Spain is Calling...

This marks the first entry of a long series of entries dealing with an American living in Spain. Enjoy.

Some time this week, I will eventually book a flight to Madrid so I can move there to teach English. This is usually the part that is followed by a billion questions...

How did you hear about this?
The simple answer? I got an e-mail from the Ohio State Spanish and Portuguese Office. The complicated answer? I had been hearing for years about a program through the Spanish government that paid Americans to teach in their schools, and had always sort of wanted to do it. I applied, and after a LONG application process and waiting period (almost three months of no news), I found out I had been accepted to the program, in MADRID.

Where are you teaching?
In actual, honest-to-goodness DOWNTOWN Madrid at Juana de Castilla, a secondary school about 3 miles away from the city. This means that I'm about 20 minutes away from Parque de Buen Retiro (one of my favorite places in Madrid), Atocha (the train station), and Puerta del Sol (Madrid's geographical and cultural center)... but that's just where I'll work. I can live pretty much anywhere I want in the city.

How long will you be there?
From September 2010 to June 2011, but I can renew for another year.

I applied for a Student Visa at the Spanish Consulate in Chicago this weekend... what a pain! I had to drive to Chicago, find a place to stay, and turn in my papers in person... which took all of 5 minutes. But now, my papers are being processed (or, more likely, they are sitting in a box somewhere until someone decides to take a look at them some time in August).

So now, another waiting game. But this time, I actually have a [tentative] departure date... September 13, 2010. That's the day near when I need to be in Spain where the flights are the cheapest out of Ohio. And then, I will [depending on my Visa] be on my way to Spain to play another fun game... hunting for apartments in a different language!

Until then, I have to pack up the last three years of my life that have accumulated in my apartment, and figure out what one takes when they move (albeit temporarily) to a foreign country (Seasons of 30 Rock? Silverware? All I've heard for sure is floss, apparently it is very expensive in Spain).

I've got work in the morning, so I'm off to floss.

Who am I kidding? That's one of those things I'll take and never use.

Don't tell my dentist.
-Will