It's been six months since I last wrote a blog post - since I last wrote anything, for that matter.

And that's because it's been a busy six months.

Like I was saying in my last blog post, sometime last year I finally decided to go back to my homeland. But, because I am a practical and organised kind of person, I didn't just up and leave. Instead, I applied for a job - for, alas, even published writers cannot, for the most part, live off their art.

As one of my favourite writers, Terry Pratchett, said:

Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages.

So I studied, prepared myself, took the interview and got the job (yay!) - and moved back to Romania in February.

New job = steep learning curve = lack of energy or spare time to write.

Not to mention all the administrative and practical details, unpacking, exploring the neighbourhood and the city. It has changed since I left, more than 15 years ago.

This is the first time since I came back that I opened my laptop and sat down to write something - i.e. this blog post.

There has been some spare time, but I used it to see family and friends that I had sorely missed, to entertain my first guests here in Bucharest (who loved it, by the way^^) and to generally enjoy some of the vast array of things this big and lively city has to offer.

I've walked more than I walked in ages, and my car is getting bored in the garage. You don't really need a car if you live here and you don't mind walking for a bit (or more, in my case. I love to walk 🙂 ). There's good public transport (albeit not always 100% reliable, due to traffic, but the subway is a very good option), there's Uber, there's Bolt, there are cheap taxis. The car may be just for trips outside the city. Soon, I hope.

There's no way to get bored here, unless you specifically want to.

The cat also likes it here and seems very happy and relaxed, although the flat I am renting is rather noisy during the day - tram passing by like thunder under my windows, police car and ambulance sirens rivalling those of New York City, car traffic... but maybe he actually likes that. There's a long row of windows in the living room and he loves sitting or lounging there. I guess it's like cat TV :))

Now that I am a bit settled in my new life and in my new job, I have been feeling the urge to start writing again - I just need to make sure I leave myself enough time and energy at the end of the week for that. And refrain from enrolling in any time-consuming language/art classes, as tempting as they may be (and they surely are), or in the Horticulture undergrad studies I've been considering for a couple of years now.

At least for a while. Maybe just this year, until I get the ol' creative engine started.

Last year I wrote a collection of short stories for the Luxembourg National Literature Competition. It didn't win anything, but I still think it's worth to put it out there and let it have a life of its own, so that may be my first project since I returned.

I say "may be" because the tone and the entire feel of the collection are rather melancholy and don't really fit the happy springtime (nor summer, nor autumn). It is a collection for the winter. So it may have to wait until then, unless I find some melancholy space in my mind for it.

But it may be hard to do that since, six months after, I am happier than I have been in years... I guess that says a lot. I should have returned sooner, but better later than never, eh? 🙂

I leave you now with a small collage from the end of April, when I volunteered for the Sand Marathon [RO] in my hometown, Constanța <3 I'd move back there in a heartbeat if I could - and perhaps in a few years I will be able to do that #fingerscrossed.