I have always been in love with languages and cultures and I converted this love into a teaching career.

My name is Craig Griffith and I am from Virginia in the US. I studied Spanish and Education at Christopher Newport University and George Washington University in D.C.

I taught Spanish, French and English for non-native speakers for 34 years at the high school and college level. I enjoy all aspects of language learning both as a student and as a teacher: speaking, listening, reading, writing and telling stories related to the language and the culture of those who speak the language. The cultural connection with the language is what really attracts me.

As a language teacher, I have taken students on trips all over the world. I took students to Spain, France, England, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Uruguay and Argentina. I always tried to get my students to connect with the people, the culture and the traditions of the places we visited. I had travelled to many different countries, but it was our visit to Sitges in 2018 that caused me to fall in love with Catalonia. But, before this trip to Sitges, I knew many things about Catalonia as there was a Spanish teacher at my school from Badalona. She explained many things about Catalonia to me and she was the one who encouraged me to visit Sitges. Everyday at school the language teachers ate lunch together and she always explained many cultural traditions of Catalonia to us. It was perfect for me to have this Catalonian expert who was able to answer all of my questions about life in Catalonia. After several vacations in Sitges, we decided to move here after I retired from teaching.

I began to study Catalan in 2019 and we made the transition from tourists to residents in 2020. Since our arrival in Sitges, despite all of the COVID restrictions, I have done everything possible to integrate myself into Catalonian culture. I currently volunteer as a language teacher of Spanish, French and English at Colors Sitges Link. We are fortunate to have Catalan neighbors and friends who share their culture with us through meals, parties and recipes. Each new person that I meet opens my eyes to fascinating new details about what it means to be Catalan and a Sitgetan. My husband and I left behind many wonderful people, traditions and customs from the US, and we chose Sitges, Catalonia, after having travelled and learned so much about the world, because the lifestyle and the customs and the traditions here really mean a lot to us.

When we arrived to Sitges, we had many complicated tasks to perform in order to become residents, like going to Villanova several times to complete all of the requirements for the visas and the resident cards. We also had to acquire a bank account and new phones, find an apartment and change the electricity and water to our names. An agency specializing in relocating foreigners helped us with all of these things. For all of the foreigners that we know here, and we know a lot because so many people choose to come live in this wonderful city, it is very complicated to complete all of these tasks to establish a new life here. I think that for us it was a little bit easier because, more or less, I was able to speak the beautiful Catalan language. Everyone with whom I have interacted here has been very happy to see a foreigner who is able to communicate in the language of the country where he had decided to settle. And, even though I often have to ask someone to repeat something, they always do so in a most kind way. Now that we have been here for 18 months and we very much want to live here for the rest of our lives in this incredible Catalonian culture and in this amazing city, I kindly ask all Sitgetans that if you see me in the street to please speak to me in your language so that I will be able to gradually improve my Catalan, a language that I love dearly. I also encourage all foreigners to learn this lovely language.

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If you want to learn Catalan and Sitges culture, as well as having a good time, learn Catalan at Colors Sitges Link