Ligia Beatrice Vasilescu was born in Bucharest, lived in this city until her destiny made her live in another capital, Chișinău. For more than 20 years she lived “among foreigners”, as she sometimes says. During this period, she returned very few times to Bucharest, so she almost forgot what “home” looked like. The destiny is the same that brought her to Bucharest this summer. This time she did not come alone, but accompanied by her two children: Maximilian and Ionuț.
If for her Bucharest was as familiar as possible, although the city has changed enormously during the recent years, for her boys the city was a completely new place, in which they learned to adapt. They came here as two foreigners, so to say, whom Bucharest adopted.
Although it has only been a few months since they first arrived in the city, the two boys have integrated seamlessly. In fact, they never felt foreigners because they had a permanent feeling that they were received gladly and that no one rejected them. The fact that Bucharest is a cultural mix and that it is the home of people from all corners of the country, but also from many regions around the globe, made this integration very easy. Only the accent they sometimes reminds someone that they come from another country.
“Mommy, we’re home!”
“I returned to Bucharest this summer, in June. I was amazed to find another city compared to the one I left 20 years ago. First of all, it is no longer a grey city. It is a live one, in which you feel you are living. My younger child, two days after we moved, said to me, “Mommy, we’re home!”, Ligia remembers.
The move she made forced her to find immediately solutions for her children. “Unlike Chișinău, I also report to that city because I lived there, Bucharest has a lot to offer. I can say that it has a lot to offer even compared to other European capitals that many of us have visited as tourists. I, for instance, am very happy that there are many opportunities for children to follow various programs that help them develop. And Bucharest has something I really like: the parks. There were parks 20 years ago, too, only now those parks seem to have come back to life. I do not know how to explain it, but they are different. We are very close to Carol Park and we go almost daily to this park to relax”, says Ligia.
“I discovered the real Bucharest”
The experience she now lives, has given her the opportunity to realise that we do not value people very much, that we do not always value what we have. This is also the case for Bucharest residents who complain that they do not like their city. “Only now have I seen how beautiful this city is. Twenty years ago, I was in the same whirlwind of life, and it seemed to me that I lived in a city that was tired of me, not giving me what I wanted. It is true that Bucharest has changed enormously, but its beauty has always existed. Now, when I returned, I discovered the true Bucharest”, states Ligia.
She says that living “among foreigners” made her aware of how good she feels at home. “My city is very beautiful, it is a city perfectly integrated into the European landscape, it is an evolved city. It is the most beautiful city I know and I have only now managed to see it as it really is. Although I was born here and lived an important part of my life in Bucharest, I was in a hurry not being aware of how lucky I was. Only now, when I returned, did I see the spectacular architecture, the uniqueness of the neighborhoods of old houses. Even these communist blocks, which I hated when I was a child, now seem perfectly integrated into the landscape. I believe that Romanians must learn to appreciate their country and to put an end to this tendency to criticise absolutely everything”, says Ligia.
Bucharest has something that is missing from many other cities: it offers a high degree of safety.
“In this city you have everything you need in order to live. Even this crowd, which many complain about, I think, is part of the charm of Bucharest. It is important to learn to see things differently and always look at the full side of the glass. If we always have a negative attitude and refuse to enjoy what is given to us, we will not be able to live happily. I think we need to be more tolerant, to accept each other as we are and thus to find the peace we need”, notes Ligia.
I asked her what her favourite places are in Bucharest and she told me immediately that Carol Park remains her favourite. Furthermore, she really likes the area near the Patriarchy Hill, it is the area where she lives and she says that this offered her the opportunity to find herself. She also likes the old churches in Bucharest, she even visited a few, but also the playgrounds for children. In fact, she likes Bucharest as a whole, because she feels that it is the city that will give her children the opportunity to develop.
Author: Ștefania Enache
Photo: Corina Gheorghe
