On the bright side again – Moni

“The only constant in life is change.” I hate being the one who uses cheesy, fortune cookie-like quotes (sorry Heraclitus) but this one is on my mind for the last couple of weeks.

The last entry was about the unconveniences of trying to find my place in a new setting and although I wanted to believe that it’s not gonna stay like that forever, I had my doubts. But here we are a month later and I had to buy a new journal to list all the great experiences happening these days.

Summer school started where Erin and I are not “just helping” the teachers anymore, but we have our own classes, bigger responsibility and more chance to evolve. We prepare games, dances and crafts based activities and present it in 5 different schools (= approx. 150 kids) along the week like an Itsy Bitsy Spider singing – Spanglish speaking travelling circus. By the end of the day we often feel like returning soldiers: dirty, exhausted and ears ringing by the constant chirping of the kids. Still, we wouldn’t change a single thing and although we always plan to walk in silence on the way back home, we end up talking about the cutest moments of the day.

Apart from work it seems like Social Life Fairy heard my prayers because magical things happen. We’re spoiled by our local friends with amazing dinners and board game nights. And we find more and more options to mingle like the time we joined an expat meeting in Valencia and ended up making friends with amazing people, sleeping on the beach and watching the sunrise together or when we had picnic with 18 people from 11 countries and danced in Jardín del Turia.

All these experiences help a lot to be present and appreciate the moment -which can be very difficult for my restless mind. And last but not least these are huge motivations for keep trying to speak in Spanish, communicate and connect more.