Brave Goes Abroad: Not A Number

In Guardo, I'm not a number. This is very important.

When I first applied for the job of teaching English in Spain, my heart was set on a big city. I requested to be placed in the region of Madrid, Catalunya, or the Basque Country. I was also able to indicate on my application what population size I preferred (i.e. large city, medium city, small town etc.) Of course, I said "give me your biggest city!!"Well, as you can see, my small town of 6,000 people in the region of Castilla y León is in so many ways the opposite of what I requested. But am I sad about my assignment? Do I still dream about living in the big city? I'm really and truly shocked, but also really and truly happy, to report that my answer is no. In Guardo, I'm not a number. Instead, I'm a part of this community and I can say that with confidence having only been here for two weeks. Allow me to elaborate...

On my first day in Guardo, a little old lady found the other English teacher and myself standing outside the front door of her apartment building. We were there waiting to be buzzed into the AirBnB we had booked for our first couple of days. At first, she asked what we were doing and so we explained ourselves and asked if she knew our host. She did not, which would have been any other little old lady's cue to wish us luck and continue on with her day but she stood with us for a couple minutes just chatting and being adorable. Later that week, Lynn (other English teacher/my roommate) and I decided to attend a church service. Our sweet elderly friend happened to sit in front of us and when I said hello to her, I had this feeling like oh my gosh I have a friend here.

I'm also becoming friends with the librarian, the lady at the post office, and the owner of the gym. Additionally, the guy at my local grocery store who always rings me up and asks for my Día loyalty card kind of feels like my friend. It's not like we've had any special interaction but I swear we're friends. While we're at it, I'd like to add my real estate agents to this list and of course the teachers at the two schools I teach in. Also, might as well throw the teachers from the other schools on this list because (through Lynn) I've become friends with them. Two of Lynn's co-workers in particular deserve a shout out because they've been extremely nice to us -- helping us read through our apartment's lease, helping us set up wifi, giving us rides to and from the major city in the area (Palencia).

I'm not a number! I love saying it because I know if I were anywhere but a small town, I would cheat myself out of reaching my goal of becoming fluent in Spanish. I'd cut corners and find the expat community. I'd speak english all day long!! I'd also probably blow my paychecks on nice meals, iced coffees, and the occasional manicure (an expense reserved for bad days only). But hey, in Guardo I don't even think about these things. Having a bad day? Get out there on a walk. Take in the views of the mountain around you. Maybe even wander over to the fields and see if you can figure out which one of those houses is housing the rooster that wakes you up everyday. Does this make you laugh? It makes me laugh every time. A rooster. A ROOSTER.

Every time I don't get a manicure or an iced coffee, I save up money to travel. In fact, this past weekend I ended up in Santander. I set out early in the morning on Friday (I only work Monday-Thursday) with the plan to rent a car in Palencia, drive to Segovia for one night, then finish the weekend off in Salamanca. My roommate and I had booked a car online the night before setting off but of course we arrive in Palencia and find out that Avis does NOT in fact have any cars available for us. SWEET. As a somewhat seasoned traveler, I no longer get discouraged by ruined plans. Lynn and I cleared our heads over coffees and croissants then walked to the train station in Palencia where we caught the next train... to Santander. So we didn't set off to visit Santander but we're sure happy we did. We splurged on just one sushi dinner, made some cool friends in our hostel, and enjoyed PLENTY of breathtaking views. A few pictures are included :)