Teaching English abroad? Let me guess – you’ve never taught a classroom full of rambunctious teenagers before. Scared yet? Don’t be! When I began my assignment as a Language and Culture Assistant in Córdoba, Spain, I had virtually no teaching experience. The first few months were tough, but with some patience, humor, and the endless online…
Category: auxiliar de conversación
That Damn Rusty Lock: A Story of Personal Growth
This is the door that leads to the rooftop of my old apartment building. See that rusty lock there? It was the bane of my existence. It’s safe to say that I was incapable of opening this door. No matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t get it. I would yell, kick the door, and…
A Letter to my School upon my Departure
Dear IES Profesor Tierno Galván, My departure has gotten me all emotional and reflective and I thought it was appropriate for me to write you a letter. So here goes. There are a million things that I could say about this school, but the one that seems the most important is: thank you. Thank you…
How to Live in Spain…and only work 12 hours a week.
Maybe you’ve been reading my blog and thinking, huh, that looks like fun. Well I’m here to tell you: You could do it too! I am currently living and working in Spain thanks to the Language and Culture Assistants Program, also known as Auxiliares de Conversación norteamericanos. This is a program sponsored by the Ministry of…
¿Truco o trato?
If there’s one thing us Americans know how to do, it’s Halloween. This holiday (yes, we can definitely call it that) has always been a big tradition in my family. As for me, I was that girl who continued to trick or treat until she was a senior in high school. We got quite a…
Clouds on the Ground
Let’s just get one thing straight—my job is not what I’d call easy. While it’s not all olé olé caracoles, let us all cut out paper dolls holding hands and paint American flags while singing authentic folk songs; it’s not exactly brain surgery either, but it is most definitely not simple. Now, before you roll…
The House of Three Languages
You may as well call us the Tower of Babel, because at any given moment, there are at least three languages thriving in my apartment. Spanish, Italian, English; and sometimes all three mixed together in what we like to call Monicasolani, thusly named for its main employer, my roommate. I am the only North American…
¡Que tengas un día delicioso!
For reasons that remain a mystery to me, when I opened the red breakfast box, I burst out laughing. The joyful caption read: Have a delicious day! It could have been the fact that I had, of course, not slept a wink on my 7 hour flight, or perhaps the fact that included in my typical…
The Final Countdown… or How Many Clichés can I Fit into One Post
“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever on the road.” Nothing like a cliché Jack Kerouac quote to get any journey started, am I right? But in all seriousness, this is a great line, capturing the excitement, uncertainty and strange peace that comes with a life of travel. It’s hard to believe…
The Empress of the Universe 