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Conversa instituto6/21/2023 The level of English is lower than I had expected, which made it difficult to try to inspire my students to learn. The biggest challenge I faced this year was trying to find new and exciting ways to teach the students. I am so thankful for all the support I received from my fellow professors as I adjusted to a new culture and a new way of educating students. school system and it took a while to learn the ropes. The Spanish school system is very different from the U.S. It was definitely a culture shock for me when I arrived at the school. I was welcomed to IES Mugardos with open arms and have enjoyed working so closely with the other professors and the students. Despite the weather Galicia has become a second home. Little did I know at the time that I had 6 months of constant rain ahead of me. I arrived in Galicia just in time to enjoy the last part of “summer” weather. I felt much more at ease and was ready to start my journey. She gave me advice on where to live and told me all about the school, professors, and students at IES Mugardos. Before I had the chance to worry I received an email from Pilar. It was scary thinking about leaving all of my family and friends behind, and moving to a place where I didn't know anybody. Galicia was not a region I had requested, but I was excited to be moving to Spain and for the opportunity to experience a new part of the country. When I first received my placement at IES Mugardos I was surprised, excited, and nervous. I will always consider myself an honorary Galician. It was not the experience I expected to have but it was the experience I needed. I feel incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity to live abroad. I have never in life eaten such fresh seafood and I live by the ocean! Octopus, pimientos de padrone, empanada, pan de pias, calamari, percebes… I’m going to miss eating these foods so much. Before I came here I couldn’t tell you any architectural styles and now I’m fascinated by architecture (new and old). I’ve also come to admire the Romanesque and Gothic churches that paint the green countryside. What I love most about Galicia are the legends surrounding this magical “island”- the pilgrimage to Santiago, the souls of San Andres de Teixido, and the Santa Compaña (to name a few). I think the witches of Galicia must have cast a powerful spell on me because I prefer rainy Galicia to the sunny southern Spain. I’ve had the opportunity to see lots of cities and towns in Spain, but I’m always happy to come home to Galicia. Over the past eight months I have fallen in love with Galicia and I am sad I have to leave. But I packed my bags and left sunny California. ![]() I was also worried that people in Galicia spoke another language, Galician, and that I would have no idea what people were saying to me (I could barely understand or speak Spanish). So I was a little apprehensive about moving halfway around the world to work in a village of 6,000 inhabitants (there are high schools in Long Beach with that many students!). My hometown is Long Beach, California and it has a population of 460,000 people. So we both applied and received posts in Galicia, her post in Tui and mine in Mugardos. Carly had heard that Galicia was a region with nice people, good food, located close to coast, and it rained a little. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.When my friend Carly suggested we apply for a teaching post in Galicia, I have to admit I had no idea where Galicia was located on a map. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it.
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