Receiving my placement and feeling like I'm starting to climb Everest.

Here's a quick rundown on how I applied and was accepted into this oh so amazing program. It actually has absolutely nothing to do with merit, training, or experience. As a matter of fact it BARELY has anything to do with education, except for the fact that you have to have a degree, but that can be in any subject so long as you have that oh so important Diploma! lol Basically the day they open the application period, you create an account which require a bit of info and hit submit hoping you have a low application or "inscrita" number. AKA the lower your number the better change you have of making the cut since they only took approximately 1600 of the 4000 or so this year that have applied. I believe mine was 197. Mostly because I screwed up the first time and had to redo it otherwise i was about 105? So that's that. Then came the MONTHS of waiting. and I do mean months. According to the manual we should have received our placements the first of April. We didn't. We did however start hearing rumors about the program canceling. 3 regions did back out because of the horrible budget cuts but thankfully it will continue. Finally after 3 regions backed out I received my email, not only had I made it, but I was put in my first choice region. Andalusia which is in the southern part of Spain, and pretty much my favorite place on earth.

A few weeks later I received the news that I would be teaching at I.E.S Francisco Fatou aka middle school + high school kids 12-17 in Ubrique, Spain. Which as previously stated is in the middle of NOWHERE! You would think the people who applied first would have received the best placements seeing as how most people prefer a more mainstream life closer to a city. But alas, that is once again Spanish bureaucracy. I'm pretty sure then just have a giant map and throw darts at it while trying to place us assistants and laugh while they do it. Needless to say I'm just a little bitter that people who are hundreds of numbers higher than mine have received better placements and I'm in the equivalent of Spanish farmville. lol Then again at least I'm in spain doing what I want to do so I'm making the best of it. Besides, if I renew next year who knows maybe I'll be in Madrid or something.