In which I defy the laws of auxiliarship: Part five in an occassional series about how much I love my life

Wednesday night I was in step class and was super tired. I was doing the moves on the little step thing and then stepped wrong on my ankle and went down. I've had problems with my ankles for a few years and they are really prone to sprains and twists. In Turkey I had to wear a black boot around for a few weeks, as if I didn't stick out enough already. I sat down and Fer got me ice for my ankle. When class was over I walked at a señora speed back to my apartment. It was swollen but not too bad. I showered and got in pajamas and flopped down on the couch next to Laura and Rocio. I was sitting there with my ankle up, checking up on my usual haunts on the internet: email, facebook, blogspot, and my Spain application for next year.

Unrelated, but cool, photo from Bodrum, Turkey.

I had been waiting for a week or two to hear about my placement. I found out back in March that I would be in Andalucia for another year. This was great news, but Andalucia is a large place. I had filled out my preference sheet, stating that I wanted to be in an elementary school and mentioning at least 5 times that I wanted to be in MÁLAGA, but this did not guarantee anything. The system that places auxiliars takes into account your requests, but schools get assigned in a first-come-first-serve order, meaning the sooner you get your paperwork in the better chance you have of getting a good placement. CIEE, which has a few hundred positions in Andalucía, operates the same way. When they assign you a placement, meaning that you'll be in Andalucía, they then keep track the order in which people turn in their confirmation documents. I, knowing this is how that process works, had those documents turned around and sent back electronically in under 2 hours. No way this girl is going to rural Jaen.

So I had been waiting (im)patiently to hear about placements. When I opened my email and saw nothing from CIEE I had assumed they did not do placements that day and resigned myself to waiting until the next evening to maniacally check my application. Just to be sure, I opened my application, to see if anything had changed. I was in the middle of saying something to the roommates, my evening nightcap in hand, my swollen ankle up on the chair, when I suddenly gasped.

Participation Decision: (Confirmed 3/7/11)

Application Decision: (Accepted and Placed 5/18/11)
 
PLACED! I frantically looked around to see where the school was. And there it was:

PLACEMENT INFORMATION

29005357, C.E.I.P. Doctor Fléming
Pasaje Horacio Lengo, 3, 29006, Málaga, Málaga

That would be an elementary school in the dead center of Málaga.

Suddenly I forgot about my ankle and jumped up off the couch, clapping and whooping. Exactly what I wanted.

Until this moment I had sort of expected something to go wrong. I was confirmed, but, despite confirmation from CIEE that I was for sure participating, I expected someone from the Junta to notice and not allow me to come back. Two years is normally the maximum. Somehow I got in, sometimes I marvel at how incredibly lucky my life is. I've had nothing but good things for 23 years and am really, really blessed. I got on the phone to Jose and to my mom and dad and brother.

The ankle? It's a bit swollen, but it'll get better. You just can't pass up an opportunity to jump up and down in absolute joy, those moments are perfect. I'm coming back. I'm ecstatic.