Viva Espana! Starting a new life abroad.

---

So back when I decided to become a TEFL teacher, I had planned to apply for jobs in South Korea, work there for a year, and then travel around South East Asia until the savings ran out. Of course, my plans had to change when I inadvertantly missed the application in November when the closing date was brought forward unexpectedly due to demand. I decided to apply for TEFL jobs in Europe, so I could still gain teaching experience, while I waited to see if a few last minute applications panned out for March 2012. They didn't, and I had to wait to apply for the next intake in August. Luckily by this stage at the end of December, I had two job offers to consider, one in the town of Pomigliano d'Arco, near Naples in Italy, and the other in Cadiz, Spain.

I chose the latter hoping to re-learn and improve the Spanish I picked up in South America. And that's how I found myself at Belfast Airport one dark rainy morning in January, saying goodbye to my boyfriend of over 5 years, not knowing when exactly we would see each other again.

It was an incredibly sad start to my new life in Spain, but I had the whole of the journey to reflect on what we were doing. I'm still holding onto my South Korea dream, and Doug is going to Canada to work. We still plan to be together again when we scratch these itches that we've had for the past year!!

From Belfast I flew to Malaga, and got the train via Seville to a town called El Puerto de Santa Maria. This is where I would be based until I found my own accommodation in Cadiz. I wasn't the only new teacher arriving, Patrick from Tipperary will be teaching in El Puerto. We were being put up in the company flat, and were collected by Chris who has worked in El Puerto for years and maintains the flat.

We arrived around 7pm, so our first port of call was the nearest supermarket as nothing opens on a Sunday apparantly! Then it was unpack time. I really brought a ridiculous amount of stuff, getting stuck for extra weight charges at the check-in desk back home!! A lot of it I threw in thinking I had the room, oops! My room is grand, there's a bunk bed and a heater plugged into the wall. Spanish homes don't have central heating so it can get quite cold in the winter, and there was a lingering smell of damp in the living room which can also be a problem in the winter months.

Patrick and I were starving after our long day travelling, but we had to wait until 9pm to go out to eat, and even that was early as we found out!! Chris took us to Bar Avenida for tapas. We had deep-fried blocks of cheese with cranberry sauce, chocos which is deep-fried pieces of cuttlefish, stewed pigs cheek, and some fried peppers. Not a very healthy spread but it went down very well chased by cerveza. They serve their beers in small glasses, so you actually drink less but still feel like you've had two or three beers. Chris wanted to show us his local haunt and go out for a drink, but of course it was too early (10pm) and we had to go back to the flat to wait until near midnight before we could make an appearance!! It was a small bar but lively and full of people who poured out onto the plaza outside. They had decided to celebrate New Year's Eve all over again and had the countdown from youtube on the TV. They had bowls of grapes everywhere, and ate a grape for every second of the countdown. Easy enough we thought until we discovered that they were laced with vodka! Patrick and I lasted a very respectable hour before giving up the ghost and going to bed!!



Sunday started with a long lie-in. Patrick and I went for a walk around the town, starting with the town beach with a view aross the bay to Cadiz. It looked very industrial from what we saw. Then we went in search of tostados (bruchetta with tomato paste, ham and cheese), but breakfast time was over. Patrick pointed out the school in El Puerto before we returned for lunch. I started to research accommodation options in Cadiz, there seems to be plenty of options. Chris, Patrick and I walked out to a bar in an area called Puerto Sherry to watch the sunset, and stayed until the moon came out. It was beautiful, very peaceful. On return I had my first skype date with Doug and the parents. That night we went back to the same tapas bar to meet some of the other El Puerto teachers. There's a big Irish contingent!! It was good to meet some other people, but I was knackered and went back for a good night's sleep. Teaching tomorrow!!

---

Photos

my bedroom
simples

Dos Hermanos
waiting an hour for the connection to El Puerto