Lesson 12: How to infiltrate the Spanish Government

After being here for nearly five months, I think I am finally safe to write this post.

Last March I applied to be a teaching assistant for the Spanish Government. It seemed like the perfect gig. You don't need any prior experience (with kids or teaching, you could be a felon and they might except you...), they just throw you into a school and let you speak English to the children. However, when May came around, I discovered I didn't get the job and would have to find another way into Spain.

I finally got in as a student taking Spanish classes at an academy in Bilbao. I have a visa and everything, completely legit (kind of). One month after arriving in Spain, Sara's Mom, an English teacher, told me about some meeting for teaching assistants in Vitoria (the capitol of the Pais Vasco) and asked if I wanted to join her. I agreed and the next week I accompanied her to Vitoria, mainly for the free drinks and pintxos that were suppose to be served.

After I arrived I realized that most of the people there were like me. College-aged Americans or Brits brought there to teach English. I began to understand that this was a welcoming conference for the teaching assistant job that I did not get. I told this to Sara's Mom and begged her to talk to people to see if there were job openings. They told her there were but I couldn't get a job because I hadn't applied (although I had, they didn't know it). However, that didn't stop me from sneaking into the back of the official photo of all the new teaching assistants (try to find my head).

The directors told us that the next day there would be an orientation near Bilbao, so I decided to attend with Mike, Sara's Mom's teaching assistant. He knew the orientation would be boring and hoped I would tag along to keep him company. I obliged out of the kindness of my heart... and to score some more free food.

When we arrived for the orientation there was no checklist or identification needed so I just walked in and sat down. It was all in Spanish which made it difficult to understand, but after looking around at all the other blank faces, I didn't feel so bad. The orientation lasted 4-5 hours in total, including a 30 minute snack break!

During one of the breaks I walked up to talk to a man from the Spanish Government from Madrid and told him I had applied to be a teaching assistant and was currently living in Bilbao, then asked if there were any jobs in the area. He took my name and told me to continue with the orientation . Later that night I received an e-mail from Washington D.C. accepting me into the program and offering me a job near Bilbao. I of course accepted the position, but the Spanish Ambassador in D.C.seemed a bit puzzled when he learned that I was already in Bilbao and had a visa.

So, if you want to spend eight months abroad in Spain, and don't mind where, apply to become a teacher. And if that doesn't work, just come here anyway, wander into a governmental meeting, and tell someone you want to teach. Anyone can do it. -Ms. Lee, eat your heart out.