Aug 28, 2016
By Ana Betancourt
Christchurch, New Zealand will always be in my heart
It’s not the miles from Home what made Me Change. It was the Emotions and Experiences New to Me. At the End I did traveled far enough, but just enough to find myself.
And I had to travel miles, distance myself for my closest things, and experience many different emotions to discover about myself, to embrace myself.
I had to keep the distance from what I knew or thought it was safe to be born again.
I had to come to the other side of the world to understand and discover myself.
I didn’t travel places. I traveled emotions inside of me.
I didn’t distance myself from Home. I created a new Home.
My heart became new; my eyes saw the bright light again.
My soul was lifted.
I was born again here.
I FELT ALIVE AND FREE AGAIN!
See, I didn’t travel just for the sake of traveling. I was naïve.
I didn’t know that away from Home you can actually find yourself.
See… I LEARNED THAT TODAY…
I had to get away to truly find myself AND FREEDOM….AGAIN!
This is my poetic way to explain all my feelings since I have moved to Christchurch, New Zealand. I wish I had more eloquent words to describe all the wonders that this country offers. It’s not only a beautiful country for its gorgeous landscapes, but it is also a country filled with great and humble people.
I moved from Miami to Christchurch, New Zealand in February of 2012 with my husband as an expatriate wife. I came with the “Miami” ideas if you can call it that, you know the big city girl ideas. And I was changed.
In Christchurch I learned to relax, to reconnect with myself. To learn about the kiwi culture, to understand that they enjoy being around nature. And that if ask them about the world, they are probably well traveled folks, but they will always return to their home country.
I learned to smile back when they smile at me walking on the street because the kiwis are very polite, and you should smile back! I learned that is ok to recycle your cartoon eggs because is just nice to return to the veggie store with a full bag of cartoon eggs to give back to them and see their smile. And to show them that you care for the environment and that you care for their store.
I learned that even being miles away from home, I can still enjoy Latin music because kiwis have a taste for dancing salsa. I learned that if you suffer a loss, like I did, a big loss, a miscarriage, the kiwis will be there for you. They will prepare your meals, they will clean your house, they will give you a word of comfort and they will be calling you back just to make sure you are doing ok.
These four years spent in New Zealand made me open my eyes to new cultures, to trying new things in life. I even tried to ski for god sake! I, the Cuban / Miami only beach please kind of girl. These four years have been amazing, and I will totally recommend visiting New Zealand.
Thank you Christchurch for all this time with Me, you made ME a new person, you gave Me back my FREEDOM WINGS!
Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Independence 2016 Travel Writing Award and tell your story.
About the Author
Ana Betancourt
Born in Havana, Cuba, I emigrated to the US with my family aged 14 and have been living here as an expatriate wife since January 2012. I am currently working on publishingmy first children's book and also promoting my blog. (www.anitasfootprints.com)