growing without growing up
I want you to hold me
every day and in my sleep
I want to wake up next to you
I want to tell you
about my day
about my plans
about my dreams
I want to write this chapter
with both our names in it
I want us
to create routines
to kiss each other’s tears
I want to be myself
I want you to be yourself
I want us to be us
every day and in my sleep
I want you to hold me
growing without growing up
Ten years ago, on August 31st in 2012, I created this blog and named it aNadventures. I think it was a Friday. I was about to leave for my study-abroad-adventure in Izmir, which started in September that same year. I was looking for an outlet to share my personal adventures of life in Turkey and of life in general. In my welcome post, I wrote the following:
“You will find all sorts of things here: funny anecdotes, strange things happening to me and my surroundings, my impressions of Turkey, Berlin, the world and much more. At least, that’s the plan. Let’s see how it turns out.”
It turns out, Im’ still blogging. Ten years later. Who would have thought? Certainly not me. I simply created this cozy virtual space and started filling it with experiences, impressions and musings. Post by post, week by week and year by year, aNadventures turned into what it is today: a virtual piece of my soul accessible to everyone who takes the time to read it.
In my first post, I wrote about my first encounter with Turkish tea. Four hundred thirteen posts later, I find myself sharing a bitterly romantic poem in Spanish. In between, so much has happened, changed and evolved. I’ve celebrated previous milestones: the 2nd aNaversary, the 3rd aNaversary, the 5th aNaversary and the 8th aNaversary of this blog, for instance.
I love flicking through these virtual pages. They remind me of past versions of myself. They make me smile or laugh or feel proud of my process. At the same time, they reflect who I am and who I might still be in the future. To celebrate, I’m putting together a selection of ten posts I’ve shared on aNadventures in the course of the past ten years. These are simply ten posts out of many that I currently vibe with:
- Confessions of a heart of stone
- 25 things I learnt from living in Turkey
- Two kebabs to go
- Home is where my keys are
- Turkey: It was meant to be
- Mission completed
- When I write
- 15 lessons learnt on the Camino Portugués
- The One Where I acknowledge 2020
- Poetry
Here’s to aNadventures. Here’s to you, who’s reading me. Here’s to ten more days, months or years of blogging. Happy 10th aNaversary!
How about YOU? What’s one recent milestone you’d like to celebrate? Feel free to share your ideas in the comment section.
a la luz
de la vela…
¡qué romántica!
pero tus ojos
sufrirán
a la espera
de la noche..
¡qué ilusa!
porque sus labios
faltarán
Note: This poem is inspired by my wonderful friend, Danae, who texted me the first few lines upon seeing the picture. I found her words had some nice rhythm to them, so I decided to turn them into a poem. Below, you’ll find an English transcreation.
An birliktirmek –
Tane tane
anılar hayat olur.
An birliktirmek,
an saklamak,
hayattan saklamamak
demektir.
Hayat yaşamak
demektir.
Bol bol.
[ ~ Today, I felt like writing in Turkish. Below, you can find an English transcreation of this poem. ]
Moments
Collecting moments –
My happiness tastes of sun rays after a long winter. It smells of jokes in the moonlight, sounds like hugs in the rain. It feels soft and I carefully take hold of it. I stretch out one hand at first, then the other one. I clap my hands because I’m so happy to feel this way… Oops!
I wish I hadn’t clapped. I’ve dropped my happiness. I hold my breath. A tear finds its way from the corner of my eye to the tip of my nose. Drip drip drip. I breathe in, breathe out. Maybe I can still save my happiness? I bend down and pick up the pieces. One piece in particular catches my attention. It’s a big one. Like a mirror. The image becomes blurred from the mist of tears. It feels pleasant, somehow soft. Like my happiness. This could be a nice ending. If it weren’t the end.
My heart is a stranger
I only just met.
A friendly reminder
to make it out of bed.
My heart is a parcel
that waits to be picked up.
A warm sip of coffee
served in a chipped cup.
My heart is a triangle
lost in the Bermudas.
It’s fluent in Turkish
and Spanish, sin dudas.
My heart is the sun, Read more…
Late en el pecho
Late a su ritmo
Late en la noche
Late al despertar
Late de frente
Late con fuerza
Late de paso
Late sin control
Late viajando
Late soñando
Late olvidando
Late macchiato
Late en turco
Late en español
Late en familia
Late al sol
Late poesías
Late labiales
Late verdades
Late ladrillos
Late a primera vista
Y espero que no mate
Late una última vez
Ese que tanto late
aNadventures 