Teaching English In Spain: Auxiliares de Conversación April Update
Hola! If you are new to my blog, bienvenido! You’ve stumbled upon my monthly Auxiliares de Conversación update, where I share all about my experiences teaching English and living in Spain. If you are interested in teaching abroad, are curious about life as an auxiliar, or simply enjoy keeping up with my Miss Adventures, then you are in the right place! In this post, I’ll be talking all about my experience at the Feria de Sevilla, getting my placement for the 2018-2019 school year, and my adventures in Italy!
After spending my Spring Break in Poland this March, I felt energized and ready to resume classes again during the month of April! The weather has finally started warming up (not that it ever got below freezing or anything) and I can’t believe that there are only 2 months left in the school year for us auxiliares. (The students don’t finish up until June.) Time really has begun to fly!
Teaching Update
Nothing showed me how quickly the year is coming to an end like watching another teacher leave the school. One of my favorite coworkers (who I happen to teach a lot of classes with) ended his substituting period and is now off to a different school. To celebrate the 8 months he spent with our school, all of the teachers pitched in to give him a parting gift, and many of the students had gifts to present to him as well. We presented the gift to him at recess, and all of the teachers and students said their farewells. I counted at least 10 students in tears! My friend is a great teacher, and this was clear by everyone’s sad reactions to his leaving. We will definitely miss him!
The teachers also celebrated by attending his band’s concert, which was held at a local restaurant in Lebrija. I took the train to town (on a Friday!) and had so much fun watching his band play and hanging out with my coworkers after school.
Moments like these make me realize how lucky I am to have been placed in a school with such welcoming co-workers who have now become my friends. I know that next year I will truly miss everyone I’ve had the pleasure of working with this year, and I am excited to keep in touch with everyone.
Feria de Sevilla
If there is one thing I have learned in the past several months while living in Spain, its that there is nothing Spaniards get more excited about than a festival. Many of Spain’s most popular festivals are rooted in centuries-old religious traditions, with different regions and cities claiming certain holidays as their own. Whether you are celebrating Carnevale in Cadiz, San Fermin in Pamplona, or Las Fallas in Valencia, you are sure to feel the magic of tradition in the air, and locals prepare for these events for months!
In Sevilla, the major festivals are Semana Santa (Holy Week) and the Feria de Sevilla. While Holy Week is marked by a week of solemn processions throughout the city, Feria de Sevilla is a time for the Sevillanos to get dressed up, get their dancing shoes on, and celebrate until the small hours of the morning!
People have been hyping up feria since the day I arrived in Spain, so I made sure not to make any travel plans from April 15-April 22 so I could see what the fair is all about.
Some of my auxiliar friends who were placed in Sevilla itself got quite lucky and even got several days off of work to go to the fair! In addition to schools shutting down, stores, local businesses, and even the bank had reduced hours so that employees could partake in the fair!
Unfortunately, I still had to go to work, so I wasn’t able to visit the fairgrounds during the week, but I have several friends who went nearly every day and had a blast!
I finally decided to head to the fair on a Saturday (the last day of the fair) so that way I could see the fireworks at the end of the evening celebrating the closing of the feria. Since I knew I would only be visiting the fairgrounds once, I decided against finding a traditional outfit to wear and instead put on a dress that had a little bit of a fun feria vibe. Feria dresses are quite expensive, so this was a great decision when it came to sticking to my auxiliar budget!
I had so much fun wandering in and out of the public casetas (private casetas require a membership, so if you don’t have friends to welcome you in, it can be tough to enter!), tasting fair food, drinking refreshing rebujitos (a typical drink made with sherry and soda), and listening to traditional music while watching locals dancing Sevillanas. I even made it over to the fair side and hopped on a ride or two! The night ended with a literal bang as fireworks signaled the end of the fair-at least until next year!
While I definitely wish that I had more time to visit the fair, I wasn’t too concerned about only visiting for one day. Why?…Remember how in January I decided to renew my application and apply for another year teaching English? Well…I got my placement for the 2018-2019 school year! Feria 2019 here I come!
Renewal
That’s right, you heard me (or read me) correctly! On April 6th I received an e-mail with my new placement. While I am sad to be leaving my school in Lebrija, I was SO EXCITED to discover that my new school is located in Sevilla! Funnily enough, the school is located ridiculously close to the grounds where Feria takes place, so I have a feeling I’ll have some additional time off next year to enjoy the fair!
I couldn’t be happier about my new placement. Instead of a very long and expensive commute by train, my new school is only a 40-minute walk/bus ride from my current apartment, or 15 minutes by bike!
Travel
Between the feria and receiving my carta with my new school, April was already an exciting month. We also had a long weekend, which meant that I had 5 days to go on an extra long weekend trip!
Where did I decide to go with all of this extra time? Believe it of not, Italy!
If you have been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that I spent 1 year living and working in Florence, Italy, so why on earth would I decide to go there (again) during my break? Especially after visiting Rome again in February!
Well, one unfortunate thing about the auxiliar program is that you get time off during Spanish holidays-which means EVERYONE else in Spain is off too, so flights during these weekends tend to be more expensive.
The cheapest flight outside of Spain that I was able to find for that weekend happened to be Milan (91 Euros!), and I must admit that I had been wanting to visit Lake Como for ages!
I ended up spending part of the weekend exploring Lake Como and Bologna, which I had never before visited, and stopped to spend a day in my beloved Florence visiting old friends, and, of course, eating all of my favorite foods.
I ended up absolutely LOVING Lake Como, especially as I was lucky enough to visit in spring while everything was in bloom! While I was initially hoping to head to a new country during the break, I couldn’t have been happier with my choice to return to my beloved Italia. I can’t believe it took me so long to visit Lake Como, and I’ll definitely be recommending it to all of my friends. You can check out my guide to visiting Lake Como here!
Budget
I actually managed to stay relatively within budget during the month of April. Unfortunately, this month our water and electricity bill overlapped meaning I had to spend €100 all in one month on utilities! I definitely wish our utilities were paid monthly, as it can be difficult to predict exactly how much I owe each month. I have calculated that utilities typically cost ~€50 each month. You can learn more about my budget and what I spend each month as an auxiliar here!
Next Month
Stay tuned for next month’s auxiliar update! It will be my last update from the 2018-2019 school year. I’ll be writing all about my final month teaching, saying goodbye during my last days of school, my renewal paperwork, travels (I’m going to Italy…again!), and my plans for the summer!
Interested in learning more about life as an Auxiliar de Conversación? Then be sure to check out these posts:
- 10 Essential Tips For Your First Day Teaching English In Spain
- My First Month Teaching English In Spain As An Auxiliar de Conversación
- Auxiliar de Conversación Budget: Exactly How Much I Make (And Spend) Each Month In Spain
- Teaching English In Spain: Auxiliar Updates
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