Breaking into a Dream Career

          During the month of March, we celebrate many things such as St. Patrick's Day and Easter when it appears during the month of March, but another thing we celebrate is, "International Women's Day and Month. International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8th, while the celebration continues all month long. Before writing this article, I came across a post on Instagram stating that more women are traveling solo around the world these days and I felt as though this was the perfect time to talk about my experience traveling, living, and working overseas for the first time. Traveling has always been a dream of mine when I was very young so to actually see that dream become my reality; it's breath taking. I still can't believe it's happening as I'm writing this post. In this article, I will talk about my experience living overseas and becoming an international English Teacher thus far. From this article, I hope to inspire others to find their passion and make that jump to their dream career even though it may seem scary at first.

          If you've been keeping up with my articles, my December 2019 article, "Starting the New Year's Resolutions a Month Early," I stated how I ended up getting my big break into the international teaching business seven months after graduating with my Bachelor degrees and concentration. If you haven't read that article yet before reading this article, then definitely check that article first so you can become well informed.

         After receiving the notice that I had a spot into the internship, everything afterwards took place very fast. I was mentally packing my bags, I didn't physically pack until my visa arrived to my house by mail. I only had two weeks before my flight. Within those two weeks, me and my family were moving items from the house to a storage unit; while I was packing my two suitcases and bookbag. At the same time, I was still working as an assistant director at an afterschool program and studying to get my driver's license. By January 5th, it was the night before my flight and I was 95% packed and I officially had my driver's license.

After the first flight, I landed in Turkey for an overnight stay

          It took two days before finally arriving in Barcelona, Spain. I had to get on two flights which equaled to twelve hours on a plane. This was the longest I've been on a plane in my entire life. When I arrived in Barcelona, I was greeted by my host mom, who was waiting for me at the front entry gates. I am currently still living with her and her family. I will soon receive information about my next family once they are chosen.

          I was able to rest for the rest of the day and started working at the school  the very next day. Once I arrived at the school through walking, I met the preschool teachers, my mentor, the principal, the secretaries, and the other two English assistants. I was then given a small tour of the school. I then learned that I would be helping the teachers in the preschool section. I received my schedule the same day.

Sitting at a local café with the other English Assistants during the lunch break

          From living in Spain for about a week, I felt as though I would fit right in with the community and get comfortable living in Barcelona very quickly. And I did just that. In just one week of living in the Sant Celoni community, I got to see the kids I live with play Street Hockey, go to a cook out, and meet the grandparents on both sides of the family. It also became a regular activity to hang out at a local café during the lunch break with the other English assistants after eating lunch.

          I work from Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. I wake up around 7am to get freshen up, dressed, and eat breakfast before leaving the house around 8:20 and 8:30am. After walking to the school with the kids a couple of times, I was able to walk to the school by myself with no problem. It's a sixteen minute walk from the house to the school. I usually arrive at the school around 8:45am depending on how early I leave the house. From 9am to 1pm, I am helping teachers with different types of activities they planned for those hours while I interact with the students in mostly English so they can learn the English words relating to the activities they are doing. At 1pm, the students either leave with a family member or go to the school's cafeteria to eat lunch. The lunch break is from 1pm to 3pm for both the students and the teachers. During the break, I go to the room where teachers eat lunch. About forty minutes later, the other English assistants and I walk to one of the local cafes to have a soda and I always get tea. During these moments at the cafes, I have since had to get use to a lot of smokers smoking very close to me. I'm currently, still not use to it.

         Once it becomes 3pm, the teachers and students return back to the classrooms. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays; I either help the teachers with art activities they are doing with the kids or help a teacher in one of the preschool classrooms until 4pm. On Tuesdays, we and the teachers walk to the local senior activity center and the kids do different type of art activities with them for an hour.  At 4pm, it is free hour for me and I only work during that hour if I'm needed or working on a project. From 4pm to 5pm, the students in the preschool program play outside on the playground. At 5pm, classes in the whole school is finished and it's time to go home. Usually at 5pm, one of the parents I live with picks me and the kids up to take us back to the house. On the days they don't, I walk home. For the first couple of times, it was a struggle finding my way back because I never walked back to the house before and I couldn't really follow the way we went by car because of the many one way streets that is allowed to drive on. One time, my mentor tried to help me with a ride back to the house during an early dismissal; I ended up walking outside of the community and had to turn on my international mobile data on in order for me to find my way back to the house. That was a couple weeks after moving to Spain. My grandfather panicked about a $1000 plus phone bill waiting for him in February when I told him that I had to turn on the international mobile data. He even got nervous every time he saw that I was on Skype with my grandmother because he didn't really understand how wi-fi worked.

The cat that is attached to me. He really acts like he's my child

Touring the Cathedral in Barcelona 

On top of the Cathedral

         Since living with my current host family. They've been very kind towards me. I had hoped this would be the case when I first learned about them being my host family and I'm so glad that has been my reality. They're treating me as if I am part of their family. On the first weekend, I got to see the kids I live with complete in a Street Hockey event and attend a cookout with the Street Hockey members and their families. After a week of living here, I learned that the parents and the grandparents pulls out the wine for dinner every night and during lunch time on weekends and on days off from work. So now every night and on days off, I'm drinking wine with my meals. I can get use to this, but I'm sure my next host family probably won't be living a similar lifestyle; so I guess we will see what takes place during my remaining time in Spain. During most nights, the grandmother on the paternal side would join us for dinner, but this has recently ended now that the maternal grandmother now lives with the family. Every weekend the kids has a match to go to for Street Hockey. On Sundays, the grandparents on both sides of the family would come over for a fancy lunch. The lunches would include different types of side dishes, fancy wine and champagne that we normally don't drink on the weekdays, and have sweet treats after dinner has been eaten. This too has recently changed which was because of a recent death in the family. The family also had four pets when I first arrived. two dogs and two cats. Both dogs and one of the cats has become very attached to me. They're really going to miss me when I leave in April. Another cat has been added since the maternal grandmother has moved in with the family. While living with my current family, I have done some tourism in Barcelona and attended the town's carnival events. I hope to do some more touring of the city before I leave to go back to the states (USA).

The second day of Carnival Week at the school

The last day of Carnival Week at the school. This is the dress 

the teachers made for me .We were caught fish.

I guess you can say I've been caught overseas?

Human Tower Competitors. A popular competition in Spain

One of the group of  performers at the event

Members of the community doing a set of traditional dances with their traditional clothing

         At the school, I've gotten to experience the ways the staff and students celebrate big events. During Carnival Week, they dressed up in items that represented water and creatures under the sea. This was the school's carnival theme this year. They had face painted faces, hair sprayed with different colors, and wore costumes. The town Sant Celoni, celebrates Carnival week similarly to how the U.S. celebrates Halloween without the candy. Sant Celoni's Carnival week was from February 17 to February 23, 2020.  A couple of times that week, teachers made hair accessories and a dress for me to wear. And on that Friday, everyone at the school came to the big playground to participate in the two hour long dance party with their friends and family members who came to join them. And just a week ago, we celebrated English Day on March 3rd. On English Day, the whole school participates in activities relating to the theme for the entire school day. The teachers also decorate the whole school according to that theme as well. This year's theme was Harry Potter. This event has been the biggest and busiest project I have done so far and is the reason why I skipped the first Wednesday of March to release an article. I literally binged watched all eight Harry Potter movies; created puppets to go along with the video I created then put it on YouTube as an easy access for the teachers; helped with the creation of a lot of the activities the students were going to do for the day; and much more. While February was the busiest month thus far, my efforts did not go unnoticed. In fact, all the teachers in the preschool section  and one of the secretaries, told me that I did a great job and were impressed with the things I've done.

English Day at the school. A popular annual event

The invitation letter we placed on the doors of the classreooms

The badges we made for the kids to wear once they've been

 selected to their house

The kids doing magic tricks with the secondary students for House Points

Magical writing activity

The whole school learned that with the addition of all the points,

 the  Ravenclaw house won first place

The smile you give when you know English Day was an success

                  So, as you can see. I entered Barcelona, Spain head first and doing my best to create a positive impact among the younger generation of future leaders. Since being here, many people at the school has not met and gotten to know many Americans and most like an African American in particular. I believe that it's important that all races, nationalities, and cultures should travel more out of their comfort zone and learn about the natives of different places in order to create a better world with less hate among each other. I hope I've inspired you to make that jump and find your passion in life.

If you are interested in checking out the YouTube video I made for English Day, you can check it out here: Story Time With Chyna on Harry Potter