by Natalia Essigmann
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A person accustomed to the wilderness, where trees and wildflowers make up the main population, will feel it in a major city, where skyscrapers and dreams reach for the sky.
What exactly does it feel like? Too many don’t know. It’s difficult to understand unless you’ve traveled to different places before. Different experiences make for extraordinary ones.
It almost feels strange; foreign to our own habits.
Although many wouldn’t see such an experience as remarkable or even interesting, every person who’s traveled knows how significant the experience truly is.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’ve traveled to Brazil several times before, although not as many as I would’ve liked to, and certainly not to the point where I am used to all its wonders. Whenever I get to see half of my blood there, I prepare myself to taste different foods, smell different scents, and hear different voices. I especially get excited about breathing different air.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I stared at my group of friends playing in the street.
I never sat still, but this time, I couldn’t leave the stone bench that sat under the single street lamp illuminating the dark cobblestone road.
The delicate night wind swirled around me, making my strands of hair dance along to its rhythm.
I could feel the lives of everyone in that neighborhood. I could smell and nearly taste the garlic and onions used in their foods. I could hear the laughter of my friends and the arguing of their parents. It all traveled in the wind.
I knew that only I could notice the differences between my own life and the life of my Brazilian neighbors and friends; they were not differences to them, but everyday life.
How wonderful it is when you feel life in a breeze.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments