Sheila J.

International Education Volunteer

Madrid, Spain

I particularly chose Spain as my destination because the Teach English program in Spain offered living with and teaching a host family. In my opinion, there is no better way to fully understand another culture than to live and work with a different family. Also, I wanted to become proficient in the Spanish language in order to further deepen my understanding of the culture as well as for practical use as a Physician later in my life.

Any bit of anxiousness I had before arriving to Spain without knowing anyone soon disappeared as I became very close with my host family and other teaching assistants in the area. Having my own younger siblings, I was quick to build a great relationship with my host children. In addition to casually seeing the family everyday and conversing with them, I spent an hour each with each of the three kids every weekday. During their formal English class I helped the children with their English homework and then strategically chose activities that incorporated speaking English. It turned out that all of the “How to teach English” books I studied weren’t quite what it turned out to be. I learned that the key to teaching was to be proactive.  It also involved learning and understanding the personality of each child in order to work with him or her in a certain way. Activities ranged from drawing to playing sports and even singing karaoke.

Aside from my time teaching, most of my free time was spent meeting people and traveling. The work abroad agency in Madrid was in contact with of all the teaching assistants in the area, which made meeting people very easy. I made several new best friends from not only all over the U.S. but from Europe, Canada, and Australia as well. We all learned the “ins and outs” of Madrid, laughed, learned, shared stories and traveled together. Our relationships deepened as we would travel to new places, and work together as a team to overcome frequent language barriers. I have made lifelong friends, and we can reminisce on our journey together as well to travel to new places in the future.

In my free time, I was able to travel to Toledo, Valencia, Malaga, Barcelona, and Granada in Spain. It was astonishing to see the differences among the areas in just one country because each city offered something special. I was able to see the historical festival of Las Fallas in Valencia. I also headed east to Barcelona and saw the Catalan influence. I traveled south and came across the Arabic influence in Spain from before the Reconquista. During my teaching abroad trip, I also found time to travel to London, Paris, Venice, Rome, and Tangier (Morocco). Words cannot explain how incredible it was for me to experience the changes in cultures first hand for the first time. I toured and met people everywhere and learned so much about history, art, food, language, politics, and living in general.  I never felt so independent and open to take on anything in my life.            

Overall, this teaching English trip was the most incredible experience I have had in my life. I have personally and mentally grown so much. This trip has opened my eyes to the world of traveling, and I anticipate I will travel a lot more. I owe this life changing experience to InterExchange because without the Working Abroad Grant, I would not have been able to see and learn the all the astonishing things I did. I truly gained a multifaceted perspective of the world to share with others around me for the rest of my life.