¡Hola todos!

¿Qué tal estáis? My name is Cody Small and I graduated in 2014 with a major in Spanish and a minor in Education. As I am now living and teaching in Castilla La-Mancha, Luis has asked me to share a bit about my experience here in Spain and with CIEE.

I am sure many of you have heard about the North American Auxiliar program here in Spain, but honestly even I am confused by it. I have gathered that there are more or less three types of Auxiliares here in Spain: the Ministry program, the Comunidad program, and the CIEE program. For those who are considering coming to Spain, I recommend either the Ministry or the Comunidad programs, and would warn away from the CIEE program. Let me explain a little about how CIEE works and some of the differences between my program and the others.

Within CIEE there are two main programs: Volunteer and Teach. Volunteer is the “short stay” unpaid three or six month program, while Teach is the nine month, paid program. The way my program (Volunteer) works is that while I am unpaid, I do not have to pay for housing or meals for the six months that I am here. I live with a teacher from my school, who I practice my Spanish with everyday, and luckily for me is one of the sweetest people on the planet. Perhaps the one redeeming part of this program is that they have placed me in a city with some of the nicest and most helpful people. Without the people here I may have packed my bags and left months ago.

Next year, I will be switching to the Ministry program and will be moving to Madrid. I totally understand that the idea of applying to something totally in Spanish is a little scary, but I think it is a much better call than CIEE. However I do believe that CIEE has its place, and that is for people who would like an alternative study abroad. One of my good friends in Talavera is a junior on her study abroad semester, and when I first met her I couldn’t believe how genius she was. For the low cost of eight hundred dollars she gets to teach English, build her resume, and travel around Europe with her three days weekends. As I do love the teaching and my kids, I wouldn’t have minded spending a semester here. However, for a graduate I believe the Ministry program is a much better choice.

I understand that all is a bit of a read, and its hard to summarize my experience here. I will end by saying that I love Talavera de la Reina, and my school is truly grateful for that I am here helping. If anyone has any questions about CIEE or even the other programs, please don’t hesitate to email me. I’m always happy to help out students from the best University on the planet.

Cody

codyjsmall@gmail.com