Meet Laura

I'll take this opportunity to introduce myself before I leave and get lost in the insomniac chaos that is Madrid. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Laura Brewer, I lived with Sarah all through college, I know Nick through the Language House, and I met Paige in Argentina while visiting Sarah.
I just graduated from Maryland with a B.A. in Spanish and Anthropology and a Certificate in Latin American Studies, and I definitely agree that Latin America is in my digestive system. Although I've always been sort of an anti-Spain snob (damn the man and all), I am genuinely excited about this trip.

This could be due to my amazing luck in placement; I'll be teaching at the Instituto de Educacion Secundaria Rey Carlos III, a high school in a small town called Aguilas (see the photo below and the map), in the region of Murcia on the Southern Mediterranean coast. I know nothing about Spain so I picked my top choice based on which region had the prettiest photo on the application's website.
To top that, I have already found 2 roommates, Brandon and Julien (other language assistants at my school), and Julien has already arrived in Aguilas, found a sweet piso (apartment) and settled us in. I can arrive in Aguilas without all the hassle of trying to find a place while keeping my excessive luggage unstolen in a hostel. Beginner's luck? Perhaps. Here's hoping it continues throughout the next 8 months!

Saludos y bienvenidos! Hello and welcome!

The idea for this group blog was born out of a concern shared by all of its participants: How does an American whose heart and history lie in Latin America survive a year in Spain?

Though born and raised in the U.S., all of us have spent time living and traveling in Latin America. Collectively, we have been to the Dominican Republic, Peru, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico, with one or more of us having studied abroad in the last three countries. We travel on colectivos, not buses; we get each others' attention by calling out "Che!" on crowded streets; we adore the poems of Ernesto Cardenal and decry the name of Christopher Columbus; and we think that there is no better food than the empanadas and pan dulce bought on the street. In short, Latin America is in our hearts, our minds, and our digestive systems.

If our travels and studies have offered us some insights, however few, into the cultures of our hemisphere, we know even less about that peninsular fatherland, Spain. Sure, we've probably read a play or poem by García Lorca and seen the latest Almodóvar film, and yes, we know the general history of the reconquest and of the Spanish Civil War, and it's even true that a couple of us have traveled there as tourists, but all in all, Spain is a mystery to us. How are we to survive life in a country where one coge the bus, pays in Euros, and calls her friends vosotros?

Over the next eight months, we will all be working as English conversation assistants in Spanish public schools, during which time we plan on keeping this blog as a record of our experiences and observations. We write on no authority but our own, and recognize that our opinions are not absolute and our perspectives are inevitably subjective. Nevertheless, we hope that you, dear readers, will here find things informative, interesting, and perhaps even inconceivable to you, and if anything you read elicits any of these reactions in you, please let us know.

Faithfully yours,
Laura, Nick, Paige, and Sarah