DianaA

Hi there
We've recently bought a flat in Jávea Port & intend to spend a lot of time here, probably becoming residents before too long.
We've been v busy-& still are- moving in & sorting the flat but are becoming conscious of the fact that we should be making friends.
( We spent 6 mths renting a villa in Montgo & hardly met a soul - our fault mostly!)
I wanted to ask what people suggest is the best way to make friends?
We're retired teachers in our sixties & both fairly shy & therefore not v good at encouraging each other to integrate!
We'd very much welcome any suggestions you have. We've heard the U3A mentioned & would like to hear people's experiences of that, plus any other ideas.
I speak ( rusty) Spanish, but understand castellano pretty well - my husband is a beginner...
At the moment we don't have a car, but hope to remedy this fairly soon.

Thanks in advance for your comments ...

Rosemary

Were you wanting to make friends with Brits or Spanish or both?

Rosemary

DianaA

Definitely both. If we just wanted Brits we'd have stayed in the UK!
However, at first it would probably be better for us to meet Brits or English speakers because of my husband's lack of Spanish & so we can hear of other people's experiences of coming to live & integrating in the area.

pwwm

Why not find out if you have free spanaish lessons, we do and go once a week, has now turned into a social meet lol and yes we have met Spanish through this as well. But is a good way to start

Kenwoodlad

We are still three years away from moving over permanently but we visit as often as we can. Our house is in a village close to Oliva where we have made some (ex pat) friends. They are all very involved in U3A and we've gone to a few U3A social gatherings. They're nice people and there is a huge variety of activities. We'll be joining them when we move over in 2017. If you have a look at the U3A Javea website, you'll get a load of info. http://www.u3ajavea.org/

Good luck.

lynnxa

welcome to Jávea!!

I've been here nearly 10 years now & can't imagine ever wanting to move anywhere else - my daughters have grown from little 'English' girls to tall 'Spanish' teenagers in that time

I know a lot of people who are in the U3A - I wish I had time! The Jávea branch seems to be well-run & there always seems to be something going on

Porth

Perhaps no reliance should be placed upon our views. However great and very informative people at U3A but sorry not for us it is a conduit simply for English speaking people. It will not introduce you to the indigenous population and that surely is where the value of living in a foreign country comes (or at least part)

We spend some time in the Port area feeding the feral cats but that will shortly come to an end as we go back to the UK and then to France!

Our move back is driven by Health Issues and indeed tax and no doubt you have researched these?

Whatever best wishes for your future in Javea.

lynnxa

absolutely true that the U3A is mostly used by English speaking people - but it's not a bad starting point & there's no reason it shouldn't be part of someone's life

as you might know, I'm all for 'integration' (how I hate that word) but that doesn't mean you have to never spend time with people who speak your language

if that's all you did, that's another matter imo, simply because you miss so much of what is going on - but some people do prefer that

Rosemary

I understand that there are a lot of different groups in Javea so if you are interested in crafts, photography and other such pursuits I think that you are well catered for. Lynnxa is very knowledgeable about the area and would be able to tell you where to find out about these groups.

As for finding Spanish friends in the area I do not know where to suggest as I do not live near there but if you are always open and friendly towards people and not stand offish you will find that they are friendly in return.

I hate the word integration too. Living alongside people, talking with them, helping them and generally being part of the community is great and living the life that you enjoy regardless of where or who with is more important than words that are bandied around to describe it.

Rosemary

Porth

Absolutely but in all things there is a balance to be struck. We know someone (UK) in Javea who ran a business here for over 25 years. Their approach no need to speak Spanish in Javea get along without it. Never had a Spanish friend. Balance and of course U3A is dedicated to mainly UK citizens. So a trip to Madrid populated with UK people.

In our village in France yes small about 1200 say about ten speak English one is forced to try and our friends in France are mainly French not English. However our English friends come through St Barts at Dinard so I suppose to be truthful it is a religious sort of U3A! Also here www.allsaintsvendee.fr which was again a sort of U3A.

I do recognise what Lynne is saying but even she must accept there is a slant in Javea towards the English speaking population

lynnxa

yes there is quite a large English-speaking population in Jávea - maybe 25% of the population has English as a first language

however, if you don't speak Spanish you might not realise that there are tons of groups & activities run by & attended by the Spanish-speaking population - a lot are ayuntamiento-run, but there are of course various clubs & associations - & a lot of the activities are free, too

yes, I've been here a long time, & speak Spanish, so I do know about these things (for instance, on Friday I was at a forum/conference at the Parador about education - it was in Spanish, so not much point going if you don't speak the language)

The ayto is trying to to get info about what is going on out to all nationalities now - & yes, in English mainly, because many if not most of the non-Spanish will have English as a second language - but of course most (as that conference) will be in Spanish