Monday, April 11, 2011

Successful in another country?

   I have no recipe on how to be successful in a foreign country. If i had that, i would be on an yacht, sipping my rum & coke, on a permanent summer vacation. The truth is, I am just an average guy, on a permanent search for self improvement, not necessarily with the goal of getting rich.

   First time away from home was Kuwait. Now, that was an interesting experience! A friend of mine told me that before getting in Kuwait he thought he will get palm trees, sunshine, good food... while in Kuwait, he said he was still waiting for the palm trees. I got confused, the palm trees were there! Then, he said: 'i am still waiting for the real ones!" and he was right: the place was gorgeous, somehow, but fake. And still, i loved it! Being European in Kuwait was fantastic, opened a lot of doors.

   Now, i am in Cyprus. Before landing here, i thought it is a small paradise island. How wrong I was! From the creepy airport (Larnaca was operating the old airport back then, but now that has changed a lot), to shitty services offered, and the general picture of the city... I thought I am making a step back! And there was no way back for me, I didn't wanted to go home with the tail between my legs, and say I was wrong going away. And I stayed. I lived with a friend for 2 weeks, then for another 2 weeks I lived in a decommissioned house, and then i found a job... small one, just to get by, but i could start only a month later... the thought of sleeping on the beach ate away my courage, and in the old, decommissioned house, i couldn't stay anymore, the owner didn't allow me to. At that point, i had about 10 euros in my pocket, and those were given to me by a friend.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Welcome to a different World!

How many of us are away from home?
  I am among those who left the safety of my nest, to start over, and why not, to find adventure. Some did find it (in a good sense), i for one, did not... I dived in a world that i wasn't prepared for, a world that has been cruel to me, that shaped my life in unexpected ways. But it wasn't all wrong! Somehow, i managed to get by, and, yes, be successful, and by that i mean staying alive, and keeping myself sane. 

  I come from a place that many heard of, but never knew how it is, which is a shame. I come from a place cut from a pastoral time, and forcefully brought into this century, where you can still drink spring water, find mushrooms in the forest, and get lost in the immensity of an untouched landscape. I grew up eating cherries and apples from the orchards around my town, and probing the slopes on a plastic bag in the winter (that almost broke my ass and legs a few times, in the same trees that were offering me cherries in the summer). I come from Transilvania! Sounds scary, doesn't it? Well, it isn't! Even now, when i put my foot on that beloved piece of soil, i find, well... Peace. Whenever i go there, i stop, just stop everything for a minute, look around, and breathe in that air that fed me as a child, and i can feel the ground keeping me there, with a magnetic touch... and i become a stone, a part of it again, even if only for a moment. I can feel that piece of land being proud of having me stepping on those old paths, proud of having me back, even for a short time, being happy that I've remembered  where i come from.

How far are we from home?
  Before asking that question, we should ask ourselves, where is home for us, what home means to us. I am home, i live in someone's heart, and it means everything to me! everything else is... well, memory mixed with melancholy.

Paul