Somewhere I'd rather you just visited
Somewhere I'd rather you just visited ...
In June 2004, I moved in the suburbs of Washington, DC to Leon, Spain, which is about four hours north of Madrid. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but I know that I expected much more than what I've experienced since I've been here. This is the hometown of my husband, so she's very happy here and my son has adapted much better than me. I came here with the hope that it might fit well as ex-patriots in all the great classics of reading about people moving to Europe and spend the rest of their lives here eating Excellent sandwiches and drinking wine. However, before deciding to move to any provincial town in Europe, I would highly recommend that you do your research beforehand and visit to its intended location several times before making that final move. What you can find does not seem so appealing after experiencing what his day to day reality may pose there. Let me tell you a little about what I learned about a place I'd rather just visit rather than live.
For starters, Leon, Spain, located in northern Spain, which has a very strong contrast to the more common, poetic images of southern Spain. Actually, snows in northern Spain in the winter and the rest of the year, nights can be quite cold too. Probably should have done more research in this city before it agreed to marry my husband and live here. You see, I met my husband in fall 2001 in Washington, DC, when he was working with a program teacher exchange. It seemed a very open and tolerant person, indeed still is, but move to his hometown in Leon, Spain would reveal some things about their views on many aspects of life that were not readily apparent while we were living in the United States. His family also surprised me with their true mentality once I actually moved here with my new husband. I met his family just before he and I were married in 2003. I should have known that something was not right for their unwillingness to attend the wedding in the United States. He soon learned that a large majority of people living in Leon are not mentally open about foreign cultures. That was in 2003 and now in 2007 there has been a notable increase of immigrants who live here. There is greater tolerance of foreign cultures-not much as I used to, but certainly more than before. But I am still surprised by other aspects of Spanish culture in general, that involve their views on households and their struggling economy.
To understand modern Spanish culture, you almost have to know something about the history of Spain and the powerful influence of its former dictator, Franco, who ruled the country from 1933 until his death in 1975. During the control of Franco, Spain managed to avoid any involvement recorded World War II. But he also managed to reduce the economy of Spain to practically nothing by closing the doors to foreign participation as a whole. This including foreign investment, immigration and economic assistance from other nations. Spain experienced many civil wars in its history-the last of the which occurred in the 1930s. In fact, many people still living, who grew up in extreme poverty during the early 20th century and yet some (such as my husband) who actually grew during the modern times of the 1960s and 70 in the last years of Franco's dictatorship. Unlike the old regimes fascist or communist, which turned more socialist democracy in the 1980s and embraced economic development and potential of immigration, Spain remains an unattractive place for most foreigners to live. Oddly enough, not economic borders of Spain are easily accessible either. The current unemployment rate is very high and the English language is slowly being incorporated more strongly in primary and secondary schools (as might be expected to promote globalization more Spanish industry). Although many Spanish young people are well educated, who can not find jobs with salaries that help them build a sustainable future for themselves and their young families. Job security in private industry here is almost nonexistent and most coveted jobs as civil officials (o) in government are more difficult to obtain. My husband handles pretty good now as official, but lived at home with their parents, and in its 30 years earlier they finally bought a house in 2001, shortly before accepting a new opportunity to change teacher lucrative job in Washington, DC His salary from his teaching position in Washington, DC, was what enabled him to pay your mortgage, both for his apartment floor (condo) here in Leon and share expenses for the apartment we shared in the suburbs Washington, DC That may give an idea of very low cost of living in provincial towns like Leon. Her younger sister, still lives at home with their parents, even now that has turned 30. It is not uncommon for many Spanish people to live at home with their parents until well into the 40s and some even after marriage. Imagine what this was a surprise to me because I grew up in the U.S. where most teenagers are eager to graduate, attend college and the strike on their own after graduation. Here and in many parts of Spain, no hurry to leave the nest, nor is it unusual for a Spanish girl who has experienced living and working in another country different, more economical set to return to his hometown and even his parents' house and start over.
Because of the economic struggles of Spain during the life of current citizens, many Spanish people are very, very frugal. They tend to live very simple, unambitious lives normally. The young man has more recently become more involved in travel overseas and fight for better paying jobs and bigger houses (often in other countries). But it is imporant to note that in a time there was a mass exodus of Spanish citizens in South America during the reign of Franco. They left to find work and better opportunities in other countries. It was suggested that children often returned home from Spain for the benefits and prestige offered Spanish citizenship. The benefits and prestige often seem exaggerated to many of us who can not understand or appreciate the dynamics of Spanish culture. I have some other friends of immigrants here from the Dominican Republic, Ukraine and Ireland. We are all here because we are married to Spanish we met abroad but ended up moving back to his hometown with us the trailer. All we confess our surprise at how different the mentality is here, in Spain, especially in Leon, Spain. Perhaps people in Madrid and Barcelona, who are accustomed to high immigration and high tourism are more open-minded, but Leo, in many ways, functions as a town instead of the capital of the dominant province of Castile and Leon.
Three years ago, when I first arrived in Leon, I remember standing like a sore thumb. I am of mixed races and clearly look very different from normal, fair haired inhabitants of this northern Spanish town. The racism here is very common when I got here three years ago, but is not as evident today. Maybe it's because it is now safe in the growing number of dark-skinned immigrants from Central and Latin America And South Africa. I actually had found children in the streets of Leon three years ago, they shouted, ¨ Mom, Dad, look at that black person there! ¨, having never seen a person of different ethnicity in their daily lives. This really struck me as strange because I had always grown up around people of various ethnicities, including the Philippines, where I was born in 1970.
However, there are some things about this lovely city too. Actually, no real Roman ruins and a 10th century gothic cathedral just minutes from our house in the city. There are beautiful mountain regions of northern Spain that are certainly worth through the unit. It is not unusual to find an almost perfectly preserved medieval town (village) here and there. The way of life is slower, less stressful and watching people walk around the city throughout the day is very refreshing compared to the traffic congestion and bustle of many well-populated cities around the world. However, I am stuck here with the man I love and that is not as if I ever live in a big city again this side of the Atlantic or the other side, which actually not so bad a thing either. Living here with very little distractions allows me to enjoy my passions others traveling through Europe and northern Africa and writing. My advice to the person traveling in Spain is to stop seeing Leon and if you can. But, again, is a place that would have just visited than lived.
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Michelle Rhee in DC: Episode 7
