was also filled with a lot of tourists, something that we weren't use to seeing in Badajoz.  It was great though, there were moments where I felt that every English speaker was my new best friend just because it is rare to have English speakers in my town.  I met a lot of people from all over the world (which is why hostels are so great).  Polish, Germans, a girl from Argentina, Canadians, etc.  My roommates and I enjoy going out to dinner and trying new foods.  What we usually do is order small dishes called tapas.  They are very cheap and a great way to try a little bit of everything.  They usually range from 1-3 euros a piece...and not to mention cheap wine and beer is also a plus!

Yummy mojitos- our first bar during the pub crawl

How can you not love this!

                                                                       Cadiz by night



I'd say that our trip was relaxing but also a test of how this whole traveling stuff works.  We thought we had everything sorted out and we were surprised to be thrown a curve ball.  We bought round-trip tickets with an open return back to Badajoz. So on the day of our return, we took our time enjoying the city and arrived to the bus station to find out that we were suppoesd to get there early to reserve our ticket times even though they were already purchased.  Turns out that we missed the bus we needed to get to Sevilla.  Since we missed that bus, we weren't going to get into Badajoz that night.  It all worked out to where we stayed in Sevilla in another awesome hostel and enjoyed another night of tapas and meeting other world travelers.  Note to self: Always verify your ticket times! It wasn't that big of a deal because Tara and I have Mondays off, Craig works at night, and Michelle asked for the day off to complete our residency paperwork. 

All photos by Tara! Our professional photographer :)

Stay tuned to future posts about what it takes to do this teaching program (paperwork, bank accounts, finding an apartment, etc.) as well as cultural comparisons between Spain and back home. 

Various stages of culture shock

Culture Shock::Yes, I expected it...but I feel as if I am handling it better than I thought!  I've been through culture shock before a few times and I can say that because of my endless research and preparation for Spain, I have been very content in these past two weeks.  I'd have to say moving to New Orleans from Iowa was a bigger shock to me than Spain has been.  I have great roommates, several other Auxiliares in my area, support from home and most importantly support from my teachers in my school. 

The most disappointing thing so far has been my awareness of how much of the Spanish language I don't know. In college, I understood my professors.  In Costa Rica, I understood my host family.  In Spain? Sometimes I think they are speaking Chinese.  Spain may be a very small country but they have such a huge variety of cultures, dialects, accents and even other languages all packed into one.  Depending on the area, they pronounce things very different.  For example, here in Badajoz they don't pronounce the endings of words, D's, or S's.  It has been pretty difficult for me but I have high hopes that after 8 months I will have adjusted to their accents. 

Badajoz

My city of Badajoz is cute, clean, safe and the people are very friendly.  We have everything we need packed into one smaller sized city.  I am very happy with how everything has worked out so far and I ended up living with 3 other teaching assistants (Auxiliares) like myself.  One girl from Canada, one girl from New Jersey and a guy from Ireland.  Our rent is very affordable, we have a nice little set up. I'd say my first culture shock was grocery shopping.  It was hard to not know where to go and what to get in order to eat how you are use to. 

HAM!

 

I enjoyed my first week at school and I love my schedule even more.  I always have Mondays off and I work from 9-2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  On Wednesday I work from 11-2.  I spent most of my week introducing myself to the students with simple things like; where I'm from, my favorite color, etc.  (Their English is limited) I was also thrown into teaching the reproductive organs in science class, yay.  It was a little awkward trying to explain to the kids what certain parts of the body were in a language that they don't know so well! Next week; I will be giving lessons on recipes, pregnancy, and animals.

This weekend I will be off to the beach for our first "Puente".  A puente is when you have an extended weekend due to a holiday :)  We have Friday off so my roommates and other auxiliares are headed to the south of Andalucia.