I will be flying to Madrid Nov. 24th and staying within Spain for at least a month. I'm probably crazy but I'm going on a wing and a prayer. Meaning I don't have nearly enough money to take me through the four months I have until my flight back to Toronto. What options do I have for temporary work to help me fund my travels?Unfortunatly , I am not bilingual but I am willing to do anything within the realm of decency. Please help

within the realm of decency, I think you may have a tough time. If you're creative though, anything just may happen! Good luck and have fun!

Didn't someone mention Americans teaching English over there, albeit not quite legally?

The fact that you are Canadian may help. As luck would have it, you all have a much better reputation than we United Statians. I actually considered sticking one of those canadian flags on my backpack so people would be nicer to me, and not rip me off as much... but, I just couldn't live a lie..

Budah: In 1994-95 I was able to break even teaching English in Sevilla. You need persistance to get students, putting signs everywhere etc. I brought books and tapes from the Interchange series that I got when I (kind of) taught in Ecuador. That made it so much easier. If you have any questions, reply here or email me at stranfire@aol.com

I would not think that it is particularly helpful being a Canadian vis-a-vis being US citizen in terms of getting a job as an English teacher. I now there was this controversial thread on what Spaniards think about Americans...I do not think that Europeans in general perceive Canadians and US citizens as very different. Maybe there are a bit more prejudices against the US-but to the extent that they would prefer a Canadian to a US citizen as English teacher? I have my doubts.
Anyway, my friends who taught English (and some still are teaching) in Madrid told me that it is nothing you can just do casually for a couple of weeks, they all committed for more time, and most of them had teaching experience, too. I cannot imagine that you can make a living with that if you plan to stay just for a month of something like that.
Waitressing would require proficiency in Spanish...I am not sure either whether they would take someone just so briefly.
Maybe you can try something artistic? Singing Simon & Garfunkel songs in the Retiro? Performing some magic? Do not ask me whether this is legal, though, I have no idea on the permissions you might need.
Otherwise I would suggest to engage in some intensive work in Canada before you leave--you will make much more money thereby than you could ever earn with an auxiliary work in Spain. You probably know about the unemployment situation in Spain.

Actually Connie, I was totally joking about that.

Not being part of the EU puts Canadians and US citizens pretty much in the same boat legally.

There are a few differences though in the way Americans and Canadians are treated/percieved. I never noticed that much in Spain, and only a little bit in other countries. My Canadian friends have seen some pretty blatant stuff though, although it may have been just some random experiences they had.

In any case, I was just playing around.



[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited 11-03-2000).]

Ah, o.k., got you. You know, I met so many Canadians who never stop stressing HOW different they are, that they do not have anything to do with US citizens, that they are far closer to Europeans... Something which sort of seems strange to me, and other Europeans (it might be true, for sure, I cannot make a judgment -but I do not think there is a big awareness in Europe that the Canadian mentality is entirely different than the US one)...So I was thinking you might be serious.

[This message has been edited by connie (edited 11-03-2000).]

thanks for the input!
i am currently working my butt off to get as much money as i can before i leave but i have a feeling i need more.
what about hostal work or agricultural labour? like i said, i'll do anything for a few extra bucks!!!!

Even there, you have to take into consideration the situation on the Spanish job market. Plenty of Spaniards are jobless, and there are many Moroccans- legally or illegally- who represent a cheap labor force. If you found something, it would be for a very low wage. And I do not know how risky it is for them to employ you "under the table". If you can, I would rather postpone your departure in order to make more money in Canada. With the euro so low and Spain still being comparatively cheap, a week of working in Canada might be much more efficient than working several weeks illegally in Spain. And you would not lose time in searching for jobs etc.

Listen Budah, don't listen to any of these people who tell you that you're going to have a hard time finding work or you're not going to find work at all. I spent over a month in spain backpackin through europe 99-00 and i'm going back in two weeks landing in Madrid and i found tons of jobs in Madrid teaching english, barcelona i couldn't find work probably because i was too busy drinking to actually look for work but madrid is really easy. Open the phone books up and look for language schools and I guarantee you at least 1-3 will hire you, that's a fact. I'm doing to same thing when i arrive but i feel more confident because i've done it before and saw how easy it was. Good luck, open the phone books up, meet brits, americans, and canadians at pubs and ask around. Like anyplace and anytime you have to be resourceful in order to pay the rent.