No Expectations

Whenever I travel, I like to have a general understanding about where I’m going, such as a basic knowledge of the history, the cultural charms and quirks, and the main points of interest. I am a planner, after all, and I like to be prepared. However, one thing I learned from all my travel experiences last year was to refrain from having too many expectations. I discovered that traveling with an open (but not naive) mind, a flexible schedule, and a group of adventuresome friends was more enjoyable than arriving on the foreign scene with a predetermined and rigorous itinerary. The small delights of traveling come from the unexpected, those things which are not planned, and sometimes, not even known before they present themselves. My past blog entries recounting my travels certainly attest to that overlooked traveling secret. So, why has it taken me almost two weeks to realize that I have returned to Spain with dozens of expectations?!?!

As of Thursday, I have officially begun my second year working in Madrid as an English-language teaching assistant and private tutor. Although I expected things to be very familiar but different (like faculty, kids, and coursework), I did not expect the outcome of my class schedule, and I’ll admit freely that I’m a bit disappointed. I had hoped (and even expected) to be working with the kids in 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grades, and I was very excited about applying all the new tricks and techniques that I learned last year to my classes this year. However, I don’t think I’ll be able to do much of that, because I’m spending most of my school hours with all the first graders in our school. Don’t get me wrong. They are cute and loveable—well, most of them—but they don’t exactly have the proper English level to talk about the water cycle. Instead, we are coloring worksheets and tracing the words pencil, notebook, and playground. I don’t want to complain too much (I’ll play my fiddle later on tonight), because I am working a little bit with a third grade class. Nevertheless, since things are still pretty tumultuous at school, I’m harboring hopes of a schedule change. ;-)

Immediately upon my arrival in Madrid, I felt as if I had only been gone for a couple of weeks, and I easily slipped into my comfort zone walking down the many familiar streets or hopping on the Metro in order to meet a friend. However, being back in Madrid has been such a whirlwind already. One reason things have seemed so crazy is that I’ve had a lot of visitors come through these past (not even) two weeks. Yadira, one of my best friends from last year, stayed with me in my new apartment for my first week back. We had a really nice time catching up with one another and visiting our favorite spots across the city. We even did some new things, like toured the Museo Sorolla, the former home and now art-gallery of Joaquin Sorolla, one of my favorite painters. Unfortunately, Yadira’s stay was only temporary, and she is off on a new adventure, living and working in Birmingham, England. Ida, another dear friend, also came to Madrid for a couple of days before moving up to Asturias in northern Spain to teach English there instead of in Madrid. Finally, my cousin Cameron was staying here on the end of his European travels. He really only had one full day here, and so, what else is there to do on a Sunday in Madrid but go to a bull fight? Yep… I went to another bull fight. I think it might have been my last.

In addition to working around all of my friends visiting, I also have felt a little out of sorts recently because it has taken weeks to figure out my tutoring schedule. As of now, I have signed myself up for a lot of extra classes in the evenings, which will be quite a challenge after a day at school. However, I truly enjoy my private lessons. It’s where I get to decide what we do and how we do it. Even though that requires sufficient work and planning, I have become very close to some of these children and their families over the past year, and being with them can really make my day complete! Only moments ago did I solidify my tutoring schedule that will allow me to work with all my favorite families and a few new ones, too. It’s going to make for loooong days… but I think it’s all vale la pena.

I am on the cusp of my first full week of work here in Madrid… for the second time around. I have a feeling that this year is going to be so different from last year… but I don’t want to have too many expectations... or at least, just not too many yet!

Ida, Sarah, Yadira, and I were reunited ever so briefly this week. Yay for friends!

Cameron had such limited time in Madrid, so I thought it best to take advantage of the end of the bull fighting season. Now, he can return home with a very Spanish experience under his belt!

And I certainly never expected to go back to the Plaza de Torros so soon!

Just one example of why we don't need expectations.