Sun, 8 November 2009
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Do you, expat, take thee Spain to be your adopted nation and promise to love and to cherish; until death do you part?IT’S a question I get in equal measures from my family and friends in the States and my international friends here in Spain:
Are you going to stay in Spain forever?
I have yet to come up with the perfect answer, and the big para siempre throws me for a loop each time it’s asked. It’s a question that I think only expats can truly appreciate.
When someone in the States buys a new home, no one asks, “Will you live here forever?” at the housewarming party.
The purchase is simply a step in the person’s life; a place where he will live for the foreseeable future.
When a friend starts a new job, he is not asked, “Do you think you will work here forever?” It would be absurd – a thousand conditionals factor into these kinds of big life decisions.
And of course it gets me thinking – Will I stay here forever? Do I have to make this decision now? 
At the ripe old age of 25, can I really say that I’ll do anything forever?
My family asks, I think, because they want to know if and when they can expect me home to start procreating merrily.
Maybe the new people I meet ask because they want to know if it’s worth the time to invest in a friendship, given the transient nature of the expat community.
The Spaniards I meet usually smile with kind-hearted patriotism when I stutter, “Pues, no sé… pero estoy muy a gusto aquí.” And I am. Check back in two or 20 or 50 years – I may still be here, I may not.
How long is forever, anyway?
text by Kristen Bernardi
The writer, Kristen Bernardi, is a blogger with Expatica Spain and contributes to a fortnightly blog on alternate Fridays. She is running a little late this week as she is constantly bogged down by people asking her: Are you going to stay here forever? If you share similar experiences with Kristen, please help her out by telling her how you answer this tricky question.
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