España is a place that I keep very close to my heart. It was where I had learnt Spanish, lived and travelled alone, adulting at its finest and finally following my birth charts message "A need to live abroad" and rebel against all that I was comfortable with. Ever since the burning hot summer of 2018 in the romantic city of Sevilla, I craved the feeling of international independence more than anything and tried my best to live abroad permanently.
But then life happened... Coronavirus and Brexit slowly pulling me away from the goal I was working towards, which ended up becoming a mirage in the distance of a complicated and very bleak future.
After being bombarded by hours of customer complaints, I decided I was going to leave my temporary job in November 2021. Martin, a god-send from the Erasmus scheme I was planning on doing in 2018, 2019 and 2021 had asked if I would like to be a part of the January 2022 group and of course, I said yes! Thankfully I had completed a TEFL English course and had the certificate to prove it. Plus, I already had interviews with him previously so I was fast tracked and accepted onto the scheme, and had nothing left to do but wait for the day I leave those grey clouds behind.
Google says, permanently closed.
Seville felt very different this time around, it was cold, there was Christmas lights everywhere and I was living in an apartment in La Macarena (Poligono El Norte) with 2 other people Colette and Jake. I never realised socialising would feel so overwhelming, I was practically living a normal life in Spain and it was such a shock from all the uncertainty I was coming from. The biggest challenge for me was at some point I would be teaching English in an academy full of Spanish speakers, I will actually be working here!
In my first week I was excited to reconnect with the city I once knew and to find all the restaurants and panderias I had been craving since my almost 3 years away. My mind was in complete denial of the damage caused by the pandemic, which had closed vulnerable businesses across Spain and everywhere else in the world during that apocalyptic time.
Hamburgesa con salsa de soja, empanada de atun con pisto (sin leche) and all the other delights I used to snack on in the good times were all no more. Devoured by an economic crisis that heavily relied on the presence of its towns people and the Giri's (foreigners). To add some more salt to the wounds, the place where I spent two months of my time dancing, hungover, sweating and fighting with fluffy, gigantic moths had been converted from student rooms into town-house apartments.
seño
Grading myself a modest A2 level of Spanish compared to my language teachers B1 suggestion, I felt ready to work and start my job as an English teaching assistant to ages still unknown. I met with my manager Ana who was an earthy soul that advised me during the interview she had a spiritual connection to India... I knew from that point we would get on well and felt even more relaxed about the school.
This was a completely different experience to what I was in before. This time I was on the other side of the field listening to children and teenagers forget their grammar rules and forms, not to forget pronouncing letters beginning with 'S' with an 'ES' instead. Colourful pictures of love hearts and many tiny little hands reaching for my hair beads took place every lesson. Compliments from children with surprisingly deep voices warmed me as soon as I entered the classroom, "GUAPA!" or "Que guay!" they would shout whilst playing with the many rings on my ice-cold fingers, leading me to a chair that was next to there's so they could stare at me with intent whilst the teacher tried to teach them English vocabulary.
I was referred to as "Teacher", "Keisha" obviously, "Teacher Keisha" and finally "seño" which was really confusing! On many occasions I would respond to the children "but I'm not a man?" and they would respond with an even more puzzled "What?" which baffled me even more. I was told by a colleague who was also dumfounded by the term that "seño" meant "señora" in short.
"Teacher, what are your favourite colour?"
What I enjoyed the most from this experience was that these kids were kids, children of a past time that had unfortunately become brainwashed by devices and social media back home in London. The teenagers, well, they were just regular sassy teenagers.
The conversations with them weren't weird (when I could understand them) and their behaviour was just innocent and fragile. Pleasing their friends by rolling on the floor and saying silly things, sharing their stationary and drawing random things all over their workbooks. It was a close-knit school of friends and everyone knew each other and almost everyone that had a sibling was also there to learn English. Parents were outside chatting especially with Ana and Acu the receptionist, a very homely feel that you just don't find back home anymore.
I need a glass of wine.
Teaching was tough and I have gained an all new respect for teachers abroad and in my home country. I had found that not being fluent in the native language, especially with young children can make the job very difficult. Also finding out that kids from ages 4-6 during their developing stage, (which was in the times of quarantine) have trouble connecting with other children.
I had to teach back to back lessons on my own for 2 weeks and by the end of it, I was completely shattered. Some of the most amazing moments I experienced was trying to drill 5 year olds to say "waiter" and "shop assistant" when their attention was more on giving me a hug, play fighting with each other or running to hold my hand.
Everyone on my scheme had a different ordeal but I know that my school was the best and chosen for me specifically. It was the one I was meant to be assigned to in the past and I always told myself that it was for a reason. Even though becoming a teacher is not necessarily the path for me, it gave my soul such a great feeling to help people on their journey and to watch them all progress, however small.
My manager would have liked me to stay on but unfortunately due to Brexit, I was only allowed 90 days unlike in the past where i could stay forever. A lot of long-term plans for British participants were thrown out the window and now only possible for EU passport holders which was a really big kick in the teeth. Many of my colleagues had to apply for jobs in The Americas and Asia if they wanted to start a new life abroad which seemed really unfair.
Hopefully due to the lack of native English speakers, Spain and other European countries will accept us into their workspaces again. Embracing different cultures has always been important, and it's really sad to think that the younger generation won't have opportunities like this in the future.
We need a resolution.
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