Hello all!!
It’s been some month I tell ya! Thanks for all your replies, this is the story so far..
When I arrived I made my way to my hotel in quite a daze. It was a surreal feeling to finally be here! There was a constant feeling of urgency from the first moment to go and look for a job. I didn’t waste any time and found a papeler?a to print off my CVs, in the end I went back a few times as I had to keep updating it with my new mobile number etc. I met an english girl and a texan guy who were here on holiday and was able to explore the city a bit with them and hang around in their hostel. By chance the english girl was a qualified teacher in the UK and used to do CV coaching so she had advice for me in abundance! She also had a knack for seeing things that I was looking for but could never see myself! One day we were walking down the main Avenida by the cathedral and she saw a job advert in the window of a small sports shop. I went in, they were an english family and had a job to offer me there and then. The money was enough to pay my rent in one week, and the rest would have been a surplus, although the hours were unsociable. I insisted that I’d be back the next day as I was also arranging my flat at the time and had to talk to my spanish friends who study in Seville and who were looking for a flatmate. Sure enough I went back the next day and the job had been taken by someone a lot more savvy to the fact that finding a job is so difficult! Disappointed, I was back to square one, and my palms were starting to sweat.
I realised the extent of my lack of funds and progress one particular day, it was around 42 degrees celcius and my debit card wouldn’t work and I found myself wandering the streets desperately talking to anyone to ask if they knew of any jobs going. I found dozens of language academies and handed round my CV, within a week I had an interview and I was offered a job, but they were unsure of the hours. After being promised a phone call to keep me in the know I then went to wait a week before I phoned them and found out that all the places were taken! I’ve come to be thankful of it however as it has a bad reputation among english teachers in Seville!
So I was back where I started, although in the meantime I’d found a flat with my spanish friends and my job search around the city was a great orientation exercise!! After paying the first months rent, deposit and agency commision I was feeling strapped, especially without a job. I then got a call from the hostel where my friends were previously staying, and where I’d spoken to the manager and handed my CV, and was soon behind the hostel bar working it 5 nights a week. It’s kept me occupied when I would have felt hopelessly desperate and bored, and will give me enough money for the next month’s rent. Whilst working there I did a couple more interviews in the day, and at one particular one that I liked in the Macarena area.
One day I was opening the bar, cleaning the tables feeling bored and a bit fed up when I got a call from the director of that language academy in la Macarena, and I got the job!
So now I’m back in my flat just about to have a siesta before heading back to continue my first day of the teacher’s induction. A lot’s happened this month, but after the struggling my persistence has paid off and I’ve got myself set up to stay. I went to a great flamenco concert last night and met some locals who are going to take me to the small venues where the magic happens! It’s why I wanted to come after all, and it looks like I can start to follow that dream at last!
