Everyone moves from what we consider our home at least once in our life, when we move from our mom’s stomach into the world. We’re conformable in there but we are forced to get out. That’s how I felt leaving Cabo-Verde. I was comfortable there but I was forced to get out.

     All of my life I’ve been moving places, because of my mom’s work, so I should be used to it, but this time for some reason it hurt more than the others. After I was born in Portugal, I moved to Angola. I stayed there until I was seven years old. Then, my mom got relocated and I moved to Cabo-Verde. The year Covid hit, I moved to Portugal with my dad and my sister because my parents wanted me to get a better education. My mom was still in Cabo-Verde because she hadn’t been relocated. But after that year of being in Portugal I realized how much I missed Cabo-Verde, so when the year ended, my sister and I begged my parents to go back. As my mom was still living there, they let us. I went back to my friends, my school, my home. However, it was time for my mom to relocate again, so after a while of us being back to Cabo-Verde, she announced that the next year we were going to move to Albania. Me and my little sister felt really sad, we didn’t want to leave at all, because everything that made us happy was in Cabo-Verde.

     That year went by in a second. When school ended, I realized I was not going back there the next year. My house had no furniture, only boxes, holding everything I owned in them. I went to Portugal to spend my summer, like I always do, and then when I less expected, it reached the end. I was not ready to start a whole new life in a new country, a new continent, a new school. To change your whole lifestyle is hard.

     After some time I got used to live in Albania. But it still doesn’t feel like home, and there is nothing I can do about it. I would give anything to go back to Cabo-Verde. Where I would go to the beach everyday after school. The beach was a five minute walk to get there, now it’s an hour drive. I feel like I was taken away  from my safe place, and my friends. I can only communicate with them by messages or even calls, but it’s definitely not the same as spilling the tea in real life. Some of my friends, the ones I was not as close to, I lost contact with. It’s really frustrating only being able to see what’s happening with the people I talked to almost everyday, through social media. 
Although I was forced to come to Albania, I think it’s a good experience for me. I’ll learn many new things such as a new culture, maybe a new language, a new way of learning in school, and I’ll meet new people.

     In conclusion, nothing good happens without having its downsides, and if you’re really happy, enjoy it while it lasts because happiness comes and goes. I don’t like constantly moving places and having to leave everything and everyone I love behind, but honestly that’s what made me who I am today. Expiriencing new things, looking at new perspectives, and learning about new cultures is important for everyone to have more of an open mind.