Wie alles begann...

'The art of traveling is not in planning, but in doing!' (Martin Krengel)

...seems to be the right quote to start my journey and thus my blog. Because even if you have known for a year that you will go abroad for a year, if you already know your destination and family, you never really know what to expect. But you will never find out if you don't pack your things, whisper 'Goodbye!' to your family and friends with tears in your eyes, get on a plane and fly towards the unknown. After all, you can't experience anything new if you always do the same thing.

So I stuffed my suitcase to the weight limit, the moving box with unimportant but indispensable things for me is already filled to the brim and ready to follow me later. There, I hoped to get through security without too much liquid in my carry-on bag and prayed that my mascara was really waterproof. And you won't believe it, but I actually made it, after eight hours of travel time and four changes of transportation, safe and sound, without losing any luggage and without being dressed as a panda, all the way to Valencia, where I was welcomed by a part of my amazing family (and the emphasis is on 'amazing') and escorted to Castellón de la Plana, my new home for the next 12 months, for another 45 minutes.

In order to explain the size of my family, I would like to list all permanent and temporary members of the Albesa Alcón family in the following paragraph:

* Rafa (46) is the father of the family and Mr. 'Please-talk-English,-so-Antonia-can-understand-you!'

* Mónica (46) is the mother and the genius when it comes to keeping an overview of all the school and leisure activities of the children, something that can't necessarily be said about myself...

* Rafa (9) is the joker of the family. He is also allergic to dairy products, nuts, eggs, all types of grains, etc.

* Jacobo (10) is by far the calmest member of the family and I have had to pull every single word out of him so far.

* Catalina (13) is a little ray of sunshine who makes me smile just by laughing, even though I can't understand a word she says.

* Lucía (15) spent the last year with a family in Germany and speaks German well, which is particularly sweet now at the beginning, with zero knowledge of Spanish! She is also very mature for her age, I think she's a bit ahead of me...

* Luciana (15) is Lucía's German-Brazilian exchange partner, who is also part of the family until the end of November and is currently my personal interpreter.

* Joana is the woman who saves my life! As the cook and housekeeper of the Albesa Alcón family, she is not only a permanent part of the family, but also the person who saves me from embarrassing myself as a cooking noob.

For those who, like me, have no knowledge of geography, I will attach a map showing the location of Castellón. And for those who can't read maps either: with its 170,000 inhabitants, the city is located north of Valencia and about two hours south of Barcelona on the east coast.

Anyway, after ages of vacation and sleeping in, I finally had to get up before eight o'clock today and accompanied Rafa and Jacobo, along with their two cousins from the apartment below us (yes, the family doesn't like to go far for the weekly family dinner, as the grandparents also live just down the street), to their school. And if you think you have seen cute and adorable things, you haven't seen a Spanish elementary school full of over 200 children wearing white polo shirts and dark gray pants or pleated skirts with knee socks! And no, I'm not easily impressed... *cough cough*

After getting lost on the way back, I have now fulfilled my daily dose of emotional excitement for the time being and can now turn my attention to other things like unpacking my suitcases.

I would like to thank all the readers at this point! You have managed to endure 4,410 characters (including spaces) full of wannabe chit-chat without having a nervous breakdown! Congratulations! If, however, you hope that the style of the entries will change to interesting, short and concise over time, I have to disappoint you, as I suspect that they will tend towards rare, very short and especially unimaginative. Of course, you can now leave my educational and highly interesting blog and never come back, but if you belong to my closest circle of friends or relatives, I'm sorry to disappoint you at this point, for you it is mandatory!

For all those who don't belong to the family but still have the desire to continue reading my posts, especially after taking their daily dose of vitamins and miracle remedies, I can only give the following advice: Read the package insert and ask your doctor or pharmacist about the risks and side effects.

In this sense, have a nice day and a well-deserved break from reading!

Hasta pronto,

Antonia