Welcome to my Madrid blog!! I am so excited to start blogging again and share about my new adventures.
For those of you who don't know about my upcoming adventure - I will be teaching English abroad in Madrid, Spain next year and also volunteering with an SLP in Spain (who specializes in working with children with hearing loss/auditory verbal therapy). I'm currently packing and listening to "Holiday in Spain" by the Counting Crows - hoping to channel good energy for the coming weeks.
The last month has been exhausting with packing up my apartment, re-packing my bags for Spain, saying goodbyes, fighting with insurance for them to give me meds for an extended period of time, finishing things up for my last day of work at PTN, and doing last minute errands that have to be done before I leave (e.g., car registration, renewing my SLP license, etc.). Oh and August has also been emotionally exhausting because I think I've been saying "goodbye" to people all month - not like I'm never going to see them again, but a year is a long time to be gone. But how lucky I am, to have so many people that I will miss.
Other than saying goodbye and taking care of loose ends, I have had so much fun thinking about and getting ready for good things to come. So I made a list of Spanish adventures, customs, foods, people, that I am so excited for. Here goes:
1. Spanish sense of time (& siesta) - Culturally, Spaniards so value their time and their rest. They think it's really important to enjoy others and if a meal takes 3-4 hours in the middle of the day, that's okay because you enjoyed each other's company. They also really focus on the importance of rest - they aren't always go-go-go, like we are here in the US. It is such a different way of thinking and it took me a really long time to take siestas and actually rest in Spain when I lived in Sevilla. But it also is very calming and makes me a very different person (not so intense!), so I'm really looking forward to that and hoping to translate some more of that into my daily life.
2. Using my feet to get everywhere - I just love that I won't have to drive and that I can walk everywhere (or do bike share!) or take the metro. I think being outside and using my own body for a means of transportation calms me as well.
3. Café con leche
4. Speaking Spanish everyday - Right now, since I do so much speech therapy with Spanish speaking families, my Spanish is good and better than it was in college and grad school even. But I look at writing samples/old assignments from when I was in classes at UPO in Sevilla and my Spanish was AMAZING, especially my more technical Spanish for writing and reading. When you are immersed it in, it's crazy how your language skills develop and change so fast.
5. Visiting Manoli & Ana Claudio in Sevilla (for those of you who don't know, Manoli was my host mom/lady closest to my heart in Sevilla & Ana Claudio is the best teacher that I had in college - both of these ladies changed my life and taught me all the Spanish that I know)
6. Spanish breakfast - toast with olive oil & smashed tomato & Spanish food in general (paella, fresh green olives, churros con chocolate, roquefort dulce con moras, etc.)
7. Semana Santa & Feria - I love Spanish traditions and celebrations, so come springtime when Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Feria de Abril (Spring Fair of April) comes, I will be so excited to celebrate and live the culture.
8. El Camino de Santiago - Dad and I are going to walk "the way of St. James" which is a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela from Southern France to Galicia (northwestern Spain) when he comes to visit. We are only going to do part of it, but I've wanted to do it since I was there in 2009.
9. Being in Spain at Christmas time - I lived in Sevilla during the Spring/Summer so I never got to experience Christmas celebrations/customs so, I so look forward to it this year!
10. Traveling again - A friend asked me where I'm looking forward to traveling/doing weekend trips to. I really had to think about it for a while because it will be my 4th time in Europe now and I've done most of the big cities/countries like: London, Paris, Rome, Tivoli, Milan, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Munich, Berchtesgaden, the Netherlands, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Morocco, Lisbon (Portugal), Barcelona, and Granada. But I'm still looking forward to seeing other cities in Spain like Valencia & Galicia. I want to go to the Amalfi Coast, Lake Como, and back to Cinque Terre to hike all 5 towns.
I can't wait for more good things to come so look forward to more updates! :)
8. El Camino de Santiago - Dad and I are going to walk "the way of St. James" which is a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela from Southern France to Galicia (northwestern Spain) when he comes to visit. We are only going to do part of it, but I've wanted to do it since I was there in 2009.
9. Being in Spain at Christmas time - I lived in Sevilla during the Spring/Summer so I never got to experience Christmas celebrations/customs so, I so look forward to it this year!
10. Traveling again - A friend asked me where I'm looking forward to traveling/doing weekend trips to. I really had to think about it for a while because it will be my 4th time in Europe now and I've done most of the big cities/countries like: London, Paris, Rome, Tivoli, Milan, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Munich, Berchtesgaden, the Netherlands, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Morocco, Lisbon (Portugal), Barcelona, and Granada. But I'm still looking forward to seeing other cities in Spain like Valencia & Galicia. I want to go to the Amalfi Coast, Lake Como, and back to Cinque Terre to hike all 5 towns.
I can't wait for more good things to come so look forward to more updates! :)
