Last week I had the opportunity to travel to my mum's homeland not only to see where she'd grown but also to visit family. Living 6+ hours from us, it's never easy to go and visit them but everytime we go I'm amazed by how much I love going there and how beautiful it is to get out of the city.
We used to go more often when I was little but as I grew and life got more busy the visits slowly decreased to the point in which even though we call them, we don't see them every year.
One of my favourite memories from all of those times we went to visit is when my grandma on my mum's side and his brother took us to see their land and everything that was growing there. For me it was a first, a scary first.
We all took off on a day long excursion. I wish I had pictures from those days but I was 10 when this happened and I had no clue on how to use my dad's camera and to be honest, I didn't even care about it.
That land has been famous for being very fertile, they mostly produce sugar cane and bananas and entering was like entering a different world, everywhere was filled with plants and many different things. The only rule we had was to remain close as the path was narrow and tricky to go back to.
My brightest memory is to when we faced a plant of coffee beans, they were red and not ready at all but I remember touching it and asking them what this was, being the little city girl I was I didn't know that coffee came from beans they would later on toast and grind.
My dad explained me the process as we continued seeing everything around us and finally reaching our destiny, the little hut that overlooked the land and the little towns around us. My grandma made a huge effort to get there as the condition in her legs wasn't the best.
I don't know for how long I'll remember this day, some parts are becoming more blurry as years pass by and although I know it shouldn't, it saddens me, because that was the last time my grandma saw the land that saw her grown, my uncle has since then passed away and nothing will ever be the same as it was that day.
This is one of the main reasons of me wanting to write some of my memories, it's a way of preserving all of those memories that are slipping away. It's sad but this days are the ones that made me amazingly happy growing up. I hope you enjoy them and as always remember to keep on dreaming.

When I was thinking on how to start sharing my memories, the first memory that came into my mind was one of the saddest, yet heartwarming moments I had with one of my best friends. He showed me how he was going to be there for me no matter what.
I don't remember when this happened, but I do remember where and how I got there. To set the record straight at this point of my life I knew something was off with me but I had no idea what anxiety was or how it was affecting my life.
It was dark outside, everyone was either inside their classrooms or outside, smoking before it got too late or before they could get caught. I was supposed to be in class, being the perfect girl everyone wanted me to be, doing what I was supposed to do, but instead I was outside lurking for a boy that would never look at me, or at least not the way I wanted to.
We were talking, even arguing and before I knew it everything took a turn, everything stopped and I was left feeling like the idiot that would never be able to feel loved or cared for. It was all my fault and not being mentally stable enough, I cracked under his words.
I remember running away, that would always be my first instinct, to get away from whatever was causing me misery, so I got away from him to look out for my things so I could leave, because at least for one night I was going to be free, then I would thing of something else, something that would make me feel more deserving of him.
On my way out I saw him before he hugged me, it wasn't an stranger, it was "Engineer", he was coming out of his class, he was there and he held me for what felt like hours. He didn't ask any questions, he was what I needed right there and then.
Once I was calm enough I remember telling him "thank you" and pointing how my mascara had rubbed on his sweater, he didn't care, he asked me if I was okay to keep going and with a nod I moved on from him.
We may go through rough patches, we may not talk every single day but we still are really close. He knows me too well and there's nothing I could ever hide from him. At this point of my lie and after almost 8 years of friendship I don't know what I would do without him.

Memories are reminders of the lessons you once learned. Some are good, some are bad, some come with a smell, a sound or even a place, but unfortunately for all of us, they don't last forever, someday at some point of your life you are going to forget everything.
It's hard to think about it, to think about all of those amazing moments that someday no one is going to remember, they'll be part of the past but still be part of your essence.
I've been thinking a lot about this lately, about the way I met my closest friends, the way I learned not to trust a guy just because he talks like one of those characters from my favourite books, all the lessons I learned and once passed to people who needed them the most are going to be forgotten, so why not share them.
I write a lot, I share a lot, but there have been so many experiences that I've kept to myself that I can easily keep going for a while, but what's fun about keeping them for myself? I want for us to take a stroll down memory lane.
Those memories remind me of who I was and who I want to become, they show a different side of me, a different girl to the one that's writing this right now. You'll meet a shy girl with a passion for food, a problem with her body and a girl with a purpose that she was yet to discover.
There will be tears, there will be laughter but at the end it'll all be worthy because someone out there is going to read them and enjoy them and if I ever forget them, I'll have a place to look back to and smile once again.
I want you to see that no, it hasn't been easy and being who I am today, I still struggle with some of this memories and how they have haunted me for a while. Maybe this will also take a weight off of my shoulders. I just hope you get to enjoy them as much as I did and remember to keep on dreaming.