I have been debating for too long on how I should start my first blog post and yet I still couldn't come up with a better start than this ... but as I am currently in Romania, enjoying the very hot weather and nice sunsets I have decided to base my first blog post on how beautiful and how simple my home here is.
To start with, I will like to say that before I came to London, started college and got into university I was living in Romania. It is the place where I was born and where I have spent almost nine years of my life - I went to secondary school there and also started high-school but couldn't finish it all. Moving to the UK was harder than I had ever expected for me personally, but after a little more time I've adjusted.
I have been coming home for five years now consecutively and spending Christmas or summer holidays here with my grandparents , family and friends. I like it here, and it's not only because of the amazing food my grandmother makes or because of the torrid summer days with over 32 degrees that can always give you a free tan but also a headache. It is mostly because every time I come here it fills me up with a good, warm feeling. It reminds me of a forgotten and ageless childhood !
Here , in a small village, just 5 miles outside town you can find a street full of wonderful people with beautiful , rustic houses and if you look closer you can spot mine too.
What I love most about my home are my two huge gardens that are full of vegetables and fruity trees as well as my courtyard. We have lots of flowers and the way the sun's rays lights it in the afternoon gives you a magical, summery feeling. It makes you feel peaceful and pleasing.
Throughout this summer holiday I have taken pictures of marvellous sunsets , at a lake in our village , the courtyard on an afternoon or of my grandparents going on with their old traditions and routines of summer and when looking back at them it makes me feel happy. Fulfilled to some extent. Do you know why? Because I am able to capture moments like this . Simple ones. Insignificant for others, but for me... the most important ones.
Nowadays we are rushing so much and get caught up with our daily routines that we forget to appreciate the simplest things in our lives. And when someone does appreciate the simplest things in life, it feels uncommon and serves as an amusing reason for others due to the modern generation we live in.
As a Taurus , I hate change and would rather prefer to stick to the past and to what I know, for ever if possible, which is why this place has a special place in my heart.Here, nothing has changed-it remained the same so when I'm in London and feel overwhelmed with the big city's business and noisiness, my heart takes me back here. Where it's always silent, where the winters always have snow and Christmas feels right, where the summers warm your heart and where for Easter there is always good cake on the table, laughter and joy.
It is a warmness that can only be felt, not touched. As the title says every year, even if the place remains the same, the experience is different. And this year the nature here has helped me to always remember how to be strong again, how to appreciate what God offers us every day when we open our eyes. I have learnt how to appreciate the sky with its multicoloured sunsets or painted sunrises, the small village with its people, the trees, the traditional naturally-made food, the innocent smiles everyone is sharing when crossing one another on the street, the simple beauty of everything surrounding me.
This summer has taught me how to find myself again and I know that even if I will need to repeat the process next year too, my home will wait for me just right here to offer its help once more !
As a final thought, most Romanians leave this country for a better life and loads of them never come back. In contrast to its political and economical system that has been and still is heavily criticised, I will always love it and return to it. It's because of its simple, natural-green beauty and homely power that I always leave a piece of my heart here when the time to go back comes...This way I will always have something to return to !
If you are a Romanian living overseas and reading this please think twice before judging it.If not then you should put it on your ''to visit'' list . I guarantee, you will not be sorry ! I had even put some pictures of my summer in Romania to show you why.
P.S The pictures are not edited because I wanted to show the exact moment I have captured in them and hopefully share with you at least half of how accomplished I've felt when taking them. I would also like to show you myself as I am , natural and not ashamed of any red spots or messy hair that may come up in some of them because real beauty is natural beauty and we should all love ourselves regardless of the beauty standards portrayed in this modern society and feel proud of who we are.
Enjoy !
Thank you,
Sandra