october 2008 story contest winner

Congratulations!

Julia Nurse
Teach in Spain

"Bedmar, Spain"

The town of Bedmar, Spain, remains dark until 8:00 in the morning in October. The sun rises, but lingers behind the towering Sierra Magina mountains, waiting until the last second to offer its rays to the sleepy village of 3,000.

I started off to the Virgen del Cuadros primary school at 8:40 a.m., hoping to reach work before class began at 9:00. The morning rain had ended just in time, leaving an ice-like glaze on the steep mountain streets and covering the village with thick fog. Through the fog, groups of parents and children emerged. Pulling tiny backpacks, they migrated the same direction I was walking. Unsure of my way, I discreetly let them be my guide as I tip-toed through the slick streets toward work. Having finally arrived at work, I could no longer fade into the fog. So I entered the school building with forced confidence, and with no idea what to expect from my Spanish students awaiting my arrival.

Minutes later, I was already entering a classroom with my bilingual coordinator, Amparo, and being welcomed by many wide-eyed fifth graders. With each English word I spoke, the fixed glances grew wider.

"I'm from the United States of America," I began, whipping out a colorful, magnetic map, which, though it had cost $10, finally didn't seem so overpriced. I showed them Missouri then Kansas City. Then, an 8x10 lamented photo of my house.

Their eyes were bugging now.
Que bonita, que grande...I heard whispers.
My new students were fascinated.

What continued as "here is my family" and "I have two brothers" eventually led to "Kenny Chesney is my favorite country music singer." Which promoted the class to break out in the Spanish version of Billy Ray Cyrus' hit "Achy Breaky Heart."
Now, if you would have told me, back when I was seven and memorizing every word of that song, that I would someday sing it to a class of fifth graders in the middle of Spain, I would have thought you were more "off" than Billy Ray's mullet.
Oh, but that's what I did. After two girls came up to the front of the classroom and showed me the line-dance steps while signing in Spanish..."no digas a mi corazon," I offered my English expertise.

"Would you like to hear some of that song in English?" I asked. A collective yes.

And so I belted out the first couple lines of the 1990's chart topper and received an immediate applause by my captivated ten-year old audience.

Would I have predicted this first day of work? Never. My eight months at Virgen de Cuadros continued in this way - the job was never dull.

Leading my ever action, was an underlying goal: teach my Spanish students about the American culture. I not only repetitively stepped, but leaped and even line danced, out of my comfort zone to offer a cultural tidbit. As the first American many of these students and teachers had seen, I knew I had a hefty responsibility representing my country.

But while I shaped their view of America, my isolated children from Andalusia  molded me. Now back home in Missouri, 5,000 miles away from the hills of Bedmar and the surrounding endless olive groves, I'm not the same person I was eight months ago. I appreciate and understand people in a way I never could have before living in Spain. Though we may be separated by language or landmass, all humans, deep down, are similar. We all have needs to love, to learn, to be heard and respected. To find meaning in our lives and to belong to something bigger than ourselves.

Wherever life may take me, I'll always remember it only takes one small step outside my comfort zone to refocus and see that my neighbor and I really aren't so different at all. Thanks to CIEE, I first took those life-changing steps on the steep streets of rural Spain.