If one memory comes to mind right now, it is the one that changed my life forever. I once heard the phrase: For things to change, your life has to turn around like a sock. And that's what I did.
In this memory there is a lot to tell, too much I would say and of course it is inevitable to get emotional, because literally in this change of life I died and was born again, I always say it.
The year was 2016, the month of July to be more precise. In a magical way, I received my Spanish nationality, which I had been told would take six months to arrive, but that's another long story.
I was very excited about the arrival of the papers, but I had never thought of leaving my country, until a week later when my brother said to me: "What if we leave? Here, no matter how hard we try, we won't make any more progress. I didn't think about it, I swear I didn't think about it and I said yes.
That was the starting point of this change and two years of preparation, of learning, of raising money, working too many hours. A lot of effort, taking on extra work, and learning what it's like to travel by plane, studying in Spain among other things.
I had never travelled by plane before and my first time would be to cross the ocean and leave everything behind.
I studied the best areas to live, the climate of Spain, considering pros and cons, to arrive as prepared as possible to the place.
That same day that my brother asked me that question, he asked me a second one and it was this: Who goes first, you or me? and I answered him: I go first.
There we had no family, no friends, nothing at all, it was a leap into the void. But life had to turn around like a sock.
I spent several days looking for photographs for this post, I found some of those days, of the days of the trip, as it was a very long one. They are not of good quality, as I took them more than five and a half years ago and the phone I had was different, but here they are for you.
I remember two phrases that marked this trip. One was from my painting teacher, who on the day of the farewell that family and friends said to me: Don't look back, if you look back you lose.
And so I did, I only went forward, not knowing what awaited me. An unknown world for me, I had never travelled before. But I never looked back.
The other phrase was from my best friend and sister in life, Claudia, she told me: You put your life in two suitcases and with them and a cat you left. My life in just two suitcases, exactly 40 years of my life. With them and Catalina, my black cat, I got on the plane.
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It was a long, very long journey that started on Sunday 10th June 2018. First I went to my friend's house and from there I would travel by car to Buenos Aires. We would stop there one night and then the next morning to the airport, the first time I saw an airport.
During the whole trip I had a .... Let's call him an angel by my side, because he did everything as if he already knew I was coming, automatically and without looking back.
I made the car journey with my friend, her husband and my brother. Months later my family, my mother and brother would join me. That was plan A, there was no plan B. There was none.
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The time came, they told me I had to board and so I did, with my cat in her travel bag before saying goodbye to my brother, my friend, my mother on the phone, and a friend Mariano who made me a video call at the airport.
And I didn't look back. I am very emotional, if I had, I would have lost.
I boarded the plane following the signs, and the people in front of me, I had no idea where I was going. But those who know me well know why I was so sure.
I dreamt many times of this moment, and I don't mean dreaming of longing, but literally, dreams where I got on the plane, how it was and everything was just as I had seen it. I was safe. I didn't know what to expect, but I was calm.
I did have moments of nerves, but mostly because of inconveniences that came up, Catalina getting nervous, and other issues that would come later, but at the time of the trip I was at peace.
It was a 12 hour flight in the middle of the plane, where I could barely move and I had Cata on my lap the whole time, with one hand inside my bag touching her to make her sit me down. She was calm the whole time, I think she felt my peace.
Twelve hours flight between Ezeiza and Barajas.
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I arrive in Madrid and I remember my brother told me, when you arrive send me a message and so I did. He writes to me: Can you breathe? I said: Yes, and then he replied: Can you see that it's not the planet Mars? That made me laugh.
Those little big things and phrases are the memories I will never forget, I have them as present as if it were today.
The noise in Barajas was too much and Catalina got scared, I had to give her some drops to calm her down. I had to wait 5 hours to board the plane to Malaga, my final destination.
I arrived in Spain on the 13th of June 2018 and that day I was born again, as I had died in the ocean. I always say that, I died and was born again.
After an hour and a half on the domestic flight I arrived in this wonderful city where I live today.
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I took a taxi and went to a hotel in the first instance, where I stayed for a week until I could rent and that's another great story. A hotel where they accepted pets. My room was tiny, but incredibly tiny. I had some anxiety there, or maybe a lot of it, but then things worked out.
This was a trip that made me grow as a person, I learned on it what I didn't learn in 40 years and I have to say it, and I didn't look back.
I turned my life around like a sock and it was for the better, sometimes it is necessary. It forged me much more into the woman I am now. I needed to prove to myself that I could and I did.
I've cried, I've suffered and it wasn't easy and it isn't easy today, but it's worth it, because every single thing I go through makes me better, better every day.
I have never learned so much in my life as I did during this trip and the first months here, I will never forget every detail of this experience.
Many people tell me that you have been very brave. I tell them I don't think so, just .... I didn't look back. Always forward. Always.
Thank you so much @mipiano and @jesuslnrs for inviting me to post in this beautiful community of memories and to be able to make known what marked my life. A big hug to both of you.
And thank you all for watching and reading this far. Best regards and see you next time.
Amonet.
Separators created by me in Photoshop.
Used translator Deepl.com free version.