Bold, brave, and brilliant

Just around this time, near the end of last century I put my whole life in one brown suitcase, and with the determination of a child and the wit of young age, crossed half the world to settle somewhere so far and so different. Upon my arrival, the mix of compassion and contempt was overwhelming. I was immediately confronted with my own self doubt. Everything was so new, the way of living was different from what I was used to, and even the scent of the air was a constant reminder of my foreign environment. I remember the smells of different cultures fusing, spices from around the world, different languages down the hall, and new holidays not known to me.

I had to live by adapting, learning, and figuring things out one day at the time. Besides that, I was gifted with the best role in life—to be a parent. Life was just adding more colors to my palette with its difficulties, but I felt that with every bump in the road I was getting stronger. At times I felt I was swimming in the sea of challenges, with sharks, and every now and then a smaller fish. In the years that followed, as my children were growing, I felt the ground under my feet become more stable. New world around me slowly became my world, memories that I created around me added some unforgettable spices to my life. My horizons expended, people, food, culture, habits were just part of my everyday journey.

When I look back at that journey now, I would make the same choices. I would go through the same trials and turbulence, and make the most out of every experience.