Travelling
I always loved traveling, and it seems like I have been doing it since I was born. It sure is something I got from my parents, as they both left their country, Mauritius, to come and try to find a better life in Europe. My dad came in France right away, while my mom lived for 7 years in Rome, and then 4 years in Monaco, before meeting my dad and settling with him in the South of France.
I had the chance to go to Mauritius a few times, and to visit other european countries, such as Spain, Italy, Switzerland or Belgium and I lived in London for almost a year (and fell in love with the city). Last year, I went to Chile, for a 6-months internship, and then went backpacking for a month with some friends, to Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil.
I’ve been “stuck in France since then, (for a year now), and I just can’t wait to leave again. I just love to visit other countries, meet people with different lifestyles and habits, with whom I can exchange experiences and stories. I love to discover new cultures, new languages, new type of food and be amazed by landscapes and monuments I’ve only seen in books or on documentary channels. I recently got that stupid fear of flying (at 22, how weird is that), but I just don’t let it get in the way of this passion. I just suck it up the entire flight. Most of my friends are big travelers like me (we did study foreign languages and international relations partly because of that), but other childhood friends just won’t leave the country, or even our hometown, because they’re afraid (understandable) or because they just don’t see the point. I can accept that, but I just don’t understand it. They are so many beautiful things in the world, and not even being curious about it, is something I don’t get.
Literature
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a bookworm. I taught myself to read with “Le Journal de Mickey” and “Picsou Magazine” (Scrooge McDuck), which were later replaced by books from the Bibliotèque Rose/Bibliotèque verte, in which I was following the exciting adventures of young (amateur) detectives (Nancy Drew, the Famous Five, and their french equivalent). The first time I saw Beauty and The Beast, I fell in love with the Beast’s library, and said to my mom “one day, I will have a library like that”.
Now, I unfortunately don’t have as much time as I did to read, but I still always have a book or my Kobo in my bag (a habit I picked up in London, where pretty much everyone is reading in the Tube and buses), and enjoy reading a few chapter before going to sleep, or sitting in the park and/or on the river bank on warm and sunny days. Nothing can stimulate my imagination like a book does.
I love cinema, I really do, but in a way, a movie puts barriers to your imagination, while a book doesn’t. Of course, in a book there is a story, a plot line, a scenery and characters, but in spite of that, you can still make it yours. I love that. I love novels and plays, but I also enjoy autobiographies. I love comedies, historical fictions, drama, but above all I love stories filled with magic, mystery and adventure (always the dreamer). Among my favorite books you can find, The Diary of a Young Girl, La Casa de los Espiritus (The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende), Harry Potter (here’s the magic), The Lost Art of Keeping Secret (Eva Rice), The Lion (Joseph Kessel) and Cyrano the Bergerac (Edmond Rostand). I recently got into anthropological and sciency books, and as a lover of Nature and the environment, I also enjoy reading about it.
Yoga
I “discovered” this about 3 years ago. Before that I always thought it wasn’t for me, and didn’t like the idea of even trying it. Then, out of curiosity, I read about it and tried. I’ve just never stop doing yoga after that. It just takes my mind of things, and makes me feel so peaceful. Before going to college, it helps me wake up and start the day in a good mood. At end of the day it helps me cool off, especially after a bad one, so I won’t go to bed angry or tense. Yoga has also been a great help for my insomnia (even if it just won’t go away, I at least can sleep a bit more). Also Yoga is good for your body shape. I thought, how can this help tone the body? Your muscles don’t work that much. I immediately changed my mind the next morning… Ahaha
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