Well, here goes ....

After years of threatening to do this, I finally am.  When I was young, I didn’t have the money.  As I was working in my career, I didn’t have the time.  Now that I have both, I’m more than a little nervous about actually doing it.  Soooo, I'm going to Spain for three months and enrolling in school to learn the Castilian language. There.

I might possibly be the most un-spontaneous person you’ve ever met.  I’ve been thinking about making this trip for at least 35 years and I’ve been seriously contemplating it for the past three.  Now that I’ve decided to do it, I’ve read countless hours of expatriate blogs, the US State Department’s website, gotten credit and debit cards with the most favorable exchange fees, lined-up my accommodations in Madrid, updated my will, recorded where all of my assets are located, lined-up competent people to watch my properties, had my annual physical two weeks ago (the cholesterol is back in line now) , learned how to do online banking, left files in order and notes to cover every conceivable situation, had my year-end tax planning with my CPA and got all of my year-end tax information to her, thoroughly investigated my health care coverage and identified the approved hospital and doctor list for Madrid.  Oh God, have I left anything out?

Sitting here at Max’s Bar & Restaurant at Dulles Airport waiting for my flight to Madrid, I think that it’s finally setting in that I’m really going.  As I contemplate the faux iron riveted trusses across the ceiling, I know that I’m not going to miss the American kitsch (although I do admire the amazing job they did of making them look real).  I’m going to see real history, not an Epcot facsimile.  And more than that, I’m going to see Spain’s huge advances in modern art, architecture, energy and transportation.  Spain isn’t just a player; it's one of the countries leading the way.

The name of this blog, besides being a shameless rip-off of the title "Julie & Julia", reflects who and where I am.  I am American.  My American roots are more than 350 years old on my father’s side, and my mother, well she was from Espain.  So the title of this blog not only reflects the contrast and diversity of my parentage, it also exposes my split personality as I embrace it.

So if you’re so inclined to know things espanol (I gotta figure out how to make my keyboard make that little squiggle over the n), follow along as I figure it out.