GUIDE FOR NORTH AMERICAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL ASSISTANTS

I. Who I am:
My name is Meagan Horn and I worked as a Language Assistant during the
2008-2009 course in Ayamonte, Huelva. I am from Columbus, Ohio and graduated from
the Ohio State University in June of 2008, with a degree in Linguistics and Spanish. I
will be doing the program again for the 2009-2010 course in Sevilla.
Before I headed over here, a few experienced auxiliaries gave me a lot of
wonderful and helpful information. My Spanish was nothing remotely close to “fluent”,
more like laughable, I had never flown internationally alone before and I didn’t know a
soul that was doing the program, and it still has been one of the best experiences of my
life! I hope that some of the following compiled information will be of some help to you
as well.

II. Prior Paperwork:

In order to travel to Spain you will need to obtain a student visa after receiving
your official letter from the Junta de Andalucía (or other autonomous communities).
This student visa will be valid for 90 days and allow you entrance into Spain. This 90
day period gives you time to begin the process of obtaining your NIE: Numero de
Identidad de Extranjeros, which you should begin as soon as you arrive to Spain. I will
discuss this process later.
Visa process:
The program webpage has many helpful lists of documents that you need
to take to your local consulate in order to begin this process.
For example, this website lists the required documents, dates of
orientation and Spanish education offices.
* You must bring the original copy of everything the Junta has sent you!
[Link]
A few notes:
1. You do have to go twice to the consulate. It is possible to give
someone the power of attorney so that they can pick up your visa for you,
but I have heard that it is a sticky process and some people have been
denied.
2. Both times that I went to the Chicago consulate I didn’t have to wait
any time, the woman spoke Spanish and English very well and everyone
in the office was quite helpful.
3. Apostille of the Hague: This is a notary seal that is required on the
police records in certain states. First, fingerprinting is not required for the
police report that the visa needs! I simply went down to the main police
station in my city, asked for a “Criminal background check” or a
“Conduct report” about myself, they told me where to go, I went, and
paid .02cents a copy. After getting several copies, I decided to go through
the hassle of the Apostille of the Hague. Ohio does not require this seal,
but I heard that it is always a good thing to get. The Secretary of my State
that finally gave me the seal was the last person that ever looked at it, or
asked for it. But it did give me a sense of tranquillity to know that I had it
just in case.
4. Make copies, copies, copies of everything!
 5. Call ahead to your consulate as soon as you can so that you make an
appointment if necessary.
6. When coming into Spain and showing your passport and visa at
customs, if at all possible, have them stamp the page of your passport that
has your visa for Spain on it. It will make things easier down the line.

III. Transportation
Unfortunately, plane tickets are just straight up stupidly expensive. The best way
to save a little bit of money is to buy round trip tickets. Perhaps a ticket to Spain for the
end of September and the return ticket for the middle of December, if you are planning
to come home for Christmas. There are low-cost airline options, but the extra fees for
overweight baggage are excessive and for the most part aren’t worth the trouble.
However! Once you are in Spain, Ryanair and Air Lingus are wonderful ways to plan
weekend trips. Though do be aware that Ryanair loves saying such crazy things as,
“flight to Barcelona!” or “flight to Frankfurt, Germany!”. And then you buy them for
extremely cheap (100€) only to find out that it isn’t Barcelona, it’s Gerona, a town an
hour outside of the city or it’s not Frankfurt, its Frankfurt-Han, and yes it’s an hour
outside of the city. That was a long trip.

IV. Packing
When I received my letter saying that I would be in the pueblo of Ayamonte, my
first reaction was to go to the nearest Walmart and buy everything that I assumed a
small town in southern Spain would never possibly have in-stock in their stores. This is
also a good time to mention that I packed like a complete idiot. I lugged shampoo,
lotions, Band-Aids, cough medicine and the kitchen sink only to find out that just about
everything that I used at home I could find here. However, it is important to note a
couple of things. There are large stores here, such as Carrefour or Lidl, where buying all
your essentials is possible. However, some prices may be different (randomly cheap
things in the States are expensive here or vice versa, for example) and these stores are
normally only located in medium to large cities. My town did not have any of these
wonderful one-stop-Walmart-esque stores perfect for a 20-something on a budget, but
neighbouring cities did, so it was never impossible to get what I needed.
Secondly, when I received my letter saying that I would be in Ayamonte, Huelva,
a beach town in the dead south of Andalucía, the first thing I thought was, “Awesome!
No winter for me this year!”. I would like to inform you of how devastatingly incorrect
I was. It is true however, that the winters here are not as cold as those in the northern
states of the USA and snow exists only in children’s books, but it does get cold! The
majority of the houses in Andalucía are prepared for the blistering heat of summer but
only marginally prepared for the humid, in your bones, chill of the winter. Central
heating is all but scoffed at and small room heaters, estufas, and the seemingly
incredibly dangerous, “mesa camilla” will become your saving graces. I’m not saying
that you’ll be trekking through snow to get to work, just that your winter will pass more
comfortably if you pack a sweatshirt or two next to your bikini.

V. Finding lodging
I remember this aspect of the travel being one of the more terrifying. There are
two common options of things to do.
First, and the option that I took, is to begin the apartment/roommate search
before arriving to Spain. I crawled my way through the endless pages of “pisos”
(Spanish word instead of “apartamentos”) and eventually found someone looking for a
roommate in my town. I emailed her, all seemed great, she put me on the lease and I
showed up and moved in. It was incredibly simple. However, the relationship didn’t
work out perfectly and we didn’t get along too well, but that is a risk you take when you
put your name on a lease before ever actually meeting the person with whom you will
share it. But I did enjoy having a Spanish roommate and I think that it helped me with
the language and the adaptation to the lifestyle here.
Here are some links that I used to search for a piso:
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]

The second option, and the most common for auxiliaries, is to do a little
searching online, quizás send a few emails to people looking for roommates, but do the
majority of it once you have arrived. Even the smallest pueblo usually has at least one
hostel or an inexpensive hotel and you can book a few days for yourself online. Then, as
soon as you have arrived, contact your director, school principal, Junta de Andalucía
office, etc and they will help you locate something. I even know a lot of people that met
other students, auxiliaries or workers in their hostels during those few days and ended
up happily living with them for the year. (I even know an engaged couple that met that
way!)
Finally, be prepared to come with a good chunk of money. Since we need to
arrive in September, our first day of work is in October and we receive our pay checks
at the end of the month, it is normally the middle of November until the first glorious
700 euros graces its presence in our bank accounts. I discovered that I spent a lot of
money (a little more than 1,000€) in this first month on things such as:
1. First month’s rent
2. Security deposit (usually the same amount as a month’s rent)
3. Groceries
4. Bus fees to travel to the neighbouring cities (one way prices)
a. Ayamonte-Huelva: 5€
b. Huelva-Sevilla: 7€
c. Sevilla-Granada: 17€
5. Purchase a cell phone
6. Sign-up for internet
7. Money for the NIE process

VI. Internet
The access to internet depends greatly on where you are placed and what exactly
you want from your internet. Once I arrived, I discovered that my roommate already had
personal internet so a wireless connection for the entire apartment was not possible.
Though, I have seen a lot of pisos with internet included, or an internet option in the
larger cities. If you find an apartment with that option, I would strongly consider
looking into it. Internet is much more expensive here than we are used to in the states.
Since I did not have a wireless option, I purchased a personal internet modem from the
company Vodafone. It was a contract for 18 months: monthly bill of 45€, first two
months free and the modem was free. It was a seemingly good contract but the internet
was slow, occasionally didn’t work and it was 80€ to break the contract. Other
companies that have personal internet options are Movistar and Orange. I also just used
the internet at my school until I decided what option was best for me.

VII. Phones
Cell phones are similar to the internet in that they are very expensive here.
Coming from the States with our idea of unlimited cell phone contracts, Spain can be a
big punch in the face. I purchased a pre-paid phone from Movistar for 20€ but pay
nearly .40 centimos for every minute I speak. There are prepaid plans that offer different
rates per minute depending on what hour of the day that you use your phone, etc.
Also, something interesting, as a result of the skyrocketing cell phone prices, the
Spanish people have developed a system for getting around these prices. You’ll learn all
the tricks once you get here, but the most common is the beloved “toque”, or a missed
call. After planning something ahead of time, such as “Come downstairs when I give
you a toque”, you can save money by not having to answer the phone and have a
conversation. Also, if someone calls you several times and hangs up before you can pick
it up, it most likely means that they want you to call them because they don’t have
sufficient money on their phone. I was absolutely at a loss when I first got here until a
friend explained the whole sneaky system of missed calls and toques.

VIII. Banks
Choosing a bank and opening an account was one of the easier things that I did
within my first month here in Spain. Once I had obtained my NIE card, I went to the
bank, sat down with a very nice man and proceeded to open an account. Even with my
devastatingly horrific Spanish, I managed to impart to him that I had no desire to pay
anything to the bank, ever. I ended up with a “joven” account and it worked like a
charm all year long. I never overdrew so I don’t know what sort of fees that they charge
or anything like that. My bank was Cajasol but as I learned throughout the year, this
bank is only in Andalucía. A better, more international option might be BBVA or
Santander, but you can always ask your director these questions. As for money until you
have a bank account, there are a few options:
1. Simply withdrawing money from your bank account in the States with your
debit card. There are charges, and some ATMs will work wonderfully and
others will spit your card back out like it was a rotten egg. I have a National
City account in the States and always used a Telebanco ATM here in Spain.
The best option is just to give it a try in a few ATMs; if it says there will be a
one time fee, take out a larger chunk of money to avoid being charged this
fee more than once. If it doesn’t say a one time fee, it is most likely a
proportional fee based on how much money you choose to take out.
2. I also used an American credit card here in Spain (and a bit too often…
oops!) The fees ranged dramatically between different types of credit cards
and companies. I used Bank of America and never experienced any absurd
charges, but a friend with a credit card of a smaller bank in Nebraska had
some pretty hefty fees. Just ask your bank, and if they can’t give you a
definite answer, try buying something here and then log onto your account
online and take a peak and what they charged.
3. “Cash Passport” This is a name of a company that I used before I came over
and I was satisfied with its functions. The website is [Link]
and it is like a debit card form of traveller’s checks. You apply for and put
money onto the card in your nearest international airport. You can take in any
amount of American currency and they will change it into Euros, charge you
 a small fee and place it on the card. You can also use it at ATMs. I found it
really helpful to pay for things such as hostels, trains and first month
expenses.

IX. Traveling in Spain

Once you make it into Spain, travelling is really quite easy. Since I was in the
Huelva province, I made quite a lot of use of the Damas bus lines. They are relatively
slow, always have a lingering smell of ham and sweat and all the small town youngsters
think it is acceptable to blare their music from any seat on the bus, but it is cheap! So
that description was a bit harsh, the buses are almost always exactly on time and,
although the route is not always direct, the bus lines reach most small towns and all
large cities.
There also exist trains that run from all the larger cities in Andalucía and airports
in Sevilla, Malaga, Almeria, Granada, and Jerez.

X. Clases Particulares
To tell you that 700€ is an amazing salary would be a mentira, but it is also not
bad in any way, shape or form. Depending on where you live, 700€ is definitely
sufficient for rent, groceries and several nights a week in a lively tapas bar with a
cervecita in front of you. A financial issue might arise if you decide you would like to
travel a lot. But no worries, welcome to the world of private classes! This was actually
one of my favorite parts of my time here and I think I learned as much from my students
as they learned from me. Also, it is a great way to make a strong personal relationship
with other people in your school, town or barrio. As for rates, I charged 15€ per hour
but in the larger cities, where they is more access to native speakers, normally the
auxiliaries charge around 10€ or 12€.

XI. Facebook
Facebook has become an incredible networking site for all of the auxiliaries in
Spain. There exist many groups to aid in the process of arrival, settling in, teaching,
travelling, leaving, renewing and just general communication between all of us! The
groups include: North American Language and Cultural Assistants 2008-2009 (last
year’s, but the information is still relevant and very in-depth), North American
Language and Cultural Assistants 2009-2010, Assistants in Spain 2009 etc.

Also, I am always willing to help with any questions that you might have. My email is:
[Link]@[Link] and I will do my best to respond to your questions as quickly as
possible.

¡Espero que tengas un buen viaje y que todo lo pase bien!