Teaching in small town in Murcia

I am so grateful for this experience teaching in a small summer town in Murcia. It's funny because everyone says "Why are you in Murcia?!" It's not a popular region and I'm in a small town, but I love it! The teachers at my school are so welcoming and have invited me to participate in events and go on field trips. I've been very impressed with my students and their level of English. Everyone knows each other and is always willing to lend a helping hand or put me in conact with someone who can help. The community is small, but kind and I feel very safe. The weather and food are amazing and I live so close to the Mediterranean, it's literally a dream come true for me. I am very into nature and there are plenty of hikes and beaches to visit. There are many school breaks where I have been able to travel. For the first long weekend (puente) in December I went to the Christmas markets in Belgium. During Christmas, I went to Madrid and Barcelona. For spring break I was able to go to Paris and Switzerland. It's amazing to be able to travel so easily with how many breaks there are and how easy European travel is. It always makes me appreciate how cheap it is here in Spain too.

There are a couple of downsides to living in a small summer town though. I do wish there were more young people in my town, it's been a challenge to make friends. The town I am in is a summer town, so during winter only 1/4 the population stays here - many businesses close and the bus schedule is limited. I would say I am friendly with the teachers, but rarely see them outside of school as many of them have families or commute to work. This region is quite disconnected, so I was very limited about where I could travel before getting a car - now that I have one it's not a problem but I know not everyone is in the position to buy a car.

Even with all of that, I still feel very happy being here and am excited to go to work at the schools each day. I applied for a second year through RVF. They have been so helpful and made the process seemless. I saw many students in the group chats with so many issues with their visa or TIE, but RVF I had no problems at all and it went very smoothly. There was no question that I would go through them for my renewal process and I'm happy that I did!