Joanna

My first city here in Spain was Madrid. Compared to my small town, Madrid was amazing, so I decided to stay. I was 19 years old and I started as a nanny. It was super fun because I took care of twins. They were cute. I was with their family for almost four years. It was not like an amazing job because I was an intern, I had to stay in and live with them even if my boyfriend lived in the town. I didn’t own my own time and it was difficult, but it was a good job, a decent job. In the end, it wasn’t ideal, but I know what my goals are so I do what I have to do. When I started in Madrid I didn’t have my paperwork. I wasn’t illegal, but a stranger there. So it was stressful because I had a contract but it was hard to get the papers in order. Everything else you manage to do and overcome but the paperwork was hard. I used to think “I am working, why don’t I have the right to work?”. It was strange.

I lived a few years in Barbastro, Huesca. Then, one week before turning 30 I moved to Barcelona. Here, it was easier, because I have worked the previous years to be able to do some steps. Here I started as a receptionist in a dental clinic, then I was a waitress, afterward I moved as an administrative assistant and was there for the last 4 years. It was a great job and I learned a lot but, well, it wasn’t enough. As you can see it is never enough. You have to change, at least for me.

My favorite part of living in Barcelona is the weather, it is awesome. A hobby that I have is doing photography, but just with an iPhone. I think it is super cool and funny, easy and hand because you always have your phone with you. Also, I really like blues music and I go to all the live music shows that they put here in Barcelona. Actually, I got into web development because of that, because I wanted to do my own website talking about this live show. And here I am, one year later: I just graduated with a professional certificate in web development. It took longer because of the covid situation, but I am very happy about it. I am also doing the bootcamp which is amazing because we learn a lot and I am gonna start my first internship as a front web developer this Wednesday. I am crazy excited about that too!

Thinking about the future, my dream since I was a little child was to live by the sea before I was 30. Beyond that, I am more practical, I don’t really daydream. I make decisions as I go so I have goals, career goals, and personal goals. So in that regard, I hope I stay here in Barcelona. I think that here I have enough possibilities so I don’t have to move around anymore. I really like the city, I have a lot of friends here. My life is here, so I don’t wanna move again. I also want to help my mom come here and have a lovely, quiet retirement. As for the professional side, I want to be a front-end developer which is what I am studying for. Five years from now I want to be a project manager in a cool startup, and I also want to have a corner view office.