Pandemic

Let me paint you a picture.

You're twenty-four years old. You've been living in a foreign country for six months, working and travelling around your new home continent. You've met countless amazing people, you're dating, and life is about as good as it can be. And then a global pandemic starts. What would you do?

For most people, I think the answer would be fairly obvious. Go home to your family and friends, simplify your life and try to jumpstart your career, whatever that might be. In fact, that's exactly what a lot of my friends in Spain did when the Covid-19 pandemic caused worldwide lockdowns in March 2020.

Ironically for me, however, Covid actually extended my stay in Spain. When I moved to Spain in August 2019, I had planned on staying for 10 months, until the end of June 2020. I figured I would have my experience of living abroad, travelling around Europe and then come back to Canada, ready to start the "working life" like so many of my friends and classmates were already doing. 

However, when the pandemic started, the thought of me trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life while this global crisis was unfolding seemed incredibly daunting, so I decided that if I could secure another English teaching job in Madrid, then I would stay. 

I began searching for English jobs throughout Madrid. I had already taught at one school, however the deadline to re-apply to that particular school had already passed, so I was forced to look elsewhere. I ultimately found a company called "UCETAM", who places English teachers throughout the Community of Madrid. I filled out an online application, had an hour-long Skype interview, and I was eventually hired. The school I got placed in is in a small town north of Madrid called Alalpardo, and that is the same school that I am still working in today.

While getting hired for a new teaching job was great, it didn't relieve all the stresses that Covid brought into my life. Being away from my family and friends during this unpredictable time was and still is extremely difficult. For many of my American friends, they jumped at the opportunity to head home to the US of A, to the land of no masks and hardly any restrictions. 

Being from Canada, however, put me in a different situation. Even still today, if I wanted to go back to my home country I would be forced to pay for a hotel to quarantine in for two weeks, and then face the fact that my province (Ontario) is currently in the midst of a provincal-wide lockdown, similar to the lockdown that I experienced last year in Madrid. These factors played a major role in extending my stay here in Spain.

There have certainly been moments where I've questioned my decision to stay in Madrid. Christmas, for example, was especially difficult, as well as missing birthdays and other holidays. Not knowing the next time I will see my mom and dad has been challenging, and only being able to see my family and friends in Canada on FaceTime has been bittersweet.

I simply don't think there's a perfect response in situations like this. Just for myself personally, I felt my best option was to stay here in Madrid and continue my adventure abroad. But I also completely understand why people would want to go and be with their families during a situation like this. It's up to each person to decide what is best for them, and to act accordingly. It's been a difficult year and a half for everyone, no matter who you are or where you live. Hopefully, for all of us, this summer returns some normalcy to our lives, and we're ultimately able to put this pandemic behind us.

- Cameron Begin

Plaza Mayor square during the 2020 Covid lockdown