Hello,
I hope this note finds you well. I've been home from Spain for a month or so now and have had a chance to visit with many of you! After visiting with family and friend, the inevitable question needed to be addressed: now what? What career/job did I want to do next? Heck if I know!
I find myself feeling very timid about just jumping into something new. Perhaps this is because any type of training I go through (currently I'm considering travel school), will cost an arm and a leg. Teaching is where I thought my passion was but now I feel like there is something else I'd enjoy doing better. I really like the idea of being an expert at something because to be honest, I really like feeling important, wanted, needed.
I'm not sure what my dream job would be and I feel very lost overall. I've been trying to soul search and figure out what I want to do for almost 2 years now! So far I'm interested in travel, healthcare, and the non-profit sector. Spain happened because I decided that I needed an adventure to travel and to try something new. Why Spain? I'm a Spanish speaker and wanted to improve my skills. I often refer to myself as a language geek! While it was very scary to go somewhere around the world where I didn't know anyone, it was also an amazing experience and a great time for personal growth. Sometimes I still can't believe I made that all happen!
Upon returning from my trip I started reading the book, The Happiness Project. In this book, the other gives a few tips about figuring out what you want and one thing she did that helped her was start a blog. This book came to me highly recommended by a friend and I'd recommend it to anyone. It's not a self-help book per se, but gives some really great ideas about improving life overall from the author's own trial and error methods in her life. So the other night after reading the section about starting a blog, I began to think about what I like to do that could be a blog. The thing that came to me was: something travel related. I had a wonderful time traveling in Europe last summer and in Spain this past summer/fall. When I got the travel bug, I got it bad! So I started considering turning my travels blog from Spain into a tips for travelers type blog. I did a fair amount of advising when I worked at ExOfficio as customers would often treat us like travel advisers and not just travel clothing salespeople.
My travel blog is likely to happen, just for fun if nothing else. I feel a little bit awkward about it because right as I was brainstorming this idea, a good friend of mine started a travel blog. While it's fabulous to share a passion, I don't want to step on her toes. We'll see. I think it would be fun to have some sort of side project to work on (besides my knitting, of course) and writing is something I enjoy and would like to improve upon.
In my job searching, I've stumbled across a few travel advising jobs and thought they sounded like fun. I've applied for them and tried to follow up, but so far to no avail. The search goes on! If you have any helpful tips or insight, I'd really appreciate it.
Take care and be well. Cuidate mucho!
Ashley
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
There's no place like home!
Buenas,
I'm happy to report that I made it back to Seattle safe and sound! It was a looonnngg trek home (31 hours to be exact), but I made it! Anyway, I'm going to really miss aspects of living in Spain as well as my friends and students, but I'm happy to be home again.
I've been trying to reflect on my time in Spain and had intended to write this right before I left Spain or right after I got home. I actually got home late last Wed night, so I'm a little behind. Spending time with family, friends, and my boyfriend has kept me busy.
Everything was so different in Spain that it's taking time to adjust to being back. Jet lag is always a little bit tough, especially with a 9 hour difference, but having been on a completely different schedule in terms of meals and sleep has also effected me as I adjust to being home. In Sevilla, I ate dinner between 9 and 10 each night when I returned home from work. I was up till 1 or 2 AM pretty regularly! It's hard to go straight to bed after dinner so I usually stayed up to chat with friends at home or watch tv. I think I do prefer the "horario americano", the Spanish schedule was not bad! I am surprised that I liked it as well as I did because I am not a night owl at all! The diet I ate there was very different from what I eat here but I really enjoyed it for the most part! The Spanish like ham, olives, olive oil, tomatoes, fried eggs, and cheese. They keep it simple! Of course they also have paella and sangria. I did enjoy the Mediterranean diet and have got to try to find some Spanish ham here one of these days!
Apart from physically adjusting to being home, I'm finding myself facing a little bit of culture shock and the realization that I still don't know what type job I want. Spain really is quite different from the US. On my way home, I ordered something for dinner in the airport in Boston. As the guy handed me my food, I immediately said, "gracias" in a Sevillano accent! Now I still find myself having to remember to speak English and not Spanish. There have been a few times when I have just sorta of blubbered because I could not get the right language out! I got really used to just hearing Spanish and mostly just using English to talk to people at home and to teach my Spanish friends.
I went to Spain to find myself in some ways and with the goals in mind of fine-tuning my Spanish skills as well as learning to teach English. I achieved those goals and did learn a lot about myself. Being far away and having to figure everything out for myself was a challenging and growing experience. I now realize just how gutsy I was to go somewhere new where I didn't know a soul and make a life for myself-even if for just 3 months time. After quitting teaching and going through a rough time, I was yearning for an adventure, and adventure I got! There were many times when I went off somewhere on my own, both in Seville and to neighboring towns. Being so independent felt really good and made me feel stronger as a person. It was not easy to just pick up my life in Seattle and leave and there were times when I wanted nothing more than to be home...but most of the time I was grateful to be there and to have the experience of living abroad. I'm proud of myself for going through with it and doing something I was afraid to do.
That's it for now. I find myself enjoying being home but not quite sure what to do with myself! I hope to find a good job soon so I can move into a new apartment and start the next chapter of my life. Thanks to everyone for your support while I was abroad!
Un beso,
Ashley
I'm happy to report that I made it back to Seattle safe and sound! It was a looonnngg trek home (31 hours to be exact), but I made it! Anyway, I'm going to really miss aspects of living in Spain as well as my friends and students, but I'm happy to be home again.
I've been trying to reflect on my time in Spain and had intended to write this right before I left Spain or right after I got home. I actually got home late last Wed night, so I'm a little behind. Spending time with family, friends, and my boyfriend has kept me busy.
Everything was so different in Spain that it's taking time to adjust to being back. Jet lag is always a little bit tough, especially with a 9 hour difference, but having been on a completely different schedule in terms of meals and sleep has also effected me as I adjust to being home. In Sevilla, I ate dinner between 9 and 10 each night when I returned home from work. I was up till 1 or 2 AM pretty regularly! It's hard to go straight to bed after dinner so I usually stayed up to chat with friends at home or watch tv. I think I do prefer the "horario americano", the Spanish schedule was not bad! I am surprised that I liked it as well as I did because I am not a night owl at all! The diet I ate there was very different from what I eat here but I really enjoyed it for the most part! The Spanish like ham, olives, olive oil, tomatoes, fried eggs, and cheese. They keep it simple! Of course they also have paella and sangria. I did enjoy the Mediterranean diet and have got to try to find some Spanish ham here one of these days!
Apart from physically adjusting to being home, I'm finding myself facing a little bit of culture shock and the realization that I still don't know what type job I want. Spain really is quite different from the US. On my way home, I ordered something for dinner in the airport in Boston. As the guy handed me my food, I immediately said, "gracias" in a Sevillano accent! Now I still find myself having to remember to speak English and not Spanish. There have been a few times when I have just sorta of blubbered because I could not get the right language out! I got really used to just hearing Spanish and mostly just using English to talk to people at home and to teach my Spanish friends.
I went to Spain to find myself in some ways and with the goals in mind of fine-tuning my Spanish skills as well as learning to teach English. I achieved those goals and did learn a lot about myself. Being far away and having to figure everything out for myself was a challenging and growing experience. I now realize just how gutsy I was to go somewhere new where I didn't know a soul and make a life for myself-even if for just 3 months time. After quitting teaching and going through a rough time, I was yearning for an adventure, and adventure I got! There were many times when I went off somewhere on my own, both in Seville and to neighboring towns. Being so independent felt really good and made me feel stronger as a person. It was not easy to just pick up my life in Seattle and leave and there were times when I wanted nothing more than to be home...but most of the time I was grateful to be there and to have the experience of living abroad. I'm proud of myself for going through with it and doing something I was afraid to do.
That's it for now. I find myself enjoying being home but not quite sure what to do with myself! I hope to find a good job soon so I can move into a new apartment and start the next chapter of my life. Thanks to everyone for your support while I was abroad!
Un beso,
Ashley
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The home stretch
Saludos!
So, super long time no write. Sorry about that! There are a few reasons for that: our wi-fi broke twice in the last month or so, and my boyfriend was here for a visit. So I'm finally writing another entry that is long overdue. Life here has been fairly routine as far as my teaching has gone. I'm coming home very soon so have had to talk to my students about that. I'm helping some of them with the process of finding new English teachers.
I'll get to the most exciting part of the last month: Smiley came here to visit me! I can't believe I am lucky enough to have had my boyfriend visit me in Spain! It about killed me waiting for him to arrive, but it was worth it. I went up to Madrid and met him when his flight came in. We spent 2 nights there and saw the city, mostly just hitting the most common sights (El Prado, El Museo Reina Sofia, Parque Retiro...), but we also took a trip to visit the Don Quijote/Cervantes statue. I read El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha in one of my Spanish courses at PLU. I took to referring to him as my "homeboy" and wanted to show the statue to Smiley. DQ is seriously an amazing novel and well worth reading (even in English, though I'm proud to say I read it in Spanish). It is considered to be the first ever novel and was published in 1595 or so.
Ok moving on. After Madrid, we took the bus back to Seville (it's so much easier to tolerate a 6 hr bus ride when your sweetheart is sitting next to you!) and spent time here. We also took a trip to the beach in Cadiz! The weather was plenty hot and we enjoyed being on the beach and relaxing. In Sevilla, we were lucky enough to see a La Liga soccer match! We got to see Sevilla beat Real Sporting 2-1! One of my English students has a carnet (season tickets) and helped us get a free ticket so we only had to pay for one instead of 2 tickets. It was so nice of him to do that for us! Getting to go to a La Liga game together meant a lot to Smiley and I since we are both huge soccer fans and La Liga is like the top of the top in terms of professional soccer (with the exception of the English teams, of course).
I was also able to introduce Smiley to my Spanish friends which was a lot of fun. I ended up translating a bit but I think my friends enjoyed practicing their English! Before we knew it, it was time for Smiley to head home. I did not handle it well :( Let's just say there were tears at the train station when I had to let him go back to Madrid to catch his flight home. I know it's not that long before we'll actually be living in the same city, but it's not easy saying goodbye, especially such a wonderful week together.
So since he's left, I've been pretty homesick. I'm not going to sugar coat it, I kinda fell apart. Living halfway around the world is really hard sometimes. Our wi-fi broke the morning Smiley left so that was kind of a double whammy. I felt very isolated with no way to call or email home unless I went to a place with wi-fi. It got fixed about 5 days later. Anyway, I'm trying to enjoy my time in Spain before I leave because I know it'll be a very long time before I come back. I don't have any major plans for the weekend. I feel like I should travel to a new city but I don't have the motivation to go alone and my friends can't go this weekend. Most likely I'll visit the art museum, catch a movie, Skype with Smiley, my mom, and my cousin Jamie, and hang out with my roommate Raquel and her friends. I like hanging out with Spaniard so I can practice my Spanish. On Friday I am going to a Flamenco show with Carmen and her friend Barbara.
That's about it for now. I'm really looking forward to being home. I'm trying not to dwell on being homesick even though it's been overtaking me lately. As my dad would say, I'm in the home stretch! Returning to Seattle is not so very far off. Be well and I'll see you before too long!
Un beso,
Ashlita
So, super long time no write. Sorry about that! There are a few reasons for that: our wi-fi broke twice in the last month or so, and my boyfriend was here for a visit. So I'm finally writing another entry that is long overdue. Life here has been fairly routine as far as my teaching has gone. I'm coming home very soon so have had to talk to my students about that. I'm helping some of them with the process of finding new English teachers.
I'll get to the most exciting part of the last month: Smiley came here to visit me! I can't believe I am lucky enough to have had my boyfriend visit me in Spain! It about killed me waiting for him to arrive, but it was worth it. I went up to Madrid and met him when his flight came in. We spent 2 nights there and saw the city, mostly just hitting the most common sights (El Prado, El Museo Reina Sofia, Parque Retiro...), but we also took a trip to visit the Don Quijote/Cervantes statue. I read El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha in one of my Spanish courses at PLU. I took to referring to him as my "homeboy" and wanted to show the statue to Smiley. DQ is seriously an amazing novel and well worth reading (even in English, though I'm proud to say I read it in Spanish). It is considered to be the first ever novel and was published in 1595 or so.
Ok moving on. After Madrid, we took the bus back to Seville (it's so much easier to tolerate a 6 hr bus ride when your sweetheart is sitting next to you!) and spent time here. We also took a trip to the beach in Cadiz! The weather was plenty hot and we enjoyed being on the beach and relaxing. In Sevilla, we were lucky enough to see a La Liga soccer match! We got to see Sevilla beat Real Sporting 2-1! One of my English students has a carnet (season tickets) and helped us get a free ticket so we only had to pay for one instead of 2 tickets. It was so nice of him to do that for us! Getting to go to a La Liga game together meant a lot to Smiley and I since we are both huge soccer fans and La Liga is like the top of the top in terms of professional soccer (with the exception of the English teams, of course).
I was also able to introduce Smiley to my Spanish friends which was a lot of fun. I ended up translating a bit but I think my friends enjoyed practicing their English! Before we knew it, it was time for Smiley to head home. I did not handle it well :( Let's just say there were tears at the train station when I had to let him go back to Madrid to catch his flight home. I know it's not that long before we'll actually be living in the same city, but it's not easy saying goodbye, especially such a wonderful week together.
So since he's left, I've been pretty homesick. I'm not going to sugar coat it, I kinda fell apart. Living halfway around the world is really hard sometimes. Our wi-fi broke the morning Smiley left so that was kind of a double whammy. I felt very isolated with no way to call or email home unless I went to a place with wi-fi. It got fixed about 5 days later. Anyway, I'm trying to enjoy my time in Spain before I leave because I know it'll be a very long time before I come back. I don't have any major plans for the weekend. I feel like I should travel to a new city but I don't have the motivation to go alone and my friends can't go this weekend. Most likely I'll visit the art museum, catch a movie, Skype with Smiley, my mom, and my cousin Jamie, and hang out with my roommate Raquel and her friends. I like hanging out with Spaniard so I can practice my Spanish. On Friday I am going to a Flamenco show with Carmen and her friend Barbara.
That's about it for now. I'm really looking forward to being home. I'm trying not to dwell on being homesick even though it's been overtaking me lately. As my dad would say, I'm in the home stretch! Returning to Seattle is not so very far off. Be well and I'll see you before too long!
Un beso,
Ashlita
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Imagine all the evergreens...a NW girl in a land of orange trees.
Buenas,
Long time no write. I've been teaching English and seeing things around Seville and trying to keep myself busy. I do confess that I've been quite homesick lately and haven't quite known what to do with myself. I have been trying to meet new people but don't quite know how exactly. It's not easy being far away from everything you know. I miss my family, boyfriend, and friends. Lucky for me, my boyfriend is coming to visit me in 10 days! I cannot wait!
While this is a lovely city full of history and stories, I really do miss my evergreen state and even the rainy days I am so accustomed to from living in Seattle. The weather here is like summer still. It's over 90 every day and humid to boot. I love seeing the sun, but I'm ready for the cooler weather to kick in. Today I was out in the hottest part of the day and noted a readerboard said it was 37 degrees. 40 degrees Celsius is 100 Fahrenheit, so I'll let you do the math on how hot that makes 37.
I had some fun today wandering around town. My first stop was at the Festival de las Naciones. This festival is going on in a park nearby and there are stands selling food, drinks, and items from nations of the world. I like learning about other cultures so it was fun for me to check it all out. My nose took me to the Mexican food stand. I will go back there in a day or 2 for some good Mexican food, but today I settled on a fizzy orange drink and an empanada Uruguayan style. I also had a cookie flavored with anis...though I have no clue what country it represented. Anyway, it was a fun place to hang out. I plan to bring my boyfriend there.
After the festival, I took a walk through some lovely gardens here and into what used to be a home for old priests. It's now home to works by Velazquez and other famous painters and has a pretty courtyard garden in it too. I never get tired of the beautiful gardens and tile mosaics that are everywhere here!
Not a ton has happened since I last wrote. I've mostly just been teaching and exploring the city. I did go to the beach with my roommates and one of her friends last weekend and that was a lot of fun. I love the beach! Ever since being caught in riptide in Costa Rica, I've had a fear of going out very far in the ocean though, especially when there are many waves. I know that's kind of silly, seeing as I was in Costa Rica 7 years ago (can't believe it's been that long!), but that fear has stuck with me. It was time I learned how big and powerful the ocean is and how small I am. I still love being by the ocean though and breathing in the salty air. I'm heading back to the beach in a few weeks and cannot wait!
I'll write more soon. Hope everyone at home is well. Looks like I'm going to head home a bit earlier than planned. Will keep you posted.
Adios,
Ashley
Long time no write. I've been teaching English and seeing things around Seville and trying to keep myself busy. I do confess that I've been quite homesick lately and haven't quite known what to do with myself. I have been trying to meet new people but don't quite know how exactly. It's not easy being far away from everything you know. I miss my family, boyfriend, and friends. Lucky for me, my boyfriend is coming to visit me in 10 days! I cannot wait!
While this is a lovely city full of history and stories, I really do miss my evergreen state and even the rainy days I am so accustomed to from living in Seattle. The weather here is like summer still. It's over 90 every day and humid to boot. I love seeing the sun, but I'm ready for the cooler weather to kick in. Today I was out in the hottest part of the day and noted a readerboard said it was 37 degrees. 40 degrees Celsius is 100 Fahrenheit, so I'll let you do the math on how hot that makes 37.
I had some fun today wandering around town. My first stop was at the Festival de las Naciones. This festival is going on in a park nearby and there are stands selling food, drinks, and items from nations of the world. I like learning about other cultures so it was fun for me to check it all out. My nose took me to the Mexican food stand. I will go back there in a day or 2 for some good Mexican food, but today I settled on a fizzy orange drink and an empanada Uruguayan style. I also had a cookie flavored with anis...though I have no clue what country it represented. Anyway, it was a fun place to hang out. I plan to bring my boyfriend there.
After the festival, I took a walk through some lovely gardens here and into what used to be a home for old priests. It's now home to works by Velazquez and other famous painters and has a pretty courtyard garden in it too. I never get tired of the beautiful gardens and tile mosaics that are everywhere here!
Not a ton has happened since I last wrote. I've mostly just been teaching and exploring the city. I did go to the beach with my roommates and one of her friends last weekend and that was a lot of fun. I love the beach! Ever since being caught in riptide in Costa Rica, I've had a fear of going out very far in the ocean though, especially when there are many waves. I know that's kind of silly, seeing as I was in Costa Rica 7 years ago (can't believe it's been that long!), but that fear has stuck with me. It was time I learned how big and powerful the ocean is and how small I am. I still love being by the ocean though and breathing in the salty air. I'm heading back to the beach in a few weeks and cannot wait!
I'll write more soon. Hope everyone at home is well. Looks like I'm going to head home a bit earlier than planned. Will keep you posted.
Adios,
Ashley
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
New neighborhood, new students.
Hello everyone,
Se nota que no he escrito en mas de una semana. It's been more than a week since I've written. That's mostly because I had a rough several days and am finally coming out of it...sort of. I feel better now emotionally but physically have not felt too well these past few days. No one wants to read someone else's complaints so I have restrained from venting on my blog...though my facebook statuses have reflected some of my frustrations.
Being far away from everything you know and everyone you love has it's challenges. I mostly have been very happy to be here but the feeling of being lonely and overheated (still over 90 every single day) has been getting to me. I'm tired of being hot and sweaty all the time. I never thought I'd be complaining about being too hot! That from a girl who's cold 90% of the time in Seattle! Also, ever since I moved to the new neighborhood, I've been feeling very isolated from everyone I knew here. In actuality, the new apartment is 3.5 miles from the old casa. However, no one from there has been in touch with me. I'm not sure what to make of it. Probably it's because we're all doing our own thing working or going to class.
Last weekend shall be hereon out known as the weekend of the broken plans. I'll leave it at that. I spent most of the weekend by myself and that is not something I'm used to. I tried making plans to go out but to no avail. So anyway, it was just a frustrating few days. My friend and I did go out for some good food on Sunday after our plans to go the beach didn't work out.
On the plus side, I've added several new students to my schedule this week and that means more money for me to make! I have an adult and several children. I'm excited to work with them and get to know these new families. I've got work every day and it totals up to about 10.5 hours per week. That does not seem like much but it takes lots of time to plans lessons and commute there. For a few jobs, I have to take 2 buses or bike and take a bus. I can walk to some jobs. That means that I'm gone from 3:00 or 4:00 to 9:00 most days. I finally bought a "bono" or bike pass today so I can bike around town. I've also got a metro/bus pass. This is making transportation less costly in terms of money. I've got room for a few more students but mostly my schedule is full. I'm not making a ton of money but it's going to be enough to pay for rent and food.
There's not much else to report. The Andaluz accent is extremely hard to understand. I feel discouraged that I've been here 2 months and still cannot understand it. The accent causes words to be only half spoken and not enunciated at all. The s's are cut off the end of words. It's extremely frustrating to feel like you can't understand anything even though you do in fact speak the language. Everyone says this is the hardest accent and that if you can understand Spanish in Andalucia, you can understand it anywhere. I believe it. There are moments where I feel like people may as well be speaking to me in Chinese because nothing they're saying is registering in my ears.
So anyway, I'm sorry for negativity in this entry but I am due to write again and frankly, it's just not been a good week! I am enjoying having my own room and space again and I like my roommates a lot. I'm still glad to be here and determined to make this work out. I'm seeking out opportunities to make some new friends and trying to remember that sometimes time alone helps you to grow. This weekend I may go to Ronda to check it out. It's a town nearby that my parents visited on their trip last year and that my dad especially liked. Money is tight but it will be worth it to plan something fun.
Keep in touch and let me know how you are doing!
Un beso,
Ashlita
Se nota que no he escrito en mas de una semana. It's been more than a week since I've written. That's mostly because I had a rough several days and am finally coming out of it...sort of. I feel better now emotionally but physically have not felt too well these past few days. No one wants to read someone else's complaints so I have restrained from venting on my blog...though my facebook statuses have reflected some of my frustrations.
Being far away from everything you know and everyone you love has it's challenges. I mostly have been very happy to be here but the feeling of being lonely and overheated (still over 90 every single day) has been getting to me. I'm tired of being hot and sweaty all the time. I never thought I'd be complaining about being too hot! That from a girl who's cold 90% of the time in Seattle! Also, ever since I moved to the new neighborhood, I've been feeling very isolated from everyone I knew here. In actuality, the new apartment is 3.5 miles from the old casa. However, no one from there has been in touch with me. I'm not sure what to make of it. Probably it's because we're all doing our own thing working or going to class.
Last weekend shall be hereon out known as the weekend of the broken plans. I'll leave it at that. I spent most of the weekend by myself and that is not something I'm used to. I tried making plans to go out but to no avail. So anyway, it was just a frustrating few days. My friend and I did go out for some good food on Sunday after our plans to go the beach didn't work out.
On the plus side, I've added several new students to my schedule this week and that means more money for me to make! I have an adult and several children. I'm excited to work with them and get to know these new families. I've got work every day and it totals up to about 10.5 hours per week. That does not seem like much but it takes lots of time to plans lessons and commute there. For a few jobs, I have to take 2 buses or bike and take a bus. I can walk to some jobs. That means that I'm gone from 3:00 or 4:00 to 9:00 most days. I finally bought a "bono" or bike pass today so I can bike around town. I've also got a metro/bus pass. This is making transportation less costly in terms of money. I've got room for a few more students but mostly my schedule is full. I'm not making a ton of money but it's going to be enough to pay for rent and food.
There's not much else to report. The Andaluz accent is extremely hard to understand. I feel discouraged that I've been here 2 months and still cannot understand it. The accent causes words to be only half spoken and not enunciated at all. The s's are cut off the end of words. It's extremely frustrating to feel like you can't understand anything even though you do in fact speak the language. Everyone says this is the hardest accent and that if you can understand Spanish in Andalucia, you can understand it anywhere. I believe it. There are moments where I feel like people may as well be speaking to me in Chinese because nothing they're saying is registering in my ears.
So anyway, I'm sorry for negativity in this entry but I am due to write again and frankly, it's just not been a good week! I am enjoying having my own room and space again and I like my roommates a lot. I'm still glad to be here and determined to make this work out. I'm seeking out opportunities to make some new friends and trying to remember that sometimes time alone helps you to grow. This weekend I may go to Ronda to check it out. It's a town nearby that my parents visited on their trip last year and that my dad especially liked. Money is tight but it will be worth it to plan something fun.
Keep in touch and let me know how you are doing!
Un beso,
Ashlita
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Moving day and the job search continues...
Saludos!
I hope you're all doing well and enjoying what I'm told is an Indian summer back home. Summer is still in full swing here for the most part. Yes, kids are heading back to school, but let me tell you, it doesn't feel like summer has ended to me. It's got to be about 90 outside most days. You sweat like mad just walking a few blocks because it's been more humid lately...or maybe it just feels more humid. I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it cooling off to about 75 or 80. This Seattlegirl is not used to hot weather!
Anyway, today is moving day! The aforementioned apartment (in my last entry) did not work out mostly because of timing and me finding a cheaper place. I met up with a friend here for intercambio (if I haven't explained yet it's Spanish/English conversation practice) and we got to talking about my apartment search. He has a friend here who's been looking for a 3rd girl for their apartment. I got in touch with her and checked out the flat. There are 2 girls living there already who are Irish and Spanish. The Spanish girl wants to learn English and I of course want to learn Spanish, so that already seemed kinda perfect. The girl from Ireland speaks both fluently. So the girls seemed nice, the flat was fine, and the price was great, so I said I'd move in if they wanted me. So, tonite I'm heading over. It's across town by the train station. I'll miss Rosa and Carlo's cooking and being around friends a lot, but I'm really looking forward to my own space again. Also, I'm excited to get to know my new roommates. Both are about my age +/- a few years and I think we'll get along well. New friends? I expect so!
I've been making progress in lining up students and expect to meet with a family tonight and another tomorrow. The next several nights I have meetings and then hopefully will get a schedule mapped out for giving private lessons. Once that's done I can get into a bit of a routine. I do start work with a new family tomorrow night. I met them last week and look forward to getting to know them better. The initial meeting was kinda of awkward, but they seem nice and it should work out fine.
Last weekend I went out for tapas with my friend Alfonso and some girls he's friends with. He's the one who connected me with the girls I'm going to move in with. On Sunday, I went to the yoghurteria (frozen yoghurt shop) with Carmen and her friend Barbara. It was great to meet a new girl to hang out with! I love hanging out with Spanish friends because it forces me to work on my Spanish! Plus, they're all really nice about helping me when I get stuck.
So my current plan is to be here until early Dec or end of Nov. We'll see. The apartment I'm moving to is available until the end of Nov. We have to be out Dec 1. I think airfare will cost a fortune later in Dec anyway so leaving then will be ok with me. I've looked and it's half the price to fly home Dec 8 then like Dec 15th! I'll buy a ticket later, but that's the plan.
That's it for now. These entries always get super long because I forget to write often enough. Keep me posted on what's going on in your life :-)
Un beso,
Ashlita
I hope you're all doing well and enjoying what I'm told is an Indian summer back home. Summer is still in full swing here for the most part. Yes, kids are heading back to school, but let me tell you, it doesn't feel like summer has ended to me. It's got to be about 90 outside most days. You sweat like mad just walking a few blocks because it's been more humid lately...or maybe it just feels more humid. I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it cooling off to about 75 or 80. This Seattlegirl is not used to hot weather!
Anyway, today is moving day! The aforementioned apartment (in my last entry) did not work out mostly because of timing and me finding a cheaper place. I met up with a friend here for intercambio (if I haven't explained yet it's Spanish/English conversation practice) and we got to talking about my apartment search. He has a friend here who's been looking for a 3rd girl for their apartment. I got in touch with her and checked out the flat. There are 2 girls living there already who are Irish and Spanish. The Spanish girl wants to learn English and I of course want to learn Spanish, so that already seemed kinda perfect. The girl from Ireland speaks both fluently. So the girls seemed nice, the flat was fine, and the price was great, so I said I'd move in if they wanted me. So, tonite I'm heading over. It's across town by the train station. I'll miss Rosa and Carlo's cooking and being around friends a lot, but I'm really looking forward to my own space again. Also, I'm excited to get to know my new roommates. Both are about my age +/- a few years and I think we'll get along well. New friends? I expect so!
I've been making progress in lining up students and expect to meet with a family tonight and another tomorrow. The next several nights I have meetings and then hopefully will get a schedule mapped out for giving private lessons. Once that's done I can get into a bit of a routine. I do start work with a new family tomorrow night. I met them last week and look forward to getting to know them better. The initial meeting was kinda of awkward, but they seem nice and it should work out fine.
Last weekend I went out for tapas with my friend Alfonso and some girls he's friends with. He's the one who connected me with the girls I'm going to move in with. On Sunday, I went to the yoghurteria (frozen yoghurt shop) with Carmen and her friend Barbara. It was great to meet a new girl to hang out with! I love hanging out with Spanish friends because it forces me to work on my Spanish! Plus, they're all really nice about helping me when I get stuck.
That's it for now. These entries always get super long because I forget to write often enough. Keep me posted on what's going on in your life :-)
Un beso,
Ashlita
Monday, September 5, 2011
Meeting new people is fun!
Hey!
So the theme of the past week has been meeting new people (as this entry's title would presume). I am still at Rosa and Carlo's house and am enjoying meeting the new TEFL "kids". I have 2 new roommates (my previous roommate is back in England now :( ). So, Rimante is from Lithuania and Mayhelen is from Norway. It's amazing how well Europeans from so many countries are bilingual at such a young age. Both girls speak perfect English. On Sunday, Rimante and I went out exploring the city and saw a different part of town than where I usually go. Mayhelen came last night as well as a new guy from England. A bunch of us went out for drinks last night and had a good time comparing cultures, languages, etc. A part of this experience that I find I am really enjoying is meeting new people from all over.
On another note, I am receiving many responses to my adds offering English lessons. I can't remember if I already blogged about this or not, but basically, they have several sites here that are like Craig's list. I have placed adds on these sites to try and find students. So far I've responded to many adds and probably have 2 that seem quite likely to work out. Many people have responded but then when I reply to their emails, they don't respond. I'm trying to figure out the best way of replying to their emails.
Also, Rosa is helping me find some work because her nephew and his friend need a new English teacher. So that's likely to work out as well. I'd work with each boy for an hour or 2 per week. In addition to that, she is friends with a family who has young children and would like someone to work with their kids in English. Hopefully some of these leads will work out. I am starting to miss not being busy! During the TEFL class I was busy, busy, busy all the time. Now that I've had a week off, I'm starting to get slightly bored. Hanging out with new people is certainly helping with that, but on days like today when I have nothing planned, I feel a bit lost.
As much as I like Rosa and Carlo and could see myself staying in this house, I am interested in finding my own room in an apartment somewhere and sort of having my own place. It was awkward telling Rosa this since she's been so nice and is helping me to find some work. However, she asked me about when my bf was coming...and that lead me to tell her. Dawn, my TEFL teacher, emailed us girls about an apartment opening up and I contacted the girl in charge of it. Yesterday, she met me near my place (the new apartment is close by) and we went to check it out. She'd be one of my roommates and is the niece of the woman who owns the flat. The rooms are rented out to people like me and a single room is available on Sept 19th. After considering the price and talking it over with a few people, it seems like a good fit for me. We shall see if it works out. I've sent an email saying that I'd like the room.
That is it for now. I'm off to walk down to the Plaza de Espana. It's apparently really gorgeous and I have yet to see it. If it's as amazing as I'm told, it will go on the list of stuff to do when my bf comes next month!
Cuidense mucho! Take care everyone!
Ashley
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