I grew up in a small village in Belgium near the border of France. Both of my parents were blue collar workers working in shifts. My great grandmother used to take care of us a lot, especially picking us up from school and looking after us until my parents came home. I don’t remember a…
I always knew I will leave my hometown one day. I knew I had to. I dreamt about being able to live somewhere else where people didn’t know me and I didn’t need to hide myself anymore. Because keeping secrets and hiding was a modus operandi for me for many years. But I also knew…
5 years ago, I finally realised my dream to go abroad for one year as an exchange student. I had the great opportunity to live 1 year in Brazil in 3 different families. At first I was scared to go there cause I didn’t speak any Portuguese. But soon enough I realised it didn’t matter…
I am the youngest of the 5 children in my family. We lived in a small village in the middle of nowhere, 125 kilometers away from Lisbon. It was one of the hottest region of the country. My mother has 14 siblings, my father 12. You can say that we are a big family. I…
Where do I even begin? At this very moment of my life, I am feeling very down, because it’s been 2 months since I decided to be on diet again. I have this complex about my body because I have very low confident about my physics. I have always hated my body. When I was…
Recently, I have started volunteering for Ex Aequo, a Belgian non-profit organisation that works to promote health and to decrease the rate on STDs, including HIV, among men who have sex with men. This community association, composed of a team that includes both HIV-positive and negative persons, gives consultation and raises awareness about sexual health,…
I was born in the winter of ’92 in Ghent. My father came here from Turkey in the summer of ’90, my mother followed him 1 year later, together with my 5 years old sister at that time. A business trip to Paris to celebrate the sales numbers of the pharmaceutical company he worked for…
Every summer, I visit my grandparents in Northern Italy. Those summers have been an important part of my childhood. Their house is located in a small village called Alesso. For me, a perfect day in Alesso would be to start with a fresh watermelon for breakfast, and then head for the mountains. That place makes…
As far as relationships are concerned, a criterium of mine is not one’s physical appearance, rather the personality. The physical is ephemeral … the personality is what characterizes a person. I hope to find an interesting person, someone who invites you to his journey of life and also participates in yours. Even if he has…
