A Review of the Auxiliar de Conversacion Program from a Bilingual Secondary School Auxiliar in Madrid

I work as an auxiliar in a bilingual secondary school a forty-five minute bus ride away in a wealthy suburb outside Madrid. Here is my looooong post breaking down the different facets of how I found my time on the job.

There she is! IES Jose Saramago, nestled at the foot of Las Sierras in Majadahonda!

I think the concept behind the auxiliar program is great. I truly think we are making a difference with these kids (especially in the bilingual schools) and finding a way for the kids to have regular contact with native speakers without giving all the teaching positions to foreigners seems like the perfect balance between encouraging English learning without displacing citizens from job positions. I think the auxiliar program is a genius investment on Spain’s part and in the next generation I expect to see a totally different standard for English speaking Spaniards. What’s more, I think that the schools and their individual kids who take advantage of having access to a native English speaker will have a substantial advantage their whole lives and that fact alone makes me respect the program.

The Truth About Living on an Auxiliar Budget in Madrid

A lot of times people wonder how I can pay for all this. It is a legitimate question. It is written all of the internet so the wage itself is not a mystery, I have a base pay of 1,000 euros a month. But without context, its difficult to know what that “really” means. Let me lay some statistics on you in terms of relative wage and cost of living in Spain. Officially 1/3 of Spaniards make the legal minimum wage, which is 645 euros a month for full time employment. An entire third of the country lives their life and raises their family with this wage. Then, according to the Insituto Nacional de Estatistica, the official median wage is just under 1,7000 euros a month. With this in consideration it is clear that Madrid auxiliars are far from poor, on the contrary, I believe that makes us solid middle class. In fact, there is an official title for people in our wage bracket, mileurista. I highly recommend this article to give some background on what a mileurista is and how it is highly representative of Spain’s deeper economic problems. Translated literally mileurista comes out as “thousand-er” or “one who makes a thousand.” A few years ago, before the crisis hit Spain, it was considered a big social problem because young people were typically paid 1,000 euros, which was enough to live on but made it difficult to raise a family, or buy a car, or pay for a mortgage, or invest, which was bad for the economy and Spain’s declining birth rate. But now, 1,000 euros for a young person is considered a luxury, and in the few times when I’ve told Spanish friends how much I make, they always gasp “pero eso es mucho! But that’s so much!” To be honest, I prefer not to tell Spanish friends my wage because it seems tactless. Most young Spaniards would be extremely lucky to be making that wage.

Left Panel: A Few Years Ago… “I’m a mileurista” ..”Oh, poor thing!”.. “What an embarrassment!”..”So exploitative!”..”What a miserable wage!” Right Panel: Present Day… “I’m a mileurista”..”Wow, how lucky!”.. “I’m so jealous!” ..”But you’re so unqualified!”.. “I wish I got paid that much!” (source)

So socially, being paid what we are is extremely enviable. Our income and cost of living definitely permits small luxuries and travel to be completely feasible, albeit in an unsustainable way. Let me break my budget down for you:

6 Differences Between Studying in Spain and Teaching in Spain

Some people may think us language assistants are over here in Spain reliving our study abroad days without a worry in mind, but I assure you, that is not the case. While both studying abroad in Spain and teaching abroad in Spain are fantastic and enjoyable opportunities, there are vast differences between the two experiences. It can most be easily summarized by telling you “in one experience I studied, and the other I worked” but I feel as if that explanation does the difference an injustice and doesn’t accurately paint the reality of what it is like to live and work in a foreign country. Working in Europe sounds glamorous, but it also trivializes the reality of working. So, in an effort to illuminate the differences, here are the top six reasons studying in Spain is different than teaching in Spain:

An Endorsement for Bla Bla Car

This weekend I went to Valencia, Spain with my German friend Sophie to go visit her boyfriend who is interning there. We got there via a ride sharing company Bla Bla Car and it was such a great experience. It was so easy and cheap! It is still relatively new so I want to spread the word on this little secret, it’s good for those of us traveling on a budget and it will help the ride sharing grow! I got to Valencia and back for just 35 euro, and for a 3.5 hour car ride each way, that is essentially the cheapest I could possibly get there anyways.

All you have to do is look up rides planning to go to the city of your choice and you see the availabilities with departure time and price per seat. It shows the profile of the person and you can see reviews about them, reviews on their car, and their preferences for music, talking, smoking, pets, etc. It is standard for regular cars to only accept three extra riders so there is no risk of being squished with too many people in the back. Once you reserve your place, they provide the phone numbers of the driver and rider so you two can arrange the meeting spot. There are usually “standard” meet up spots, where we got picked up from a gas station in Atocha there was a line of other people waiting to get picked up too. The rider has to pay the money upfront via the Bla Bla Car website, and then they have to give the driver the code for the money to make sure neither party tries to get away without paying or picking up their passenger. Bla Bla Car is similar to Couchsurfing in that it has mutually beneficial elements and that it is built on trust in the system, but it certainly ends out working great! The guy we went to Valencia with said he did Bla Bla Car every weekend and that he has always liked it, it has always been easy, and there has never been a problem. On the way back we wanted to stop for a potty break, and the girl driving was more than happy to break. It was seriously so easy! Before going on my trip I probably would have been too sketched out to try it, but now that I have gone with Bla Bla Car I wouldn’t travel within Spain any other way! For more information, here is the youtube video about how it works!

What do you think? Would you give it a try? Has anyone else had good or bad experiences with Bla Bla Car? Please, share below!

Spanish Red Tape

Today I spent all day trying (and failing) to arrange my NIE paperwork for my residency and my abono metro card. I ran all over kingdom come and STILL got nothing accomplished. You’d think it would be straightforward, but I couldn’t find clear instructions anywhere on their websites or the blogosphere and even questions to Señor Google came up blank! I had seen this short film a while back, and after my experiences today I can relate much more. It perfectly encapsulates the frustrations of stereotypical Spanish bureaucracy and is hilarious! It is only about three minutes and is in Spanish but has English subtitles, I hope you all can relate or think it is as funny as I thought it was. Enjoy!

What did you think of the video? Other auxiliares, have you had similar experiences with Spanish bureaucracy? Please, share below!

Madrid 2014-2015 Academic Calendar

They have published the Madrid 2014-2015 Academic School Year Calendar here.

Why Teaching Abroad For a Year (or More!) is a Strategic Decision

As a recent graduate, I’m sure anyone else in the same boat is familiar with the question “So, what are you doing next year?” When I tell people I’m teaching abroad, a lot of times the reaction is “Oh wow…so what do your parents think about that?” I’m lucky that I get to honestly respond “They’re jealous!” But not everyone is so open minded about peacing out on your home country for a year to go teach abroad. There is often the expectation that anyone with ambition should immediately start their career upon graduation, and although that’s a great road to go down for some, that doesn’t mean taking the longer route is any less legitimate. After all, life isn’t a race, there is no finish line so you might as well stop to smell the flowers every once and a while! On the contrary, this experience is an invaluable time to grow in a way that can be not only personally fulfilling but will give you tools to help you better achieve goals in another unrelated field. So, for any potentials out there, here are six reasons teaching abroad for a year (or more!) is a strategic decision.

Visa Madness

Visa paperwork is the epitome of red tape. You have endless paperwork to be filled out, stamps to be inked, and John Hancocks to sign. Honestly, from my point of view anyone who can jump through all the hoops to get everything done in time must have their shit together. (Only time will tell if that is the case for me! I’m still in the midst of it all! UPDATE: I got the visa! I officially endorse the below advice with my anecdotal experience!) I found the whole process to be overwhelming and confusing, and after trying to figure everything out I want someone else to benefit from my effort! So here is a rookies guide for the visa process for the DC consulate.  I copied the numbered requirements word for word from the website. Anyone from DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, or North Carolina would go to this consulate. Here is the link to the requirements for visas. As an auxiliar de conversacion, we get the student visa because technically in the eyes of the government we are receiving a grant, not working a job.