Spanish people are very disorganized by American standards. They put things off, leave things until the last minute, and rarely give information until its absolutely necessary. Amazingly, however, things still get done and things run fairly smoothly! When I received my official acceptance letter at the end of July the only information it contained was my school's address, email address, and the day I needed to be there. After emailing my school with quite a few questions (including asking if it would be possible for me to live in Seville Capital and commute) I received something along the lines of:
"Greetings from Spain Lauren. The truth is that this year, in July, we are starting a new program with many hopes of success, however, unfortunately, we must learn many things, one of them being that in this school we have never had a language assistant, so all of this is new for us, and I can't give you much information. Regardless, we are waiting for you with open arms at our school, and above all in the English Department, where they will be able to give you more information and finalize what your job and obligations will be. Thank you. Bye."
Well, I wasn't too surprised when I received the email and saw that not one of my questions were answered and I did research on my own. The school's address was in a small town about 27 miles outside of Seville called Carmona. The town itself has a lot of history and is actually a fairly popular tourist destination. The town is accessible from Seville only by bus, which takes about 45 minutes from the city and runs hourly. With that information I decided I would commute.
Fast forward to a few days ago. I'd already paid a deposit on my new apartment in Seville, made some friends, and was enjoying exploring this beautiful city when suddenly technology stopped my honeymoon period short. I had picked up a map of Carmona from the tourist office here in Seville and tried to find my school's address. It wasn't there. So, I used google maps to try to locate it...and I did. Google maps showed my school as being very far from Carmona and suddenly, I was frantic. I googled away trying and trying to research the location. All I was getting was that it was 30 minutes away from Carmona by car and on the side of a barren highway surrounded by farmland. I wanted to die! Would it still be possible to commute? Would it now take two hours? Would I have to wake up at 5:00 am?
Click on the RIGHT arrow once and you will see Carmona. Point A was supposed to be my school. A 30 minute drive from Carmona!
Well...as it turns out technology still has its kinks. After barely sleeping that night I made my way to Carmona the next morning. The day started out as rough as the night before; as I got on the bus and paid the driver my €2 fare (which is how much everyone had told me it cost) I made my way to the back to sit down...suddenly, everyone was calling at me..."¡come back, come back...the driver is calling you!" ¿Pero, que ha pasado? Well, it turns out that the fare was actually €2.30, so I thoroughly embarrassed myself and held up everyone else getting on the bus!
After a long ride and many stops in the middle of nowhere, where people actually got off (see below) we made it to Carmona.
A Legitimate Bus Stop Where People Got Off
I immediately made my way to the tourist office and said: "You have to help me! I'm supposed to be working at the Maese Rodrigo School, but I don't know how to get there... the map says its a 30 minute drive from here! Is there a bus?" The woman laughed..."the school is 10 minutes walking down the road," she explained. I doubted her assuredness but I started the walk. On the way, I asked another woman if the knew where the school was. She pointed me in the same direction. Could it be, I thought? I hoped and hoped...suddenly I saw a school...was it the one? I read the name and let go of my breath. IES Maese Rodrigo. Home!
My School!
