I'm new

Do you have a query about moving to Andalucia and buying property in Andalucia. Find out by posting questions and reading about other peoples experiences.
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IreneD
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I'm new

Postby IreneD » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:13 am

Just thought I'd say hi. We have just sold our house and are now living in a caravan on a beautiful site until we retire to our house in Spain next year. We are self-employed, with a shop and there is a year to run on the lease, so we can't move just yet.

I love our little Spanish house but my main worry is moving away from the family. I have adult children and grandchildren. Any tips for coping with not seeing the family so often? And any tips for making friends? My husband and I are not really out-going types but it would be nice to have a few friends in our area of Spain maybe...... :)

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Julie
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Re: I'm new

Postby Julie » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:24 am

Hi Irene

welcome, i'm sure you will find the help you are looking for on this forum, we are not near you, and also we don't spend 12 months in Spain, so hard for me to comment, but it is only a couple of hours by air.

If you didn't adapt, you could still choose to go back to UK, good luck :)
No soporto ver la casa sucia, ahora mismo me levanto y apago la luz.

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Re: I'm new

Postby Jool » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:26 am

Hi. An exciting time! In terms of making friends perhaps you could make a start on here by letting us know whereabouts your little spanish house is exactly as the town name does not mean anything to me I´m afraid, which province are you in? You could get to know more about your area, the activities that are there for your age group and so on, then it will feel more like home when you arrive.

AS for staying in touch with family - do you have a camera on your computer? If so then using calls over the internet and the camera is a great way of feeling closer to people when talking to them more cheaply.......

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Re: I'm new

Postby deb » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:48 am

Hi
We moved out to spain 4 weeks ago and like you i was so worried about leaving my 19 year old daughter, the first 3 weeks were very hard but this week i feel as though i am settling more. I talk to my daughter everyday on the phone. Because she seems happy that we are here now, and she knows it is where we want to be that makes it a little easier. Good luck with your move.

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IreneD
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Re: I'm new

Postby IreneD » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:54 am

Oh, wow, that was quick! Thank you so much for your replies, Julia, Jools, and Debs!

Our small town is a 'pueblo blanco', in the Tejeda mountains about 50 minuts from Malaga. My favourite coastal town is Nerja - absolutely love it there, although the nearest is Torre del Mar, about half an hours drive. We are also near Velez Malaga.

I've been browsing the boards a bit, and see there are people from Periana and Vineula, both are a short drive away.

We bought our house about 5 years ago, and visit as often as we can, work permitting. Over this coming year, I plan to take Spanish lessons, I have been to evening classes but haven't stuck to them! The time is fast approaching when we will need to speak Spanish, so that should motivate me!

I will need to suss out getting sorted with t.v. and internet - as it has just been a holiday home for the last 5 years, we haven't needed them, and have actually quite enjoyed being without - but that will change once we're living there. I've been told to get Skype to keep in touch with the family and I'm sure I'll be able to pick up all sorts of ideas here!

Even if we don't get to meet 'real people' (LOL!) for a while, it will be great to become a part of this community! I look forward to getting to know you, and thanks again for your replies.

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Re: I'm new

Postby kexon » Fri Oct 17, 2008 12:08 pm

Hi, Welcome to the forum,you will find many helpful people here.You might find you need to make more of an effort to cultivate good friends when you are not working,however I believe there are many clubs to join on the coast and lots of activities.Once you get into the villages to shop or eat at the bars,you will be surprised as to how many people you can meet in a morning! Make it a priority to have your internet and phone sorted out and you will find its not such a worry or inconvenience to stay in regular contact with your family.Skype is a wonderful invention!As is e-mail.Good Look and enjoy your new life!

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IreneD
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Re: I'm new

Postby IreneD » Fri Oct 17, 2008 12:37 pm

Thanks for your reply, Kexon. I'm sure you're right. Once I'm living here, I will pluck up courage to talk to people. More often than not, when we come over, some of the family come too, so I haven't made any effort so far to be sociable, haven't felt the need. It will be very different actually living in Spain, and I'm sure I'll adapt, just have some nerves about it, but even just talking about it here is making me feel better.

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Wicksey
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Re: I'm new

Postby Wicksey » Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:42 pm

Hi ... I'm sure you'll soon get into the swing of things here, Irene. We have found people (generally) to be very open and friendly. We have some across a few that are over-the-top-friendly to start with and then quickly seem to go off you once they find out your life story, but then there's all sorts everywhere, isn't there :wink: . After a brief spell living in France where we found the local ex-pat community to be so stand-offish and clique-y, it was so nice to return back to this area where we have made so many friends.

Most people we know, like us, do not work full-time and so there is more time for socialising and meeting up with friends for a spot of lunch (which often seems to last the rest of the day :D ). Kexon is right about the internet. Even though we have no phone lines up here where we live, we have a wireless system for Broadband and I keep in touch with everyone by email - I can't live without it now. Apart from email it is also a way of reading the papers and it's my encyclopedia, as I do miss browsing around the library. I also use the computer to phone the UK which is practically free, so it's much easier to keep in touch these days!

If you plan in advance, you can book flights to the UK cheaply so can have regular trips back to the family, and of course I'm sure they'll be looking forward to visiting you here too! It did take me a while to settle into a new routine living here full time (our house was previously a holiday home for four years), but we've been out of the UK for 8 years now and are very happy with our lives, and glad we made the move.

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IreneD
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Re: I'm new

Postby IreneD » Fri Oct 17, 2008 4:48 pm

Thanks for your very encouraging reply, Wicksey. You sound quite similar to us, using your house as a holiday home before finally moving over.

Our temporary home in the U.K. is now a caravan, and the only way to get internet connection here on our site is by means of a Vodaphone dongle. Not sure what we'll do in Canillas, probably get organised with a similar thing...... (she says vaguely! LOL! That will be my husbands job, to get us sorted there, also with a t.v.). We very nearly bought a house in Torrox, we might have been neighbours! It is really nice there and closer to Nerja - it's about a 40 minute drive for us.

It's good to hear you have settled and are enjoying your life in Spain.

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Sadie
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Re: I'm new

Postby Sadie » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:01 pm

Hi Irene, Welcome to forum. I agree with everyone else, computer is most important esp with Skype I wouldn't be without it and I keep in regular contact with my daughter back in UK and with other family and friends, you will too and your grandkids can still send you their little drawings by post too. There will probably be a broadband provider for your area. Another good way to meet people and improve your Spanish is to join a class here when you arrive. And I am like Wicksey meet friends for coffee and lunch that lasts rest of the day. Also apart from spanish lessons I also joined an art class, which I never did before but I am amazing myself with how I can actually paint a recognizable painting now after only 6 weeks :D But if when you arrive and if you are ever finding it a struggle to meet people just pm and I will happily meet you in Nerja for coffee, always there. You will be probably be like a lot of us and be inundated with visitors and will be looking forward to quiet times and house to yourselves again. Hope all goes well with move, don't worry just enjoy excitement of it all.

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IreneD
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Re: I'm new

Postby IreneD » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:52 pm

Hi Sadie

That's really kind of you, I may well take you up on your offer to meet up. Which brings me to another of my problems! (How many more has this woman got, you are asking! LOL!) I don't want to be joined at the hip to my husband, but I have never driven in Spain!! I am not a confident driver and - until our recent move to our caravan - I only really felt comfortabe pootling about the town. I do now have to drive a few miles into town, so that is good for me I'm sure........ but it isn't going to prepare me for the 8 km drive up the mountain to Canillas, (sheer drops!!) or the busy road to Nerja. I imagine I can take a few driving lessons maybe, once we have moved. I'll be fine :(

Spanish lessons to improve my Spanish when we have moved are a good idea, hopefully, I'll have the basics by then. Can't imagine me painting but you never know! But, yes - classes of some sort are a good idea - thanks for that, Sadie!

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Julie
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Re: I'm new

Postby Julie » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:38 pm

Hi

Its a lot quieter on the roads in Spain, you will be fine :)
No soporto ver la casa sucia, ahora mismo me levanto y apago la luz.

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Re: I'm new

Postby kexon » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:14 pm

Irene, I know its a bit scary driving up and down mountain roads,from personal experience over here,but you must practice,practice,build your confidence by short journeys,it really does help.I know of quite a few women over here who always let the husband/partner drive all the time and then in an emergency or something similar when the other person cannot drive they are housebound,not a good position to be in.Just keep driving and your confidence will return!!Good Luck!

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Wicksey
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Re: I'm new

Postby Wicksey » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:46 pm

I live up about 4 1/2 kms of rough mountain track and I do it in the middle of the night on my own ... no probs! I feel a lot safer driving here on my own than in the UK! Kexon is right about people who's partners do all the driving and then in an emergency you're stuck. Also it's nice to have a bit of time to yourself - pop down to the shops or meet up with 'girlfriends' for a coffee. A lady I know who's in her late 60s said she gave up driving when she moved here and said to me "never give up" as she regrets it now. Me and my OH have a strict rota and drive on alternate days. People laugh at us, but I don't want to get out of the habit and loose my confidence (anyway I'm far too bossy to let him drive me around all the time :wink: ).

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IreneD
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Re: I'm new

Postby IreneD » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:25 am

Thanks all, I know you're right. In the 5 years we've been coming and going to what is - at the moment - our holiday home, I have never driven when in Spain! I'm not a confident driver in the U.K. - I passed my driving test on the 5th attempt at the age of 46 (I am 62 now), and then the first car I had was a real old banger that kept stalling and breaking down, and it took me ages to stop being a nervous wreck behind the wheel.

We are over again in November and I will try and psyche myself up to drive, even if only a short distance. I'll let you know - thanks for the encouragement!

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frog
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Re: I'm new

Postby frog » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:39 am

dont worry if you are not a good driver,you will fit in well
jayne countys most famous song,google it

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IreneD
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Re: I'm new

Postby IreneD » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:46 am

LOL! I have noticed the Spanish enjoy using the horn more than the Brits - you will know when I'm around by the cacophany of beeps!

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Re: I'm new

Postby mirandamac » Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:27 pm

Hi Irene and welcome. Like others have said, do get driving, bit by bit. I used to love driving then over the last few years, seemed to lose my confidence (nothing to do with anything that happened on the roads) and had driven very little when we'd been over to Spain. Then last month we went to France and I had to do all the driving. It's done me so much good - 2644 miles in total, including the drive to & from Dover here. My confidence is back and now I know that whenever we go over, I'll be happy to drive. Good luck with the move - I'm very envious as we can't be there just yet.

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IreneD
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Re: I'm new

Postby IreneD » Sun Oct 19, 2008 6:55 pm

Hi Miranda, thanks for your message. We won't be coming to live in Spain till probably May next year, just thought I'd post a few queries before we actually move. Have you got a date for your move?

Hey - well done on that drive - a serious amount of mileage there!! I am determined to drive in Spain, I don't want to rely on my OH. There may well be a flurry of posts from me, nearer the time - everyone is so good at boosting my confidence, and I will need more of that next year. :)


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