Julia's story
My name is Julia Clarke. I'm British although born in Catalunya in 1966. I've lived in Begur since 2007, and in Catalunya since 1999.
I have a daughter, Jessica who was in 2006 in Girona's Josep Trueta Hospital. I chose this hospital because I wanted to donate the umbilical cord for stem cell research and the "Trueta" was the nearest hospital to do this. I had all my check ups at Palamos hospital as it was much nearer. I had a cesarean section because I was a week and a half overdue, hormonally induced and STILL there was no sign of a contraction, they knew the baby was going to be big and then there was my age to consider (they said!)
Jessica was a massive 4.6k (about 10 and a half pounds I think) so just as well I had the C-section!
I was there for 6 days altogether including the inducing day. There was none of the bonding "laying of baby on top of the mother" straight after the birth which I believe is the norm in the UK, even with C-sections.
I would do it differently if I were to have another baby - though I wont be! In Palamos the gynecologist was for inducing a whole month earlier due to the baby's size and my age. I now wish I'd agreed but I'd decided to go with my original plans to donate the umbilical cord and therefore have the birth in Girona's "Trueta" hospital.
Now I know more about some of the problems that could occur with big babies. It seems that sometimes large babies have a heart problem, and Jessica had to have a heart op at 14 months. Plus her feet were squashed in the womb so she had slightly malformed feet. The first 3 years of her life were spent with regular Trauma visits in Palamos for the feet plus special foot exercises, and Cardiologist check ups in the Trueta. There were many emergency visits to the health centre in Palafrugell and Palamos because of Jess' heart condition which often bought on bronquitis.
I'm a single mum and I'm a beauty therapist. I mainly go to peoples homes to give their treatments, the most popular are pedicures and eye lash/brow tints, but I also do other treatments. I'm a gardener too, more enthusiasm than knowledge at the moment but that is getting better with each season of beautiful successes and pitiful disasters.
I don't have any parents to fall back on so I'm 100% dependent on what I earn during school hours or when my daughter is on a weekend with her father in Palafrugell.
Having lived in Catalunya 12 years now, I consider myself very well integrated. The day after I arrived I offered to work for free at a hairdressers salon in Calella (de Palafrugell) I needed to learn Castellano and Catalan in order to get a "proper job".
I didn't know the owner but she turned out to be the best person that I could ever get to know as a friend. The whole massive family treated me as their own, they invited me to every single family event everywhere. The knock on effect was tremendous! I got other (paid) jobs, even contracted jobs. I got boyfriends and a great social life - all due to intitially working for free in order to learn the lingo!
I helped out in the Palafrugell Quina for three Christmas seasons, I took part in the Reyes procession in Palafrugell for four New Years, and once I took part in the Calella Rua in the summer. Plus of course every year I get up at dawn to join everyone up at the San Sebastian Lighthouse and welcome the year's first sunrise, then straight onto Calella beach with the shopkeepers/friends to continue celebrating the first sunrise. I do so love get-togethers!
I go to every Arrozada, Buttifarada and Xocolatada I hear about and Jessica takes part in all my social activities. Any excuse for a feast and a get-together I say!
I speak only in English to Jessica. However her Catalan is sadly, her favored language! She usually speaks to me in Catalan but I always respond in English. She knows I understand her because she hears me speak it to others.
Jessica goes to Dr Arruga in Begur about 2km from home. I'm really impressed with the education. I do so wish though, that Catalan was not the first and foremost language - I personally think its utterly useless. Plus its ugly! Castellano (Spanish) is far more pleasant to listen to, easier to speak and write - not to mention far more useful.
The advantages of being a British parent anywhere in Spain (or any other foreign speaking country) has one main advantage and one main dis-advantage in my opinion: the main advantage being that it a wonderful gift to your child to provide them a with bi-lingual start in this work competitive life. In Catalunya of course they learn two languages from the word go. Having English as a third is immensely useful in a tourist based country.
The main dis-advantage I think is the lack of support that having your family close by can give. Ie. no doting grandparents to babysit for free when there is yet another national fiesta, or if a child is ill and you must get to work.
The school hours are rotten. 9-12 then 3-5. If you want your child to stay for lunch then of course there is no need to do the midday school runs. Here there is no question of packed lunches, either pay for the school lunch or take them home. Daily school lunches add up - its €6.50 per day this year.
However, the meals are absolutely fantastic. No chips and fried food, its always healthy and balanced with desserts either fruit or yoghurt.
There are a great many national fiestas in Spain. Usually saints days - then they often take a "bridge" day off too. This means that if there is a national fiesta on a Tuesday, they automatically take the Monday off too. The same if the fiesta is on a Thursday - the Friday is a "bridge" day. So working parents are permanently on the lookout for babysitters.
The nursery rhymes songs are lovely in Catalunya which are used as a learning tool in the schools. The tunes are delightful and the simple lyrics are very visual. I often get a pang of regret that Jessica isn't as interested in the ones I've always known. Can you ever remember not knowing "three blind mice, Twinkle Twinkle, One, two buckle my shoe?" and the dozens more. They learn the history of the "Senyera" Catalan flag and not the history of the Union Jack, the Spanish wars and not the British wars, the Spanish Royal family trees and not our ones. The list goes on. Stuff that is ingrained in us, our children will know only if we teach them, yet still "our history" will not be "their history".
I used to teach English in this school from 1999 to 2002 so I was overjoyed to have found a place to live that I could afford where, by chance her nearest primary school was this one. So I already knew many of the teachers and the schools layout.
As a single mum in Spain, one does not receive the same type of benefits as in the UK. There are no discounts, free school meals, allowances or what have you. There are no council housing let alone help with rent, bills, furnishing... So don't expect the same benefits as in the UK but in a warmer climate type-of-life.
In this country everyone depends on their families to help out economically.
I do get some rice, pasta and milk from the church sometimes, though this is because the minister is a friend and client of mine. The church and Red Cross provide the same foodstuffs to immigrants (from Europe's famous food mountain I presume)
Begur is a beautiful little pueblo with a friendly community. The shops are mainly boutique type and many don't open during the winter, many bars and restaurants do the same. The Begur restaurants all welcome children but in reality there isn't often space for them to play or run around if they are young. Best to take them to a beach-side restaurant like in Playa de Pals, or to a restaurant that has a soft play zone like Super Stop in Pals, Palafrugell or Aparthotel in Palamos. Ivan in Playa de Aro also has a good play area/restaurant, though not as well thought out as the parents can't see their kids at play/war!
Each pueblo has great usually free activities during school hols, it's just a question of always looking at as many leaflets as possible and listening to other parents. At Christmas time there are various free "workshops" to decorate sticks to bash "caga tio" with, hot chocolate and a bun get-togethers (Xocolatadas), Santa visits...
Children are well catered for in Catalunya. Eg. in Palafrugell here is a skateboard park, organized cycle racing, many swing parks with more than just swings and see saws. The many beaches of course.
My advice to anyone thinking of re-locating to Begur (or Catalunya) with children is make sure they have Spanish lessons first, or even Catalan if they feel capable. I simply could not have managed anything in my life now if I hadn't quickly learnt the language way back then. By the way, The Dr Arruga school gives foreign speaking children special lessons in order to speak Catalan. Plus all the town halls offer very cheep, subsidized Catalan classes for adults. Castellano classes are not subsidized.
The amount of paper chasing to live here is mind boggling - you either do it yourself or hire folk to do it if you have a language barrier.
On the whole, I adore Begur for its cute boutique shops. I couldn't live without the variety and nearness of beautiful bays. Very Zen.
I could live without Begur being so hilly and chock a block full of Z-bends. Very anti cycling, which was my only mode of transport when I lived in Palagrugell and Mont-ras.
Oct 10
