I’ve been here in Madrid since yesterday. I forced myself to stay awake until midnight and then slept until 11 today, so not too bad with the time adjustment.
I’ll write a little more later about the flight and my day yesterday. Right now I’m about to get ready to head to the mall with my sister and brother in law so I can get a few things I need.
I’ll update again soon!! ¡Saludos y abrazos!
Lady in Spain 
Sep 04, 2012 @ 19:09:08
Hello! First off, I want to say that I’ve been following your blog for a while and it is such an encouragement to me! I actually found out about the BEDA program through your blog. I’m doing something I’ve wanted to do the past two years and applying to both the auxiliaries program with the Ministry of Spain and BEDA (thanks to your info!) this fall/as soon as the application opens up. Secondly, I love how you have a Looking for Alaska reference in your blog title as I am currently reading the book 🙂 The thing is, I’m torn between getting a job here in the U.S. for a year or 2 in order to pay off all my debts/student loans, and then teaching ESL abroad OR living out “carpe diem” and just applying to teaching abroad programs? I’ve been out of college for a year, got my B.A. and am ready to live out my 20’s doing something that I love and is helpful to people. Did you wait until your U.S. things were in order before applying or did you just apply? In essence, I’m wondering if I should take a risk or wait until I’m better prepared (especially financially!)
Sep 04, 2012 @ 19:12:52
Oh and P.S. I don’t speak Spanish, so that is also another factor in me deciding to stay stateside for a while in order to learn the language. I know people go to Spain and end up doing fine without having learned a lick of Spanish first, but I don’t know whether risk or preparedness is the way to go in this situation. Sorry for the long comment! Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Sep 11, 2012 @ 13:40:49
Hello!! Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond. I’m normally really quick at replying, but I’ve been so busy these past few days here in Madrid getting all of my things together and then roaming about with my sister and brother-in-law that were here with me for the first 10 days.
I’m glad you’ve found my blog useful! And you’re the first person to notice the Looking for Alaska reference on my blog, so you’ve gained about 100 cool points 🙂 In regards to your question, I actually didn’t wait to have all of my loans in order. I have also been out of college for a year and decided to jump on the chance to do this program. What a lot of people do is get their loans deferred based on their income. Since the pay we get with these programs are so low, often times the payment they say you need to give is $0.00. Most people doing these programs are in their mid 20s and no where near to having all of their loans in order.
In regards to you not speaking Spanish, I would say there is not better way to learn than going to a country that will force you to immerse yourself in the language. I’m not saying you’ll be fluent after one year here, but there will definitely be a vast improvement and I would say it would be a greater improvement than if you stayed in the States and took a Spanish course for a year. It’s all really up to how you feel. Some people take Spanish courses while they’re abroad, there are a lot of Spanish courses available for expats here in Spain so you could do them simultaneously with the program.
I don’t know if I really answered your questions, but I hope I did! If you want to ask me anything else or would like to be able to talk in an easier way, you can e-mail me at ladyinspain89@gmail.com
Sep 11, 2012 @ 17:01:32
Hi!
I’m so glad that I found your blog! It will be exciting to follow you and your journey in Spain!
I live in Sweden and I can’t wait until I finish collage because I also want to move to Madrid and live there 🙂
Looking forward to you’r upcoming posts.
Hope you enjoy Spain!
Sep 18, 2012 @ 04:27:16
I’m glad that you’re enjoying my blog! Why is it that you want to live in Madrid? I obviously have my own personal reasons, but I always like to hear why other people love the city too.