“I can’t tell you what happens next, this is not your real
life; this is not your home,” he said to me in the heat of a late night, drug
fueled argument. What the fuck did he mean; it
wasn’t my real life? I was an American living in Spain, teaching English.
Perhaps it wasn’t a permanent situation, but didn’t I wake up every morning and
live, my real life? We had been talking about what would become of our casual,
fun relationship when I returned for my second year. I planned to go home to
visit my family and friends and then return to Spain less than two short months
later. This was the first time that we had spoken of my return. He asked me what
day I would be returning, and when I told him I hadn’t booked my flight yet, he
simply said, “you’re not coming back.”
He
was right. Although I had left a suitcase filled with all of my winter clothes
in Madrid and eventually bought my plane ticket to return in mid-September, I
never went back to live and work for a second year. Life is filled with the
amazing twists and turns.
Two
weeks before my scheduled return date, I attended a seminar for English
teachers returning from Spain. It was optional, but I was convinced by the
promise that there would be talk of job opportunities. I let my imagination run
away with me. I imagined networking with someone from the Ministerio de Educación. I imagined being offered a
great paying, fulfilling job that allowed me to spend half the year in Madrid
and the other half in New York. I went, and just to be safe, I printed out
three copies of my resume.
The
seminar was, in fact, a complete waste of time. But later that night at one of
New York City’s many great bars, while I was eating a giant, blue jello-shot
(with a lot less grace than I would like to admit), I met a young man who would
end up being the connection I needed to land a lucrative teaching job in
Brooklyn. He was handsome, amicable, and looking to make conversation. I
indulged him a bit. Although I was bordering on mean/flirtatious drunk
territory, he was friendly. I spoke quite a bit about my experience teaching in
Spain. I confided in him that I was excited to return in a little over two
weeks, but I was still keeping my eyes open for teaching jobs in New York. He
was a high school teacher and his school was hiring. No fucking way. I handed him one of the three copies of my resume
in my bag and told him to get me a job.
With
the school year already in session, I interviewed two days later and was
offered the teaching position the following day. I was faced with two amazing
options: return to Spain or take a full-time teaching position in Brooklyn, New
York. Although I was sad to unexpectedly give-up my life abroad, I took the job
in Brooklyn. Back to reality.
I knew that returning to life
in the US meant a lot more responsibility—responsibility to my new job, to my
friends, to my family. Before signing the yearlong contract, I promised myself
that I would do my best to keep the adventure going. What exactly does this
mean for me?
1.
Move
to a new neighborhood. I had only planned on being in the US
for six weeks. During those six weeks I was alternating between staying at my
mom’s house or with friends. It was time to look for a more permanent
situation. I am lucky because my new job is located in one of the most up and
coming areas of New York City and is super easy to get to by subway. There were
so many wonderful neighborhoods that would have been convenient for me to
set-up my new life. I am currently in the process of moving into a new apartment
in a diverse, largely residential neighborhood, located on the Brooklyn/Queens
border. There are large Puerto Rican, Caribbean, South American, and Eastern
European populations and amazing restaurants and shops to reflect them! I’m a
20-minute subway ride from the heart of Williamsburg (hipster central) and a
half an hour from downtown Manhattan. I am looking forward to seeing exactly
what my new neighborhood has to offer.
2. Visit new places/partake in cultural
activities. When I lived in Madrid, I chose to live in the absolute
center of the city. I knew that this would have it’s ups and downs. My number
one complaint was that the few weekends before and after Christmas, the streets
were amazingly crowded with shoppers and sight-seers, that normal errands and
activities slowed to a snails pace. On the other hand, the wonderful thing
about living in the city center was that I could walk out my front door to some
of the city’s best bars, restaurants, cafes, parks, museums, and shops. Often,
I would go out for a short walk and return home hours later having passed the
time at one of my “spots” or having discovered some new interesting place.
Going out for a café con leche or a cana could easily turn into a adventure if
I was in the right state of mind. This state of
3.
Continue
studying Spanish. Among the many amazing things about living in Spain,
immersing myself in the language was one of the most valuable. When I moved to
Madrid, my level of Spanish was enough to order food, go shopping, and maybe
flirt, but nothing more profound. After eleven months of living in Spain, I am
not fluent (and maybe I will never be) but I feel comfortable in every
rhetorical situation. I realize that although I can effectively communicate,
there is always so much more to learn. I might not be living in a Spanish
speaking country, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t continue learning. A great
thing about living and working in New York City is that it is very easy to
encounter people who speak a variety of languages either out of love of
necessity. I do not work in a bilingual school, but I have a handful of
co-workers and students that I see in the hallways that I speak to exclusively
in Spanish. I’m currently looking into fun and affordable Spanish lessons in
NYC; suggestions are welcomed.
4. Don’t stop traveling. As
much as I was enamored with the city of Madrid. I traveled a lot. I traveled a
lot throughout Spain. I fell in love with Cordoba and Seville and took an
amazing beach vacation in Mallorca.
I visited other countries, Portugal, Italy, and France. Travel was easy
(for the most part, I’ll save the stories of when it wasn’t for another time).
Buses and flights were cheap. Buses and flights are cheap in the US too. There are
in fact, places that I want to see! I have friends and family to visit in
Maryland, Boston, Florida, Texas, California, and Washington. I’ve always
wanted to go to New Mexico. I’ve been lucky enough to explore Europe, but what
about South America, maybe I can focus a little more energy on my dream of
visiting Machu Picchu? That being said I’m not done with Spain. I was able to
change my return flight to Madrid from mid-September to mid-December. I will be
spending my two-week Christmas break in Spain, visiting with friends, and
traveling a bit. Although it was on the top of my to-do list, I never made it
to Morocco last year. Lets hope I’ll get there in December.
5.
Do
something everyday that is blog worthy. Everyone has their own
motivations for travel. I travel for the “wow moments.” I love traveling
because it is an opportunity for me to be both an authority on my own culture
and way of life, as well as an excited student. A “wow moment,” for me, could
be seeing a site of natural beauty or an example or ancient architecture,
eating a food that I never knew existed, hearing a type of music for the first
time, having a thought provoking conversation, having a meaningful interaction
with someone, discovering an artist, or just seeing something lovely. I think
it is possible to have a “wow moment” every day, but some days, you have to
create those moments for yourself or for someone else.