As hard as it is for even me to believe, I've already been in Quintanar de la Orden for a week, as of today! It's been a crazy week, though, as you can probably imagine.
I technically left for Spain on Sunday, September 13. Once I packed everything, I had two checked bags and a carry-on, which was just as hard to manage as it sounds. My parents were kind enough to drive me to JFK, and we all held it together pretty well, I must say. Only a little bit of crying (at least until I went in the airport). I flew with Norwegian Airlines, and I cannot say enough good things about Norwegian. It was a very pleasant flight, especially because I had a window seat and the seat next to me was empty. But I had a layover in Stockholm, and it was a 7 hour layover, so that wasn't necessarily ideal. However, I found a couch and snuggled up with my carry-on and slept for most of the time I was there, so the time really flew by.
I boarded my connecting flight to Madrid in the evening, and that flight was another four hours. So between the overnight flight, the layover, and the connecting flight to Madrid, I traveled for about 19 hours altogether. Considering the travel time and the nearly impossible feat of wrangling my luggage, when I finally got to my hostel in Madrid, I basically fell into bed and didn't stir until morning.
On Tuesday morning, I took a cab to Estación Sur, one of the biggest bus stations in Madrid. I had a ticket for the 10:00 bus to Quintanar de la Orden, and I got to my platform with maybe two minutes to spare. However, everything about this adventure is a learning experience, so I discovered that the doors to the platforms are locked; only the bus driver can let you onto the platform. So I stood at the window and watched my bus drive away, because the bus driver never saw me waving frantically. Now I know that in the future, I have to be there early--probably the only place in all of Spain that you have to arrive early! I got a ticket for the next bus, the only bummer being that it didn't leave until 1 p.m., so I had to wait in the station for three hours. But you can bet that I was one of the first people in line to get on the 1:00 bus when it came!
One of my colleagues from the elementary school and her husband picked me up at the bus station in Quintanar and brought me to a hostel to spend the night. She had done some research for me before I got there, and she found me three apartments that were within my price range. She set up showings of them for that night, and there was one that I particularly loved. The furniture was really nice (including a leather couch!), it was just the right size for one person, and it was in a great location. The grocery store and a pharmacy are each a five minute walk away, but the street that I live on is relatively quiet. The elementary school where I'm working is only half a mile walk, and the high school is three quarters of a mile. So all in all, I knew I had found the perfect place.
On Wednesday, I went into the elementary school with my colleague, and she introduced me to most of the teachers, as well as many of the students that I would be teaching. The students were very sweet, and their relationship with their teachers is fascinating. First and foremost, they call all of their teachers by their first names. I'm not even "Miss Clare," I'm just "Clare." And I also noticed that the teachers are much more affectionate with the students; they hug and kiss the students, both at school and when they see them outside of school. I couldn't help but compare it with how I interacted with my teachers when I was in elementary school, and it helped me see why Europeans think that Americans are so cold and distant.
After school, I explored in my town a little bit, and I stopped by a market that had everything for sale imaginable. Apparently they set up every Wednesday while it's warm, and they sell everything from fresh produce to bolts of fabric to perfume and mouthwash. It was an interesting thing to see, especially because it was set up right by the elementary school.
Otherwise, most of what I saw was just residential areas. As you can probably see from the pictures, I was worried that it might rain, so I didn't walk around too much.
Wednesday night, I moved into my new apartment, and I went grocery shopping. Grocery shopping wasn't as hard as I feared it would be, which was excellent. I even bought Doritos because I was so happy to see something familiar (although they call the Nacho Cheese flavor Tex-Mex, which made me laugh). I forgot to take pictures of my apartment to share in this post, but I'll make sure to put a couple in a future post.
On Thursday, I went to the high school to meet another colleague. The high school where I'm teaching has a bilingual program, so they have a big English department, which was a relief for me. There are at least 8 teachers that are fluent in English, so they were very helpful and easy to talk to. Meeting the high school students was really exciting. I'm happy to be here in general, including working with the elementary students, but I'm especially excited about working with the high school students.
I went to three classes with my high school colleagues, and they were all enjoyable. In these classes, too, the teachers encouraged students to ask me questions. The high school students were a little more creative, but they did ask me if I had a pet, as well. One student asked if I'd ever been to Mount Rushmore, and another asked what I thought the best state was (I had a really hard time answering that one). One whole class was absolutely dumbfounded when I told them that I don't really eat much fast food, and many of my friends don't, either. But probably my favorite question was when a student asked me if I owned a "weapon," and made a finger gun with his hand. Even now I can't write it without laughing. What an impression we as Americans make on the rest of the world.
Thursday night was when I started my search for WiFi, and anyone who is Facebook friends with me knows that it was a struggle. I needed a Spanish phone and WiFi, and it just ended up being such a process. I didn't end up getting a phone until Monday, and I still don't have WiFi at my apartment, but my Spanish phone does have a data plan, so I'm not as isolated as I was last week. So no complaints here; I'll take what I can get!
Last night, two of my elementary school colleagues and one from the high school came over to my apartment to make my schedule for when I'm teaching. I'll be working at the high school on Mondays and Tuesdays, and at the elementary school on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and I have Fridays off. So every weekend is a long weekend! They encouraged me to make the most of the long weekends and to travel as much as I can (They clearly don't know me very well yet).
I'm also going to be giving private conversation lessons to help students and adults, including some of the teachers from my schools, improve their English. So I don't think that I'll possibly be able to say that I'm bored while I'm here!
Things have slowed down a little now, but my first official day teaching will be next Thursday, so my priority between now and then is to figure out some sort of lesson plan--which should be interesting, since I have no educational background whatsoever. Nothing like keeping life interesting!
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