Welcome to Spain: Arrival and Orientation

CIEE: Spain volunteer – You have a placement! 

My heart jumped seeing the notification pop up on my phone. Immediately, I opened the long-awaited email to see that I had been assigned to a primary school in the city of Soria! 

… a city I had never heard of. 

In less than a month, I was at the airport waving goodbye to my mom and boyfriend. The past few weeks had been a rollercoaster of excitement, nerves, and everything in between. Although I had been anticipating this adventure, my stomach twisted as I left my loved ones behind. 

I tried to sleep as much as I could during two flights, but by the time I landed in Madrid, I was tired, greasy, and jetlagged. I looked at the frosted swirls that coated the airplane window. I was attempting to escape the Canadian winter of rain and gloom, but the landscape before me had me questioning if I’d ever left. 

Arrival

My first look at Spain after landing in Madrid

 

My flight arrived at 9:25 am on Monday, January 12th, plenty of time for me to catch the chartered bus departing at noon. I made my way through customs and waited for my luggage, which came out last on the carousel. I had landed in the furthest terminal from our meeting point, so I also had to take the shuttle bus. 

Once I made it to Llegadas T1, I immediately spotted the program coordinator, Carmen, in her bright, orange, CIEE T-shirt. Beside her was a group of volunteers sitting in a circle on the floor. Everyone was friendly and talkative, and we did multiple rounds of introductions as new people joined. 

Once we loaded into the bus, the chatter quickly died down as many of us dozed off for the 2-hour drive to Valladolid. I woke up to the sun shining brightly in the city and a new wave of excitement crept over me. All I could think was, Wow, I am in Spain. 

At the hotel, we were assigned our roommates for the night. I would be bunking with two other girls. They were loaded with flash cards, games, books, stickers, and puzzles for their school. 

I felt a pit in my stomach. 

I had only brought stickers and a little stuffed animal, but I had no real plan for either item. While I had only met these girls a few hours prior, they noticed my apprehension, and both offered me a couple of their things. Their generosity was shocking and touching, and since then I’ve become good friends with one of them. 

At 4:30 pm, we began our walking tour of Valladolid. The brisk, winter air stung my face as we wandered through the park. I was quickly distracted from the cold when we approached a group of peacocks. There were ducks and geese of colors and patterns I had never seen, with webbed talons and eyes that made me think of dinosaurs. Even the squirrels were different, with red fur and tufts of fluff on their ears, much cuter and cartoon-ish than any I’d seen in North America.

At the end of the tour, our group decided to try a nearby bar, La Passion Cafe. The theme: funky, artsy, pink. We chatted and laughed and drank until dinner. As we ate, I was hit with the realization that we had all bonded so quickly. I would be sad for us to disband the next day. 

Orientation

All the Winter 2026 volunteers on the walking tour of Valladolid

 

The next morning, we packed up our luggage and headed to orientation. The speakers shared videos of Castilla y Leon, advice and tips about Spanish culture, and reviews of past volunteer experiences. After the presentations, we were able to ask questions. Here are a couple of things that came up that I found especially helpful: 

 

• Use your first name. Spain is very casual in this sense and students call their teachers by their first names. No need for titles or last names.
• Use the informal “tú” rather than “usted” when addressing your host parents and other teachers in Spanish. Again, it’s very casual. 
• The students will hug you. While in North America, physical contact between teachers and students is strict, weird, or generally not allowed, the kids in Spain love to hug and hold hands. 

 

Afterwards, we were called out to meet our school coordinators. I was introduced to Julia and immediately knew that we would get along great. I felt overwhelmed with anticipation and knew that I was ready to make the most of whatever this experience would bring. 

Julia informed me that we would be catching a ride with another volunteer and school coordinator since they would also be in Soria! I was so excited to know that I would be living close to another volunteer (although this is not standard for the program).

Soria

View of Soria from the university

 

As we drove to Soria, the school coordinators began to warn the other volunteer and me. 

“Soria is small.”

“Soria is really cold.” 

“There’s not too much to do in Soria.”

The previous excitement I’d felt was replaced with an uneasiness as I couldn’t help but wonder, What have I gotten myself into? We drove across the city, crossed a river, and found ourselves in a quieter neighborhood. We turned into a gravel side street and pulled up to a large metal gate. 

Suddenly, the gate swung open and a short, blonde, 50-year-old woman with micro bangs and blue eyeshadow came out of the house to greet us. In the 7°C weather, she sported shorts and a t-shirt next to the rest of us in our winter coats. 

I stared blankly at my new host mom as she broke out into rapid-fire Spanish. My 5 years of Spanish classes suddenly seemed useless as I couldn’t catch a word she said. I helplessly looked at Julia who kindly asked her to slow down. 

My host mom led me to the house made of stone and black metal. It was surprisingly modern – not at all what I had expected a Spanish home to look like. Inside were industrial metal beams and hanging lights which reflected off the smooth concrete flooring. The house looked like a Pinterest photo, sleek and minimalistic. While impressive, it was also small and would be shared amongst 8 people. 

That night, I met the rest of the family: the dad, two daughters, two sons, and grandma. I was especially excited to meet one of the daughters as we were the same age. At the time I didn’t realize just how big a blessing it would be to know her. I quickly learned that the population of Soria primarily consists of young families and elderly people. 

That night, I sat in the living room with the family, chatting in a mix of English and Spanish. Although I was exhausted, I wanted to get to know them and we hung out until late in the night. Typically, the volunteers start school the next morning, but thankfully I had the day to settle in. I climbed into bed, excited for the next day when I would go explore the city of Soria, this city I had never heard of, this city that would be my home for the next 3 months.

My homestay on el río Duero at sunset!