¡Hola desde Cardiff!

[rod]

Hola from a surprisingly sunny Cardiff today! Great site, Ben and Marina, now that I've found this forum I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time here.

I came back in June from a fantastic eight month spell in Andalucía, four months in Vejer de la Frontera on the Costa de la Luz and the rest in Sevilla. Most of the time I was studying in language schools, and by the time I finished I’d managed to achieve that ideal state of thinking first in Spanish (albeit thinking badly in Spanish!), rather than thinking first in English and then translating into Spanish. I haven’t been able to maintain it at that level but hopefully I’ll be back in Spain in the none-too-distant future.

My stay in Andalucía was as part of a year's unpaid sabbatical given to me by my employer. If you can swing it, its a very good way of experimenting with living in Spain. However the problem I'm having now is that of 'reverse culture shock': the experience has changed me in a way which makes it difficult to settle back into my old life. Maybe a big decision is coming up!

[omeyas]

Hola from a surprisingly sunny Cardiff today! Great site, Ben and Marina, now that I've found this forum I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time here.

I came back in June from a fantastic eight month spell in Andalucía, four months in Vejer de la Frontera on the Costa de la Luz and the rest in Sevilla. Most of the time I was studying in language schools, and by the time I finished I’d managed to achieve that ideal state of thinking first in Spanish (albeit thinking badly in Spanish!), rather than thinking first in English and then translating into Spanish. I haven’t been able to maintain it at that level but hopefully I’ll be back in Spain in the none-too-distant future.

My stay in Andalucía was as part of a year's unpaid sabbatical given to me by my employer. If you can swing it, its a very good way of experimenting with living in Spain. However the problem I'm having now is that of 'reverse culture shock': the experience has changed me in a way which makes it difficult to settle back into my old life. Maybe a big decision is coming up!

We landed back in Cardiff yesterday, after a brief 8 day spell in Andalucia, and what a difference weather wise! Might be fine today, but it was very wet and windy when we landed.
How did you find Vejer? We have stayed there 4 times, the last time in May, and we had a look around the school there. (La Janda?)
Sounds an ideal way to spend 8 months! Obviously we like Vejer, but I think Sevilla is my favourite city. Hopefully, we´ll be there in April for a few days, not Semana santa though, can´t afford those hotel prices! :) We have booked a month, and hope to travel around a bit.

[rod]

We landed back in Cardiff yesterday, after a brief 8 day spell in Andalucia, and what a difference weather wise! Might be fine today, but it was very wet and windy when we landed.
How did you find Vejer? We have stayed there 4 times, the last time in May, and we had a look around the school there. (La Janda?)
Sounds an ideal way to spend 8 months! Obviously we like Vejer, but I think Sevilla is my favourite city. Hopefully, we´ll be there in April for a few days, not Semana santa though, can´t afford those hotel prices! :) We have booked a month, and hope to travel around a bit.

I liked Vejer. It was a great place for me to find my feet in Spain before going on to Sevilla. In general I found the Spanish people there really friendly, interested in speaking to me, how the classes were going, how I was doing, etc, oh and about football of course. I had no problems in finding opportunities for practicing conversation - but I did often have problems with the dialect! In my experience, Vejer Andaluz was much more difficult than Sevilla Andaluz.

The old town, the playas (Barbate,Caños de Meca, Trafalgar), walking in the Parque Natural de la Breña, all fantastic. The hilltop setting of Vejer as you arrive or return is extremely impressive, and the views from the different miradores, over towards Medina-Sidonia, Conil, and down the coast towards Africa, are absolutely breathtaking.

However, with hindsight I would have moved to Sevilla earlier, about two months there would have been ideal. Firstly, I'm a city boy, and I can't go too long without cinema, football, etc. Secondly, my third month there was December: Vejer is extremely exposed to the elements whilst the houses are not built for protecting you from the winter. I have never experienced such cold and damp conditions indoors. Thirdly, yes it was la Janda, and its a very friendly school and I had some very good teachers there, but the problem is if you're a long term student you sometimes need to be able to change teachers/classes just to avoid getting in a rut, and a small school can't offer that flexibility.

Anyway, I hope the Andalucia trip next April works out for you.

[Marina]

Hi Rod & welcome to the forums.
Looks like you had a nice time in Andalucia... are you thinking in moving there?

[omeyas]

Hi Rod & welcome to the forums.
Looks like you had a nice time in Andalucia... are you thinking in moving there?

Are you thinking OF, Marina. I'm sure, like me, you welcome all corrections.
I can see how you get there, "pensar en algo" :)
I´d be more than happy if my Spanish was half as good as your English :mad:

[omeyas]

Anyway, I hope the Andalucia trip next April works out for you.

I´m sure it will, we have been doing it for about 20 years! Haven´t tired of it yet! Did try a few excursions to Costa Blanca but didn´t like it much. Enjoyed Valencia though.
Just been talking to some Spanish friends in Andalucia on Skype, and he´s been rubbing it in about how great the weather still is!
I can understand you wanting to spend more time in Sevilla, especially through the winter months. I´m not a city boy, but there is a lot more interesting things going on there than in Vejer. Not been in either in the winter, but would imagine Vejer could be a bit boring.

[rod]

Hi Rod & welcome to the forums.
Looks like you had a nice time in Andalucia... are you thinking in moving there?

Thanks for the welcome, Marina. I am thinking of, because after my fantastic time in Sevilla I cannot seem to settle back in the old routine. But I'm in mid career so it would be a very big step to resign a reasonably well-paid job here to take my chances with English language teaching etc in Spain. I need to explore whether it would be possible to find a post that enables to live all or most of the time in Spain in my own profession first.

Whether it needs to be Andalucia I move to I am not sure. Obviously I would love to move to Sevilla, although I agree with omeyas, there wouldn't be enough for me to do if I was living permanently in a pueblo like Vejer, however friendly the people and attractive the scenery. But first I need to visit more cities in the rest of Spain - the truth is the only place I've been to outside Andalucia is Barcelona. Madrid is where I hope to go next as a visit is well overdue (and fortunately my Sevilla intercambio has just got a job in Madrid so I will be able to see her again at the same time).

[Marina]

Definetely if you find a post where you can work from abroad and pop back a couple of time a moths that would be fantastic.
Keep us updated with your progress and good luck!!!