The Foreigners

When I moved to Madrid, I knew I was moving to a city that was both Spanish and international. This blog has been mainly about Spanish people but what about the foreigners who live in Madrid? As a foreigner myself, I have got to know some other foreigners. It is sometimes easier to make foreign friends than local friends when living abroad. We, the foreigners, are here for various reasons. Sometimes, like in the case of the Venezuelans forced to leave their country by Hugo Chavez or the gay Americans taking advantage of the possibility to marry in Spain, I know the reasons why they came here. In other situations, such as the cheery Brazilian café worker, I can only guess. Others, such as the Italian engineer or the Lewis Hamilton obsessed Ukrainian secretary have come because of love. Some, such as the Columbian hair dresser come internet café owner and the Hungarian contract manager, want to learn English. Others, such as the Romanian sisters, teach English. We all have something in common though, we are all in a foreign land that we don’t always understand. We all face the problem of stereotyping, however for some, particularly the South Americans and Romanians, this problem is more serious than for the likes of me. My biggest problem is explaining the difference between a kilt and a skirt and that has never caused me any problems when it comes to getting a flat.