When Dreams are Calling by Carol Vorvain Read Free Book Online Page A

was
taking place all the time: while eating, cooking, taking a shower,
crying or
looking for jobs. Soon, my body was entirely covered by self-made
temporary
tattoos, depicting not some forgotten lover or dead pet, but just plain
English
words. Not being able to say what I wanted, the way I wanted was
incredibly
frustrating and made me think for a second of those unfortunate enough
to be
born without a voice.
    “Maybe it’s time for me to learn the sign
language,” one day I said
to Robert.
    “Sorry, sweetie, but even the sign language is
not universal. I’m
afraid you’re stuck with English. And with this pineapple that you’ll
have to
eat today if you don’t want to become a ghost. Later on, we could go
and feed
the angry geese or just listen to Michael Buble.”
    “I don’t want any pee-nap-uhl and any jeez . And
I hate that Michael Buhb-uhl .”
    “Sure, you don’t, sweetie. You want gees and pahy-nap-uhl ,
and maybe some Michael Boo-ble ,” he corrected me
gently.
    “Damn it! I’m so tired…”
    “You’re freakin’cute! Don’t worry! You’ll get
it!”
    Day by day, the whole process was becoming
easier. He was slowly learning
a bit of Romanian and I was making huge progress with English.
    On my birthday, Robert, with the help of master
Google, wrote me a card
in broken Romanian:
    “ La multi ani! Sa fii fericita si
iubita! Te ador! ” Meaning: “Happy
Birthday! Be happy and loved! I adore you!”
    When I read it, I burst into tears. His
devotion to me, to my dream,
to my well-being was more than anyone could ask. He must have been an
angel sent
by God. And so, each day I expected he would just disappear, same as he
came,
out of nowhere.
    “Thank you,” I said giving him a strong kiss on the cheek. 
    “You’re welcome. But if you keep crying, next
time I’ll have to
write it in English. And it would not be even half as fun as writing
this one
was.”
    “But it will be easier!”
    “Pfff ! If it’s easy and no fun, there’s no
deal, you should run.”
    Despite Robert’s support, my first few months
were miserable. I felt
terribly lonely, depressed with not getting a job and very tired. My
mind was
tormented by questions and doubts. Nothing could have prepared me for
such a
different life than the one I was used to or the one I was hoping to
find.
    But no day was passing without promising myself
that one day, I
would feel at home in Canada. One day I would be a lawyer again,
meaning in my
mind simply that one day I will be someone again, at least more than a
lost
child with nothing but dreams. And this kept me going.
----
    Dora’s
Journal Notes  
There is no other
trip like the one you
embark on finding yourself.
Adapting and
belonging are two
different things. Try to adapt less and belong more.
Where luck fails,
resilience succeeds.
If people will
want to help you, they
will do it without too much talking and if they don’t, a million of
reasons
will not be enough.
Only when
compassion translates into
action, you know it is genuine.
Learn from
disappointment, but don’t let
disappointment rule you.
----

9
Before Jobs, There are Choices
    Finding
jobs is never dull
    And
most definitely not fun!
    Stand
your ground or simply wait,
    Hope,
believe, just hang on, mate!

Sometimes what
we look for in faraway places, we might find close to us.
    And so, after looking for jobs in newspapers
without much luck, a neighbor
offered me my first job in Canada.
    Together with him, I installed bathtubs. The
pay for my one and only
day of work: a pair of cheap running shoes and a meal.
    Now let me tell you that, although for a
trained lawyer it was not
quite exciting, it was definitely challenging. Plus no one in my family
had ever
installed bathtubs. For the first time, I got to be the first. Wasn’t
that something?
I was laughing to myself imaging my poor mom’s conversation with her
fellow doctor
friends:
    “So, what is your daughter doing in Canada? Is
she doing her master
in law?”
    “No,