After five months of waiting, I’m excited to announce I’ve accepted a position with my program for another nine months in Asturias, a northern region of Spain. It will be a change from my life in sunny Murcia, but I’m eager to explore more of the country I’ve called home for the past eight months.

I can say without hesitation I love living in Spain, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work here. I believe borders and travel should be available for people of all nationalities, and I can’t be silent about the treatment in my country of people from El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Liberia, South and North Sudan, as well as the continued uncertainty friends from Mexico and central America must deal with daily. Some of my best friends and second families come from around the world. We must support and uphold our immigrant, refugee and asylee populations and remember most of us come from immigrant backgrounds.

Until our country is equitable for all, it is not free.

You can learn more here and here.

OK, back to Asturias. I originally applied to this region for the forests, coastline, mountains and hiking. Then, I found out it had some of the best food in the area and amazing surfing/ outdoor activities, and that pretty much solidified it. It’s also near Portugal, Pais Vasco, Galicia and other regions I’ve been interested in exploring.

According to their tourism office, Asturias is the only region in Spain that was never captured by an outside force. Its catchphrase is “This is the real Spain. The rest of the country is just conquered land.”  It’s also home to an endangered language, Asturiano, which only 110,000 people still speak. I’m excited on multiple nerdy linguistic levels about moving there.

I know it will be a challenge to find another apartment and adjust to a completely different place again, but I’ve been mentally preparing since January. At least my Spanish has improved slightly over the past eight months, and I already have some of the logistical details set in place.

It’s hard to be away from those I value most, but I love living in Spain, speaking Spanish and exploring and learning more about this world and its workings.

Thanks as always for your support. Of course, you’re invited to Asturias. Come see me in Texas in July and August (we will be doing quite a bit of camping in state parks if you’re interested) and let me know if you want to rent a tiny house or need more information about teaching ESL abroad or at home.

Un abrazo fuerte, nos vemos pronto <3