This week was my first week of working in Mendoza and it was great! There were definitely some challenges but I think I’m going to be very happy with my decision to teach here. I will be teaching a class of 14-15 year olds as well as doing private tutoring sessions with adults. I was also assigned a class of younger students to start with but due to my lack of Spanish, it was better that the class be taught by a different professor. It’s always hard realizing that you can’t do something and not wanting to give up but this was definitely the right decision for both me and the students. The students have all been excited to learn and very welcoming to the fact that they have a new teacher. I am currently trying to find the balance between incorporating practical learnings with fun so the students stay engaged.
I also made the jump of finding a place to live this week! Before I left on holiday for 2 weeks I had a couple of leads for apartments. When I got back to Mendoza, I reached back out to visit the apartments and then didn’t hear anything for a couple of days. This was a little annoying since I would like to get settled sooner rather than later. I used a website called CompartoDepto and a Facebook page for intercambios (exchange students) to look for housing. I ended up finding a great option through the Facebook page. I will be living in an apartment with 6 other girls from Spain, France, and Colombia which will be very helpful in my quest to learn Spanish. I will have one roommate and I hope we get along! I moved into the apartment today and it only cost $2800 pesos a month with all the utilities included. This is about $165 dollars U.S. I wish I could find housing in the U.S. that was this nice and this cheap! I am so grateful that the transition to living here in Mendoza has been relatively smooth. Now I am officially a resident!
Jordan's Journeys 