After a number of failed IVF rounds and health issues, an Oakland couple were in need of a change of scenery. After visiting scenic the town Ronda in Andalusia, Spain in 2016, Jason Luban and Selen…
An aerial view of Puente Nuevo in Ronda, the town that stole the hearts of US couple Jason Luban and Selena Medlen. After a number of failed IVF rounds, health issues and the death of their beloved dog, US couple Jason Luban and Selena Medlen were in need of a change of scenery.
A friend had recommended that the pair, married since 2009, spend some time in Ronda, a town located in Spain’s Malaga province, so they decided to book two nights there. “There were all these colors everywhere. And we were both just in shock at how gorgeous it was as we kept climbing and climbing in the car.”
After wrapping up their time in the pretty town, they went on to visit Granada before returning to the US. But Ronda stayed with them.Medlen and Luban have made lots of friends during the years they’ve spent time in Ronda. “Selina said, ‘If we’re not going to have a kid, I want my life to be f**king fabulous,’” recalls Luban. “And we were like, ‘Okay, what does that look like?’”
But while the town had seemed like a magical place when they’d visited a few months before, it looked far less appealing when they returned shortly after Feria de Pedro Romero, a festival dedicated to bullfighting.“The town was kind of dead and they had not had the opportunity to clean up yet. So it was a really different experience.”
Despite these initial setbacks, the couple persevered and soon found an apartment. They went on to join a language school in order to learn Spanish, and say that this proved to be a massive turning point for them. As Luban has dual US-German citizenship, he didn’t need a visa to live in Spain. However, Medlen was required to obtain a residence permit.Luban was touched by the kindness locals showed him when he ended up in hospital after an accident.
“It would have been a completely different and much less pleasant experience if we didn’t know people who happen to be nurses and knew the whole community,” Luban explains. He was particularly moved by the kindness shown by the local community, who dropped off food and constantly checked up on both of them.“Here, people literally showed up at the door when Selena would be coming back from the hospital to give her a hug and tell her that they were going to be there. And they were there. For weeks.”
“‘This country is changing. You really should just enjoy yourselves and not get caught up in all of the division that’s happening in the United States.’ That was just two months in.” Fortunately, Medlen was able to take on remote work for law firms in the US and Luban launched a website advising other practitioners on how to sell a medical practice.
“We also have more time to cook, which brings your food bills down because you’re not buying takeout,” adds Medlen. “And we have more time to exercise. So I feel like we’re healthier.”
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