Things I Love About: Spain

Normally lists have a number applied to them, but this list is open-ended, so I'm not going to put a number on it. Maybe after I move out of Spain, but even then I'm sure when I'm not living here I'll think of things that I love[d] about the country, and add them on when I please. First I'll give you a bit of history...

I first moved to Spain in 2009, and lived and studied abroad in Getxo/Bilbao (Pais Vasco) in the north. It blew my mind to see that there were other ways of living, eating and being, and really expanded my mentality and desires for the future. I knew as soon as I was packing up to go back home, that someday I'd move back. I didn't know how, I didn't know when, but I did know. Skip forward three and a half years, some grammatical differences, and here we are, I'm back! This time, I moved to the south (Andalucia), to the magical, amazing city of Sevilla. I'm currently writing this from my couch in Sevilla, where I've been living and teaching since January of 2013 (in Sevilla, not on my couch...). And, I am going to be staying another school year...I think.

So, in the course of the 2+ years I've spent living in this great country, I've definitely had time to notice some things. These are some of the things that have caused me to fall in love with this country:

• Life seems to move at a slower pace. If you are walking around, chances are you're going to be thinking, "Why in the heck are they walking soooo sloooowwwlllyyy?" And then suddenly the person in front of you will stop (perhaps outside a ground-level apartment window) and just start chatting, as if nothing else is going on. I gather that the point of life isn't so much to race around, make money, and get on to the next thing, but instead, it's about spending good, quality time, with people you enjoy and love. And that, I LOVE.
• That it's perfectly acceptable to eat lunch at three in the afternoon, or dinner at eleven at night. These times aren't going to blow anyone's mind, but if you try to have lunch at noon, well, they might not even have the kitchen ready for that kind of thing yet. (This one is a double-edged sword, since I'm not such a fan of 10pm dinners.)
• I love that the aforementioned lunches aren't considered abnormal if they last for more than an hour, two hours, three hours. It is so incredible to pass two hours at one meal with people. Laughing, eating, enjoying life, and very importantly, the food.
• THE COLORS. Oh my GOSH the colors in Spain are amazing! Well, it's different in the north and south, but here in the south, there are beautifully ceramic tile walls all over, potted flowers on most balconies, orange trees lining the streets, and brightness everywhere you go. So. many. flowers!!!! Definitely can be attributed to so much sun, which is another thing I love about southern Spain.
• Seeing little hoards of tiny, tiny, tiiiny (short) old ladies walking around chatting. It's so obvious and cute that they've probably all been neighbors and best friends their entire lives, and it's so cute when they're either holding each other, or holding their canes, and just shuffling along down the street hanging out. Perhaps I find this so intriguing because I'm not sure if my gypsy-traveler self will have this kind of experience in my life, as I don't really stay in places too long.
• Pretty similar to above, but I love so much seeing someone hanging out outside their friends apartment window. I sometimes wonder why they don't just go inside, but then think, it's so sensible the way they're doing it. Also, one person being in the street, yelling/conversing up to a higher level with whoever they happen to know inside. Kind of like the couple times I would call my family in the living room, from my bedroom, because I knew it was just as effective as physically shortening the distance.
• That because people tend to live in flats and not houses, they spend A LOT of time in the streets, the plazas, the squares, and at the bars. As someone once told me upon arriving to Sevilla, "Nosotros vivimos en la puta calle." Translation: We live in the f-ing street. I love, love, love how much life there seems to be here, because everyone is living in the effing streets. The outside tables at tapas bars are always full (crisis, what??), and any plaza/square there is, is usually to be seen featuring gossipers, children playing, and hanging out. It adds an energy to Sevilla that I have yet to feel and find anywhere else.
• The fact people have beer whenever they feel like it, and no one says anything, or makes a "what are you thinking" face. Many of my workmates will have a beer at the bar across the street if we have an hour w/o class, then return to teaching. Most of the time, they have two. In the States, if someone saw a teacher having a couple beers between classes, they would probably be investigated and fired. Granted, the beer down here is very low % and watery, but still...

As I said, this list will continue to grow, but for now, these are the things that jump into my mind. I feel like I'm selling it a bit short, but, well, that's what there is for now. :)

Come to Spain anytime, and ask me any questions you have, whenever you want! I'm not an index, but I think I can give you some solid suggestions! 

Blessings, Love & Light all!

Opportunities Always Knock

Growing up and entering the job market usually means hearing something about "opportunities knocking on the door" at least a couple times. We have it in our heads that when an appealing opportunity comes knocking, we should jump on it, because it probably won't be coming around again, and maybe no others will either. But I am here to debunk that one, because for one, I've never agreed, and two, now that I have long since made the choice to say, "actually, I think it will, and if not, I'll make it," and follow my dreams, I have figured out that it will if I approach it and/or want it to! I've also come to figure out that other, probably more perfect opportunities will come knocking, that will be developed by the experiences, growth, and knowledge you gain through shutting some doors, while deciding to walk through others.

When I was trying to decide if I would accept my placement to come to Spain as a language and culture assistant, I was working in Burbank/Los Angeles for the Disney/ABC Television Group (DATG); a Fortune 100 company, a highly sought-after employer, and one of the best known names around the world, synonymous with entertainment and Mickey Mouse. I had a job in a company that people could only dream of working for, and was making connections with high-level executives, directors, managers, and people across the boards. I was in a very blessed position, and on a path that many hope to find themselves on in life. I was going to red carpet events, premieres, press junkets, seeing Hollywood stars, in charge of the weekly employee electronic newspaper that's sent to thousands of people, helping with events and payment of major checks, and in one of the highest grossing industries on the planet, with one of the top companies in that industry.

Now, as much as it could seem like it, I'm not saying these things to be vain or brag. I'm saying them to paint a picture for you, so you realize what I "gave up" when I decided to stop looking for a new role in the company, and instead move to Spain, to a city where I knew no one, and a country where I could barely communicate, to make just 700€ a month, as an assistant teacher, in a high school. For these, and select other reasons, it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life to-date.

I talked to various people in my family when I found out I had been accepted, and one of the things that a lot of people reminded me of was that I currently was in a very blessed position; a position and shot that most people would kill for, and it would be wise to consider if it would be worth it to give it up just for one year abroad, in hopes of whatever growth and satisfaction I was after. (I don't think they really realized I wasn't just thinking of leaving the country for a year, but that it would be the year that would begin years of living abroad and travel.) I still remember being told that the position I was currently in wasn't an easy one to get into, and that the kinds of opportunities that were in front of me at the time, weren't the kind that would wait for me to get back. They were the kind that get passed off to the next qualified and wanting person, and would likely not end up on my doorstep again in the future. I was told that by the time I came back, things would have probably changed too much, I'd likely be too far behind the game by then, and I probably wouldn't be a good candidate for hire. And of course, I was told that it wasn't very realistic (any/all of it).

As a 23-year old recent college grad who didn't really know what she wanted to do with her life, hearing things like that definitely made me stop, and gave me something to consider. I didn't really believe anything that they said, what with my head being so hard and my will so strong, but considering that I was young and new, and they were "old" and experienced, I figured it was advice worth thinking about.

In the end, I decided that while opportunities like those don't wait on the doorstep, but instead move onto the next one, it wouldn't be the end of opportunities for me. And, clearly I made the choice to come, since I'm writing this from Sevilla, Spain, where I was placed in in October of 2012, and have been living and working since January of 2013. 

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I applied for a third year, have been assigned a different school in a different city for the coming year, and possibly going to accept the placement? Or that if I don't accept this placement and go, the other ideas I'm flirting with are:

1. Stay in Sevilla and just work in the academy again
2. Go to Lima, Peru to teach
3. Go to Hawaii to WWOOF (work on organic farms and connect with natural healers)
4. Anything else that comes to me in the next 3.5 weeks before I leave for Cali (a new idea, usually that involves a new continent, seems to find its way into my mind each week)

I know a lot of people who want to travel, want to change their lives, try something new, and move to a new place, but don't because they realize how blessed their current position is, and are fearful of not being able to regain any ground they "lose" while they're abroad or trying something different. But if there's anything I've learned while I've been abroad, it's been that so many people make the big choice to drop everything and move away. It's not as uncommon as society makes it out to be. And, even more, those people, if they do decide to return to a life similar to the one they had before, they don't find it hard to integrate and get into a role that's just as good (or better) as where they were before. 

There is absolutely no way to know what will happen in the future. We'll never know what we'll win, lose, miss, gain, have, find, or fail. But there's one thing that's for sure, if there's something you want to do and try, JUST DO IT! You'll never know what reward
s will come if you don't give it a shot! And as a quote I once read goes, "Stop thinking of what could go wrong, and think of what could go right."

Get out there and live your life the way you want, the way that makes you happy! There's only one of them you get to live, and time is finite. Don't waste it on unhappiness and dreams that are never pursued! GO LIVE BIG!

Sending charged up energy of determination and drive your way! Passing you all the power you need to do anything that faces you on this day and those to come! And hoping that you take a big chance and leap towards the life you dream of! 

Blessings, Love & MAJOR Light to all!! 

<3

Gosh Dang It, Greed Got Me!

As I step up to the slate, I bring some heavy emotions with me. I found out a couple weeks ago about my new placement for the coming year (auxiliary program), and I've been placed in a high school (joy) in Ecija. It's a town that has a population of 40,000 people, and it's 80km from Sevilla. So, pretty much...I screwed myself. I wanted to change schools, leaving behind my amazing situation in the high school I currently work in, in hopes of being placed somewhere in Sevilla's city center. I wanted to leave the world of assisting in high schools, and try life out in a primary school. I wanted to stay in Sevilla because I love it, and I have an academy job here, so the potential for me to save money is huge. This would have enabled me to pull doubles one more year, and then be free to go explore and do volunteer work without being concerned with when my next check was coming in. I was being greedy, and thinking about money, instead of thinking about what's important: my happiness and being grateful for what I already have. But every time I thought about what I wanted, I would think "Sevilla," but also think, "somewhere new," I would doubt if staying another year was really what I wanted, sending out a mixed signal to the Universe, and now, I'm still in Sevilla the province, but I'm not in Sevilla the city. I'm in Sevilla, but I'm not. Just like I thought for.

>> FACEPALM<<

When I looked on a map at where Ecija is, my heart immediately sunk and my first words were, "I'm not going." According to Google maps, it's in the middle of nowhere, and after my brief trip to see the town today, I can verify that it in fact is literally in the middle of nowhere. The nearest cities are Cordoba (50km) and Sevilla. It's between two amazing places, but not near enough that I could live in either. Meaning, I would have to live there, and see my students all. the. time. Which might not sound so bad, and may not be, but I just prefer to keep my work life separate from my "regular" life. Not because I am getting drunk on the weekends and don't want to run into a student or their parents, that's not the case at all. I just would like to be able to go to the fruit shop or grocery store without running into my workweek while I'm there.

I should probably give Ecija a little more credit though. If I hadn't been walking through the narrow cobblestone streets thinking about how I would be "leaving Sevilla for this," I would have been walking around and been so charmed by the place, commenting on how great it would be to live in a place like that for a while. But since I was thinking about having to live there for nine months, I was having a hard time mustering my usual excitement. There were still moments when I would stop and look at something, see beauty and feel the charm the town has, but then Sevilla would come back to my mind, and I'd just walk away. It didn't help that I had a serious caffeine hangover (deficit and headache) while I was there, so I wasn't in the highest of spirits.

I realize now just how spoiled and lucky I've been to have been placed in a place that's so close to Sevilla I can live in it, and wonder if I could ever really find myself satisfied living anywhere in Andalucia that's not Sevilla and doesn't have a beach/sea or ocean access. And as I sit here in La Alameda in Sevilla, looking at all the people enjoying coffees, copas (mixed drinks), beers and friends in the breeze, listening to a group of people who brought a guitar, and are playing Sevillanas (a type of music), singing, and providing impromptu entertainment for all of us here at the bar in the plaza, I see that the magic that Sevilla has, that I haven't experienced anywhere else I've ever been, and never been able to really put a finger on, is that it is so, so alive. And while I consider myself so overly blessed for having been able to live here for the last year and a half, I also know I probably would never be ready to leave this place, and therefore should just go when I have to.

Holy crap I'm going to miss this place... :-(

When I was putting in my application for a renewal in the program, I thought that I should change regions so I could give another part of Spain a chance, but was too caught up thinking about the fact I already have a second job here, and if I switched to a new place, would have to hope to find another one. (I want to have two jobs for one more year so I can earn a lot of money, so I can save a lot of money, so starting in the summer of 2015, I can begin a "one year" [open-ended, or "till the money runs dry"] trip through Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Central America, exploring, and doing various types of volunteer work all along the way. Essentially, I want to save up so I can really start living a life that centers around my passions.) This caused me not to change regions, but to try and switch centers. But, we don't have control of where they put us, and no matter how much good energy and support I put into my note on the application, asking to please stay in Sevilla and not be in a high school, it's always going to be up to them. In simple terms: I was being greedy, thinking in terms of euros, padding my bank account "quickly and easily" (not so quickly, really, nine months, nor so easily, really, teaching two jobs), and have found myself instead out of Sevilla, and still in a high school. I guess in a way it's comical. But the bottom line remains the same: Greed ain't good!!

I'm going with God on this one. I am going to apply for jobs in academies in Ecija, and see what happens. If I don't get one, I am most likely not going to move there. Instead I will stay here in Sevilla and keep my one job in the academy, and not save so much money, or I will go teach in Peru, or I will go to Hawaii and WWOOF (work on organic farms). They're all good options really, as none involve a cubicle, but the one I really wanted isn't on the list, and that's never easy to accept. Everything happens for a reason, and I know that there is always a blessing to be found. Those are the thoughts I am choosing to embrace, and that is the reality I will know.

Never forget the power of the mind! Never forget that "what you resist, persists," or that you can select the thoughts you allow to hang out in your head. These will affect and transform everything around you, and the Universe in general. And if you're having a hard time keeping them happy, have a coffee, and get back on track! (Whatever your fix is, mine just happens to be a coffee! If 11:30 hits and I haven't had one, all hope is lost until I do.... it's something I'm trying to work on:)

All is well, all is right, all is beautiful. Breath and Be!

Blessings, Love & Light to you sweet souls!

May you encounter only goodness in your life, and be grateful for those not-so-sunny things that find their way into your path!