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Having lived in Albuquerque, the northeast suburbs of Chicago, Minneapolis and Boulder, I’ve always perceived public transportation as something used by college students, individuals with a tight economic belt and for those with no other means available to them.

I remember years ago when a friend of mine was in a car accident in Minneapolis in the dead of winter. Without a car, living approximately 30 minutes outside of the city, she was forced to use the bus as her only means of transport. In two feet of snow, and blustery winds, she sad frozen, shivering in the streets waiting for the bus to come at its scheduled time. Needless to say, it came 3 hours later, struggling to keep up with the road delays and heavy influx of passengers. This story is far from the exception, as public transport has rarely been a viable investment until the economic crisis started to hit the USA last year. Now, as car sales plummeting, more and more communities throughout the country are viewing public transport as a necessity, rather than a luxury.

But here in Spain, public transport has always struck me as quite good, if not downright impressive. Most cities not only have an effective bus and rail system, but they also have an extensive bike and car rental program in both Madrid and Barcelona.

If you are planning a trip to any one of the major Spanish cities throughout the peninsula, consider the following for your next visit: (más…)

Flickr Photo by Ryan Opaz

If you’ve ever considered planning an international conference in Spain, don’t think, just do it. If you actually take a moment to think about it, you may find yourself crouched in a corner, rocking back and forth, saying to yourself, “Are you kidding me? I don’t have a the language skills to put this together!”. But the fact is, is that it isn’t impossible. All it takes is a little courage, a lot of gumption, and little hesitation. It’s another one of those situations where either you do it, or you simply talk about it wondering what it “would have been like” if you actually followed through with your desires.

Always follow your dreams!

However, I wouldn’t suggest you follow my particular lead. My husband Ryan, our friend Robert, and I took a leap of faith about 6 months ago and decided to plan and organize the first European Wine Blogger’s Conference in La Rioja Spain (Flickr Photos). Noticing an enormous lack of conversation and connection among wine bloggers, we buckled down and organized a three day event attracting over 40 wine bloggers from around the world.

How did the event go? To our great suprise, really well! However, with 20/20 hindsight, I can now offer you some suggestions could make your event run a touch smoother:

1. Pick any other date than July and August for your event. As Spain completely shuts down at this time, you’ll be pulling out your hair trying to get businesses to help you organize and/or carry out the event. From hiring bus companies to obtaining sponsors, summer is a tough sell in Spain.
2. Use a telephone, not email. Although many other countries prefer email as an effective was to finalize business, Iberia tends to rely on the telephone and/or a lunch meetings instead. So rather than get frustrated wondering why you haven’t received a reply to your email, pick up the phone and call.
3. Telephone = Speaking Spanish! Why yes, yes it does. So tackle the problem head on by first getting an intercambio (language partner) on a website like Conversation Exchange.com, or the newspaper, and have them help you put together a “speech” of sorts to get your vocabulary and fluidity up to par.  There is no reason to suffer by winging it. Instead, have a clear message and practice. Nothing to it!
4. Confirm Event Locations and Suppliers. If you are in a smaller city like Logrono, many of your suppliers, or service providers, will be family run businesses that may have a long list of other clients they need to handle that same day. Therefore, it is in your best interest to call the week of the event to confirm the time and date of service. Additionally, program the contact number in your mobile, as the person helping you with the service, may be the only person running the business. Hence, if there is an issue, you’ve got his/her number handy at all times.
5. Dietary Issues. Spain, especially La Rioja, is renowned for their roasted meats. Whatever you order will most likely have 90/10 split of meat versus veggies on the menu. That said, if you have a vegetarian, or vegan, at the event, make sure you triple check alternative options for their meal.
6. Get a Mobile Broadband: If your business relies on Internet, I highly suggest you purchase a Mobile Broadband. for 15 euros you can at least guarantee a connection, as several areas in Spain are without it, or may charge you through the nose in connection fees.

Have you ever planned an event in Spain? If so, what have been your experiences?

Saludos,

Gabriella Opaz

Gabriella Opaz is the co-founder of catavino.net, a website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine.

Now that you’ve established that packing up your existence and moving to Spain is the be all and end all of your existence, don’t forget to consume as many bagels, deli sandwiches, deep dish pizzas, root beer, vanilla bean ice cream, bran muffins, crunchy peanut butter and your favorite micro-brewed, because you won’t find them here. You will find amazing tapas bars, beautiful seafood and enough cured jam to permanently place a grin across your face, but small delicacies like a toasted salmon cream cheese bagel will be one of the little things you may sorely miss.

But the big trivia question is how you will pay for those four hour seafood dinners and delicious sparkling wines?

Here are some suggestions as heard through the proverbial grapevine:

1. Flip a Coin, Jump on a Plane and Arrive in Spain
So are you feeling adventurous and want to jump over the pond without a visa? Mind you, it is not the easiest road to take, but thousands have taken it before and have had a wonderful time doing it. Work can be found as an English Teacher in either academies, or on your own through adverts posted on the street or in local newspapers. Restaurant work is generally available, as is work as a tour guide. However, tour guides typically need a license, and if you’re caught without a license, well…its risky. Other options to consider are field work – if your a farmer at heart, as a writer for travel or food magazines, or working online as a programmer, developer, graphic designer, etc. (más…)

Over the past month, I’ve received enough inquiries about moving to Spain to make my opening a consulting service a viable option. From visa requirements for Canadian citizens to school options for handicapped children, I’ve received the gamut, but there has been no question more often asked of me than, “I’m an American wanting to pick up and move to Spain like you, but I don’t know how to do it”.

Now, for those of you considering to take the leap, allow to begin with the obvious, this decision is NOT for everyone. I know you don’t want to hear this, and you’d rather stay in that happy bubble of romance, but I think its imperative to be honest with yourself and to consider the following:

Why do I truly want to move to Spain? (you’d be surprised how few people can’t answer this question)

For how long do I want to live in Spain? (1 month, 1 year, your entire life)

What are all of my preconceived notions of Spain and of its people?

Can I handle the fact that I may not see my family or friends for long stretches of time?

Am I comfortable with other cultures, realizing that my cultural norms may not be accepted or recognized from day to day? (más…)

This morning, with my cup of piping hot coffee in hand, I was scanning through my feedreader when I came across an interesting article on the way in which American health scientists tend to perceive overly extracted, fabricated and altered food as a permanent part of the American diet. Rather than being a human constructed consumable, it is looked upon as an integral part of our daily diet that cannot be changed or altered. The irony is that it can, simply by committing to the slow food movement. But rather than encourage critical thinking, and good choices, health scientists seem more like pharmacists, suggesting new pills that will counter the consequences of fast food.

I feel like the message is: “Don’t help people change their attitudes or choices, just make them down a pill to counteract the consequences of their last poor choice, which will then need another pill to counteract the side-effects from the last pill, and so on and so forth”.

Sound familiar? (más…)

1. I Can’t Learn a Second Language because I don’t Live in Spain

I will be the first to admit that your chances of learning, comprehending and utilizing a second language increase 10 fold if you live in the country for which your target language is spoken, but that should never stop you from at least trying. We are not victims of our surroundings. I retook first level Spanish three times in the USA, in hopes of understanding it, but I learned that for me, without context and practice, it was difficult for me to learn. So I picked up a book in another language, watched videos with the subtitles active, and when I was very motivated, I volunteered as a TEFL teacher in return for Spanish lessons. It was a lovely little intercambio!

2. I’m too Old to Learn a Second Language

There is nothing that astounds me more than hearing someone throw out this illogical excuse – although I’ve done it myself more than once. There is absolutely no proof that I am incapable  of learning a second language after a certain age.? Now, there is no argument that the process of becoming proficient will take longer at 32 or 82 yeas of age than if I’m at the young, impressionable age of 2 to 5, but it is not impossible. It only requires me to have a bit more faith and patience in myself, and the world around me.

3. I don’t have a Good Ear (más…)

I remember when I was a kid, August was the best and the worst time of the year. Its long casting shadows signaled steamy hot weather filled with the encroaching buzzing of mosquitoes. Our days were lazy alongside Lake Michigan building towering sandcastles and collecting multicolored sea glass sprinkled across the coast like elegant jewels. If the weather turned ugly, filling the sky with dark thundering clouds and straight lined winds, we would retreat to our downtown square to do a bit of shopping or simply eat ice cream in our local parlor until our tongues would eventually numb in pure sugary bliss.

But here in Spain, one needs to adapt to another way of life. Come August, the majority of Spaniards vanish to foreign lands. Metal gates over store entrances are commonplace with a paper signs hanging haphazardly from glass windows reading “Cerrado por Vacaciones hasta Septiembre”. Cars are fewer, laughter in the parks are now just simple whispers from old men sharing their daily woes of growing older. A singular whimper from a dog echoes in the distance, as the smell of barbecue floats in the air from some isolated rooftop.

For a foreigner used to obtaining any material good or service at any given time of the day or year, the idea of having your city literally close for an entire month is odd, not just odd, but freaky. I remember my first summer in Madrid constantly confused as to how a country can function when all of their production completely ceases to exist for 30 days. But what I learned is that it doesn’t stop completely, it merely changes location. Rural houses charge double for occupancy, coasts are packed with happy Spaniards buying beach side drinks and restaurants are jammed with bronzed foreigners. In short, the Spanish economy keeps rolling, but more in a leisurely sort of way. (más…)

When we moved to Spain, we left three loving, kind and beautiful cats behind us. They were our love and joy of our life, but to pick up and move thousands of miles unaware as to where we would live or what we would do to survive in a new country, seemed ridiculous and unfair to them. Consequently, we found each of them homes with friends and family, said our farewells and hoped for the best. Easy? No, but definitely a wise decision in the end.

We moved to Madrid and lived with two other couples in a 3 bedroom flat. This wasn’t necessarily the most normal of living circumstances in Madrid, but it functioned for our needs. Married, and used to having our own space, Ryan and I knew that this was only a short time gig, and decided to wait on getting another cat until we found our own space. But after a year, I couldn’t wait any longer; and for my birthday, I begged and pleaded for a furry creature I could relate to that didn’t require me to struggle with Spanish or cultural norms. It would love me regardless if I stumbled over my verb tenses or looked like a deer in headlights as I searched for the right noun or pronoun. And on my 31st birthday, I was given a little box containing a cash brush, cat treats and an advertisement for a three month old kitten.

The advertisement didn’t pan out, but after a week of phone calls, we finally found Txarli. In Euskara, the official Basque language, the ‘tx’ is pronounced like a ‘ch’, and in castellano, the ‘i’ is pronounced like an ‘e’. So, thinking we were clever, we named him “Charlie”, our sophisticated Spanish cat. (más…)

I consider myself an expert in Spanish hospital etiquette and protocol. With a recently painted rainbow polka-dot plaster cast on my hand – a rather festive decoration applied by my husband while watching “Weeds” last night – I came to the odd, and rather sad, realization that yesterday was my 5th visit to the hospital in three years. Clearly, I’m a magnet for illnesses, accidents and maladies, but over the course of my frequent visits, I have learned a thing or two make my next experience more enjoyable.

Top 5 Tips when Visiting a Hospital in Spain

1. Get Comfortable! Assuming your ailment is not life threatening, count on your day being completely wasted in waiting rooms typically under construction. What is a “long” time, you ask? We’re talking an hour just to have a nurse assess whether she likes you enough to make you wait another 2 hours, or at worst, another 4 before the first round of doctors can see you. That said, pack your IPod with amusing podcasts, tote along some snacks and without a doubt, bring your parka! With freezing cold air conditioning blasting through the vents, I’m convinced they want to ensure tax euros are put to good use by giving you, at the very least, hypothermia.
2. Swiss Army Knives Come in Handy. There is something unnerving, and strangely entertaining, knowing that you, or the person next to you, will most likely find themselves stuck in the bathroom. Three out of five trips have ended with a woman (always a woman) pounding on the bathroom door asking for a little help. And in typical Spanish fashion, the security guard puts down his Soduko book and slowly meanders over the door to ask, “Que te pasa?” Long unnecessary explanations ensue, and finally, a locksmith arrives 30 minutes later to set her free. My suggestion, come prepared! If you’re not willing to use your best McGyver tricks, bring a book with you, as you never know if you may catch the locksmith enjoying a little siesta. (más…)

It’s been three years and seven months since I’ve moved to Spain. Approximately 1277 days of excitement, confusion, bewilderment, frustration and beauty, a true life altering experience I wish upon everyone with a desire for growth and change. But let’s be clear, this is not an experience for the weak hearted or the close minded. To pick up your entire life at 30 and move 4,527 miles away from friends and family takes commitment, a bit of courage, and a ridiculous amount of stupidity.

My husband and I lived in the top floor of small duplex just south Minneapolis. I was finishing my masters in education, while he was working in a wine shop he thoroughly loved, but something was missing. We ached to learn about the world, something other than 8 month long political campaigns, restaurant portions that could feed a small African tribe, commercials for over the counter prescriptions and triple shot decaf half skim lattes. We dreamt of moving somewhere where life was simple, and where one’s focus was on the community and the culture, rather than consumerism.

For approximately six months, we chatted about where we needed to go, and how we would afford to get there. But eventually we realized that excuses come easy and commitment is much more difficult. We didn’t want to lie on our death beds and say, “If only we…” So we did the unimaginable, we chose a country in Western Europe and booked a ticket for three months from that day. (más…)