My first swim class

I was five years old and, like every summer, I went with my parents to the Greek sea, Aegean Sea. I was always scared to go the water and my parents always asked themselves how long it would take until I learn to swim. One morning I woke up earlier and I asked our family friend, who was swimming instructor, if he could teach me how to swim. He accepted, of course, and that was the first step I made to learn swim. After a few hours, how long it took me to get in the water we started with learning. First, I had to learn how to use my hands, then legs and after that, he taught me how to keep my head and body on water, which were the crucial things in learning how to swim. Probably, like every other kid, I had an air muscle around my hands to keep me on water, that big blue sea which looked like there was no end. The most interesting thing was that I first learned diving instead swimming. Me, who was so scared of the water. Now, they could not force me to swim with my head out of the water. After that, swimming became very interesting for me and I enjoyed exploring what is hiding under the sea. There was so many seashells, rocks, small fish etc. The next problem my parents had was how to get me out of the water! This was not most important event of my life but it was the most interesting. For me, the sea represents a real oasis of peace and rest. The sunshine, wind slowly blows, and when it becomes too hot, I just go into the sea to refresh myself. Everybody around me enjoys it and lives that day, as if it is their last.

Books

When I was two years old, my grandmother gave me a book for my birthday. That was a very, very big book, with a cover that moved when the light hit in a certain way. It had only pictures and small stories. I found animals like elephants, giraffes, lions, zebras, and flowers like cactuses, banana trees, olives, lemons, figs, oranges. I was delighted because I saw it for the first time in my life. Every night when I went to sleep, I asked my mom to read me a story or to show me a new picture. While she was reading me stories, I would often fall asleep in the middle of a story. After that, I always asked my mom to buy me at least one book per month. I was six years old when my dad first time took me to the city library, and since then the library becomes my playground. Like other children, I liked to play with toys, but I enjoyed reading books more.
For me one of the important things was when I learned to read. After that, everything became interesting for me. Reading books, I learned every day something new. Every day, after or before school, my dad used to take me to the library. The library was like another home. I was excited when I saw so many books in one place. I asked my dad:” Would I have enough time in my life to read all this books?” He told me:” Yes, you have, but tried to learn something new in each a book”. I spent in the library hours and hours. When the weekend came, I usually took a book and read it at my home. While was I read a book, I was going to a new world, and travel all around the world, meeting new interesting people, trying delicious food. In that moment, that was only my world, made with stuff that only I like. Today I like to read books more online. One of the reasons is that I do not have time to go to the library. I find my favorite books on Internet and read them online.

Sara

On August 1st 2008, I received a text message from my sister in Serbia telling me that she had a surprise for me. I do not know why, but in the first moment I thought that she was pregnant. I preferred to wait to talk with her and I called her. Those few seconds, while the phone was ringing, felt like an eternity for me and my heart was pounding. In my head I had millions of thoughts and I was thinking maybe something happened to my parents, or to her. When I heard her happy voice I knew that something nice had happened. She told me that she had one month of pregnancy and I was going to be an aunt. It was a big surprise for me. I could not say anything. Even today I cannot believe that she is pregnant, maybe because I am not in Serbia and she is not here and I cannot see her belly. She was engaged but not married. They got married on November 1st and that had made me very sad. She got engaged in March this year, and I missed it. That day I promised her that I was not going to miss her wedding, but, unfortunately, I was not able to be there. Money and school were disabling me to be there. These days we are expected a little baby girl Sara, and I am so exited.