When the Going Gets Tough

Madrid, Spain: month five. A lot can happen in five months. For most of us, we moved to a foreign country in September, began work in October, coped with missing Thanksgiving in November and (maybe, just maybe) flew home in December.

So, in these past five months we’ve been expected to make friends, find housing, keep (and attend) our appointments with the Spanish gov., work in a school, and budget well enough to not starve ourselves. Oh, and remain calm while doing it.

I am here to say that it is possible, albeit difficult. By now we have all hopefully settled into our routines, found our favourite daily coffee stop and have a good support group of friends to share that coffee with.

Coming to Spain has been just as great as could be imagined. The people are nice, the food tasty and the weather…acceptable. Coming from the North Eastern United States I suppose I can’t complain too much about the lack of freezing temperatures.

While there are times it can be frustrating, in the end, it’s worth it to have such an opportunity. Not everyone gets to travel abroad, let alone call their destination home. It’s only been five months, yet I am extremely grateful for the friends I’ve made, the school I teach in and the experiences I’ve had.

I know plenty of people who, like me, moved to Spain after university to take a break from school after finishing university. Several years later they’re still here and not a tad less happy…that might just be me as well.