Where Do I Go From Here?

I have one week left in Spain. I can’t believe it. These six months have gone extremely quick. I am sad to be leaving Spain but am also happy to be getting back to the U.S. and not having to live out of a suitcase among many other things I’ll be happy to get back to. I’ve learned so much about Spain, the world, and myself. I have a new perspective on life in the U.S. I have of course, improved my Spanish leaps and bounds than I ever did in the U.S. But I guess the real question is “Where do I go from here?”

I have some goals for when I get back to the U.S. Obviously, one is to get a job, but I’ll talk about that in a minute. I’ve also mentioned before that I want to be more globally aware and that being here has also made me want to travel more. I also plan to take the DELE examination within the next year. (The DELE is an International certification for Spanish. It’s like the TOFEL for English.) My other goal is just to enjoy life more. I can’t say that in 2008 I didn’t enjoy life, but I think I had more of an “adult mindset” and was very focused on planning things, saving money, advancing in my job. None of these are bad things, but I think that I had started to forget that you can’t plan every moment of your life, when you die you can’t take money with you, and that a job is just a job. Spain has helped me remember that life is meant to be lived and not watched. However, I am still a realist and know what I am going back to.

When I get back to the U.S. I will have no job, no home, and very little money. My goal is just to find a job and then within the next year to find a job that involves Spanish. I’m going to live with my sister and/or my parents while I job hunt but the economy stinks so who knows how long that will take. People ask me what I want to do when I get back, I tell them I don’t know. They ask if I’m going to return to banking, I tell them no. Reality is a bleak, directionless picture. However, I’m hopeful. Why? I know that God has a plan for me. I know He will direct these next however many months of uncertainty. He hasn’t put this passion for Spanish in me for nothing. I don’t think that I am called to be a field missionary or something like that (or at least so far haven’t been) but I’m excited to see where my ability to speak Spanish will take me and what opportunities for a job as well as for serving people that it gives me. So, where do I go from here? I don’t know, but I’m ready to find out.