Life is a funny place to be in.
This is how I was feeling this Sunday, when I was in a rickshaw on my way to meet a good friend. It's a feeling that I've had before. A very funny one on its own: a feeling of total fullness and peacefulness, of being on the right place, at the right time, with the right people. Another funny aspect of it, it tends to come to me when I'm alone and either thinking or on the direction of meeting a good friend.
In order to explain myself, I will talk to you today about my childhood. It's something that I had thought for a while to write about. I hope it might come into place today.
I guess you have all marvelled at how sometimes we can remember some mundane, unspecial moments of our lives from the past, with such clarity; while, some other more critical moments might have felt into a dark space we can hardly remember. I can think, as an example, how I can remember being a child on the mountain village where my father was born, "stealing" biscuits from my father's aunt, to bring it to my friends and play camping. However, I cannot remember the holidays we took with my grandmother, where she felt sick, so sick that doctors thought she didn't have more than few moths left. Luckily, that tough woman survived another good beautiful 9 years.
So... here it is, that clear simple moment of my childhood I still can remember; and the fact that I do, has make all the difference for me, so many times:
"I am 10 years old and it is the month of May. In order to go to school, I go with my cousin (we went to the same school and the same class until we turned 14) through the same route our parents have taught us. We are now "old" enough to be trusted to go on our own. The walk is only 20 minutes, after all.
As it is May, a month I specially love cause my birthday falls on it, I'm all distracted by the blooming spring and I am stoping every few meters to collect a flower.
My favourite part, it's when we approach the small spring and the edges are full with poppy flowers: these red, soft flowers that only come for a few weeks in spring, only grow on the wild and are so beautiful, but will almost die instantly if you pick them. I obviously collect a few, till my cousin breaks with my dreamer state by asking a question... What is the second longest river in Europe?
That's when I remember that the same afternoon we are having a Geography exam and I had been studying after lunch all these rivers and mountains and all of this data, so I could pass my exam. Because... who will ever need to know where these long rivers are? or how many countries they pass through their course? I have never come outside my neighbourhood alone and I have never gone farther than my grandma's home (300km south from where we lived, in Spain) So.... "
The point of this story comes a good 13 years later, when I was on my Erasmus year (a EU grant program to go study in other EU countries) It was late February and it was very cold. I was pretty new in town yet, so I was following other Erasmus students through town, without taking much notice of everything we passed by. I was too busy keeping my hands warm.
We were crossing the river to reach a mall, where we were planing to have coffee. That's when it hit me. I turned around, looked at the water and remembered that 10 years old. I laughed and cried all in one go. I experienced that feeling of "life is a funny place to be in". I was looking at the Danube, the second longest river in Europe, and it was no longer in an unreachable sphere of impossible dreams and distances, but just under my feet.
I wished I could have gone back on time and told that little girl how much proud I was of her. I had been felling scared and lonely, in that new place, before we approached the river and it all had passed away in an instant, the moment I realised I had the Danube under my feet, and what a big difference it actually made to me.
So... yes, you all know I haven't had the best of times here when I started (if you didn't know yet, just look at any of my previous posts, you'll see) And I had grown tired of my own constant complains, so you might all have been wondering what was the reason it took me so long to write again. Partially, procrastination and partially getting used to the place still takes most of my energy and time.
India is not an easy place to live in and it can get a bit scary at times, particularly as a single women. However, truth is, I have passed through that and I am loving it here. I know that, because this Sunday I was able to remember my 10 years old me and I was proud of her again. That little girl who thought that the Danube was soooooooo far away, unreachable, impossible, so difficult to get as to catch the moon and who has made it all the way through Europe and into the "Asian sub-continent". And not only that! I am travelling around, I am learning a new culture, I am making new friends and I am having fun!!!!
While getting there has been a tough experience, and I have talked a lot about the frustrations of my early days, there have been a good list of fun things I have been doing. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun doing them, that I didn't get the time to write and come here to tell you all about it. So, here it goes:
1- I participated in a charity food festival. I cooked "Torrijas" (the spanish version of French Toast). We collected about USD 10k for a charity that helps kids with disabilities (http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-for-underprivileged-children-bangalore/) :D It felt wonderful.
2- I went to visit Pondichery, for a full weekend and ate yummy croissants.
3- I met friends in a Hotel brunch, where we could swim in the pool and eat great local and international food.
4- I had my roommate cooking the most tasty italian pizza in all of India for me.
5- I had many friends for lunch at home, many weekends, specially since we bought the oven.
6- I participated in some great company events to get to know my colleagues: Family day, Sports day and, soon to come, Dance Competition day.
7- I bursted crackers for Diwali festival and loved the fireworks we created.
And with that, I will leave you all for today with the beginning of this blog entry: Life, is such a funny place to be in. But I am loving every bit of it (even the dark and frustrating times). I wouldn't change it for anything!
This is how I was feeling this Sunday, when I was in a rickshaw on my way to meet a good friend. It's a feeling that I've had before. A very funny one on its own: a feeling of total fullness and peacefulness, of being on the right place, at the right time, with the right people. Another funny aspect of it, it tends to come to me when I'm alone and either thinking or on the direction of meeting a good friend.
In order to explain myself, I will talk to you today about my childhood. It's something that I had thought for a while to write about. I hope it might come into place today.
I guess you have all marvelled at how sometimes we can remember some mundane, unspecial moments of our lives from the past, with such clarity; while, some other more critical moments might have felt into a dark space we can hardly remember. I can think, as an example, how I can remember being a child on the mountain village where my father was born, "stealing" biscuits from my father's aunt, to bring it to my friends and play camping. However, I cannot remember the holidays we took with my grandmother, where she felt sick, so sick that doctors thought she didn't have more than few moths left. Luckily, that tough woman survived another good beautiful 9 years.
So... here it is, that clear simple moment of my childhood I still can remember; and the fact that I do, has make all the difference for me, so many times:
"I am 10 years old and it is the month of May. In order to go to school, I go with my cousin (we went to the same school and the same class until we turned 14) through the same route our parents have taught us. We are now "old" enough to be trusted to go on our own. The walk is only 20 minutes, after all.
As it is May, a month I specially love cause my birthday falls on it, I'm all distracted by the blooming spring and I am stoping every few meters to collect a flower.
My favourite part, it's when we approach the small spring and the edges are full with poppy flowers: these red, soft flowers that only come for a few weeks in spring, only grow on the wild and are so beautiful, but will almost die instantly if you pick them. I obviously collect a few, till my cousin breaks with my dreamer state by asking a question... What is the second longest river in Europe?
That's when I remember that the same afternoon we are having a Geography exam and I had been studying after lunch all these rivers and mountains and all of this data, so I could pass my exam. Because... who will ever need to know where these long rivers are? or how many countries they pass through their course? I have never come outside my neighbourhood alone and I have never gone farther than my grandma's home (300km south from where we lived, in Spain) So.... "
The point of this story comes a good 13 years later, when I was on my Erasmus year (a EU grant program to go study in other EU countries) It was late February and it was very cold. I was pretty new in town yet, so I was following other Erasmus students through town, without taking much notice of everything we passed by. I was too busy keeping my hands warm.
We were crossing the river to reach a mall, where we were planing to have coffee. That's when it hit me. I turned around, looked at the water and remembered that 10 years old. I laughed and cried all in one go. I experienced that feeling of "life is a funny place to be in". I was looking at the Danube, the second longest river in Europe, and it was no longer in an unreachable sphere of impossible dreams and distances, but just under my feet.
I wished I could have gone back on time and told that little girl how much proud I was of her. I had been felling scared and lonely, in that new place, before we approached the river and it all had passed away in an instant, the moment I realised I had the Danube under my feet, and what a big difference it actually made to me.
So... yes, you all know I haven't had the best of times here when I started (if you didn't know yet, just look at any of my previous posts, you'll see) And I had grown tired of my own constant complains, so you might all have been wondering what was the reason it took me so long to write again. Partially, procrastination and partially getting used to the place still takes most of my energy and time.
India is not an easy place to live in and it can get a bit scary at times, particularly as a single women. However, truth is, I have passed through that and I am loving it here. I know that, because this Sunday I was able to remember my 10 years old me and I was proud of her again. That little girl who thought that the Danube was soooooooo far away, unreachable, impossible, so difficult to get as to catch the moon and who has made it all the way through Europe and into the "Asian sub-continent". And not only that! I am travelling around, I am learning a new culture, I am making new friends and I am having fun!!!!
While getting there has been a tough experience, and I have talked a lot about the frustrations of my early days, there have been a good list of fun things I have been doing. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun doing them, that I didn't get the time to write and come here to tell you all about it. So, here it goes:
1- I participated in a charity food festival. I cooked "Torrijas" (the spanish version of French Toast). We collected about USD 10k for a charity that helps kids with disabilities (http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-for-underprivileged-children-bangalore/) :D It felt wonderful.
2- I went to visit Pondichery, for a full weekend and ate yummy croissants.
3- I met friends in a Hotel brunch, where we could swim in the pool and eat great local and international food.
4- I had my roommate cooking the most tasty italian pizza in all of India for me.
5- I had many friends for lunch at home, many weekends, specially since we bought the oven.
6- I participated in some great company events to get to know my colleagues: Family day, Sports day and, soon to come, Dance Competition day.
7- I bursted crackers for Diwali festival and loved the fireworks we created.
And with that, I will leave you all for today with the beginning of this blog entry: Life, is such a funny place to be in. But I am loving every bit of it (even the dark and frustrating times). I wouldn't change it for anything!
1 comment:
This post is glorious! Im so proud of you! Everything is falling on its place! Love you!
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