Comments on: Community – Do you live in one?

By: Joey

Joey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:01:06 +0000

Yes, I will. I know friends who have become US citizens and it’s quite a ceremony over there, somewhat formal and celebratory. I wonder how it is here.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:09:05 +0000

I guess I have a somewhat larger community here, I live in a small town in the Sierra de Guadarrama. I have to say that I have never felt more a part of the community than I do here. Mind you it drives you nuts sometimes especially when you just want to sneak out for a quick beer and you end up staggering back several hours later, cos the world and its dog insist on buying you a drink.
I’m not sure if it is because it is a village community rather part of a block of flats or urbanisation but we do have fairly regular dinner parties here. Mind you I think with my friends there is a bit of friendly “one-upmanship” going on. They keep trying to prove that Spanish cuisine (and them as cooks) is/are the best in the world and we keep trying to show them that there is more than Cochinillo or Merluza by introducing curries etc.

By: Ben Curtis

Ben Curtis — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:31:13 +0000

That’s great, so you’ll be becoming Spanish?

By: Joey

Joey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:54:38 +0000

Hi Ben. Talking about a community: I’ll be joining a big one next week when I’m scheduled to do my “acta de juramento” and pledge loyalty to the King and the constitution at the local civil registry. I’m curious what kind of ceremony is involved, if any, or is it just another “tramite”.

By: Berti

Berti — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:15:37 +0000

I would add that “la comunidad,” as well as covering a block of flats, may also cover a group of houses/ parcelas and their shared amenities (parks, and development of potential land owned etc.)

Small, medium or big comunidades; they all bring their respective challenges.

Mine is fortunately quite small, and for the most part with forward thinking people, looking to protect, maintain and improve their quality of life, within la comunidad.

Half of the owners are from distant Spanish parts and two thirds of those care, really care, for the development and maintenance of their second homes.

To make progress, I think it is about communication, you may be surrounded by an entirely Spanish owned comunidad and your own Spanish not at their native level, but through common sense, explanation (technical or otherwise) you can gain trust.

Through trust (if you wish it) comes the “Tea party”, better to say “La merendar” and more if you wish.

For me as el presidente/chairperson de la comunidad I would stick with these objectives:

Keep the community very well informed.

Ensure you are clean from comicion.

Understand how the administrator operates.

Always seek advice from those within the community and from out- with, the experts that know their respective onions.

Accept that someone has/ will have in the future a personal agenda- expose them as gently as is possible as what they are : selfish and accept the verbal riot that follows, then stick to the solid plan that was researched ,presented, and voted by the community.

When the criticism gets to you, indulge yourself a little moment that that one “Wally” who read the same legal document as you did in Spanish, and failed to understand it, and you did- ok you read it three times before being sure.

But know that many native speakers in your community read it once and saw “Wally for what he/she was all about
After all these steps you will have shown that you are only doing the best of your ability as chairperson for the benefit of the community. And hey that law stuff gets easier.

Sleep sound- and remember how many did not wish to take it on.
Un saludo a todos.

By: Ben Curtis

Ben Curtis — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:12:20 +0000

Very true, most socialising is done out – less hassle with the washing up that’s for sure!

By: luke

luke — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:49:39 +0000

For me in London, once I had children in nursery, a big community opened up for us. We share babysitting, the kid’s birthday parties become long drinking sessions for the adults, we have fathers’ or mothers’ nights in the pub, we hang out in each other’s homes, some strong friendships have come out of it. It may not be an English thing, I don’t know, since the parents are from Spain, Brazil, Italy, Germany, France, USA etc as well as England.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:35:34 +0000

We dont spend much time in each others houses but we get on well with out immediate neighbours – snow shifting was a community effort this year. We sort out their PCs when they screw up, occasionally theyll watch our dog if we’re stuck and one has all the tools you need once a lifetime so never buy. Everyone pokes their noses out and has a stroll on to the street if a burglar alarm goes off – so yes, we are a loose community that outs in a small amount of effort thats beneficial to us all. Best of all we currently have no knobheads!!

By: ValenciaSon

ValenciaSon — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:09:40 +0000

I would like to think so. We do have a community association that aspires to achieving that. There are scheduled events designed with that goal in mind. Though I can’t say I know most in it, my neighborhood does have a community feel to it, for the most part.

By: Parubin

Parubin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:31:01 +0000

I have a friend (Spaniard) who lived in London for a few years and said to me that Spaniards base their ‘community ties’ on children (i.e. if you have kids the same age as your neighbourg’s) whereas in England this ties are more established through pets and gardening.

Of course he was being funny but he believed there was some truth in this observation.