We've arrived...

Flight 120 to Barcelona landed safely with all 6 Ruotolos and 2 little puppies all safe and sound. We've had some adventures in getting settled, waiting 4 hours at the airport to get our puppies, Broken washing machine, missing air shipments (rumor has it we'll get it tomorrow). We've had a successful trip to Ikea to make the house a bit more liveable until our shipments arrive. The kids all pitched in to help put the furniture together. Please don't mention the crooked drawers when you come to visit.

Andrea though has successfully ordered the family a steak dinner when we went out to dinner, which ended with a slight peanut scare. Note: Chocolate desserts tend to have peanuts in them. We've learned that we need to ask before we order the dessert if it has Cacahuetes in it.

Rumor has it the missing air shipment will arrive tomorrow. Our sea shipment should be on it's heels early next week. The kids start school on Tuesday. We're all looking forward to that day.

We want to send out a super huge thanks to those who made our last weeks in Hopkinton and NJ easier and fun. We miss you all already.

hasta la vista!

This is Joe

Today I'm leaving for New Jersey to see my best friend Mitchel Toran. I am so exited I haven't seen him in 1 year. I miss hanging out with him in the summer but I cant any more because I am moving to Spain.I hope all my friends visit me in Spain. Lately I have had braces but just a couple days ago I got them off.I love to smile and now I feel more comfortable without braces, but I have to wear a plastic retaner until I get the real one and I can only take it off when I am eating and when I am brushing my teeth. It's a drag having such messed up teeth.

Pic spam and What is Seny y rauxa anyway?

Practicing pictures...

The moment we've all been waiting for!!!

Andrea and Joe without braces!

Andrea's bright big smile...

Joe without his braces!!

So, about now you are probably wondering what is with the title of our blog. Barcelona is located in the Catalan region of Spain. It's in the northeast section close to France. They are a rather independent sort who have a lot of local pride. They even speak their own language. This poses an interesting challenge when we're out and about. First we have to figure out whether someone is speaking in Catalan or Spanish. Then we have to translate. Catalan is sort of a hybred of Spanish and French. For instance, "good day" is "Bon Dia" in Catalan, "Buenas Dias" in Spanish and "Bon Jour" in French. Anyway, I'm digressing.

In one of my many travel books it talks about this Catalan phrase, seny y rauxa. It refers to two emotions that guide the Catalan people. Seny is common sense, a sense of orderliness. And rauxa is described as a creative chaos. As soon as I heard that translation I thought, this is the place for us. Mostly because our family is all about creative chaos. I'm not sure we're all that organized or abounding in common sense but we've certainly got the rauxa covered. So, I thought it would be a good title for our little blog. Hopefully we can mix a little common sense with our creative chaos and live a good life in Spain.

The guy is here to pack our air shipment. Yep, you read that right, one guy. Poor man, someone misinformed or packing company regarding the amount of the shipment. They are calling in reinforcements but we're not sure it's going to happen. It's going to be an interesting day. The computer is getting packed. We should have a lap top that works to access the internet. But, if I disappear on you all for a week or two it's because we're moving.

Hasta la vista, amigos!

And so it begins.

Several months ago Nick approached me with the idea of moving to Barcelona, Spain. Seeing as it had only been a few years since we last moved, among many promises that this was the absolute last move until the kids graduated from high school, I said no. My biggest concern was the kids adjusting to a whole new enviroment. It seemed like a lot to ask of them. But, we went ahead and asked the kids what they thought and to both of our surprise the kids were enthusiastically for the move. And thus started a brand new stage of our life.
As usual, I started this venture by going out and buying a half a dozen travel books on Spain and Barcelona. It truly is a beautiful city with so much culture and art. Not to mention is sits on the Mediterranean. Hello, Europe...here we come.
We're all very excited about learning Spanish, visiting all the countries in Europe, and having a chance to experience what it like to live in another country. What we're all having a harder time with is leaving behind so many great friends and family members. We've invited you all to visit, and we're serious, please come. But, until that day comes we wanted a place where we could connect on a regular basis. That is where this blog comes in. I'm new to this particular blog so please bear with me and my learning curve. Feel free to comment and stop by as you can. I'll be posting pictures of our happenings to keep you updated. It'll be like we never left. (Although, a little more quiet on your end.)
We'll be in Spain the week of the 18th. I'm not sure how long it takes to get the internet connection up and going but I'll update this as soon as I can.