When I last wrote, I was in the process of moving the tiny house to Austin. As of now, I will live in the house for the next two months in Corsicana, but my ultimate plans have changed.

In September, I will move to Spain.

After a series of logistical failures and fortunate events, I re-evaluated my life and typed out a plan. I mapped where I wanted to be in a year and realized what I’m doing is not how I want to live. I love Austin, my friends and coworkers. I love the groups I’ve worked with including the Texas State Park system and Altrusa International. I love my family and my home. However, I have goals.

As a linguistics grad student, one common question I hear (after, what is linguistics?) is “how many languages do you speak?” I usually say one and a half. After years of study, I’m still not comfortable with Spanish. I love this language and want to commit to learning it.

I’m excited to say I’ve accepted a job with the Spanish government and will move to the region of Murcia to work with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport as a cultural language assistant. This means I will assist a Spanish teacher in a classroom as they teach students English. I’ve done similar work in Slovakia and Virginia and I’m eager to collaborate with students again. I’ll continue grad school online, and I’m sure this position will impact my linguistic research.

I’m nervous about finding an apartment, applying for residency, opening a bank account and learning to navigate another continent while speaking Spanish.  However, I acknowledge the privilege of this opportunity. For many people who want to live and work in another country, they must go through horrific and time-consuming obstacles just to move. For those who think this is an amazing opportunity and are cheering me on, please pause for a moment. If this situation was reversed — if someone from another country was coming to the U.S. to live and work — would you be congratulatory? Would you be welcoming? Please remember that people move for far better and more pressing reasons than linguistic research.

I thank you for your support and patience during this process. I will write in later posts about how to teach English in Spain for those who are interested. I will also open up the invitation to anyone who wants to visit me while I am abroad. I will suggest cheap flights, and my couch is always free.

I’m not sure if I will continue this position after my nine-month contract, but I thank you for your support. I love you all.

Also, if you live near Corsicana and want to rent a tiny house, hit me up. 🙂