Hello :)

Hello Everyone,

Well, the boss surely diassapointed me today. He didn't bring chocolates for us today :( Oh well.

Today was like any other day. I don't like Valentines day that much. And it's not because I am bitter. I am not. This year and last year I could have had someone to celebrate with and I just didn't want to. I would rather be alone. I don't know if this is good or sad. Maybe next year I'll change.

I was out with a friend from Germany yesterday taking pictures. We took lots of pictures of Barcelona and now my memory card is all full. I need to save all the pics to a CD so I don't lose them. My pics from yesterday weren't as good as I had hoped, but I still like them. I love taking pictures here. There is so much beauty and history in this city.

Anyways, gotta go, Ciao.

Hello Everyone,

I am gonna get straight to the point of what I really wanna say in this entry today.

I am not happy right now. I am not looking for any sympathy, and I certainly don´t want people telling me that I have to change my attitude. I know that already, and I don't like how I feel. I never liked feeling miserable. However, if you have any honest advice I am all ears.

I don´t know what I really want out of this trip anymore. That's my problem. Maybe I would be happier if I knew exactly what I wanted. In fact, I would really like a break and I would like to go home and then come back. But I promised I would stick this out until June because I can´t just give up when things are tough. After June if I still feel this way I am going home, no matter what anyone tells me. I am broke, and wouldn´t have the money to stick it out longer anyways.

Since I am not happy right now and I am not so sure what I really want anymore, I am losing my desire to stay here. All I can think about is when I will be able to get on a plane home. And I don't like counting down the time.

One thing that became really clear here is that while I like to travel, there is no place like home. I love traveling and learning new languages as well as meeting new people and hearing different points of view. I like getting out of the US, but I also noticed that I like traveling for a few months at a time. I wouldn't want to live for years at a time in a foreign country.

I came here to learn about Spain and learn Spanish. I am learning Spanish, which is a plus. I also came here to learn how to teach English. I got my TEFL certificate and am teaching private students. I expected to teach in language academies, but things didn´t quite work that way. I would still like to but it is a huge risk. I would be leaving a job where I am guaranteed to get paid to find work at a school that may or may not pay me on time. Plus, the pay they offer may not even be enough. At least the job I have pays me enough to live off of and I have the evenings and weekends to enjoy. The risks outweigh the benefits. But if I had the chance I would give it a try in September. Who knows?

I tried to get working papers, but things didn't quite work out and I have to wait and hope that maybe the laws will change in my favor. But I don´t even know if I even really want them anymore. Getting papers wasn´t my goal when I first got here because the opportunity didn't exist then.

 I would rather just suck up my crappy job, keep on learning Spanish, take dance lessons and enjoy the rest of my stay instead of worrying about whether I may or maynot get papers. Then when June comes around I can go home.

But then again if I have papers I can work in any EU country as an English teacher or in a multinational company.

I really wish I knew what I wanted. I wish things were clearer to me. Right now I don´t know what I want.

Anyways, normal entries will be continued tommorow. I promise. I was out today taking lotsa pictures with a friend.

Happy Valentines Day

Hello,

Happy Valentines Day ! (I know, I am saying it early)  For the last 4 years I always had to wait tables that day. This year is my first time I don´t have to :) Thank God.

People don´t really celebrate V Day here like in the US. I just hope that my boss brings in chocolates to work. The Spain version of Valentines comes later. I don´t remember when, but I will tell you when I do. All I know is that the guys give girls a rose and the girls give the guys books. Books ??? Yeah, go figure.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the day of love. I know I will be too busy eating chocolates to think about love :)

Ciao.

Yeah !! The Weekend

Hello Everyone,

Gotta say that work today was so boring, especially since I have to talk to managers and almost none of them were there. I am starting to pass the time by playing games. I write down a really long word. Then I use the letters of that word to form other words. It's actually fun. And since I am not talking to anyone, the bosses really don't suspect anything yet. Because in the past I was busted all the time for talking to my coworkers.

Anyways, I plan on teaching my new students tommorow morning at 11 am and then going to a bellydance workshop for three hours after. That should be fun. I might also go see the movie Meet the Fockers. It just came out here in Spain in the theathers, even though it premiered in the US over the Christmas holidays. The Spanish title translates to " His Parents" or literally, " The Parents of Him".  The title "Meet the Fockers" just sounds so much better to me. I am going to see it in English. In Spain, they dub the voices and it is just not the same. I can't stand watching Hollywood movies in Spanish.

I also might go out with my friend from Germany on Sunday. It would be sad if he were to cancel on me at the last minute.  He is going back roughly next week. I met him over the summer when we were in the same Spanish class and I practiced my German with him. My German got so much worse here because I am focusing on Spanish. I know my Austrian grandma would scold me.

Anywho, gotta go. Ciao.

Update for today. Interesting read if you like immigration law.

Hello Everyone,

I am starting to get sick again. That is really not cool. I am broke and can´t afford to take off any more days of work. I really hope that I am not getting the flu again. Oh God. That would really stink.

In addition to being sick, I had to go to the US Embassy today. I need to prove that I was here before August 8th, but I registered in October. I was told by someone at the town hall to go to the US Embassy because if I prove to them that I was in fact here before August then they can sign a paper with an official stamp.

HAHAHA. I was wrong. I KNEW that this would be another dead end. The woman I talked to wouldn´t even let me finish my sentence when I talked to her. Even though I was there because a worker in the town hall told me to do it.  She was a little mean, and I overheard her talking to the other gal that I was there again. Bitch.

 The problem is that I didn´t register with the US Embassy when I first arrived here. I should have, but I didn't. Before I came here I read up as much as I could on living here and it was recommended for me to register with the US Embassy. Had I registered, they would have been able to fully support me and help me prove that I was in fact here before August 8th.

I didn't register for a reason. Because when I came here I planned to live here illegally and work under the table. Why? Because I would have never expected the Spanish government to pass a once-in-a-lifetime temporary law that makes it easier for foreigners here to get legal working papers. A law like this probably won´t come around again. The period for helping foreigners get working papers is between February till May. Basically if I don´t ask for papers by May I miss my window of opportunity.

Anyways, I figured that if I were to live here illegally, I wouldn´t want anyone knowing exactly how long I was here. I didn´t want to make it easier for officials to prove that I was illegal, so I didn´t register. Had I thought a little harder, I would have realized that the US Embassy deals with US laws and protecting the rights of US citizens, not enforcing the laws in Spain. The US Embassy isn't going to notice that I overstayed my tourist visa. And even if they do, it is not their job to send me home. That is the job of the officials in Spain. The national police to be exact. And the Spanish government most likely isn´t gonna go through the hassle of sending an American home, unless I commit a crime.

And now it is biting me in the ass. I feel kinda dumb, but how could I have known? This new law was announced in October, and then went into effect just now. And the requirements to be fulfilled changed a couple of times in between not to mention that it was so hard to get any information until now. So, believe me when I say it´s hard to follow up on immigration laws.

Anyways the only thing the women at the embassy could do for me was give me a signed sworn statement with a US Consulate stamp. Basically it means nothing and doesn´t prove anything but I gave it a shot for the hell of it. I mean, I took time off work to go all the way there. I might as well get a little souvenir out of it.

With the sworn statement, I had to write a statement and then it was signed by an official under oath. I wrote my little spiel of how I was in Spain since late June and that I have evidence such as my plane ticket and bank receipts to prove it. And then the official asked me if I swore that my statement was true before she signed it.

So now I have a sworn statement but it really means nothing. I could have wrote that I had two asses and told the official that " I swear I have two asses" and she woulda signed it. I mean, I paid 24 Euros for it and it takes no effort.

So yeah, I am still back where I was. I really want to go home in June when my plane tickets need to be used.

I do love Spain. Really, I do. Besides this process that is going nowhere and my awful job, I am having a ball. It´s not that I want to go back home and never return here. I just want to take a break for a couple of weeks and come back because I am a little homesick. I would love to return in September and give Madrid a try when the language schools are hiring and looking for teachers. Finding work would be so much easier there.

Anyways, enough for today. Ciao.