Author: Amie

It’s Christmas! Why Stress?

I have always loved Christmas.

I have always loved everything about Christmas. Even with all of the commercialism, I still feel that there is a certain magic in the air during this time of year. I love the endless amount of Christmas music that can be heard from virtually any retail establishment or restaurant, and I adore the constant twinkling of lights and decor that beckons when one steps outside their front door.

I’ve heard people say that Christmas is all about commercialism now, or that it is only for the kids. I have to disagree with both of these statements.

Waiting for Santa

 While Christmas is a magical time for children who wait up anxiously hoping to hear the sound of reindeer on the rooftop, it doesn’t mean that the magic dies if and when you find out that your parents had a hand in setting out the “Santa” toys. Okay, I confess. There is still a part of me that has that twinge of hope that Santa will stop my house every Christmas Eve. Yeah, don’t judge me. At least I’m honest. 😉 It’s that magical time on Christmas Eve night, when everything is strangely serene and quiet. I walk outside, breathe in the cold, December air and remember the magic.

Don’t sweat it!

Commercialism definitely exists, but it is how we choose to handle it that makes all the difference. I decided several years ago that I wasn’t going to stress about Christmas because I wanted to enjoy the holiday with my children. If that means that friends and relatives in different states don’t get cards or gifts until after Christmas, then so be it. My sanity is more important than stressing about the postal service delivering or not delivering items on time. If I have the time and the funds to send something, I send it. If I have time to bake dozens of cookies for a party one year, then I will. If not, I assure you that this will not be the cause of the apocalypse. 

A few quick tips

If you find yourself getting stressed due to the crowds, or because you haven’t yet mailed that gift, stop and take a deep breath. It will be okay. Most likely your relative will forgive you for getting the gift to them a bit late. If not, isn’t that their problem, and not yours? I mean come on. Unless it is much-needed oxygen or medication, I’m sure they can live without that sweater for a few more days.

If you choose to drive yourself crazy and HAVE to get everything done because that is how you operate, that is fine too. However, instead of getting frustrated, try to make a game of it and relish in the reason you’re doing it in the first place. ENJOY the Christmas decor and music, and laugh at how crazy the crowds are. Believe me, that can be fun!

Most importantly, remember to enjoy this time with family and friends.

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Holiday however you celebrate!

What Happens If You Get Sick in Madrid?

Being sick is never fun. If you happen to fall ill while in another country, and don’t speak the language that well, it can be a little frightening.

Typically, I am a very healthy person who hardly ever gets sick. Yes, I’m the person who rarely gets antibiotics or even goes to the doctor. Although I knew I would have health insurance coverage through BEDA, I never actually thought I would need to use it.

Getting Sick in Madrid

It happened. I could feel the tightening of my throat, and although it was uncomfortable I can generally fight through a small sniffle or cold. This occurred on a Friday, and by the end of the day I felt completely awful and barely had a voice to teach. Since I have insurance I tried to get a same day appointment to see the doctor on Friday, but was unable to get one. I was told that I could get in if I called back on Monday.

By Saturday morning, I couldn’t even make simple sounds with my voice, and on top of that I felt even worse than I had felt the day before. The idea of waiting for an appointment was something I wasn’t looking forward to.  I googled what types of medicines one should purchase from the Farmacia in Spain, and found a few options. I picked up a couple of things including Ibuprofen, and hoped for the best. By Sunday I was still feeling terrible and there was no sign of getting my speaking voice back. My landlady needed to stop by to check out something going on in the apartment next door, and I really wasn’t in the mood for visitors. However, she ended up being my angel that day!

“Oh my goodness, you sound awful,” she said. I tried to agree with her using my minimal speaking voice, and that is when she asked if I had gone to the doctor yet. She said that waiting for an appointment was ridiculous. After calling the number on the back of my insurance card and waiting a few minutes, she had gotten me a home visit for that day from a doctor. Wow!

Doctor House Calls

I have to admit that although I was feeling horrible, it was kind of cool having a doctor come to our apartment with his little black bag and stethoscope. Scarlett said it was like something out of “Downton Abbey.” He prescribed antibiotics and told me to get three more days of rest without going to work. He didn’t speak that much English, but we communicated and he understood what was going on.

Using the Insurance Card and the Price of Medicine

It was so easy to use my insurance card and I didn’t even have a co-pay! One of the best parts was that I purchased antibiotics and the Spanish version of Tylenol for about 8 Euros. Since medicine isn’t covered through insurance, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When the pharmacist or “chemist” said 8 Euros, I was astounded! I’ll take it!

Spain is known for having a good health care system but I was having doubts when I couldn’t get an appointment on Friday. It ended up working out for the best though. Hopefully I won’t need to visit with a doctor again while in Spain, but if I do at least I know I have a few options.

 

How to Embrace the Holidays While Living Abroad

Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I love virtually everything about it.

I love the constant holiday music that can be heard at most retailers, and the vast array of decorations and lights that can be seen as soon as you step out on your front door and into your car. I never seem to tire of it. As soon as Thanksgiving day arrives, this marks the beginning of the Christmas season for me and my family. Some years we put the tree up Thanksgiving night, but we always aim to have our decorations put up by December 1st. This has been my experience pretty much every year except for this one.

Christmas in a different culture

I knew that the traditions would be different while abroad, but I wasn’t expecting to miss the Christmas traditions in America as much as I have these past few days. After all, I wanted to experience the different cultures of Europe, and get away from some of the commercialism that has taken hold of Christmas.

What can you do to get in the Christmas spirit when living overseas?

In order to combat some of those homesick feelings for Christmas, Scarlett and I decided to visit one of the famous Christmas markets in Madrid at Plaza de Mayor.

As you can see, the market opened a couple of days prior to the advertised November 27th date. There were already several people looking around at the Christmas ornaments, nativity scenes, and array of Christmas hats and gag gifts that were for sale in the red Christmas themed shops that have been set up for the season.

   

Watching favorite Christmas movies

Another way we have tried to keep our traditions somewhat normal is by watching a couple of Christmas favorites on Netflix and Amazon. Isn’t technology great?

 

The best thing to do is to embrace the experience and opportunity you have and immerse yourself in a wonderful new experience of colors, language and food. 

Aside from maintaining a certain familiarity with your normal traditions, venturing out to see how other cultures experience the holiday season is the best way to get involved. It is easy to get sucked into the gloom of being homesick and apart from what you are normally accustomed to, especially during the holidays. The best thing to do is to embrace the experience and opportunity that you have and immerse yourself in a wonderful new experience of colors, language and food. Tis the season!

Christmas lights on the streets of Madrid, Spain

 

 

 

 

How We Get Around In Madrid

Before we left the United States to come to Madrid, I can’t tell you how many people asked me what I was going to do with my van, and if I was going to either rent or purchase a vehicle when we arrive in Spain.

The short answer to this question is that my middle son is currently driving/taking care of my van (at least I hope he is taking care of it), and we of course are not renting or purchasing a vehicle. Since Europe is notorious for their fabulous public transportation system, I knew that we would be utilizing this form of transport in Madrid.

Taxis and Uber: I have only taken a taxi once so far since our arrival in Madrid, and that was from the airport. I downloaded the Uber app (no, I had never used Uber in the states) when I wanted a slightly less expensive option of transportation after we left our AirBnb for our apartment. I didn’t want to take the Metro when we had heavy bags with us, and at this time I was still fairly green when trying to get around the city.

The Metro: We are on the Metro almost two hours a day five days a week with our commute to work and school. This has taken some getting used to, but for the most part it is the cheapest and most convenient way to travel around Madrid if you don’t have a personal vehicle.

There are mornings when I get fairly aggravated with taking the Metro everyday. The morning rush hour is typically the worst. During the morning rush hour, we are literally bumping into strangers and getting bumped into while trying to find a post to grab onto. Since I typically like my space, this caused me some slight anxiety at first. I figured I needed to just suck it up and deal, and that is what I do. 🙂 It is almost impossible to get a seat in the morning for the first seven stops. After we switch trains, we can usually find a seat because this particular train isn’t usually as crowded for some reason. You take the good with the bad, and there are times when the Metro can even be fun!

                             

Public Transport Card (Abono): Scarlett and I were able to get a public transport card or Abono, for the Metro. The process for getting the card was fairly simple. I went to the website and made an appointment at the nearest Metro station that offers this service. We had to bring a copy of our passports plus the original. They asked a few questions, and we were on our way. Scarlett’s card is only 20 Euros a month, and mine is about 54 Euros a month since I am over the age of 26. I suppose 74 Euros a month isn’t that bad for transportation fees. I usually paid more than that for gas in the United States, and that didn’t include any maintenance on the vehicle.

Buses: There is also the option to take the bus, and the public transportation card can be used for this as well. We haven’t taken the bus yet, but I have spoken to people who like the bus better. We may try the bus one of these days, but at the moment we have our route down and it is working for us.

                          

Walking: We definitely walk more here in Madrid compared to when we were in America. Personally, I think this is a wonderful thing. When we get off of a stop, we typically have to walk anywhere from five to ten minutes to reach the final destination.  Of course there are times when we opt to take the “scenic route” and skip the train altogether!

       

Do I Miss Driving?: Yes! We have been here for two and a half months, and this is the longest I have gone without driving in a very long time! I don’t miss sitting in rush hour traffic, but I do miss driving. In fact, that is one of the main things I miss about the U.S. However, I think that the Metro is a very efficient way to travel, and I think that it would be worthwhile for most metropolitan cities in the U.S. to implement such a system.

 

 

 

Keeping Up With Your Favorite TV Shows While Abroad!

One of the thrills of traveling overseas is immersing yourself in a completely different culture. However, there are times when you just want to curl up on the couch or in bed and watch a familiar television series from home.

Before we left, I purchased a VPN called Ipvanish for 10 dollars a month, but discontinued it after only being in Madrid for two weeks. The main reason for discontinuing my VPN subscription was because it didn’t always work. There were several times in the first two weeks when I would try to log into my Netflix account using a U.S. server that the VPN had provided, only to receive a lovely message stating that “It looks as though you are using a proxy server to view this program. Please correct this in order to continue viewing this particular program.” This was beyond frustrating, but luckily Netflix in Madrid has several television shows and movies to choose from. While I may not be able to get my dose of “The Office” humor every now and then, I am still able to enjoy “The Gilmore Girls,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Modern Family,” “Stranger Things,”and several others.  I use the same Netflix login I use in America. The difference is that the internet server tracks the location as Madrid and we have a different line up of shows in our queue.

I’m unsure why there are different shows available to stream in Madrid, but we have become accustomed to it. The American shows and movies that are available are all in English. “Zootopia” is available, and it is in English, but the title is changed to “Zootropolis.” There are a few small differences that we noticed while watching it in Spain such as the printing on the mayor’s coffee mug. In America it is in English, and the print is in Spanish here in Madrid. I found that interesting especially since the dialogue is still in English. 🙂

Here are two photos to show the differences in the coffee mugs in the movie “Zootopia.” The English text is from a YouTube clip, and the Spanish text is from my Netflix account here in Madrid. 

                                                                      

These differences are so interesting to me because both movies are shown in English, but they have these subtle differences. You have to admit, this is kind of cool!

I am a member of Amazon Prime, and although I am unable to stream the free Prime television shows that are offered due to my “geographical location,” I am able to purchase episodes of television shows that are currently airing in America. I also have the option to purchase the full series should I choose to do so.

We have caught up on our guilty pleasure show “Survivor” and the current season was only around $25. It is actually pretty cool because once you purchase the season, you can watch the latest episode the day after it airs. This is very similar to how Hulu works in the states, but unfortunately it is a bit more expensive. There is also an option to purchase individual episodes for about $1.99 to $2.99 an episode. The next series I plan to purchase is the newest season of “The Walking Dead,” but I have not yet done so since it is priced at around $42 for the season. I love the show, and I’m looking forward to seeing it, but that seems a bit pricey to me. I may wait until it the newest season comes out on Netflix, but who knows?

Between Netflix and Amazon we have our Television basics covered. Although we don’t binge watch shows 24/7, it is comforting to have that option. After all, it is getting colder and cuddling up underneath a blanket and watching something familiar is sometimes needed after a long day.

My Ex-Mother In Law: A Wonderful Lady That I Loved and Respected

In laws are often thought of as annoying, meddling, and not welcoming. Couple that with a divorce, and most people assume that these people will no longer be a part of the lives of the splitting parties.

Non-Traditional Ways: Since I’m not typically accustomed to a traditional way of living, this was not the case for me. When my ex-husband and I got a divorce, I tried to maintain a relationship with his parents. I respected them, and they were still my children’s grand-parents. When his father passed away, it was hard since he was always more of a father to me than anyone else. After his father, dad, passed away, we all went to spend Christmas with his mother. That’s right, divorced family that we are flew to Las Vegas with all three children and stayed in the house where my ex-husband grew up. The sleeping arrangements were different, and I shared a room with my daughter, but the family unit was still there to fellowship and spend Christmas together.

Frances Lara remembered: My ex-mother in law, Frances Lara, mom, passed away a few days ago. The news hit hard, as I realized that I will never again be able to visit with her and discuss politics and everything else under the son. The past few years we haven’t talked as much as we used to, but I would like to think that she would be proud of my politics now. She was always a die-hard democrat, and up until about seven years ago, I have always been a “middle of the road” sort of girl.  Seven years ago I joined her party, and I often think back on some of the discussions we would have in the mid 90’s and early 2000’s. Those are the conversations where I thought I knew everything since I had just turned 20, had a baby, and was newly married to an Army man. Yes, since I had to figure out how to take care of a baby, pay the bills, and balance a checkbook when my husband was away for months at a time, I thought I knew everything. Looking back on some of our conversations, I was probably a little shit in some ways.

She Taught Me A Lot:There were times when we would butt heads, but I barely even remember why. She taught me a great deal. She taught me how to deal with the separation when I was a young military wife since she had gone through it at an even younger age than myself. She also had a total of seven children, and got married when she was 17, not 20.

It is because of her that I know how to make some of the best traditional Mexican Enchiladas, and will pass the recipe down to my children.

Willie Nelson: One of my favorite memories with Frances is when we saw Willie Nelson perform live at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Being a Texas lady from El Paso, she was always a fan of Willie Nelson, and wanted to see him live. I remember calling and asking about tickets a couple of weeks prior to the event, and they assured me over the phone that we could purchase the tickets at the door.

When we arrived, we were told that they were sold out. She was not a woman who cried easily, but I could tell she was holding back and was disappointed. She calmly said a phrase that Russell’s father would frequently use, “Oh well, better days ahead.”

I said, “No, we are getting in.”

Remember, I have always been kind of hard-headed, and I did not want her to miss this event! To make a long story short, we were able to purchase tickets in the box. I don’t remember exactly how or why, I just remember knowing that I was not going to leave until she had seen Willie Nelson live in concert.

Frances said, “Well, you are determined!”

My reply, “Yes mom, I am! We got in didn’t we?” 😉 It was a wonderful evening,

She was an activist with the head injury association, and also a devout Catholic. She was head strong, yet proper, and she loved her family. I believe that this is the most important thing. Loving your children and family and trying to do our best to live the best life we can live is basically what it comes down to.

It saddens me that Scarlett and I won’t be able to make it to her funeral since we are in Madrid, but her memories and the good times we had will linger. Dearest Frances, mom, I do hope that you are now happily re-connected with dad and your daughter Patricia up in heaven. May God bless you, and may you rest in peace. I love you.

 

Four Day Weekend On A Budget In Madrid

Four Day Weekend: After a month and a half of paperwork, beginning a new job, and getting settled, four days to rejuvenate my spirit is definitely needed.

October 12th (El Dia de la Hispanidad), is a national holiday in Spain. There is a parade, and the Spaniards commemorate the day that Christopher Columbus sailed for the Americas. Scarlett and I didn’t find out about the parade until right before it started, and since I’m not a fan of Christopher Columbus’s history no matter what country I’m currently living in, this was no great loss. However, the museums were free for the day, and since money has been tight these first couple of months in Madrid, I decided to pounce on this amazing opportunity!

Museo Reina Sofia: The Reina Sofia Museum has an abundance of art with themes of surrealism. It houses Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” which was a protest of the Spanish Civil War, and  I was breathless being in the presence of such a great work of art. It was definitely a moment where I was completely in awe at the grandeur of the painting.

I kept saying, “This is a Picasso original!”

There were several people taking photos, but when I attempted to take a picture, I was kindly asked to put my phone away and shown a sign stating that no photos were allowed in that particular room. When Scarlett and I went out of viewing area, she was apparently able to sneak a quick photo. I didn’t realize she had done this, but she whispered the fact that she was able to get a photo after we left the area. I probably shouldn’t be proud of her, but I really am!  We don’t have a complete photo of the painting since her view was blocked by other viewers and museum staff, but I figured this would have to suffice since I didn’t want to get kicked out.

Picasso’s “Monument aux espagnols morts pour la France (Monument to the Spaniards Who Died for France)” was also amazing.  We were also able to see works by Salvador Dali.

  

 

We easily spent three hours at the museum and didn’t even realize how long it had been.

The Arzábal Restaurant, located inside the Reina Sofia, is well worth the visit. We ordered a smoked salmon sandwich to share. (It ended up being salmon on toast and not a full sandwich, but it did the job!)  Anytime I have opted to get a quick bite to eat at an art gallery restaurant, I have never been disappointed. Scarlett and I used to eat at the Frist in Nashville as well and always enjoyed it.

              

The Prado Museum: Our next stop was the Prado Museum since entrance was also free on October 12th. The Prado Museum is home to neoclassical works featuring several different depictions of Christ and the Virgin Mary.  The detailed images of the beheading of John the Baptist, purgatory, sin, and grace kept us fairly busy up until closing time. Some of the art was fairly disturbing, but incredible at the same time. The opportunity to see the works of Rembrandt escaped me since time got away and the museum was closing, but I will have to find the exhibit during our next visit.

Museo de San Isidro: The Museum of San Isidro is an archaeological museum that is a five minute walk from our apartment, and it has free admission every day.

When you first walk in, you see several different fossils of different animals, and teeth of human remains. It was very interesting to me that the basic necessities for human life during the “caveman” days in Spain weren’t different than those I have seen depicted in several different museums in the United States. There didn’t seem to be many differences in culture during this time period. Survival was universal. This isn’t that important an observation I suppose, but nonetheless, I wanted to wrap my head around the simplicity of it.

One of my favorite exhibits at this museum was one of a well. There is a story of a baby that falls into a well and the parents prayed for him to be returned. He was found in the risen water splashing around and playing.

Since we visited this museum last weekend, we didn’t go yesterday. The Reina Sofia and Prado Museum took up most of our day, and we spent about eight hours total between the two museums. We still have two floors to explore at the Reina Sofia on our next trip since we weren’t able to get those. Racing through each exhibit wasn’t really an option for us. What would be the point of that?

I’m thrilled that we were finally able to experience some of the culture that Madrid is known for, and the fact that we were able to get in free makes it even better!

 

 

 

I am Exhausted – Getting Used to My New Teaching Role

As you may have guessed, these past two weeks have been incredibly busy as I have been getting acclimated into my new role as a Language Assistant/English Teacher here in Madrid.

School Hours: In Madrid, the children begin school in September, but they don’t have full days until October. They begin the day at 9 a.m. and get out between 1 and 1:15 p.m.

In October, the hours are 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Lunch is from 1 p.m. until 2:30, then classes re-convene from 2:30 until 4:15 p.m. This is my schedule in October, and Scarlett’s is slightly different with a 30 minute difference in her lunch schedule. Her school gets out at 12:30, so I will walk over and pick her up as soon as I am finished. This makes it a bit inconvenient, but at least we will be able to eat lunch together everyday and get a nice break.

Taking the Train: The subway, or Metro as it is called here in Spain, is a very efficient form a transportation. However, it does get old when it takes a good 45 minutes to an hour to get to your destination each morning. It took us a few times taking the route to figure out exactly when we needed to leave each morning, but if we leave by 8 a.m. we can usually get there on time. We live in the area called La Latina in Madrid, which is close to the city center, and our schools are in a town outside of the center. We have about 14 stops we have to go through each morning to arrive at our destination, and this includes switching trains for a different line.

Teaching: I teach at a bilingual school, and grades first through fifth have bilingual classes. They have both English and Science classes taught completely in English.

Since my title is a language assistant, I need to have a teacher in the room with me although I am teaching most of the classes on my own during my scheduled hours. The first week I mainly observed, and showed the classes a Power Point presentation about myself. I had a few photos of me and my children, and a couple of theatre photos, etc. to show my hobbies and talents.

Since this is my first time teaching in a formal teaching environment, I am getting used to planning lessons. Since I am teaching via the BEDA program, I have to attend a certain amount of classes during my time in Madrid. So far, I have found these to be extremely helpful since the classes are all about how to teach and plan lessons. This program is a wonderful way to gain teaching experience while living abroad while also getting paid.

Blessings Among Chaos: There is definitely a learning curve to being an English teacher overseas, and there have been a few frustrations during my first two weeks of teaching. There are a couple of classes that just don’t seem interested, or even respectful, but when I see the children in the hall and I am greeted with a smiling, “Hello Amie!” it warms my heart. When the children randomly come up to give me a hug, I think that perhaps I am doing something right.

My teaching goal this year is to help the children enjoy learning English. I don’t want them to hate it. As I continue learning Spanish, I know very well how frustrating it can be when it is difficult to communicate.

Scarlett seems happy so far with her school although she is in a class with students who don’t speak Spanish, and only one other student speaks English.  Her class is a welcome class that is basically only teaching her Spanish. She said that everyone has been nice and friendly so far, and that thrills me to hear.

We have both had a few ups and downs since our move to Madrid, and we are still getting settled after living here for one month. I remember thinking that it probably won’t be until November before we feel completely settled here in Madrid, and that seems to be the case. Moving anywhere can be daunting, but packing up and completely moving to a different country and culture can be both frustrating and exciting. Both have proven to be accurate! There are days when I am thrilled to be here and wake up feeling blessed that I have this opportunity. There are other mornings when I find myself questioning the sanity of my choice to move here for the umpteenth time.  All in all, we are happy with the decision and looking forward to the learning experience this next year brings.

 

 

3 Weeks In Madrid! Apartment Hunts, School and More!

Finding Our Apartment: I have been promising a blog with the details about our apartment hunt, and here it is.

Apparently finding an apartment in Madrid is very similar to finding an apartment while living in New York City. While I have personally never lived in NYC, I have a few friends who have shared their experiences, and there are a couple of people here in Madrid from NYC who have agreed that the Madrid apartment hunt is very similar. Yikes!

When I applied for the Beda program, I knew that I would have to find living accommodations for both myself and Scarlett on my own, and was told that it would be rather easy upon arrival.  I was told to “just use the several apartment listing services such as idealista.com, fotocasa.com, etc,, and you will have no problem!” While there are several listings, I found that it is virtually impossible to get anyone to get back in touch with you.

Let me back up a bit. We arrived in Madrid on August 28th and had an Airbnb for a week. When I first rented the Airbnb while we were still in Nashville, I was told that if we liked the room we would be able to extend our rental. After only being in Madrid for one day, and virtually no contact from any of the landlords I had contacted, I contacted the owner of the Airbnb via the message app, and told her we would probably need to extend for at least a week. Her reply, “We have clients checking in the day you check out.” Okay….so much for seeing if I like the room. It was time to get serious. Since I had my daughter with me, I didn’t really feel up to going from one Airbnb to the next for nine months, not knowing who the hell is going to be coming and going. Yes, the title of my blog is titled Free Spirited Single Mom, but free-spirited or not, I am a very responsible and good mother.

My contact at the school was helping by calling some of the apartments since she speaks both English and Spanish, but she was finding a lot of people who weren’t answering. I decided to try a different route and put search for “apartments in Madrid” on Google. A few Craigslist ads came up. I figured I would give it a try, and I saw one in the city center that was beautifully decorated with the colors that Scarlett and I adore! It didn’t have a bathtub or an extra bedroom; it was a studio with a sectioned off area. At this point I was thinking a beautifully decorated studio in the city center was much better than a random room somewhere every other week, so I messaged the landlord. She got back to me within a day, and as luck would have it, she spoke English! She was very apprehensive about Scarlett and I sharing a studio, but I told her the same thing about it being much better than sharing ONE ROOM in some random place with strangers coming and going every couple of weeks. To make a long story short, we went to see the place, LOVED it, and have been living here for two weeks! Studio or not, it is actually very comfortable, and we are getting very used to living in the city! It is kind of a nuisance taking the metro about 35 to 40 minutes to our schools in the mornings, but we are adapting.

Enrolling my daughter in school: Once we got the apartment situation worked out, I was feeling a bit of relief. Perhaps this wasn’t some horrible idea to move to Europe after all. We have a place to live and Scarlett will be going to the same school where I will be teaching. WRONG! The moment I started to feel more relaxed, I received a message from my contact at the school asking for Scarlett’s birthdate. I gave her the information, (I am certain I conveyed her age when we were contacting one another when I was still in Nashville, but whatever.) She got back to me and told me that Scarlett wouldn’t be able to go to the school that I am going to be teaching because she is “too old to go into 6th grade in Spain.” I have mentioned the pain of bureaucracy here in Spain before, right?  We were getting schooled on it big time within our first two weeks. I was ready to scream and cry, but I am happy to say, I didn’t do either. I was told that I might have to enroll her in a public high school. Yeah, I wasn’t going to do that. For starters, she is not ready for high school. She would be going into the 6th grade in the United States. In Spain, High School, or Secondary School starts with 7th grade. If it were a bilingual school, and they thought she was ready for 7th grade, I might consider it, but I was not going to enroll her in a public high school in Spain that had no bilingual program at all. I was ready to use my round trip ticket and fly back to the U.S. I wanted to begin a life in Europe, but not at the expense of my daughter’s well-being.

I decided to see what was offered before making any rash decisions: I had to go to a place called the SAE Instituto Simancas which is a school that has a government building next door. This is where you have to go if you change residency, want to change your child’s school, etc. Since I don’t speak fluent Spanish, and apparently have forgotten everything I thought I knew upon arriving here, trying to follow directions when you have no idea what you are doing is pretty daunting.

As luck would have it, the assistant head mistress of the school connected to the SAE speaks fluent English and was a wonderful help. I was told that since Scarlett doesn’t speak any Spanish, she would need to enroll in a school that has a “welcoming class.” From what I have gathered, this type of class is similar to those in the United States that assist non-English speaking students. Yes, it is interesting being on the other side of the spectrum. I was told that I could ask for her to be placed near my work, but it is not guaranteed.

After waiting in line at the SAE office with several other parents, I found out I was able to bypass this line since I had a paper with an appointment time on it. There were several angry parents that didn’t like to wait in line, but the gentleman in charge explained that anyone that has an appointment needs to come inside. Apparently most people dislike waiting in lines no matter what culture you happen to find yourself in.

She was assigned a school: We finally got a school officially assigned to her, and I am so grateful that it is literally about a two to three minute walk from where I will be teaching! It is a semi-private Catholic school, and she seems happy with it so far. Interestingly enough, after she tested, they are keeping her in 6th grade (I know what is best for my child), and it is another school that participates in the BEDA program as well.

This three weeks has proven a bit challenging, but I think we are finally getting settled. I start my job this week. Stay tuned for updates on my teaching adventures!