32 Reasons Why I Love Spain – an open letter

Dear Spain, I know our relationship has had its ups and downs. You have your problems and I have mine. Neither of us is perfect. And I admit

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Gastro-this and hipster-that: lost in the new Madrid

Time flies. It seems like just yesterday I got off that plane at Barajas and started my new life in Madrid. And if not yesterday, then last week. But it

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Ten Years of Spanish Life: Oh God Why?

Big news, y’all. Tomorrow, 21 October 2014, marks ten years since I arrived in Spain. Besides the obvious questions this raises – Where exactly did my life go?

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Top 6 Reasons Why You Should Give Me Money

Teaching English is, of course, a seasonal enterprise. It’s like clockwork: in early January, everybody in Spain decides that this will be the year. The year they finally

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Immigration in Spain – How to Have an Ellis Island Experience

We all know about Ellis Island… The famous funnel that for decades brought immigrants into New York City. No American History class would be complete without the descriptions

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5 reasons why living in Spain is pretty damn glamorous

You feel that? If you’ve been living in Spain for a while, I’m sure you have. You’re at home in your room in a shared flat, listening to your

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Cómo ligar en inglés – Frases para ligar que sí funcionan

¿Cómo ligar en inglés? Ojalá supiera… Pero cuidado. Que hay muchos malos consejos sobre el ligoteo por ahí. A saber… Una importante empresa internacional de enseñanza de idiomas

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False Anglicisms in Spanish: friki, footing, puenting, feeling and more

Spanish people use a lot of false anglicisms. The other day I wrote an article that I feel is destined for fame in the Spanish-speaking world. It’s about

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Conversation with a hairstylist in Madrid

This happened to me. For real. This morning. Here in Madrid… or at least in Vallecas. I went to the place I’ve been going to for a few

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The most ambiguous sentence in the Spanish language

“A ver si tomamos algo” is perhaps the most ambiguous sentence in the Spanish language. Roughly translated as “Maybe we could have a drink together some day,” it

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