My earliest memories

Firstly, I’d like to mention that I am currently juggling several projects and I will do my utmost to write on a regular basis but my health does get in the way at times.  Not to mention other unforeseen hurdles that I find myself leaping over every other day.  I am also going to start at the very beginning for the sake of not forgetting the many lessons I’ve learned throughout my life so far.  Yes, my posts might take a somewhat negative tone BUT just continue reading until the end to get a dose of that silver lining I hold on to so dearly.

When I think back to the first few years of my life, it’s almost like I’m watching a slideshow. My memories until the age of 5 are comprised of flashes here and moments there. I remember living in a nice home with my family and enjoying the company of our energetic bull terrier. I remember “swimming” with my brothers in a portable pool in the yard and riding around on black plastic motorcycles. I remember when my mother got her first car and how excited my father was when he presented to her.

I don’t remember socialising all that much as a young child. I had two older brothers who entertained one another but I didn’t seem to fit in so I would play on my own. I guess this was a good thing given what my future would hold. I was quite independent from a young age and I enjoyed doing things for myself.

I remember starting kindergarten but my school year was somewhat disrupted when my family moved to a new home about 30km away. I remember moving and how stiflingly hot it was. The dry air almost scorched my throat and it surprised me how the weather was so different in our new neighbourhood. I remember growing up for the first five years of my life surrounded by English-speaking people. When we moved, however, we found ourselves in the company of more Afrikaans-speaking people. This was a huge culture shock for all of us and for my brothers in particular.

Now, with all of these supposed negative aspects in mind, it is also important to maintain a healthy perspective. When I look back at how I had to adjust to a different culture in my own home country, I realise that it was a kind of practice round for what was to come. I lived in Cape Town, South Africa for most of my life and I became quite accustomed to the multi-cultural society with huge freedoms afforded to me. Later, I worked and travelled through the United States and Canada. I was fortunate enough to visit Mexico as well and ended up settling in Romania! Now THAT was a culture shock! Not only did I need to adjust to a new language, but also a new culture and way of life. Everything was so different to what I was used to but I just had to dig deep to access my inner strength to make it through. So, that’s my silver lining at the end of it all! What happened years ago helped prepare me for my future and thank goodness or else I probably would never have made it!