As most of you who follow this blog will know we have lived here for over four and a half years now. I regularly write about village life and what it's like for Stan and I fitting in with village life, but rarely comment on our kids lives, because really it was just as hard, if not more difficult for them to adjust to a completely new and different lifestyle.
We were used to moving about a lot, but they had no memory of life other than a comfortable Victorian house in Wet Wales, 5 mins walk from the High Street, regular trips to after school activites such as tennis, rugby, football, swimming, painting and ballet.......sounds idyllic but the only sounds of nature were police sirens, ambulance sirens, cars screeching and the common spotted addict en route to the needle exchange. In school, first language was not Welsh or English but Urdu, and they were ethnic minority in the annual photo line up.
So, although our picture was fairly perfect, the frame was all wrong, and we decided to have a new one fitted with a move to Sunny Andalucia.
Within three weeks of the Big Move, we introduced ourselves to the (delicious) Eduardo, headteacher of the local Colé Rural, and, well, ......left them there.
Cruel? Yes. Sink or swim? They did indeed swim, at first a doggy paddle, learning the language with flashcards, and the beautiful language of football and play. They made friends, coped admirably and have shown us up no end. But it wasn't all easy, Isobel was 7 and could be still remolded like plasticine, Josh was 10 and in all honesty he found it hell to begin with, he went from being a clever kid to feeling stupid, hormones arrived at the wrong time and he copes with being insulin dependent to boot......not easy, but neither was it impossible as he has proved. The school made allowances and provided a psychologist to help him settle, turned a blind eye to his 'I am not going in 'days, and were always there for a chat. Bear in mind it's perfectly normal here for the Maestro or Maestra to hug and kiss your kids, sometimes it's all they need. Add the tiny class numbers and you have a winning formula.
October 2010 and soon to be 12 Isobel is a leggy and lovely year 6-er, fluent, confident and finds it hard to remember a life where we locked the front door and she couldn't play out at midnight in the summer....
Josh aged 15 is confident, almost trilingual, at yr 4 of ESO, he'll board in the wonderful city that is Granada next year to continue his studies, lucky him. And despite his 4 daily doses of insulin is still sports mad, a great footballer and avid season ticket holder for UD ALMERIA.
They both make us proud to see how they have grown and how they accepted their crazy parents idea of 'What about a move to Spain?'.
We're teaching English a couple of times a week at the village school, just started so the jury is still out, but it's fun so far.....we all have a different life here, more sunshine, less money, more freedom, less restrictions.
And when they talk in their sleep in español, you know you've cracked it!
We were used to moving about a lot, but they had no memory of life other than a comfortable Victorian house in Wet Wales, 5 mins walk from the High Street, regular trips to after school activites such as tennis, rugby, football, swimming, painting and ballet.......sounds idyllic but the only sounds of nature were police sirens, ambulance sirens, cars screeching and the common spotted addict en route to the needle exchange. In school, first language was not Welsh or English but Urdu, and they were ethnic minority in the annual photo line up.
So, although our picture was fairly perfect, the frame was all wrong, and we decided to have a new one fitted with a move to Sunny Andalucia.
Within three weeks of the Big Move, we introduced ourselves to the (delicious) Eduardo, headteacher of the local Colé Rural, and, well, ......left them there.
Cruel? Yes. Sink or swim? They did indeed swim, at first a doggy paddle, learning the language with flashcards, and the beautiful language of football and play. They made friends, coped admirably and have shown us up no end. But it wasn't all easy, Isobel was 7 and could be still remolded like plasticine, Josh was 10 and in all honesty he found it hell to begin with, he went from being a clever kid to feeling stupid, hormones arrived at the wrong time and he copes with being insulin dependent to boot......not easy, but neither was it impossible as he has proved. The school made allowances and provided a psychologist to help him settle, turned a blind eye to his 'I am not going in 'days, and were always there for a chat. Bear in mind it's perfectly normal here for the Maestro or Maestra to hug and kiss your kids, sometimes it's all they need. Add the tiny class numbers and you have a winning formula.
October 2010 and soon to be 12 Isobel is a leggy and lovely year 6-er, fluent, confident and finds it hard to remember a life where we locked the front door and she couldn't play out at midnight in the summer....
Josh aged 15 is confident, almost trilingual, at yr 4 of ESO, he'll board in the wonderful city that is Granada next year to continue his studies, lucky him. And despite his 4 daily doses of insulin is still sports mad, a great footballer and avid season ticket holder for UD ALMERIA.
They both make us proud to see how they have grown and how they accepted their crazy parents idea of 'What about a move to Spain?'.
We're teaching English a couple of times a week at the village school, just started so the jury is still out, but it's fun so far.....we all have a different life here, more sunshine, less money, more freedom, less restrictions.
And when they talk in their sleep in español, you know you've cracked it!
What a wonderfully encouraging post for anyone thinking of moving overseas with children. You read so much doom and gloom on forums and blogs and its nice to see someone happy and their children developing character by adventures in a different culture. Well done to you, and congrats on the site. Really like the look of your little casa, shame it's booked out for winter.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your generous words, I personally think living here is what you make it, and effort reaps rewards, a bit like learning the language and making friends and mixing....
ReplyDeleteYes Casa Duende is lovely, a long let has booked it until June, after then why not choose some dates and we can agree on a special discount?!