Why is it that my top 3 most popular posts on this blog are the ones that are the most controversial? Are you guys trying to tell me that you like my biting sarcasm and wit and when I get sassy and borderline inappropriate? Or maybe is it because you like reading something painfully honest, wait…..EVERYBODY HALT! OMG a blog being CANDID AND NEGATIVE?!?! Shocking.
ALL of us bloggers (with the exception of Will Peach) are guilty of creating a fantasy travel bubble filled with rainbows and unicorns, where our lives are literally picture perfect; where we journey around the world without a care in the world and if anything does go wrong, it ends up as a cutesy-comical-learned-my-lesson anecdote on our blog, if mentioned at all. Hey, I’m equally guilty of this. I want my blog to be a happy place, where I share the best experiences I’ve had traveling and show others how to achieve the same.
But there are three things I can’t tolerate in life: unfairness, bullshit, and mayonnaise (nothing ruins a burger or sandwich like that nasty white stuff in a jar). And if something has been nagging me for years, I’ve gotta stand up and say something! Maybe I am just on a high from the success of a recent article I wrote about how Kaplan Killed the Hopes and Dreams of 42 Bloggers. Maybe I’m just bitter and hormonal from my breakup with Spain. Either way I am about to break it down for you.
I have been living in Spain for the past two years with the English teaching assistant program through the Spanish Ministry of Education (auxiliares de conversación), and you know what? IT EFFING SUCKED! Not the living in Spain bit, that was awesome, rather the program itself.
I literally have hundreds of emails, messages, tweets and comments asking me questions about working in Spain as an auxiliar, whether about visas, apartments, taxes, money or even if they should apply or not, I hear it all. And I almost always give the same answer, “yeah this program is great. I love living in Spain. Bulls. Flamenco. Paella. Sangria. Yada yada yada.” But here it is, my REAL, uncensored, unedited thoughts about coming to Spain with the auxiliar program.
AND I am going to break the cardinal blogging rule here and put HATE in the title of this post. I’ll put in all-caps for good measure. Maybe I’ll lose a few readers. I’ll probably get enough hate mail to make me want to off myself by tomorrow (seriously, you anon readers can be wicked harsh!) but I feel honor bound to share how I really feel about this program on my blog, especially since such a large part of my audience are past-present-future auxiliars. Someone needs to say it. Might as well be me. And according to my stats, this is the kind of stuff you like to read. Don’t shoot the messenger!
Just remember guys, I’m not a hater, really I’m not! If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting me, I am bubbly, blonde and happy. Just indulge me this one time on my tirade.
Here are My Top 5 Reasons Why I HATE the Auxiliar Program in Spain (you know, top 5, because I can think of more than 5)
1. It’s a disorganized clusterfuck
To put it mildly. In fact all the things I hate about this program are so disorganized in my head from all my problems dealing with the disorganization with the Ministry, I don’t even know where to begin. I’ll elaborate in bullet points:
- The application process. Who actually understands it? 3 years down the road and I don’t! Don’t even get me started about renewing. What if you’re switching regions? What if you are renewing for a third year and switching regions? Where do we send the documents? Wouldn’t it be nice if we had all of these answers available to us on the application page? The only information we get from the Ministry are monthly newsletters in comic sans font sent every three months to half of the mailing list that don’t say anything valuable and look like they were designed by my 11 year old sister. Why are all the regions in Spain listed on the application when the program has been cut from several of them? Oh that FBI report you had to get for your application? Yeah, you have to get a whole new one for your visa because they expire and we didn’t tell you! Do we have orientation? Who gets to go? Where is it? When is it? Also, everyone is assigned a number upon submitting an application, first time renewals get placed first, then first year applications and third year renewals. Except the Ministry doesn’t always follow those rules and places people willy nilly. I can go on and on
- Hey remember that one time thousands of people didn’t get paid for 3 months? Oh wait, that’s every year!
- It is not unusual for ministry officials to give out conflicting information about everything, if you can get a hold of them at all. In fact, many of the schools aren’t informed about what your role as an assistant is, leaving you open to all mannars of interpretation. You could spend your year sitting at a desk in the back playing solitaire or you could be left alone in the room with 25 screaming 3 year olds. Hopefully you end up somewhere in the middle.
- Pretty much the people who run this program don’t know what they are doing, so don’t expect clear answers. Inconsistent information is the name of the game with the auxiliar program in Spain. Get used to it.
- Have you read my post about how I spent over 4 months being jerked around by the guys who run this program in Madrid and why I ultimately left Spain?
The upside? You get a visa to live in Spain, which is nigh on impossible to get any other way as an American.
2. A total hit or miss
Your experience as an auxiliar can be a total hit-or-miss and you might not have any control over it. From my own observations, it seems applicant’s names, regional preferences, city and school type are all thrown in a giant jar, swirled around and plucked right back out. i.e., it makes no sense.
You could end up working at an amazing concertada (semi-private) modern school right in the city center with amazing goal-oriented teachers and well-behaved students. Or you might end up in a village of 5,000 people, in rural back country Spain where your students don’t know the difference between England and America, the English teacher doesn’t speak any English and you have to commute an hour to work every day. The range of possible situations you could end up with is HUGE and they will either positively or negatively impact your year, depending on how flexible and open minded you are.
For example, this year I had an amazing schedule. I worked Monday through Thursday, 9am to noon at 2 schools in the center of Logroño. I had to take a 10 minute bus ride to get to work every day. Totally feasible. I had other friends who were placed at schools in villages over an hour away, that they not only had to commute to, they had to pay the teachers to let them ride with them to and from work, over 100 euros extra a month, and they were given schedules with huge breaks in them so they were stuck in their villages for hours without classes.
I think my year would have gone a bit differently under those circumstances. My schools were generally flexible with my schedule if I wanted to travel, I could make up hours. Other schools don’t let the auxiliars miss any days or hours and some even give them schedules where you would have to work Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri. Complete hit or miss, you have no control over.
I’ve worked with 2 teachers who really wanted to take advantage of having a native speaker in the classroom to help the kids. They understood what a unique opportunity it was to have an American there helping the kids learn English. The other 10 teachers I’ve worked with ranged from they really didn’t give a damn to they wanted to use me so they could get out of doing their job.
Be warned, some teachers will take advantage of you in the classroom. Know your role. We are assistants, not the teachers. We provide supporting material and help, but we don’t plan the lessons. We’re not supposed to be alone with students. I’ve had friends who were forced to do everything, spend hours at home planning lessons and even forced to work more hours or face having a “horrible” schedule or be complained about. I had huge problems with this my first year and getting taken advantage of in the schools. Don’t let it happen to you.
You could get paid on time every month since you start. You could go months without being paid. Unless you are a trust fund baby, I expect that would make a BIG difference in how your year goes.
The upside? You could have the best year of your life! I am a true believer that experiences are what you make of them, so even if things don’t go exactly how you’d for them to, try to focus on the positive! You get to live in Spain!
Me and the lovely Liz of Liz en España and now A Midwestern Life
3. The funcionarios who work for the Ministry
Is it just me or is everyone who works for this program (from the Spanish consulates in the US to the regional coordinators to the directors in Madrid) a certified straight up d-bag?
Of all the people I’ve dealt with over the years with this program, I’ve known one, ONE nice, helpful person! And they fired her after a year!
In case you didn’t know, funcionarios are government employees in Spain, and they basically make a lot of money and can never be fired, simply put. Here is a video that explains them to a T. Ok, sweeping generalization but that’s how I feel about these guys, along with many Spaniards.
Not only do they generally have no idea what’s going on, they are also rude and unhelpful in general. I can talk to them for hours on the phone or in person and leave the conversation not knowing anything more than I did when I started! And on top of that they make you feel bad about it! I have even had them intentionally hang up on me when I was demanding to know when we would get paid in La Rioja last year, sparking my most popular post. I would go into a meeting with the program director’s to ask when we would get paid, and I would leave feeling like everything was my fault for not being ok with not being paid! WTF?!
“Normally we use Christians but in times of crisis, substituting funcionarios has been very successful.” Source
They are probably so unhelpful because they aren’t informed themselves. But last time I checked in the real world in a professional job, when you don’t know something, you say, “you know what? I am not sure. Let me check and get back to you” instead of “this is so-and-so’s responsibility, go ask them” that is, if you can get a hold of anyone at all.
I have scheduled meetings with coordinators and they have shown up an hour late, most of the time they don’t answer my emails or phone calls. In fact, the only time they call me back is when I threaten to go to the US embassy or I call them directly out on not doing their job. Then I get a phone call from some official all fussy and upset by my insinuations.
For example, my first year in Córdoba, we weren’t even provided with the contact information for the regional or city coordinator. If we had a problem, we didn’t have anyone to talk to except with our schools.
If I had a euro for every time I got a runaround answer from a ministry official in Spain, I would be as rich as Iker Casillas.
The upside? You learn to take things into your own hands, I guess. Honestly, I can’t really think of an upside to this unless you miraculously end up working with amazing coordinators and directors. We’ll go back to the you get to live in Spain thing. Big upside.
4. The Visa Nightmare
I call it a nightmare because every time I had to think about my experiences with the visa and NIE, I want to die. The entire paperwork process from applying for the visa, applying for a NIE, renewing your NIE, and the details of living in Spain with a student NIE could not be more stressful and complicated!
I understand that this process is not really within control of the Ministry of Education, but at the same time, it is a government sponsored program, and one of the guarantees is a NIE. I think the Ministry needs to do two things:
- Provide a better guideline for auxiliars about how and when to apply for the visa and the NIE and how to renew it. Really, it cannot be that hard to put something together. In fact, it would be great if that was what they talked about at orientation instead of 2 hours of how the Spanish education system works in rapid-fire Spanish that I am sure half of the first years do not understand. Shouldn’t the English bilingual coordinators speak English?
- Coordinate with the local extranjerías about the auxiliar program. They need to understand this program, what dates should be given on the NIE’s, renewals, ect. It is not that hard to go meet with them and explain so that everyone is on the same page. This would avoid so many nightmares
This all goes back to the disorganization and hit or miss. For example, some people are given papers that expire exactly one year after they submit the paperwork, so September or October of the following year. Some people are given cards that expire exactly on May 31. The rest, somewhere in the middle. It makes absolutely no sense. You could end up completely screwed like with what happened to me. If I was given the correct papers with the correct dates, I could still be in Spain right now.
It gets even more complicated when you try to renew your papers, and if you try to switch regions. Some regions will let you renew no problem. Others make you go back to America and get a whole new visa. Hit or miss. Some regions even let you submit the paperwork in the fall to renew and then told you a month later you needed to buy a last minute flight to America and get a whole other visa. It’s actually ridiculous. Try buying a $1000 flight home when you haven’t even been paid!
Sometimes it takes so long for the offices to process your paperwork you can go the whole year without getting a NIE! Or they give you appointments after your visa has expired.
The upside? You (hopefully) get papers to live in Spain! It’s almost impossible to get a visa otherwise as an American. That is if you can survive the deathly obstacles thrown at you
5. Kept blind and in the dark
I think singlehandledly the thing I hated most about the program besides the disorganization is the fact that the Ministry did a terrible job of informing us of ANYTHING!
It’s one thing to be disorganized but at least tell us what’s going on. Here are the 3 main things the Ministry should keep in contact with the auxiliars about
- If there are going to be delays with payments, tell us! It’s not that hard. We shouldn’t have to complain and whine about it to the newspapers and American embassies into shaming the Ministry into paying us, or at least saying when we’ll be paid. Last year they weren’t planning to even tell us in La Rioja about the delays until dozens of us called and emailed and demanded to know what was going on.
- When the government cuts hundreds of auxiliar positions and even whole regions, it is their duty to tell us! You shouldn’t have to find out everything on facebook or through me. In fact, I think the government should be contracting me since I have been doing half of their work for them for YEARS!
- They should explain clearly what our job is, what it entails, our benefits, our rights, ect.
This lack of Ministry information directly leads to mass hysteria on the dozens of facebook groups and expat forums about this program. When I mentioned that to a director in Madrid he yelled (literally yelled) at me about how we shouldn’t listen to these things on Facebook. I kindly replied that it’s the only way we learn anything or know what’s going on, which led to awkward silence…
The upside? You learn to be patient or you just lose your marbles
The point of this post is not to whine and moan about the auxiliar program in Spain. It is to share an actual and honest opinion of a program that has been glamorized far too often. People have been asking me for years about what I really think about it, and I feel it’s high time for an honest answer. Negative hate and all.
Are you an auxiliar in Spain? What was your experience like with the program? Have or heard any horror stories? What did you hate the most about it?
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Well, you can see its not the same problem everywhere. Some regions having problems, as La Rioja, you said, but not all fo them (f.e. galicia, as Trebor or Cat of Sunshine and Siestas said)
Appart from that, as RJ says, in my oppinion, the main problem is due to the Government, or the Ministerio de Educacion, the one implicated in the Auxiliares program. But not a problem with thr program.
The problem about the NIE, is just burocracy…. Try to get a healthy insurance uin UK, try to get the equivalent of the NIE in Germany, try to work, or live in the States being a foreigner, and you’ll probably see almost the same everywhere, being a foreigner. Not only in Spain.
Miriam said “I agree that the program is very disorganized, but then again, what do you expect from a country that is disorganized in every sector of its being?”
So….. why did u come here? Not being racist, probably, but thats not fair. Huge economic crysis all over the world, you know? if we start talkign about several countries, we could probably find lots of defects.
And Liz, when you said that: “In case you didn’t know, funcionarios are government employees in Spain, and they basically make a lot of money and can never be fired, simply put. Here is a video that explains them to a T.
Not only do they generally have no idea what’s going on, they are also rude and unhelpful in general”
Really unfair commnt
Let me tell you that a funcionario, not always earns 100000000000€/month and obviously, they can be fired. Not as common as woking in a factory, for example, but they can be fired too.
Next time think a little bit more how to describe them…. ot do u really thingk a doctor, firefighter, police man, teacher, juez, soldier (all of them are funcionarios) are just lazy dumb douchebags?
There kind of topics/stereotypes are not always true/fair, as you know….
Un saludo 😉
Angel, the problem is the program and the program is run by the ministerio de educación, it’s their responsibility to do their jobs, end of story.
If you had ANY idea what I have gone through with the funcionarios in the ministry of education associated with this program combined with the funcionarios who work in the various foreigner’s offices in Spain you would not think it is an unfair comment. The level of unprofessionalism and laziness (yes I’ll say it, LAZINESS) is insane. One time I waited in the extranjerias office in Córdoba for hours, watched the workers take a break every half and hour while dozens of people are waiting, I even saw a worker leave and go buy groceries in the middle of her shift! and they only work 9-2! that is just the tip of the iceberg, I have a post in here somewhere about what I had to go through to renew my NIE last year. just a nightmare
Another time I scheduled to meet the woman who runs the auxiliars in la rioja last year at a specific time to discuss getting paid, you know a very important issue, and I had to wait almost an hour because she had gone out to have a coffee. A COFFEE! And on top of that, her assistant chastised me thoroughly for not understanding that “B really needed a break to take a coffee because she had been working really hard.” I kid you not!
If you read my post clearly I was NOT referring to all funcionarios in general, I was specifically talking about the people who for the ministry regarding this program and the ones who work in the foreigner’s offices. Granted, I am sure there are some decent ones around Spain, I just have yet to experience the pleasure of meeting. I’m sure I would faint in astonishment when it happens.
I agree that it’s unfair to criticize all civil servants (funcionarios) in that way. It’s unfortunate that many DO act in that way, because I know civil servants who are hard workers and who care about their jobs. My father- and mother-in-law were both civil servants. My father-in-law, a teacher, is the hardest worker I know. My mother-in-law is a hard worker as well.
Nonetheless, having a job where being fired is next to impossible means that you may slip a little. If a worker in a normal company slacks off, they run the very real risk of being fired; if a civil servants does the same (e.g., goes to get a coffee/get groceries/etc. NOT on their break time), I don’t think they run that same risk. This could (stress on could) be a problem if they take advantage of this lax attitude.
I definitely agree too, I try to avoid speaking in absolutes at all costs, especially on my blog, which is why I tried to be clear I was referring to many of the funcionarios within the extranjerias and the ministry in charge of the program bc my experiences with them have been just awful!
If only could have recorded the conversations I’ve had with them, I have never been treated like that in my life. Rude is an understatement, which is awful and gives other hard workers a bad reputation. I am sure there are some good ones out there within the program and in the foreigner’s office, sounds like the ones in galicia rock, but man, by experiences from cordoba, salamanca and logroño have been pure hell
I’m a second year assistant and honestly it’s really hit or miss. I think you have to be proactive about embarking on a program like this and do your research. There are dozens of Facebook groups and forums where people discuss issues like the late pay, the rural school placements, etc. While it would be nice for the ministry to be a bit more candid about some of the downsides, you have to be pretty dense to be unaware of these things before coming here. I can only shake my head at the people who didn’t come prepared for not being paid on time. You know it happens, it’s been happening for years, and it’s probably going to continue happening. If you can’t save enough to get yourself through that possibility, you shouldn’t come. End of story.
And as for having an hour commute and having to pay to carpool: that’s a personal choice. It’s no one’s fault but our own if we choose to live an hour away from our schools. This program requires flexibility above all else. If you want to make life difficult for yourself and live in a big city which adds an hour to your commute every day, that’s sort of on you. Yes, it’s preferable to live in a larger city/town. But it’s not required, and you aren’t entitled to being placed in, say, Sevilla. You just have to make the best of the hand you’re dealt. After all, no one’s forcing any of us to be here. It’d be nice if things went smoothly but they won’t always, so just roll with it.
I’ve lived in six different countries in the last ten years and this program doesn’t even come close to being the biggest clusterfuck I’ve encountered. Try handling the immigration bureaucracy in Turkey. It makes everything here in Spain seem like a walk in the park. 😉
I dunno, I get a lot of emails from people who have no idea about the payment problems. I also think it’s unfair to assume that everyone should know about it before coming, it’s not like the ministerio keeps you up to date on it. You’re saying you shouldn’t come if you didn’t know about it advance? For example my first year I didn’t even know about the facebook groups. Not everyone is made of money and when the program itself tells you to come with a certain amount of money but it turns out to be completely wrong, that is not your fault.
Also, it’s not really fair to compare experiences between rural and city school placements. For example, there was no way I was going to live in my village of 3,000 people my first year, with only 2 bars and a bank. not gonna happen. and the commuting that year and not having to commute this past year made for a COMPLETELY different and happier experience.
Do you have to commute to your schools? where are you placed?
We get that it could be worse, but I wonder how many of the current auxiliars were considering woking in a country like turkey? not that many I’m guessing, so again, you can’t really compare the two.
Something to think about
My first year I was placed in a small village in Andalucia (about 5,000 people) and commuted for the first half of the year. Then I realized how miserable it was making me and moved closer to my school. It made a world of difference. My Spanish improved, I made friends who weren’t Americans, and I was far more involved at my school. This is a job first and fun second. I’m wary of people who complain about not living in the middle of a big city, because to me that comes across as them being annoyed that they can’t go out and get plastered every night. I realize not everyone thinks that way but the predominant complaint is that the villages don’t afford the type of social life a person was looking for. Oh well. Them’s the breaks.
Regarding being financially prepared–I agree, most people aren’t made of money. I’m certainly not. But anyone with a lick of common sense should realize that the paltry amount the program website suggests you bring with you is insufficient. You apply almost a year before you arrive in Spain. That’s more than enough time to save $3-4,000. If you can’t manage that then again, you probably aren’t responsible enough to move to a foreign country to begin with.
Now I live in central Madrid and commute about 30 minutes by metro to my school. The best advice I’d give to anyone doing the program is to request Madrid. There’s a limit to how far away you’ll be from the city center (the region is only so big, after all). If living in a big city is the only thing you care about when it comes to this program then Madrid’s your best bet.
And I’m not sure you understand my point about Turkey (which wasn’t Turkey specific, just an example; I’ve also worked in South Korea, Germany, Russia, and China in the decade since I graduated university). You absolutely should keep in mind that your complaints about red tape in Spain pale in comparison to how bad it is in other nearby countries (and yet even in those countries people manage to complete the process). I take it you haven’t really experienced much in terms of working outside of the US and Spain if you think Spain is a nightmare. I’ve gone through the visa, NIE/TIE (and renewal) processes in Spain (including changing regions) and it’s so incredibly easy as long as you stay on top of things and are proactive. Once you’ve had a bit more experience with these things in slightly less modern systems you’ll pine for some good old fashioned Spanish bureaucracy.
I don’t think you understood my point about Turkey…it’s not exactly relevant to this discussion
We’re not talking about Turkey, Germany, Russia, China or South Korea. We all applied to be assistants in Spain with certain expectations. Of course if I was going through the visa process in China, I would expect it to be different and probably more challenging.
My point is that it does absolutely no good at all to say “well, I’ve been through way worse, you are lucky in Spain”-it’s unhelpful and not proactive.
Kind of like saying, “oh you lost an eye? Well it could be worse, you could have lost two eyes”
The point of this post was to share possible scenarios and information with future auxiliars. I really feel people should know what they are getting into so they can make informed decisions themselves about it. I wish I could have read something like this 3 years ago
Ok. I think it’s a useful post for sure, and highlights some shortcomings of the program. All I meant to point out by talking about my experiences in other countries is that the red tape in Spain is really not as bad as you’re making it out to be. In fact you’re one of the only assistants I’ve come across (via blogs or the Facebook groups with thousands of people in them) who seems to have had so much trouble. Maybe you’re just an outlier. I renewed my NIE/TIE while changing regions like you did and had no trouble at all. But yes, it’s helpful for people to read your post, because you seem to have found yourself in the worst case scenarios more often than not.
Difference of opinion aside, thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed post.
Ashley, i have to say i think its a little unfair to say that we should have saved up the money, otherwise we aren’t responsible enough. i was emailed in February, and told that i did not meet the requirements and my application would not be considered. why, they did not tell me. then, lo and behold, June 24th (pretty damn late to be notified anyways) i was received an email telling me that i had been accepted to the Madrid program. once again, no rhyme or reason, no explanation. LUCKILY, i had been saving, because i was planning on going on a month long trip to India. i know this exact situation has happened to three other people, and a LOT of my friends got notified of our acceptance way after we were told we would be. but if I didn’t have the money saved up, that would have been due to the ministerio’s shitty organization.
also, i commute every day because i choose to live in the city, but it is not so that i can “get plastered” every night. it is because there is a lot more to do in the city, besides drinking. more restaurants, more museums, parks, etc. etc. etc. i rarely drink on the weekdays, and i still would NOT want to live in rural Madrid. and, i want to be in the city during my weekends.
Not being able to save money isn’t what makes a person irresponsible, it’s deciding to do the program anyways knowing you have no savings to fall back on that makes you so. Most people apply for the program in November/December, and have until October at the earliest to save up. If you’ve applied then you should start saving, even if the chances are you’ll get a late placement. I certainly didn’t wait until May when I got my school placement to begin tucking money away.
The ministerio is not responsible for someone’s inability to save money. That’s entirely on you. Could they be more organized? Of course. But we should organize ourselves as well. I busted my ass for two years to do this program. The first year I applied I fell short of my savings goal. So I didn’t come. Because that would have been pretty silly. I continued to save and by the next year I was in a good financial place and could afford to come (and stay, even if I had payment problems). That’s the responsible thing to do. Spain’s not going anywhere, postponing for a year to be better prepared won’t hurt anyone. And it saves you a lot of stress, because you won’t have to kill yourself with private classes the minute you step off the plane and you won’t have to pinch pennies waiting to get paid.
Liz, your complaints strike me as incredibly zealous and over-reactionary considering the amount of time you have been in Spain. Above all else, your problems are with the Spanish government and its bureaucracy, NOT with the Auxiliar program. I have a friend who is in the BEDA program (cconcertadas/catholics) and she is having to go through the same runaround with the NIE/TIE and such. So regardless of which program you are doing, you’re still going to have problems. And complaints such as ‘hit/miss depending on school’ is no different then getting a real job but being stuck with lousy co-workers, an overbearing boss, or horrible commute in the states. And all the other complaints are your perception (and in some cases, reality) of the way you are being treated because you are a foreigner. Whether you know it or not, foreigners in the USA deal with the same perceived/real hostility, cultural clashes, and frustrations. Essentially, and I know you’ve heard it and thought it hundreds of times, if you really don’t like it, then just stay back home. All your complaints are valid, but they are miscategorized and misguided.
Hi RJ, thank you for your comment. I understand where you are coming from though I think your conclusion is rather harsh.
My problems and many other people’s problems stem from this program (el ministerio de educación), which is a branch of the Spanish government. The NIE issue was only a small part of this post, and something I made sure to point out isn’t exactly within the control of the ministerio. However, since this a government sponsored program and it is so large, I think there should be better communication between the program coordinators and the extranjeras, which has happened in some regions. Especially since these problems have been occurring again and again over the years to the point where the US embassy has to intervene. However, if you compare your situation and mine, you are on what, your 3rd or 4th renewal in La Rioja? Something that was denied to me because of a paperwork mistake at the extranjeria and something our coordinator couldn’t be bothered to do anything about. Hardly seems fair, don’t you think? Call me overzealous, but I wonder if you would have the same attitude if our roles were reversed. In your opinion my complaints are just a perception, probably because you haven’t had to deal with some or all of them yourself.
Again I don’t think you can really compare the auxiliar program with working in the US. This is not a normal work experience, we move abroad because of it for a short time, and once we are there, it’s not like we are really in a position to leave willingly. It’s once thing to leave a job in so-and-so town but it’s quite another to give up on a year living your dreams in Spain. I think the ministry knows this, knows how much it means to us to live in Spain, and takes full advantage of it, knowing we won’t leave. Which is shitty.
Can you really read this post and disagree with my 5 points? Do you really consider this program organized? Do you think everyone who has a “miss” experience deserved it? Do you think the funcionarios who run this program are doing a great job? Do you think the problems people have had with their visas and NIE’s are unwarranted and do you think this program has done a good job of keeping us informed of what is going on?
But