Weekdays
7:00am ... Alarm goes off, but I allow myself an extra 30 minutes of luxury, before I really do have to get up.
7:30am ... Jump out of bed and run around frantically trying to get ready.
8:00am ... Leave the flat and walk to the bus stop.
8:20am ... Catch the bus to the school where I work.
8:45am ... Arrive at school and wait for the students to come in.
9:00am ... Get jumped on and almost hugged to death by all the cute kids as they excitedly remember that I am in their class today. It's so nice to feel appreciated and it puts a smile on my face for the rest of the day!
9-11:30am ... I go from class to class helping with English. The work varies from story-telling, songs and teaching basic words to giving social science classes about the human body and history lessons about the Spanish Civil War! Sometimes I feel like I learn nearly as much as the children do!!
11:30am ... Break Time!! Relax and chat with the other teachers and maybe catch a few rays if it's sunny outside ... which it so often is here in the South of Spain.
12:00pm ... Back to work. Only 2 hours left of school for the day.
2:00pm ... Finish work and walk straight to the bus stop.
2:45pm ... Arrive home from work starving hungry and head straight to the kitchen to stuff my face with food ... I've still not fully got used to the different meal times here in Spain.
Rest of the day ... The rest of the day is free to enjoy, although I tend to try to get my University work done, or plan for my classes.
Weekends
An amazing thing about being a language assistant is that we're able to have an extra long weekend!
Mornings ... I have a much needed lie-in on weekends to catch up on sleep and recuperate. Normally by the time I wake up, I can mix breakfast and lunch into one big meal, which I love! I get ready then head out to my favourite breakfast place where I always order an orange juice, which is delicious and always freshly squeezed! I also have either toast or, if I'm feeling extra hungry; churros con chocolate! If you've not tried them then get to Spain now! They're basically long, thin doughnuts, dusted in sugar and served with a cup of hot, melted, pure, thick chocolate. You dunk the churros into the chocolate and enjoy.
Afternoons ... Now that it's significantly getting warmer here, I often love to go to the beach. I alternate between laying in the sun, catching a few rays, cooling off in the refreshing, clear blue sea and reading a book. When I reach the optimum level of relaxation, I normally go and grab a late bite to eat.
During the cooler months, I filled my free-time with adventures and exploring. I've visited many of the nearby cities and towns but now it's getting hotter, it makes it a lot harder to travel so I'm enjoying staying closer to home and appreciating all the gorgeous surroundings I have around me.
Evenings ... Once I'm back from the beach, or wherever I've been, I either meet up with friends for food and drinks or watch a movie and catch up with my friends and family on skype.
Being a language assistant is amazing! It gives you so much free time to travel, explore and of course improve your language learning. I'm thoroughly enjoying teaching my students at my school and it's reinforced my plan to become a teacher in the future!
Would you like to live aboard for a year? What would you like to do? Where would you go?