Great News on the Housing Front

Two weeks from today I will be en route to Spain. It's finally starting to sink in that this is actually happening, "this" being leaving Nashville behind for at least 9 months and moving halfway around the world. I'm still nervous, maybe even more than I was the last time I posted. My nerves are tempered somewhat by the fact that I have found a place to live in Sevilla. Despite the fact that CIEE warned us against committing to housing before seeing it is person, this opportunity was too good to pass up. First and foremost, the place is adorable (at least as far as I can tell from the pictures)... light, airy, and filled with typical Andalusian decor. If I could have told you ahead of time what my ideal living space in Spain would look like, this would be it. Aside from aesthetics, 300 euros per month in rent (utilities and wifi included) in the center of Seville is a great deal. Plus, from what I can tell, the location is awesome. Since I will be commuting to Dos Hermanas for work several days a week, it was important that I have easy access to the train station, which is about a 10 minute bus ride from my soon-to-be neighborhood. I am also told that the house is located in a lively, young, somewhat Bohemian district with lots of stores, banks, restaurants and supermarkets. Although I wouldn't consider myself Bohemian or alternative, it sounds like there will be lots of venues to meet other young people. In general, I couldn't be more satisfied with how things panned out in the housing department. Not to mention the fact that I will no longer be spending upwards of 400 euros on a hotel during my first week in Sevilla...

As far as my housemates go, I have communicated with one of the girls, a 22-year-old medical student named Fátima. She has been extremely helpful and has even offered to meet me at the bus stop and show me to the house when I arrive on the 16th. I was just thrilled that she understood my Spanish! My other housemates include another 22-year-old girl (also a med student) and a 35-year-old woman who works for the Junta de Andalucía (the regional government). I was originally leaning toward living with other Americans but am glad that I changed my mind. Although I loved my roommates in Madrid, being able to speak English in the house definitely took away from my immersion experience. I am looking forward to improving my Spanish and hopefully making some Spanish friends along the way.

Anyways, that's about all I have for now. I will definitely post at least 1 more time before I leave, probably something about fitting my entire life into a backpack and 1 suitcase.

The Countdown

The countdown has officially begun! With each passing day the fact that I am moving to Spain for nine months becomes more and more real as I make the final preparations for my adventure. I have received my visa from the Spanish government, completed my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification course online, and made travel arrangements for my arrival in Spain. I am so excited for everything that the year ahead holds--a new city, my first apartment, new friends, and my first "real" job. Although I studied abroad two years ago in Madrid, I know that this will be a completely new and exhilarating experience. While the hallmarks of the Spanish lifestyle will not be new to me, a lot of the day-to-day aspects of my life in Spain will be different this time around, most of it for the better. I won't have to depend on my former host mother's questionable cooking, or listen to her argue with her 15-year-old daughter about the latter's desire for a tongue ring. I won't be as taken aback by piropos...but then again, how does one ever get used to being catcalled by aging Spanish men? And hopefully, just hopefully, I will get to experience the joys of Andalusian weather in winter, when Madrid would have been pretty damn cold.

Despite my general optimism about the year ahead, I have to admit I am nervous. There is a lot of uncertainty about this experience, not the least of which is moving to a new country without a place to live. In my old age of 22, however, I am learning to set my anxiety aside and approach new situations calmly. I only have control over so much, right? For that reason I am taking charge of what I can and leaving the rest to work itself out. This week's triumph was finding hotels in Madrid and Sevilla for my first week on the Peninsula as well as purchasing a train ticket from Madrid to Sevilla. It's a small step but one that makes me (and, most importantly, my mom) feel a lot better about my impending trip. The next step? Beginning to contemplate packing... which I will mostly likely put off until the first week in September.

One last note, for anyone who is traveling or is going to be traveling in Europe (especially on a budget): get a Let's Go Europe book before you hop the pond. It's one of a series of student-geared travel guides, written by Harvard undergrads and it made my traveling a lot easier the last time I was abroad. I recently purchased the 2010 edition and have been perusing it in anticipation of my year in Spain. As I've told many people, one of the greatest things about Europe is the ease and economy of traveling throughout the continent. It's one of the main reasons why I chose to teach English in Spain rather than in Latin America. And as I've skimmed the pages of my new book, I am reminded just how amazing the opportunities are over there. I'm already sketching out my travel plans... first on the list-- Austria and Belgium.

Hello, World!

Naming a blog is hard. You want your blog to shout "Read me!" You want the rest of the world to think you're creative, original, and interesting, not boring and cliche. I don't think of myself as boring and cliche... but I also wouldn't put myself in the creative/original camp. Interesting, maybe. This morning on my daily walk in the park with my German Shepherd-mix, Lucie, I thought of everything I could possibly name this account of my first year out of college. Seeing as I'll be spending the majority of the next year living in Spain, my mind jumped to all of the possible Spanish words and phrases I could use. Unfortunately, my lack of creativity in English extends to (and possibly doubles in) Spanish. "Viva La Vida"? I like it, but given the fact that it's the title of a Coldplay song it falls under cliche. "My Year in Spain?" Boring. And I'm guessing there are already hundreds of other blogs with that same title. And then it hit me--the title I just had to use for my blog. It might sound uncreative, maybe even cliche, but to me, it sounds perfect. The 17th Grade.

Why "The 17th Grade"? My mom always laughs at me for thinking about my life in grades, not years. Ask me how old I was when something in my life happened, and I'll reply with my grade. My parents' divorce? 4th grade. September 11th? 8th grade. My semester abroad as a junior in college? 15th grade, obviously. And this might be my intellectual/philosophical side coming out just a little bit, but perhaps this system works better than the traditional age-based system of remembering our lives. In school, a given grade signifies a specific level of learning. But does learning just stop when we are done with school? When I graduated from college in May, a wise relative sent me the following Facebook message: "Welcome to the post-graduate world, Julia! I'm so proud of you! As the saying goes, education is what's left when you've forgotten all the details-- so start forgetting (seriously, no)." He couldn't be more right. I've been a college graduate for two weeks, and I'm already learning. I can't even begin to fathom what lies ahead for me on the Iberian peninsula.

I've established that I'll be spending the majority of the coming year in Spain. You might wonder why. The short answer is that I will be serving as a North American Language & Culture Assistant in a Spanish high school through a program offered by CIEE in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. I'm still working on the long answer, but suffice it to say that I just can't stay away from Spain (and I have no idea what I "want to do with the rest of my life"). I don't leave for Spain until mid-September (when most people will start reading this blog). However, I wanted to get a handle on blogging before I find myself across the Atlantic Ocean. Plus, it gives me something to do in my spare time--which I have lots of these days.

Over the course of the summer, I plan to update this from time to time as I prepare more for my departure and the new life that awaits me in Dos Hermanas, a small city in the Sevilla province of southern Spain. So, hasta luego...