Viaje in T minus 7.5 days

A week from tomorrow I'm moving to Madrid, Spain, from (currently extremely sunny) Los Angeles, California. I am 25 years old and this is not my first time packing up/selling off (nearly) everything I own. As a junior in college I studied in Paris for 9 months, only to return to France after my senior year for an additional 2.5 years. Having studied French throughout high school and college, I was able after a few years there to fool actual French people (!) into thinking I was a native. Of course, quelques verres de vin always helped.

During that time I traveled as much as possible, hitting up Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, and delightful, delightful España. The language having previously held little interest for me, I suddenly found myself ashamed to not be able to communicate in Spanish. I mean heck, I grew up in Los Angeles, and spent the first 17 years of my life there, where nearly 50% of the population comes from Mexico or other Central and South American countries . Why had I squandered such an opportunity to learn, listen, and speak? I resolved to end the embarrassment at the first opportunity, and soon thereafter moved back to Los Angeles, where I proceeded to enroll in and successfully pass three semesters of Spanish language classes (and pick up a Mexican boyfriend on the side--you know, for those words the teachers don't teach).

While I slaved away at irregular verbs and counter-intuitive syntactical logistics, I also applied for a program run by the Spanish government for native English speakers from the U.S., Canada, and the like. The idea was to sponsor us for an academic year-long position where we would teach in elementary and secondary schools all over Spain. I had participated in a similar program in France, but while the French version required me to teach English basics to kids aged 5-11, the Spanish program has more of a bilingual slant--I'll be teaching kids in English, not teaching them English itself--at least not directly. Instead I'll be leading math, science, history, and art classes (or whatever mix they pick for me--I haven't started yet!), all in English! The idea is, of course, that this will be mutually beneficial: the kids will improve their English, and during my stay in Spain I will, presumably, improve my Spanish. And the bonus: no more stressful 9-5 job in Century City (though obviously I won't deny that teaching can be quite stressful as well!).

So there's the background. My Spanish is not as strong as my French was when I made the dramatic move last time around; I'm also not protected by the university bubble for my initial foray into this old country. However, though I may be less prepared on those fronts, I am already familiar with the alternately heart-breaking and heart-lifting roller-coaster ride that is moving to a foreign country and trying to adapt, while still struggling to maintain some semblance of the identity I already have. I'm thrilled, and I'm terrified. But that's part of the fun of it!

I look forward to sharing my experiences, thoughts, and reflections with you all as I leave, and then get settled in and attempt to find out who Spanish Soozy is or might one day be. Please comment and let me know what you think, what advice you have, what you'd love to do in Spain, or what you loved about Spain--or whatever else you wish to share!