{"id":629,"date":"2016-04-13T13:56:56","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T12:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grapevinelifestyle.com\/?p=629"},"modified":"2024-10-08T09:28:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T07:28:47","slug":"thoughts-on-integration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/2016\/04\/13\/thoughts-on-integration\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on Integration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Expats have a bad reputation in Spain for not integrating into the <strong>local communities<\/strong>. It\u2019s no wonder we\u2019re sometimes labeled lazy and ignorant when a lot of us a living largely in an <strong>expat community<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">I hear the phrase <strong>\u2018you know what the Spanish are like\u2026\u2019<\/strong> a lot. And every time I hear, it surprises me. This &#8216;what the Spanish are like&#8217; is often half the reason <em>why<\/em>\u00a0we moved here in the first place.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">This phrase is for one, nearly always used with <strong>negative connotation<\/strong> and secondly, and most importantly, a complete\u00a0<b>generalisation<\/b>\u00a0of a nation we all personally know a tiny corner of. \u00a0Since when was it OK to judge people by their nationality? Aren\u2019t we all individuals with different up-bringings, interests and hobbies?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Why do we discriminate when, at the end of day, we are all just people that can learn from each other\u2019s backgrounds and values? Isn&#8217;t this what enriches our lives?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">We live in such a beautiful part of the world. It\u2019s a rare combination of some of the\u00a0freshest\u00a0air in Europe, the most relaxing and healthy attitude towards life, rolling hills, dramatic peaks, warm weather, ocean breezes and rich culture. As immigrants here, we should appreciate M\u00e1laga for all it\u2019s beauty and that includes its people. Being part of the social fabric of a region not only means that you will get so much more out of your experience here but will also help disbar some of the expat stereotypes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">This keeping alive of the negative stereotypes of locals is exactly what feeds\u00a0the negative stereotyping of us.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Moving abroad to a country that speaks another language rather than our mother tongue is a challenge, especially for adults. Children adapt quickly and are language sponges. I know children that have immigrated to the area and been fluent within six months. That\u2019s a skill they\u2019ll have forever.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">I think at a certain point in learning Spanish we reach a barrier, where we know just enough to get by. Is that enough though? Shouldn\u2019t we be constantly striving to better ourselves and further our integration into this rich and vibrant lifestyle?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">We as a nation living abroad must break the stereotype. Even if it\u2019s just picking up a phrase a book, listening to some Spanish radio stations or having a conversation with your local butcher.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Now, more than ever, it\u2019s time to break the mould, <em>be the exception<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Laura Wood<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">www.grapevine-properties.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We as a nation living abroad must break the stereotype and integrate with the Spanish community. &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/2016\/04\/13\/thoughts-on-integration\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Thoughts on Integration<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[641,522,451,462,463,517,642,643,644,466,645,646],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-community","tag-grapevine-lifestyle","tag-inland","tag-integration","tag-language","tag-malaga","tag-nation","tag-socail","tag-spain","tag-spanish","tag-stereotypes","tag-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7998,"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions\/7998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grapevine-properties.com\/lifestyle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}