Hola. ?Que paso?
I’m a 40-year-old American with a wife and two young kids (ages 2 and 4). Thanks to a mid-life career change, I am 6 months away from obtaining a degree in Chemical Engineering. I will be 41 when I graduate.
I have never been out of the US. I regret this, because I recognize that there’s a big wide world out there, and there’s more to the planet than America. I don’t want my kids to grow up in the same boat. I think that, more and more, there are tremendous advantages to being intimately familiar with two or more cultures. To quote Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” I want to make sure I give that gift to my children.
To that end, my wife and I have decided that we will do our best to try and move to Europe once I finish my degree. I understand that my age may make it difficult to find a job, but I also understand that engineers of all stripes—particularly chemical engineers—are in high demand. So I’m hoping these two things cancel out.
We want our kids to learn a second language, so we’d rather move to a country where English isn’t the native language. My wife speaks Spanish almost fluently. She’s a little rusty due to lack of practice, but she’s visited Mexico within the past five years and had no trouble communicating with the locals. I’m not fluent, but I have a good foundation. I grew up in Texas, and have taken Spanish several times in college. It wouldn’t take me long to become fluent. For these reasons and others, Spain is our #1 choice.
The problem is…I don’t know where to go from here. In particular, I’m really stumped trying to find resources on chemical engineering jobs in Spain. Or even a list of companies which might hire chemical engineers. But more generally, I’m also looking for resources on how to find housing, how to get my kids in school, how we can get medical care, etc etc.
Any help you can provide will be much appreciated.
