Personal Finance for English Teachers Abroad
Nearly 5 years ago, I wrote about building up your pantry on a budget. Now that I’m leaving Spain in just 4-5 weeks, it’s time to do the opposite. Care to join me in a pantry challenge? Let’s use everything up!
Although I’ve moved within Spain several times, this will be my first international move since I arrived in 2015. With each previous move, I left food behind with local friends, since pantry food was the last thing on my mind, and I never planned for it.
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Coming to Spain as a language assistant back in September of 2015 will forever be one of the best decisions of my life. Since then, I’ve gained residency through pareja de hecho, worked as an ESL teacher, and then as a Director of Studies. I’ve improved my language skills, seen a lot of Spain, and even started a family. Despite all of this, there are some positive changes on the horizon for me, and it’s time to move forward.
On June 6, 2022, I will start my first day as a Consular Fellow for the US State Department. Although getting here was a long process, which I started in July of 2020, the 40 days I have left in Spain feel so short. I have so much to prepare before moving to DC for training, but need to remember to slow down and enjoy the time I still have left here.
I intend to keep this website going with great budgeting and travel tips, as well as life in Spain posts by guest contributers. However, I will now be posting about my Consular Fellows experience as well. If you are only intrested in reading about exeperiences from Spain or from Consular Fellows, you can filter posts by category.
I think the Consular Fellow program is a perfect transition for former language assistants. All of my experience in the classroom was even credited as qualifying experience as a part of my salary determination. My advice for people who might like to take this same path, especially now that the Ministry’s Language Assistant program has a 5 year limit, is to use your time here wisely. Learn Spanish. Gain good experience for your resume. And enjoy Spain.