mis cambios de la vida**

**Sometimes one has to write a little bit weird for a good title. It should be los, but I have to title it mis :P

If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.

This statement is so true it's not even funny. The past two months have been a roller coaster of emotion and changes that I can barely keep track myself, and I'm living it.

At the beginning of August, I moved to Valencia to start a new life after an extremely hard year in Madrid. A job that made me exhausted and miserable, the worst roommates I have ever known and an unrequited crush on a close friend just made the Madrid experience a bad one. Picking myself up again after being not renewed at my job for being too "reservado", I came to Valencia in pursuit of that ever elusive master.

First five minutes in Valencia, I lose the best mobile phone I've ever had. All my photos and music gone. I get a bad case of heat exhaustion that leaves me weak for most of the month. I then move in a temp place that tries to kick me out before the month is out because someone decided to end his vacation early.

This leads me to take the one flat available at this time, a student flat in the student party zone of Valencia. The people might be nice, but they are not respectful and don't tell me beforehand about the parties they're throwing or guests that won't leave for two weeks, nor that the flat has NO HEAT, and I'm paying way too much for a tiny room that only lets cold air in now that it's November. Needless to say, I'm moving again at the end of the month. I'm down to two places, both with gay flatmates, that although aren't exactly in the zona I want, would be a place where I would feel comfortable.

And that elusive master? It remains elusive. Due to my inability to find a job, I had to drop that plan. I eventually lucked out and landed the same position I had in Madrid and Linares, but back in a secondary school. The school is in a pueblo in Castellón, and it's actually a good fit for me. I'm not so reserved, I'm learning a lot of catalanquierodecirvalenciano, and I prefer working with high school students.

The problem with this job is that they have not paid me. The bilingual program in Spain gives scholarships to native English students in hopes that the English levels in Spain improve. And...the government of Valencia has not paid any of their auxiliares. I'm down to my last cent. My school has had to give me a loan, and I still may be in financial hell for some considerable time.

Christmas time is coming, and this will be the third year I won't be with family. And this year is looking to be the hardest. I'm going to Bilbao to be with my friend Ashley, so I hope that things won't be quite as bad as they got to be last year. However, I really am feeling the hurt already in November.

At least I have Lady Gaga in Madrid on my birthday to look forward to. I'm hoping things turn around, but right now, although I still like Valencia, all the bad things that have happened have put a damper on my spirit. I continue thinking positive and trying to bring positive energy, but it's also quite hard to keep that positive energy when all that bad stuff keeps coming at once.

So...yeah. That's everything that's been going on as of late. And I'm trying to figure out the future. Whether it's trying to get a stable job teaching at a school in Spain or going on to my master (in a place that's not Valencia), only time will tell.

Just gotta keep trucking on, as hard as it may be.