Getting Oriented

o·ri·en·ta·tion  (ôr-n-tshn, -n-, r-)

1. Location or position relative to the points of the compass.

2. An adjustment or adaptation to a new environment, situation, custom, or set of ideas.

3. Introductory instruction concerning a new situation.

This past week has been all about getting oriented. First, I'm still learning my way around, practicing my navigation skills and becoming physically aware of where I am in town, as well as in relation to other towns and cities in Spain.

Second, I’m constantly still assimilating myself to this new environment that I've placed myself in and will probably be adapting and learning new things until the very moment I leave... if ever that is ;)

Third, I recently attended the Orientation for auxiliares de conversacion in Jerez de la Frontera, where I was not only oriented on my rights and responsibilities as an auxiliar, but was also orienting myself on my new surroundings and had the pleasure of getting lost after trying to orient myself in a city with one of the most complicated medieval street plans ever. See? So much orienting.

Recap of the events of last week: After hiking the Calzada Romana on Saturday, I allowed myself the pleasure of sleeping in quite late on Sunday. When I got up in the afternoon, I headed to the cafe to visit and steal wifi. Sunday night was also an excellent night for roomie bonding time. Debra was feeling much better and purchased the goods for Mexican fajita night! We prepared a lovely meal, (gracias to the man of the house, Clint, for slaving over a hot stove) and had dinner and drinks together on our rooftop terrace. The drinks continued to the living room where we practiced our Spanish - partially from Clint's grammar workbook and partially from my Dirty Spanish book (gracias Dave!). We feel it is equally important to use correct verb conjugations and adjective-noun agreement as it is to use local slang.

We are a very special group.

Monday was the first day we had to present ourselves at school. I had a meeting with the bilingual program coordinator and staff to discuss my schedule and role in the classroom. All of the professors seem very kind and helpful so I’m sure we will work well together. I will be teaching levels Primero ESO and Segundo ESO, which are the equivalent of 7^th and 8^th grade in the US (around 12-14 years old). The content areas I will be assisting with for the bilingual program are Math, Natural Sciences and Visual Arts. The way the bilingual program works is that the professors must teach 30-50% of their class time completely in English. This can get very complicated, especially when describing difficult concepts such as math terms and equations. That is where the language assistants, such as me, come into play. Our job is to help teach those classes in English, modeling proper vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation and also to encourage students to practice speaking English and use content related vocabulary. In addition we help create materials, bring fresh new ideas and a new perspective on education, and help the professors improve their English as well. This week I have mostly been observing and planning with the other teachers, but the students seem intrigued and excited to work with me, so I’m looking forward to really getting started next week.

Though I would have preferred to stay in Ubrique, I ended up having to leave town a few times this week. The first venture out of town was for the orientation in Jerez de la Frontera. Over the weekend I had met another language assistant, Kendra, who also enrolled in the auxiliar program directly through the government and would be going to the same orientation as me. (The other assistants that I live with applied to the program through a private program called CIEE, so they had an orientation even before arriving in Ubrique). Kendra and I decided to take the bus up to Jerez de la Frontera Monday night and crash there since the orientation was scheduled for 9:30am and the commute is quite long from Ubrique. It’s a good thing we decided to go early, or I’m not sure we would have made it! Immediately after my Monday meeting with the bilingual staff, I realized we could catch the 3:30 bus to Jerez if I hustled home and gathered my things quickly. Well, of course on my way out the door I run into one neighbor that wants to speak with me as well as my landlady, Maribel, who wants the October rent that very day. As I’m running out the door I ask if I can give it to her tomorrow because the others aren’t even home (and the rent wasn’t even due until Wednesday!) but for some reason she has a very strange persuasive nature about her (maybe it’s the enticing bright blue eye shadow over that permanent, wide-eyed smile?) and she convinced me it was necessary to pay her that very day. I booked it to the nearest ATM, back pack and all, and gratefully ran into my roommate Shannon who took the money for me. Kendra and I made it to the bus station with about 4 minutes to spare, thinking we were still somehow on top of our game. Of course we were wrong.

After almost getting on the wrong bus, then almost missing the right bus, nearly 2 hours, one bus change, several stops in various pueblos and many hills and turns and nausea later.... We made it to Jerez! After making some friends on the bus, we debarked and headed for our destination only to get lost within the first 5 minutes. An hour and a half and several stops for directions later, and we made it to the hotel where the orientation would be held the next morning. The hotel was cheap and pretty nice, but the area on the outskirts of town was less than ideal. We were hot and exhausted from our journey but also famished, so we decided to trek back uphill into the city and look for a nice plaza to have dinner in. What’s another half hour or so of walking anyway? Obviously we got lost again in the first 5 minutes, but still somehow managed to hit the jackpot and stumble upon an alcazar, a cathedral and a lovely plaza with a fountain, carousel, and many cafes, one of which would serve as our dining spot. Our evening consisted of touristy pictures, paella and delicious seafood, gelato and miraculously finding our way back to the hotel without actually going through the less-than-ideal part of town.

The next morning we met tons of other auxiliares from the US, Canada, England, Australia, France, and Germany. Apparently the program is kind of a big deal for the government because there were several newspaper and television cameras surrounding the front stage and snapping random photos of everything and everyone. The Ministry of Education Officials were like celebrities. It made us feel kind of important I guess. The presentation itself was informative but a little daunting; I feel like I have so much to do still!

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly as I had to leave again Thursday evening, this time to go to Cádiz in order to obtain my NIE (foreign identity number). Again, I was reluctant to leave Ubrique because I’d like to spend more time getting acquainted with the town and the people here, but it was necessary to get the NIE process done and over with ASAP because we need the number for other super important things like bank accounts and internet. Nevertheless, I re-packed my bags (much lighter this time having learned from experience) and hopped on the bus after school Thursday with the other 3 roomies. Predictably, our journey to Cádiz turned into quite an adventure as well.

The 2 hour, hilly, stop and go journey caused extra nausea this time, but I managed to keep it together. We got in late Thursday night, explored a little, and planned on getting up very early Friday morning to beat the rush at the police station. Great plan. The problem? This Friday happened to be a día festivo (holiday ) particular to only the city of Cádiz. One thing about the Spanish culture – they absolutely love their días festivos. They have a holiday nearly every other week, sometimes more, and they do them right - No work, no school, everything shut down, parades, celebrations in the streets, good company and lots of eating and drinking, and sometimes they even bridge holidays so they have extra days off! Spectacular lifestyle… except when you actually need to get something done. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete our NIE process because the bank and the foreigner’s office were both closed until Monday. Kind of a big letdown since that was our main motive for busing it to the city. (From now on, I will always check the holiday calendar before making any plans!)

The plus side? We were in Cádiz… one of the oldest, most historical and beautiful cities on the coast of Spain! We decided to make a short weekend out of it since we were already there anyways. We booked another hostel for the second night and explored the town and the beaches. Cádiz is one of the oldest (if not THE oldest?) port cities in all of Europe.  It is a small island bridged off the western coast of Spain surrounded by the Atlantic ocean. Along the coast among the modern apartment buildings, you can see remnants of Roman ruins, a stunning, golden domed cathedral, and exotic trees that are over 500 years old! We also had the pleasure of meeting many other auxiliares that were placed in the city of Cádiz. They seem like a good bunch, so hopefully we will run into one another again.

After spending 2 weeks in the mountains, being in such a huge city was a bit of a refreshing culture shock – the city was full of life, different sights and so much history. I do love meeting new people and seeing the sights in different cities, but I really can’t wait to spend some more good quality time in Ubrique. After backpacking so much this week, it was so incredibly nice to come back to my piso, the comfortable little home I’ve made for myself here.  Though I can’t help but still feel completely foreign, every day I am beginning to feel less and less like an outsider here. It’s just a matter of time before I can really embrace the culture, and am in return truly embraced by the people as part of their community. Though I have been missing my friends and family intensely lately, I’ve already met some wonderful people. I’m sure with time I will find my niche and have a plethora of cool Spanish friends here in Ubrique. Here’s to hoping it’s sooner rather than later!

Saludos