Allie in the South of Spain

This year the school that I work at celebrated Halloween in what I would consider a big way for the south of Spain (where this holiday is growing in popularity but is still not on the scale of the USA). We decorated both our classrooms and the hallways about a week before our celebration, which fell on last Tuesday instead of Friday. As English teachers we were tasked with preparing our students with the necessary vocabulary to see a Halloween play that was presented by a troupe of English speaking actors. It was based on Frankenstein and ended up being pretty funny. The kids were also allowed to dress up for the day and we handed out candy. Here in Spain there is a somewhat misguided belief that Halloween costumes need to be scary, like witches, demons, vampires and zombies. I tried to explain to my students that they could come dressed as anything they wanted like princesses or football players but they still all showed up in dark costumes. I dressed up like a mime ...

Since returning to Spain from the USA there has been one big change around here. Allow me to explain: Jose and I flew out from Chicago where we stayed with our friends Jenna and Mike for the night. We had a nice, albeit short, visit with them and the city. It was while we were there for a day that I received an email inviting me for an interview at a school close to our apartment. Originally I had planned on staying at the position I had worked at last school year but had sent out my CV to other places last spring just to be safe. This job interview came out of nowhere. They were looking to fill a position quite quickly and wanted me there for an interview on a Friday. I was offered a job teaching 3rd grade (English, art and computers) on the following Monday. It all happened very fast and so far, so good. I had a hard time leaving my old job because I liked it a lot but this new school is about 5 minutes away from apartment and the schedule is nice. I get to see Jose a lo...