Thinking of Living Abroad

[jesusarenque]

FWIW central Spain is BY FAR the best place I've ever lived (specifically, Segovia). It meets all your requirements except being close to the beach. Segovia is only an hour from Madrid (where I will be living this summer). You can get to any beach in a few hours from Madrid.

[turnipmonster]

people in barcelona mostly speak catalan to each other, no? that was my experience at least. they would speak spanish with foreigners, but it seemed like everyone was otherwise speaking catalan.

--turnipmonster

[The Dude]

[ QUOTE ]
I lived in Spain for a 6 months Dude and it was not nearly long enough.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, if I went it would be for at least a year, more likely two.

[Boris]

Check out Todos Santos in Mexico.

[RunDownHouse]

I've got a friend living in Argentina right now. He was already proficient in Spanish, so Portugeuse wasn't a big stretch for him.

He's playing poker to pay the bills and basically just living it up. He loves it.

[Benal]

[ QUOTE ]
Argentina.

[/ QUOTE ]

I second this rec

[daryn]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
I've got a friend living in Argentina right now. He was already proficient in Spanish, so Portugeuse wasn't a big stretch for him.


[/ QUOTE ]

that's good that he was already proficient in spanish, as that is the most widely spoken language in argentina, and the official language.

[SomethingClever]

I spent a couple weeks in the Dominican Republic a few years ago, and I recommend it highly.

1) Check.

2) Very tropical. Amazing beaches. Good windsurfing, kayaking, snorkeling, etc...

3) Lots of internet cafes. Also you could probably work it so that you're staying in a hotel with access.

4) You won't see another American if you stay away from the all-inclusive resorts. We traveled along the north coast of the country. Spent time in Cabarete, Samana and a few other places.

Finally, I know you didn't mention this, but everything there is dirt-cheap. In Cabarete, we stayed in the El Magnifico condominiums for $57 a night.

This was our place ( link )



The bedroom:



Kitchen:



Here's how close it is to the beach:



We averaged $35 to $40 a night at the other places we stayed in different towns. This was the nicest, though.

A good filet mignon dinner with wine for two would set you back about $15-$20. Amazing food can be had for a lot less than that, too. We probably averaged $10-$15 for dinner.

Any tourists you meet will be French, German or Italian in this part of the country. So the cuisine tends toward these three groups as well.

Again, I couldn't recommend the DR more highly.

[daryn]

holy [censored] nice place

[mcteecho]

Barcelona is the best city in the world. If I was able to do my job in Spanish I'd move there in a heartbeat.