I was sitting in the main square of my town, enjoying a “cortado”, (small strong coffee with a dash of milk), when a friend, in the company of 2 others passed by. They joined me and I discovered that the couple had recently bought a house in a particularly pretty village nearby. They are really excited about their new home and are looking forward to retiring there in a couple of years' time. We chatted and they seem to have thought about most things related to moving to another country and indeed living full time away from their homeland, but I wondered to myself if they as yet realise that the winter here in Catalunya can be long and cold or mild and damp or very pleasant – one just doesn't know. Might they feel a little isolated in their pretty village?
Next time I see them I shall tell them about the U3A Costa Brava which is an excellent and very active organisation of which I am a member. The U3A began in Toulouse, France, in 1972 as a summer school for retired people, based around the university. In the 1980s the idea had developed into an association based on self -help and run by the members themselves in various towns and cities. Today the U3A is present in most countries, the latest association having been formed in Hong Kong.
Here on the Costa Brava we are very fortunate to have a U3A group providing around 40 different activities, some weekly, others monthly. Of course, you can't join everything, but there is such a wide variety of interests, you are bound to want to join several of them. The only requirements to join are that you are over 50 and speak English, so our members are not confined to British ex-pats as we have Dutch, German, French, American, Japanese & South American members too. Annual membership is currently 14€ per person.
One of my favourite is the Local Interest group, which is about discovering more of the area in which we live. Members arrange visits to interesting and sometimes unusual places and always with a good lunch afterwards in a local restaurant. In fact, I am involved with a friend in leading the group this month to the Civil War Museum in La Jonquera, the main border town with France. We will have an English-speaking guide and will learn more about the Spanish Civil War and its effects on the local population, which suffered very badly. I think it is necessary to learn these things to better understand the people in whose land we now reside.
I also belong to one of the many different walking groups, petanca, gardening and family history groups. I hope that the couple I met the other day will join the association as apart from anything else, the U3A is a social organisation, so they would feel less isolated and lunch is always on the agenda after the activity if you choose to join others at the restaurant.
Interesting activities are not solely confined to the U3A however. You can learn Catalan and Spanish (very advisable to learn one if you are planning to live here!), join a gym, go to Pilates and yoga classes, play golf and tennis, learn to dance Sevilliana, Flamenco or Sardanes, the list is endless.
At the weekends, I really enjoy going to antique and second-hand street markets or to a car boot sale which is held every weekend further up the coast towards France. It is amazing what you can find as people of all nationalities take stalls and sell a vast variety of items they no longer need. I must do the same one of these days as I have boxes of stuff that I no longer use and someone else could employ. My nearest market is in the beautiful town of Pals on Saturday mornings, located in a circular park.... I need to sort out the items, load my car & go, but Saturdays are so busy with other things!
Until next time
Sally
The Overseas Guides Company
http://www.spainbuyingguide.com/
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