Allie in the South of Spain

Maaaaaaaria, I just met a girl named Maria Hopefully you just read that and sang the song from West Side Story in your head. Let's just say that from what I have experienced here in Spain, people really, really like this name. In fact, there are times when it seems like EVERY woman or girl is named Maria (or Maria de/l something) and though they might go by the second part of their name, their given one is still Maria. People definitely opt for traditional names here, unlike the US where names go through trends.  Recently a friend on Facebook posted a link which contained a GIF  (originally from The Atlantic)  showing the different female names that had been popular in the US since 1960. It is interesting to see how a name like Jennifer would be popular in one region and then would sweep the nation. Such a map would not be as cool here in Spain since not a whole lot would change. Maria. Maria del Carmen. Miriam. Marian. Mirian. Variations on a theme. Religious...

The back story I started learning Spanish in high school as a requirement to get into college. I never in a million years imagined how much it would end up molding my life and leading me to where I am today. That being said, during college as I continued my studies I spent time in Mexico working with children and later in Chile during a semester abroad. That means that the Spanish I spoke when I graduated was a mixture of several different influences and that the accent I had was not anything near what it sounds like today. Fast forward a couple of years to when I met Jose in grad school. After spending so much time with all the Andalucians that were there for the year (and who later stayed for the program) and then coming to live in Seville for a year myself, my accent, slang and intonations have all changed.  This was confirmed for me this week again as I met several people while doing job interviews (in Spanish) and they couldn´t get over how strong my accent was. At time...

Today while walking Cooper, Jose and I had a discussion about what animals say here in Spain after hearing a rooster crowing off in the distance. Did you know they say something different in Spanish? I had never really thought about it. It completely changes the Old MacDonald song. My kids are going to be a mess when they go to preschool, singing about a woof, woof here and a quack, quack there. Here is the list: Cow: Muuuuuuu                                              (English: Moooooo) Horse: Hiiiii hiiiii                                       ...

Since returning to Spain not too long ago I have been thinking a lot about when Jose and I eventually have children and how they will become English proficient while living in Spain since this is where we will be for the foreseeable future. Part of this curiosity must be seeing my beautiful niece who is at 6 months old in the babbling stage of development which is one of the cutest things EVER. I wish I could be there to see her develop eventually into single words and then short sentences. (I imagine a lot will have to do with their dog Domingo and the word NO!). Since I have just started working at an all-girls elementary school where I will be teaching English conversation and science I am also seeing how difficult it can be if you wait to start children with a second language until they reach school age. Some of the other women who work there are Americans and both admit that their children are fluent in Spanish but are lacking in their English sk...