This means that it's October 11th and it was 25 degrees and sunny today here. It's still beach weather! It was still low 30s last week and sunny. Another plus of the scenery around here (at least for BC people) is that the surrounding hills have the exact same colour as the Okanagan, which provide some pseudo-sense of home. The beaches are guarded by a palm-lined promenade and it's windy constantly. Coming from Vancouver, I feel like I've climate-died, skipped "temperate rainforest" purgatory, and gone to weather heaven.
Now, my job title is "Auxiliar en Conversacion", which translates to "Awesome Teacher"... or conversation assistant, you pick which one. I work at a high school called IES El Alquian, which is about 15 minutes from Almeria by car, about 45 by bus [I didn't public transit-die and go to transport heaven, but hey, the weather still rocks]. El Alquian itself is actually a small village on the outskirts of Almeria of somewhere around 2,000 people I believe. Most of the students come from small pueblos located in the near countryside that is littered with greenhouses. IES El Alquian has about 500 students and somewhere around 30-40 staff members.
It's a bilingual school, so my job has me teaching more than English class in English. I work with 5 teachers, and help teach social studies, English, biology and workshop. I teach kids ranging 12-17 in age. Some classes have an open hour of casual conversation, while some have English lessons on Canadian-relevant subjects. Here, people are not used to Canadian people or our accent, which I'm told is not easy to understand!
Back to Almeria, it's a very laid-back comfortable place to be. It makes it easier to acclimatize when one has not only moved out from home, one has moved out to another continent. Here, a 2 hour siesta still holds precedent over the city every afternoon. People are in no rush, and everyone I've dealt with has been very friendly. Contrary to home, I haven't seen: a person in a suit, a person speedwalking along the sidewalk, a person carrying takeout breakfast or a to-go paper cup in the morning. Everyone seems to enjoy meals in a timely fashion, and they'll get to their destination when they get to their destination (holiday mode all year round).
Shortly after arriving, my friend Sergio from school, who was tremendously helpful upon my arrival, helped me find accommodation. I stayed a few nights in the youth hostel, then one day at the beach, Sergio and I collided and he said "I got the perfect place for you."
Right now I'm writing this entry from said perfect place. I'm in a neighbourhood (barrio) of Almeria called "Zapillo". It's a mainly residential area along the city's main beach and is dominated by ma and pa cafes, restaurants, and tapas bars. As long as you buy a drink around here, your food is included in the drink's price, it's fantastic. You can sample fantastic Spanish cuisine and lots of, a sleeve of good beer is only 2.50 Canadian. Anyways, My place is a 3 bedroom apartment, with a spacious living room, dining room and kitchen, and it was fully furnished. I have 2 Spanish roommates, Francisco (Fran) and Antonio (Niko), who go to the University of Almeria.
Our view's not too bad, either...
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