#12

If there is magic in the world – it is family recipes.

The dishes that you are familiar with since you are a kid, your comfort food. Those are the real potions. And if you are able to cook them – you’ll be fine. Cause you are taking your home with you, wherever you go.

Just the smell of your favourite soup can bring you back home. The crepes can make you feel a small kid again, waiting for the family reunion. Borsch simply makes me happy, especially as a breakfast dish. Apple juice with celery reminds me mornings and my mom. Oatmeal – my fathers habit, and now mine as well. Hot sandwiches with melted cheese – and I am 6 again.

Some people ask me how I am holding on, living so far from my family. They say it is hard. And it is, in some sense. But I found out, after almost a year, that I am like a turtle. I am bringing my loved ones with me. Always. You don’t necessarily have to live in one place, if they take space in your heart and thoughts.

It is hard to live in another culture, in another language. I am not saying another climate, cause I have no complains about eternal summer. Really, not a single one. Yes, I miss the snow – but 2 days of snow would be enough for me. And here I can have papaya, maracuya and melon 365 days per year. Snow vs fruits?

It is hard – but hard in good sense. Hard that makes you smarter, more independent, more understanding, more open. Hard that teaches you. There is not other experience like that. And I will always be grateful for that.