Hello and welcome to my first ever blog! How did I end up here? Well, probably the most pivotal moment was when I was corporate downsized unexpectedly from a job and a company that I loved. Thrust into a new world that I never expected, I was able to think about what I wanted to do with the next chapter of my life and how I wanted to use my free time. Could I use this time to turn my PASSION into some type of work? I have nothing to lose, so why not?
I also ended up here because I’m a girl who fell in love with Spain a very long time ago. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Spain. I’ll just admit it. I’m obsessed with Spain – traveling to Spain, living in Spain, the Spanish language, the music, the cinema, the ambiance, the people. All of it. I love all of it.
I can thank the U.S. Navy for the above. Back in 2005, I was a military wife whose husband (first husband, not the wonderful second husband in the picture above) took orders to Rota, Spain. In July 2005, we sold our house in Norfolk, Virginia and moved to Naval Station Rota Spain with my dog and cat in tow. I remember arriving there and thinking – what have we just done? I had never been to Europe before. I didn’t speak Spanish other than a few words that Americans tend to learn in the US (fiesta, cerveza, gracias). We were on a three-year tour. During these three years, I sure made the most of it. We were required to live on the base, but I wasn’t one of those military spouses who rarely left the base. I left the base all the time to go out and explore. Living on the base wasn’t bad, though, for a first timer in Spain. I had a cute little Spanish style house with tiles throughout, granite countertops, a view of the Bay of Cádiz from my bedroom window, and it came with some American amenities such as a clothing dryer (not so common for Spanish locals), ample storage space, 110V electricity and outlets, free access to U.S. tv via the Armed Forces Network! I almost forgot to mention – PERSIANAS! Being a house in the Spanish style, the windows were equipped with persianas, which are a type of blinds that completely block out the light when completely closed. They are on the exterior of the window but are rolled down from inside the house, using a pull strip to roll them up and down. Most Americans who travel to Spain fall in love with persianas.
Anyway, during these three years based in Rota, Spain (province of Cádiz), I did a lot of day trips to nearby places in Andalucia, some trips to farther places (Madrid, Barcelona, southern Portugal, Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Mallorca in the Balearic Islands), and traveled a lot within Europe. I’ll make a separate blog post about my travel resume. I studied Spanish via the University of Maryland Europe Division. My classes were on the base with a local Spanish professor from Jerez de la Frontera. I truly believe I had the BEST profesora – Señora Diaz – thank you for everything! I took 12 university credits, Spanish 1 through 4. I did some part time work on the base, as we military spouses were only able to work on the base for the U.S. government. I volunteered for the Rota Animal Welfare League (RAWL) and adopted two wonderful Spanish kitties as a result of volunteering there. The three years passed by so quickly and then it was time to move back to the U.S. on new military orders. This time we had 1 dog and 3 cats. It was the original dog and cat we had upon moving to Spain, plus the two I adopted from RAWL. It was quite a spectacle at the airport, but pets are FAMILY and I do not believe in leaving them behind.
Shortly after moving back to the U.S. to Virginia, the excitement of being back in the U.S. quickly wore off. I began to think about how much I missed Spain and how I wished I was still there. However, not long after, I had a major life change that would keep me busy for quite a while. Up next was a divorce that, while tragic at the time, turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to me, other than moving to Spain of course. Stay tuned for more!
