Madrid Madness

I often don't spend much time reflecting because I'm always planning for the future, whether it be what new job I want to have or what big trip I want to go on.  But with the school year over and summer about to begin, I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I got here.  I don't want to call it fate but I can't imagine being anywhere else at this point in my life.  I've never felt more fulfilled and excited about life and all that lies ahead.  My job this year, while demanding and stressful, has allowed me to grow as a teacher and mentor for my students like I never imagined.  I'm lucky to go to work everyday and have students from around the world that are eager to see me, eager to learn, and willing to lend a hand.  For that I'm truly grateful.  I've never felt more ready and more excited to come back to start a new year. I'll be assuming a few new roles in my job next year (while still remaining a middle school math teacher); one being the new activities advisor and the other being one of four coordinators of the middle school.  It should be a lot of hard work but I'm ready to step out of my comfort zone and see if there are other areas of teaching I may want to explore.

Along with my job comes the many coworkers that have grown to be great friends.  Last night at a going away party for three very dear friends I looked around the room and wondered how in such a short amount of time our group of friends has become so close.  They are my second family and our common bond has made us all the more fortunate to have one another in times of joy and sorrow because with our job it's often thousands of dollars and many thousands of miles to be in the comfort of "home."  I'm grateful to have these wonderful people in my life and know that many of them will be lifelong friends.

The best part of living in Europe (as is pretty apparent in my many posts and is the true reason why I accepted the job here) has been the opportunity to travel.  I've always loved to travel but never thought I'd be able to have work and travel coexist as easily as they do.  Work hard, play hard is the motto around here... and that we do!  Often times people will be talking on the morning bus about what they are doing the following weekend and if nothing is planned, within 3 days we are in another country. When else will I ever have the opportunity to do this?  When looking back at old pictures I'm truly amazed at the experiences I've had in just the 9 short months that I've been here; I can't imagine what the next year brings.

Here are a few photos of what life has been like the past few months when we haven't been on vacation and instead have been here enjoying the wonderful city we live in!  At some point I'll post Madrid photos from the whole year... but that will take a while!

(click on the photo below to view the album)

Madrid Madness

 

I look forward to a relaxing month of July on the beaches of Greece, followed by a quick trip to the Spanish island of Mallorca to visit friends, and then a month home in August, where I finally get to go to the one place I've been dying to see for many years-- Alaska!  I can't wait to be back to shop at Target, eat peanut butter, sit on my deck at home and gaze out at the water, and catch up with friends.  It will be a fabulous summer!

I hope you all have a restful and enjoyable summer wherever you may be in the world and I look forward to catching up with many of you in the coming months.

All the best, Linds