¿Qué hacemos en la clase de ingles?

What do we do in my classes?

This!

Photo courtesy of Lola Alejandra.

¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!

I must have been extremely sad yesterday.  I felt fine and then when I was in my first class of the day we showed a video that I had made.  It was nothing special, "My name is Richelle, I come from the United States, etc." You can see it at the school's blog if you're really curious.

When the picture of my state came up and I saw that skinny little arrow pointing to Austin...I don't know what happened, my eyes started leaking.  I didn't feel especially sad but three or four times the exact same thing happened.

One of them was when some of the students at school showed me these as a surprise:

I was balling.  I had to explain to them in Spanish that I was crying because it was beautiful and because today was a day for family and that I missed mine.  I think the real reason that I've been so weepy is because I'm really far.  Even if I didn't go to Thanksgiving every year or every holiday every year, I could have if I wanted to.  Not the case this year.

But don't worry.  Friday I went to a Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of other auxiliars and no offense to any of my family, but it was one of the best spreads I've seen in a while.  I was very impressed by all of our cooking skills.  Especially in another country where you can't always obtain the ingredients that you want.

Huelga desconvocado!

Ahhh, such good news!!  On Mondays one of my teachers, Lola, drives me and another teacher (also named Lola) to school.  After teaching with Lola (the first one) for my first hour between 9 and 10, I usually go and sit in the office for the gap between my two classes.  I do things like check my email, etc.  Last Monday though, I had to go to Molina de Segura, a neighboring town, to pick up my NIE, or Número de Identificación de Extranjeros.  It's not too difficult, the bus that I ride every morning passes through that town.  It comes by my stop a few minutes after every hour.  So I could ride the 10 o'clock bus to Molina and take the 11 o'clock bus back to school.  Simple.  So I left my class a few minutes early and ran down to the bus stop.  I arrived in plenty of time and so I sat down on the bench and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  After 40 minutes I walked back up the hill to my school.  I have to say, I was pretty much in a state of shock.  That bus is sometimes late, but it always comes.

So I went into the office and asked two teachers there, "Qué pasó?  Estaba esperando por 40 minutas y el autobús nunca vino."  (What happened?  I was waiting for 40 minutes and the bus never came!)  So they discussed in for a few minutes saying things like:  I'm not really sure, maybe it's at another time, maybe...etc.  You get the idea.  Then one of them says, "Ah!  Hay una huelga!"

"Qué es una huelga??"  Let me get to the point already, a "huelga" is a strike.  So, the bus drivers were on strike.  Now I'm really panicking here.  I was driven to school but I usually take a bus home.  How was I going to get home?  I have absolutely no experience with strikes at all.  So maybe it's common knowledge that strikes don't completely stop production or maybe that's something specific to government jobs, or  transportation jobs, or maybe it's just a Spain thing, but the strike was only on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and the buses still ran, but less frequently.  More like a bus every 2 hours instead of every hour.

Today though, is the last day of the strike.  Huelga Desconvocada.  I had to look up that last word, but it means: called off.  Yay!  Now I don't have to worry about how I'm going to get home tomorrow.  Last week a teacher drove me so I didn't wait for an hour.

And I did get my card.  Isn't it pretty?

Madroño

I'm finally alone!  Now, don't get me wrong, having a constant visitor for the first 2 months was great, but certainly not for my "followers" because I have been very neglectful.  

But have no fear!  I'm here with plenty of news for you!  But, we'll start small and maybe write more frequently.  Yesterday I got to try a madroño for the first time.  What is a madroño you ask?  Well, it's a fruit that looks like....

this!

It's a small piece of fruit that comes from this tree:

Whhaaaaat????  ¡Que guay!  (How cool!)

Here's a picture of the actual tree.  It's just coincidence that I have these two last pictures.  They were taken in Madrid during a tour that we took and they told us how this is the tree of madrid.  El oso y madroño are the symbols of Madrid, though the tree is not native to Madrid, this one was planted there along with a few others:

These fruits aren't ripe yet.  I read online that the fruits aren't very good raw but make a great jam.  I have to disagree.  The fruit was very good, nice and sweet.  It was soft on the inside but the outside is sort of crunchy.  To me the crunch of the outside was similar to eating blackberries which have little seeds.  One of the teachers brought the madroños to school from her garden. 

Somos el 99%!

On the 15th of October (sorry it's so late!) I went to a protest in Spain and it was my first protest ever.  They called themselves 15-M because their first protest, which was only in Spain, was on the 15th of May.  They're also known as the "indignados" the indignants.  So a week or so ago, on 15-O, they did another protest except that this one was joined by more than 650 cities worldwide.  They protested the corruption and misallocation of funds today.  They want a democracy that is more focused on the citizens and less on the businesses.
For me, it was awesome to be there because I've been reading posts on facebook and hearing from my friends that there are protests going on in the states as well and that there is a lot of discontent with the 1%.  I'm sure you've heard of Occupy Wallstreet. To see so many people gathered in Murcia, walking peacefully to a plaza and  then sitting and listening and supporting and making their voices heard was absolutely fantastic for me.  To feel like just because I wasn't at home didn't mean that I had to sacrifice my voice.

Here are some of the things that they said or had written:

Somos el 99%  ---   We are the 99%!
Que no, que no, que no nos representan!  ---  That no, that no, that they don't represent us!
Luego diréis que somos 5 o 6!  ---  Later y'all will say that we were only 5 or 6!
La salud no es un negocio, es un derecho!  ---  The health isn't a business, it's a right!

And....

This isn't the original, I'm so sorry, I'll probably have a camera in November....

Organize yourself!  And be inspired by the 500,000 in Madrid....

Chirimoya

(not my photo, sorry, still without a camera)

This is a Chirimoya.  I had my first one last night.  For those of you who know me, you know that I love food.  I mean I love food.  I also like to try new things.  I'm usually a little cautious, but very curious.  When it comes to tropical fruit, most of the time I'm not all that impressed.  I'm not sure why, I guess I just prefer the fruit that I'm accustomed to.  But this, this is amazing.  It's very soft and squishy and kind of has a flavor that hints of kiwi without so much tartness.  I cut it in half and dug out all the seeds with my spoon before really digging in.  It was fantastic.

Déjame en paz!

It's possible that you've heard me say this expression before.  I actually learned it in my first day of college Spanish.  One of the students didn't know the answer to the question and he told the teacher "leave me alone."  She immediately responded with, "Déjame en paz!" and said that if you were going to say it, you'd better say it in Spanish.

I've actually found myself extremely busy this week, what with trying to get settled into my apartment and learning the bus system and getting familiar enough with the town to get around without my map and so on and so on.  All of these extra chores on top of the fact that I've received so much correspondence and have obligated myself to so much return correspondence that I'm kind of drowning in it.  I haven't even written here because of it.  It makes me wonder how all of you other bloggers find the time.

So I'm here to tell you, that I love you all, that I'm definitely thinking about you and talking about you to my new friends, but that I'm just not ready nor do I really have the time to do more than read my email.  I think I might even start avoiding facebook to a degree.  I have a million things that I want to talk about on this blog, but instead I feel like I'm just responding to emails and giving tidbits to individual people and then everyone else misses out on those things.

So please don't be offended, but I would need a clone to sit at home all day and respond to emails.  Thanks for thinking of me, and hopefully I'll do another post quite soon, now that I'm liberating myself from the emails. :P

A place to live!!

On Monday we went to Archena to try and find a place to live.  I have received several emails and posts from people in the program looking for a roommate but I wanted to at least attempt to find some local roomies.  So Andres, his mother Sylvana and I all went to Murcia and we parked our rental car and started to walk towards the Cathedral because I had been told it was a nicer neighborhood than what I would find closer to the bus station that I would be utilizing to get to Archena in the mornings. 

A phone is essential to an apartment search so that was the first step.   We went to Movistar which is a name I have seen constantly since arriving in Spain and while in there I decided that this was sort of like the Time Warner Cable of Spain.  Widely available, completely overpriced.  Don’t worry, those of you who knew me in San Marcos know that I prefer companies like Grande. :D  So we went to the Phone House which has a nice conglomerate of companies and I got a cheapie little phone on a prepay plan with YoiGo.   Not bad, but don’t be surprised when all of the plans are more expensive than the states. 

Now, phone in hand, we start walking the walk and calling places to find out what’s available.  It was so frustrating!  My Spanish isn’t that great, I can understand a lot but not everything and being able to spit out what I’m trying to say is really difficult, especially when the person on the other line is losing patience.  Then you add a cheap phone as the medium and I just wanted to throw my hands up and cry.  I could have used a locator, but my good friend Cassie, who lived here last year, told me that it costs 100-200 euros!!  No way José, I’m way too frugal for that.  Besides, I should be practicing my Spanish shouldn’t I?  But after several calls to “se alquila” signs hanging on balconies I realized I had a problem.  Most of these people wanted to rent out the entire floor or “el piso” not just one room.   So we decided to try plan B.  We went to the very close by campus and started looking for roommate signs.  We had much more luck here, though I was still battling the language barrier.  After looking at a couple of places that were do-able but not really what I wanted for some reason we were standing in front of a sign and we had a little godsend. 

We had just called this number and I hung up and told Andres and Sylvana that it was a no go and this older woman with for rent notices in her hand stopped and asked us if we were looking for a room.  Well, yes, as a matter of fact we are!  In the states I might have hesitated to follow someone right then and there but after the last 5 hours that I’d spent struggling there wasn’t even a seconds hesitation.  This was obviously going to be a blessing in disguise.  Andres even called it.  So we’re walking with this lady and she’s asking about us and telling me about the rooms that she has and how much they are and what’s included.  She shows us her posts and I’m listening to her and I’ve never felt so religious as I did in that moment.  This lady was very sweet, friendly, and she was speaking at a pace that I could truly understand!  YES!!!!!!  She has a piso that she rents out and then she also is trying to rent out 2 rooms at her own place and so we looked at hers first and I started to have my doubts.  I really, really wanted to live with people my own age.  She seemed exceptionally easy to live with, it just wasn’t the environment that I wanted.  I think I’ve lived too long without parents (since I was 18) to start again.  But then we went to her other piso. 

And now I have a place to live!  (Pictures later, I'm having camera issues)

Pilar, the sweet older lady who found us is my new landlord.  I’ve met one of my roommates, Jake, who is from England (don’t worry, he avoided speaking to me in English even when I tried to speak to him in English) and the other is from the states and her name is Emily, but I have yet to meet her, she’s out of town right now.  The rent for the room is a little steep and more than I originally wanted to pay.  We tried to talk Pilar down a bit but she felt that it would be unfair when the other two roomies were paying that amount already.  I felt some real sympathy here because I agree that equality is essential but we got creative.  I will now be giving English lessons to Pilar and possibly spending some time with her adorable little dog Tobi who I’m already completely pulled in by (Don’t worry Zinc, you’ll always be the love of my life!). 

There are 3 things that make this room worth the extra buck: 

1.     Pilar doesn’t mind if Andres stays for the next month!  (This was a deal breaker at other places we looked at)

2.     It’s bigger than most rooms we looked at.

3.     I have two twin size beds!!!!!!!!!  So come on ladies and gentlemen, take advantage of me and come see me!   Oh, and they’re pretty comfortable which seems to be a rare and beautiful thing around here.  J

Toledo y el Metro

We went to Toledo for a day and when you go to Toledo you can either take the AVE for 18 euros round trip, or you can take the metro and then the bus.  We decided that we wanted to save a little money and to learn the Metro system.  It's confusing. :P  I live in Texas so a metro system is completely foreign to me, especially underground, but I used to go to San Diego all the time and I've ridden the tram and buses in Puerto Rico so public transportation isn't really scary for me anymore, I know that there's a learning curve, but I can usually figure it out.  

There are different levels.  This is the key to the entire idea.  Unfortunately for us, no one felt the need to explain that.  So after a lot of confusion and a lot of asking, we finally discovered this important bit of information.  So the way it works is that you go underground, you buy your ticket, and then you go to the train.  The first level is one train.  If that's the line that you're looking for then all you have to do is make sure that you're on the right side.  Being on the correct side is easier than it seems.  The lines are labeled according to the last stops and on all the walls are the all the stops that the line is going to make, so on one side they have all the stops that the line is going to hit in that direction and on the other side there are the stops in that direction.  Are you still with me?  Now, if that's not the line that you wanted, or like us, you have to go from line 3 to line 6, you have to go further underground.  That idea might be common sense for people who grew up around a subway, but for me, a little texas girl, this was quite the lightbulb.  

http://www.viajesok.com/conoce-la-ruta-de-los-museos-gracias-al-metro-de-madrid.html

But alas, it was most definitely worth it.  When I can get some pictures for you I'll tell you all about Toledo, the most breathtakingly awesome town ever!  The cathedral, the walls, the views, the roads, all of it, absolutely mind-blowing if like me, you are fascinated by old things. 

Estamos aquí!

Well, here we are, in Madrid.  There's so much to tell you that I hardly know where to start.  My general impression is that 3 days is most definitely not enough time to explore Madrid, I feel like we only really got a taste of all that it can be.

I will say that it's pretty expensive here, but one should keep in mind that I'm extremely frugal, not to mention on a tight budget.  What everyone says about people looking nice is so true.  I have a huge weakness for shoes, I love to look at them, wear them, buy them; they're my accessory of choice.  Apparently, they are for the Spanish as well, because the majority of people have cute looking shoes.  I've mostly seen flats and sandals, but I almost feel grungy in my brand new Vans which lack the detail that theirs have.

Their excellent taste doesn't stop at their feet either.  In fact, everyone seems to just be generally attractive.  An overweight person is pretty rare and the ones that I do see look like tourists.  I'm wondering how different my perspective will be once I get out of Madrid.  It's very difficult to know who's a tourist and who's a local and I'm willing to bet that what I think that ratio is and what it actually is are pretty different.

The second day that we were here we went on a free walking tour and there were people from Italy, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom and then of course us, the Americans.  What a variety!  We saw so many amazing things too.  They have huge, beautiful parks, the majority of the building are old and remodeled, and the amount of people on feet warms my heart.

This is the symbol of Madrid, a bear eating a rare tree called "Madroño".  We saw a live one too, it has little berries on it that our tour guide said are edible once they turn red.  

We have also gone to the Museo del Prado.  We went during the hours when admission was free and therefore didn't have a lot of time, but we were able to see some pretty amazing pieces and realize that we didn't even come close to seeing the entire collection. (you're not allowed to take pictures, sorry!)

I just got here and I'm already behind on blogging, but I don't have time to finish.  Next time I'll tell you about Toledo, the Metro and maybe even the flamenco that we're going to go see....right now. :P

Hasta luego....

Menos de 24 horas!

Less than 24 hours now.  I've been doing last minute clerical issues all day, changing addresses, paying last minute bills, trying to collect my mail from the post office (unsuccessful), switching around some cash and getting last minute purchases.

I packed yesterday and was struggling to downsize my wardrobe at all.  It takes up the bulk of my bags, but I worked so hard to build a nice, warm and professional selection in the spring that I just can't justify abandoning a lot of it.

My biggest bag actually has a lot of space but is already dangerously close to the overweight mark.  I'm bringing 4 bags.  2 checked bags, one of which I have to pay a $50 fee for, 1 carry-on and 1 "personal item".  I'm wearing my long, winter wool coat to preserve space.  It'll make a good blanket on the plane, but it's going to be miserable carrying it around, especially as we leave the 100 degree weather in San Antonio, TX.

Remember that I'm flying out over 2 weeks early so that my boyfriend Andres, his mother Sylvana and I may explore before I get down to business and so that I have enough time to find a place to live.

I just received an email from one of the teachers that I will be working with.  Her name is Loli and she told me that my first day would be October 3rd at 9am.

So, goodbye, until soon.  The nerves haven't really hit me yet, but I'll let you know once I'm there.

Diciendo Adios!

One week from today I will be in Spain!!!!!  So this week I have been driving all over Texas to say Goodbye to my family.  I'm halfway done tonight.  It has been a goodbye tour through north and east Texas that has been blessed with a surprisingly mild temperatures of 90˚F and almost 60˚F at night; unbelievably pleasant!  I'll have pictures and more later, but be patient with me, the next couple weeks will be pretty low on down time. :)

Hasta Luego....

Visado!

I just came home from my dentist appointment (where they told me that I need to get all of my wisdom teeth pulled and it would probably be best if that was done prior to my 9 month hiatus) and found a very familiar looking envelope (because you have to send your own pre-addressed envelope) laying oh-so casually on my bed.   It's here!!

My name is not  "Richellelee" Richelle is my first and Lee Anne is my middle. :P  Maybe it was too long.

And let me tell you what, I know it's been quiet on this end, but I've been getting worried!  Last week I got back my Plan B Background Check and it had been denied on account that my prints weren't clear enough.  A word of advice: If you think the guy is doing a bad job, don't just sit there and be quiet about it, make them redo it.  I didn't think they looked very good and I thought about saying something, but I was too shy and I kept my mouth shut.

On a slightly related side note:  I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "If nothing changes, NOTHING CHANGES!"  Amen!  If you don't do something about all the stuff you don't like, it's never going to change!  Ah, hem, I'll just...uh...step off my soap box now.... :)

More news soon....

(A word to the wise: I'll be bringing the paperwork that returned with the Visa Application with me to Spain, I'm pretty sure the same paperwork is required for the Residency Card.  Don't forget yours!)

una pieza más!

So, when that sneaky little apostille reared it's ugly head, I set two things in motion as quickly as possible.  First, I went and requested another background check with the annotation that I would need an apostille for that document.  Then, I sent my first background check to get the apostille, even though technically it doesn't qualify.

Well....Ta-da!

I got my original background check back and it did get the apostille.  Now all I need to do is hope that the consulate will accept it, but I think I'm going to be fine.  But don't worry, I'm not getting over confident, I'm still going to send the other background check in for an apostille as soon as I get it back.  No sense in not keeping Plan B in motion until Plan A is completely successful. I'm not going to lose Spain over paperwork, no siree.

[uh-pos-til]

Apostille.  I will never forget this word.  It has caused me more grief than the entire application process put together.  An apostille is like an international notarization.  In order to get your visa at the Houston Consulate your background check must have an Apostille.  In order to get the Apostille on your background check you must note that you will be needing that on the application for the background check.  Before you send it in.

I only found out about this little notation about two weeks ago.  It is estimated to take 6 weeks for the background check to come back.  Another 2 weeks for the background check to come back from actually receiving the apostille and another 3 weeks for the visa.  That's if there are no delays.  My take off date is September 13th, and I'm suddenly very worried about making it.  Especially because I'm hearing rumors of the apostille taking 4 weeks.

All I can say is:  Always read all of the directions.  No matter how familiar you are with the list of needed documents, read EVERY word. No skimming on things like Visa applications.

Is DMC thread as cheap in Spain as it is here?

I know that it's been a while since I've written and I apologize, but let's not linger over that.  This question is the thought that made me grab my computer with blogging in mind.  You see, I've been pretty wrapped up in my life lately and even though stuff has been going on with Spain, I haven't really made the time to write about it.  I say that I haven't made time because I know that there is always plenty of time, and no time is just an excuse.  (Unless you were at Cracker Barrel Restaurant this beautiful Sunday morning, and in that case, you're quite right, there was NO time for anything!)
So this is what's been going on:  I've been doing a lot of working at the old Crack Bar (I think I'm funny), a lot of hanging out with my amazing boyfriend Andres, and packing, actually.  And floating.  A LOT of floating, cause it's my last summer in San Marcos and if you live in San Marcos, you have to float the San Marcos River!

That's my roommate Aimee.  We have a pact to float at least once every week this summer since we're recent graduates with no obligations this summer except work.

So, why am I packing right now?  Three months before I leave for Spain?  Because this is my summer living schedule:

I move out of my apartment on June 30th.  

I move in with Andres until his lease ends, on August 10th.

Then we both move in with Andres's mom (who is the nicest and most kind hearted woman I have ever met, no lie) until we leave for Spain on September 13th.  That's right ladies and gentlemen, we have bought our tickets.  Andres's mom, Sylvana, is going to be with us in Spain until September 30th.  Andres is going to stay with me until December 6th.  There are a lot of reasons he can't stay the entire time, and as much as I love him, I think I'd like a little just me and Spain time, you know?

So for the last 12 days  for 2 of the last 12 days I have been packing up stuff that I can live without.  It's like a filtering process, I've made huge donations to goodwill (like half my closet) and given my sister boxes of all my textbooks and memorabilia in my room.  My stuff is going to be spread out everywhere but it feels good to know that everything I do early is less I have to do at move out.  Isn't it funny how no matter how much I do, there's still a huge list to do?  

And I'm certainly complicating things.  Can I live without embroidery supplies for a year?  LOL!  Almost certainly!  And if I really wanted to do some rad, this ain't your gramma's embroidery, I'm betting DMC thread is if not as cheap, at least not expensive in Spain.  But my frugal, pack rat side thinks that I should take some thread with me.  Thread.  Well, I'm glad I came and talked to you guys.  I have my brain back and the thread is most definitely staying.  Thanks, and see you next time.  Probably after my likely-to-be-traumatic-trip to the Spanish Consulate to apply for my Visa, hopefully this Friday. 

PS - for those of you who are not much for crafts, DMC thread costs about 33 cents for 8 meters.  Yeah.

¿Coincidencia?

A little while ago I emailed the current auxiliar that is working in Archena right now and  asked a couple of questions and advice.  I didn't hear back for a while, but I wasn't too worried about it. Then, on May 1st, I was checking my email (during class, hehe) and I saw this post on my facebook wall:


"Word has traveled to Archena, Spain that a Texan by the name of Richelle is coming next year...."  -Cassie


It was one of those moments where something so shocking has happened that you (well, I) immediately go completely still.  Then this anticipation starts to build in my stomach and after about a minute or two I can be anything but still.  Of course I'm in the middle of observing a class, I shouldn't have been checking my email. So after about 20 more excruciating minutes, I finally found a way to politely excuse my self and get out!  


The reason for all of the excitement of course, is that I know this person.  I KNOW THIS PERSON!!  The current auxiliar for the school that I'm going to be working at in this tiny town of 16,000 people is a girl that I have hung out with before.  We took a Spanish class together at Texas State, we hung out maybe half a dozen times.  And now, now, I am following in her footsteps, she is leaving Spain and I am going.  Oh how sweet it would be if she were staying, but instead I had an hour on Skype with an old friend.


What are the chances??  That with over 2000 positions and all of Spain to choose from, we ended up going to the exact same school for the exact same program when I didn't even know she was doing this program.  


Oh, the insanity....

Antelación

So when I got my city placement I also received a couple of email addresses for the english teachers at the school I have been assigned to.  So after a few weeks I decided, hmm, maybe I should contact them.  I have heard from other expats and especially people who are or have participated in this program that communication from Spain can take a long time...if it comes at all.  But I think I'm going through a very lucky streak because I had a response within 3 days.

I should mention that we were communicating completely in Spanish and perhaps after as many literature courses as I've taken it shouldn't be such a big deal, but I only had to pull out a dictionary on one word: antelación.  It means: in advance or in plenty of time.  The teacher was thanking me for my correspondence and commenting on the promptness of it.  So not only did I receive helpful and valuable information from this correspondence, but I also gave a good first impression (assuming I didn't make any major gramatical errors in my email to her that she was just too polite to comment on). Though I do find it a tad interesting that a professional in a country well known for its disregard of punctuality is commenting on my promptness.  Haha, maybe it was actually shock and she just thinks I'm strange for contacting her almost 6 months before my arrival date.  But we don't need to comment any further on that, we all know that I'm more excited than I've ever been before.

So, what did I find out?

My kids will be from 6-12 years old.
School for the kids is from 9am - 2pm, Monday through Friday.
My schedule will be different than that, probably only 4 days a week.
There is a bus that passes by the school every hour.  Which means that I can consider a commute from Murcia.
I also received the email for the current auxiliar, who I promptly emailed. :)

I imagine the next post will be in response to any news from her, or from another expat currently living in Murcia who I've been talking to.  I should probably just relax and try to get through this summer without foaming at the mouth for additional information, but I'm just so dang excited!

My sister, Tiffani, suggested that I continue to post and that I shouldn't wait so long between posts, but I feel like if it's not related to Spain it doesn't have a place on this blog.  Any opinions?  Should I be documenting my last summer in San Marcos as well as my trip to Spain?

Yo voy a Archena :(

I know, I know, I'm supposed to just be happy to be in Spain.  But yesterday I received an email saying that the district has accepted me and that I'll be teaching in Archena.  I know almost nothing about this small town except that it is best known for its hot springs.  Have you been around hot springs before?  Every one I've ever been around smelled like rotten eggs.  Eww.  I looked on google maps and Archena looks even smaller than San Marcos, my current tiny town.

The thing that I'm most worried about now:  rental and transportation.  When I look for apartment listings, almost nothing comes up.  I haven't gone into detail with the bus routes yet but small towns aren't usually that well set up.  Hopefully I'm wrong.  I really was looking forward to walking everywhere, eating fresh produce daily, and depending on public transportation.  I really don't want to have to worry about things like cars, parking, etc.  

So I guess it's time to start doing some serious research.  Now that I have a definite location I can really get going on information.  If anyone knows anything about Archena, haha, let me know!

Yo voy a España!!!!!!

I made it in!!!   It's like a dream come true, I just want to scream at the top of my lungs and tell everyone.  I'm delirious right now, overwhelmed by the urge to laugh, cry and shout.  I checked the website several times today at work, never really expecting to hear anything and wasn't disappointed when I didn't.  But I was home by about 4:30 and decided that it had been a few hours and just maybe I would be one of the last ones placed today.  And then, there it was, amongst this huge list of names: Chamberlain, Richelle----Adjudicada-----Murcia!!  I think that moment, of scrolling down and seeing my name, will be burned into my mind for eternity.

Watch out Spain, here I come!!!

....still

Sigh. Not yet. But I can't sleep past 8am even on my spring break because I'm so antsy. I wake up dreaming about being accepted or worse, denied, and immediately get up to check. Luckily, "getting up" to check doesn't entail actually getting out of bed because I'm so aware of my pathetic desire to know immediately that I place my laptop within arms reach the night before. 


I sent this as an IM to a good friend checking to see what I'd heard.  I thought it summed up my desperation pretty well.  Hopefully the next post will be an ecstatic-oh-my-god-I'm-going-to-Spain!!!!!!! post. 

Hoy

Here it is, today, March 15, 2011.  They've started placements.  Since my number, 553, isn't all that low I don't expect to hear anything for a few days.  I imagine that I will know before the week is up, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to check every available moment.

I woke up this morning at 8am, too excited to sleep.  I immediately grabbed my laptop (which I had conveniently placed at arms reach the night before) and got online to see the news.  The facebook site for the program has been getting hits all morning, people anxiously awaiting the news, but nothing yet.  They have done 433 placements, but people with numbers as low as 44 still haven't heard anything.  I'm assuming that most of those placements are returning auxiliares.  I have good reason to believe this because I follow a blog of a girl in Spain right now and I saw her name on the list of adjudicada.  (Congratulations Elizabeth!)

So here's waiting.  I'm extremely nervous and am hosting more doubt than I have in the last 3 months combined.  Thank goodness I'm going to work today or I would drive my entire household crazy hunching over the computer all day.

Esperando....

I'm going to Spain.  I can feel it in my heart, there's no way that it can't happen.

They say that if you believe in something hard enough it will be real.  I always thought that with my very skeptical disposition this method of accomplishment would be impossible for me.  But from the moment I received my inscrita number of 553, I have known.  I started talking about it as if it were already a sure thing.

I have chosen not to renew my cell phone contract.  I have taken out a small loan for unexpected expenses.  I've opened a separate banking account for money that I've already started saving up.  I'm putting up with a job while doing my student teaching so that I can use that waitressing job to make good money this summer before I go off.  I've started to not buy things because I'm just going have to get rid of them when I go over seas.

And then, yesterday, I checked my email.  The Cultural Ambassadors February Newsletter says that they'll be making their first placements starting March 15th.  My nerves are a wreck.  I know I'm going.  But I want to KNOW I'm going.

Can I possible stay focused on my current life for the next two weeks while I wait for this moment?