Well, putting Spain aside, though I'd liked to have done it as a personal choice, turned out to be a necessity as Hurricane Gustav came barrelling into the Gulf Coast. I am now writing on the 6th day after the storm, from a CC's coffee house that is one of the first to reopen since Baton Rouge has been without power (as of Monday...and counting). A whole week, including Labor Day weekend, has been wasted, and I don't have much to show for it since phones and internet have been out for the count. What great fortune I've had while I've been back (sarcasm abounds)! But I guess it's my own fault for scheduling my return to the States during hurricane season. I'll definitely keep this in mind next year.
Spending 6 days without electricity, though, has led me to a lot of introspection. In the midst of sweaty nights of barely no sleep and anxiety dreams about not finding work OR a place to live in Spain yet - when I now have less than 2 weeks to do so before I go back - and sweaty days worrying where all my friends and family are and cleaning up the mess the storm left behind, I was barely able to muster up a smile when the b/f looked over in my direction. But I now have had a few nights of a/c (a friend of the b/f here in BR now has power and is gracious enough to host us) and thus a few nights of good sleep, and I can feel my head beginning to clear as I sip my Louisiana Blend dark roast.
Interestingly, I was perusing said friend/host's bookshelf this morning and came across a book called "The Meaning of Mindfulness." I cracked it open and learned several new deep breathing and meditation techniques to help me practice mindfulness. I haven't had the chance to incorporate these into my yoga practice yet, but just being in the moment and practicing the breathing, I already feel more like myself. Today, I've realized that no matter where I am, if I can find myself in the moment and recognize the joy of just being alive, I can be happy and satisfied. I only wish I'd had this epiphany 5 days ago when I was ready to tear my hair out.
Also adding to my increasing happiness, I received an email from a school in Granada that I'd commit murder to get a job offer from. I'm supposed to call them on Monday, and we'll see where it leads, but I'm really thrilled just to have the potential of it working out. I can't get my hopes up, because I know the disappointment would be fatal (this job would be the most perfect job I could possibly imagine for myself - it's centrally located in Granada, I could live at Tina, cost of living is cheaper there, and the school has good connections with Via Lingua and a good reputation). The word "ideal" just doesn't cut it to describe this job.
Anyway, I've come to realize that there is a turning point during the TEFL job-search process when all the denials and rejection emails seem to dwindle down and you start to get some positive feedback. For me, this point usually results in utter disappointment and career disillusion just before the sudden surprise of a great job offer (or as was the case this summer, two job offers). Throughout all my job searching, I've probably sent about 150+ C.V.'s out into cyberspace, filling up the inboxes of every DOS in every major school in Madrid (and every other school in Spain which advertises on TEFL.com and Dave's ESL Cafe). For every 10 C.V.'s that I send out, I get an email from a really good school telling me, "Thank you for your application, but we just can't hire non-EU citizens." And my hopes and dreams fall into the pit of my stomach. This is a humbling, pride-swallowing process. What I've taken away from it all is that a little bit of hope gets you through it. And while I only have 6 months of experience in this to go on, I'm fairly confident that this is the common experience for most TEFL teachers in the world. I'm hoping that this time the utter disappointment in my usual pattern takes a detour and the great job offer supercedes it. And that's about all I can do (aside from continuing to to pummell those DOS's with my C.V.).
In other news, I've discovered some really helpful blogs out there for TEFL teachers in Spain (one in particular is written by an American TEFL teacher). Check out The Pain in Spain for a lot of great information about teaching English in Spain.
I'd upload photos/videos of the recent hurricane, but I don't have the patience. Maybe I should do some breathing exercises.
Spending 6 days without electricity, though, has led me to a lot of introspection. In the midst of sweaty nights of barely no sleep and anxiety dreams about not finding work OR a place to live in Spain yet - when I now have less than 2 weeks to do so before I go back - and sweaty days worrying where all my friends and family are and cleaning up the mess the storm left behind, I was barely able to muster up a smile when the b/f looked over in my direction. But I now have had a few nights of a/c (a friend of the b/f here in BR now has power and is gracious enough to host us) and thus a few nights of good sleep, and I can feel my head beginning to clear as I sip my Louisiana Blend dark roast.
Interestingly, I was perusing said friend/host's bookshelf this morning and came across a book called "The Meaning of Mindfulness." I cracked it open and learned several new deep breathing and meditation techniques to help me practice mindfulness. I haven't had the chance to incorporate these into my yoga practice yet, but just being in the moment and practicing the breathing, I already feel more like myself. Today, I've realized that no matter where I am, if I can find myself in the moment and recognize the joy of just being alive, I can be happy and satisfied. I only wish I'd had this epiphany 5 days ago when I was ready to tear my hair out.
Also adding to my increasing happiness, I received an email from a school in Granada that I'd commit murder to get a job offer from. I'm supposed to call them on Monday, and we'll see where it leads, but I'm really thrilled just to have the potential of it working out. I can't get my hopes up, because I know the disappointment would be fatal (this job would be the most perfect job I could possibly imagine for myself - it's centrally located in Granada, I could live at Tina, cost of living is cheaper there, and the school has good connections with Via Lingua and a good reputation). The word "ideal" just doesn't cut it to describe this job.
Anyway, I've come to realize that there is a turning point during the TEFL job-search process when all the denials and rejection emails seem to dwindle down and you start to get some positive feedback. For me, this point usually results in utter disappointment and career disillusion just before the sudden surprise of a great job offer (or as was the case this summer, two job offers). Throughout all my job searching, I've probably sent about 150+ C.V.'s out into cyberspace, filling up the inboxes of every DOS in every major school in Madrid (and every other school in Spain which advertises on TEFL.com and Dave's ESL Cafe). For every 10 C.V.'s that I send out, I get an email from a really good school telling me, "Thank you for your application, but we just can't hire non-EU citizens." And my hopes and dreams fall into the pit of my stomach. This is a humbling, pride-swallowing process. What I've taken away from it all is that a little bit of hope gets you through it. And while I only have 6 months of experience in this to go on, I'm fairly confident that this is the common experience for most TEFL teachers in the world. I'm hoping that this time the utter disappointment in my usual pattern takes a detour and the great job offer supercedes it. And that's about all I can do (aside from continuing to to pummell those DOS's with my C.V.).
In other news, I've discovered some really helpful blogs out there for TEFL teachers in Spain (one in particular is written by an American TEFL teacher). Check out The Pain in Spain for a lot of great information about teaching English in Spain.
I'd upload photos/videos of the recent hurricane, but I don't have the patience. Maybe I should do some breathing exercises.
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