What a week!

Quick rundown:

Monday, accepted a job at a private school in Sevilla.
Tuesday, was accepted to study a Masters in Sevilla.
Wednesday, got news that a new law makes me eligible for Spanish citizenship
Thursday, because of said citizenship, via my civil union (old news, doods), I get a gym membership!
Friday, almost died of exhaustion

I was practically pulling out my hair not even ten days ago, wondering how I could live in Spain with just working at an academy, get work papers to eventually have a job and study a masters. It looked pretty destitute, and I even went so far as to tell a friend, “I think this is it.”

Then Refugio called, saying she wanted me in for a second interview at a private school. So I got some advice for teaching preschoolers and went in the following morning. Man, those kids were teeny, but I kinda gushed over them! The committee, made up of the two American teachers and the two kindergarten teachers, were impressed with my effort and stuck me in four years with no prep time. Scarier, but I got a call back the following evening offering me a full-time teaching position.

I started Tuesday with no books, no class lists and no freaking idea what to expect. So much information was thrown at me, so many names, so many bits of information on the kids and the school. What to avoid. How much lunch in the cafeteria costs. Where the materials are. Who my boss is. By the time I left, ten hours later, I could barely remember my OWN name!

Steadily, the days have been getting better and I’m handling the classes more. I’ll be teaching three hours a week in each of the preschool classes, o sea, 3-5 años. In just a week, I have wooed the other teachers with my charm, helped on the search for another native teacher and made friends with 150 little niños. Today I went out to watch the kids playing during their recess hour, and instead of asking their teachers to put the straw in the juicebox, I had dozens of, “Miss Cat, me ayudas, please?” It’s going to take some adjusting, but I think I’ll like it once I’m into the swing of it.

Tuesday I also got into a masters program at the smaller of the Hispalense universities, Pablo de Olavide, to study Bilingual Education. It’s a one year program that will give me certification to work in private schools.

However, you must have work papers to hold a job. Luckily, my lawyer was studying my case and the laws changed in my favor, so the civil union Kike and I signed into in June is now given the same merit as a regular merit, and I am eligible for Spanish residency because I was already in a pareja de hecho, or common law marriage. His friends have been joking for ages that we should be thrown bachelor parties and commonly call me his mujer or señora, which are terms for wife, but he’s still the same old Puppy.

So, for now, I’m going to enjoy every boogerless minute of my first weekend before jumping back into my classes with the help of Cookie the Cat, Densel the Duck and Lulu the Kangaroo! That is, if I ever get my damn puppets!