Yesterday I spent a wonderful day with two Croatian girls I met in Cambridge. Mara (33) is a neighbour of my friend Katarina. They both live in a building of only four apartments, and it turned out quite by accident that the two apartments were rented by Croatian women. Mara completed her doctorate a year and a half ago, splitting work between Liverpool and Singapore. After her doctorate, she returned to Croatia, this time to Zagreb, where she spent a year. During that year, she only confirmed her nostalgia for England, which is her dream country, and now states with a smile: “Life in Zagreb was not dear to me. I have returned to my green England.”
I met Matea (24) recently, quite by accident in a shopping centre. As I waited for a store to open, I noticed a woman in a nice coat walk past me. Behind her walked two women, whom I quickly realized from their speech were Croatian. I turned to them and so I met Matea and her mom. We were soon joined by the woman in the beautiful coat, who turned out to be Matea's aunt. A day later, on behalf of her mother and aunt, Matea invited me to dinner, just before their return to Croatia. We spent a wonderful evening together and discovered a lot in common. Matea reminds me, with her youth of my Sara, but also of me in the first years of my stay in England.
And so, the three of us, Mara, Matea and I met yesterday in town. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm autumn day and we three generations of Croatian girls enjoyed hanging out in the beautiful cafes and parks of Cambridge. We first drank cappuccino in a cafe on the edge of a park and there all three of us got to know each other better.
Afterwards we walked along the River Cam, on a path I often walked with my Sara when she was little. After the walk, we went for burek and bread, which is sold on the market by a Polish woman who called her stand "Eastern European cuisine." Everything was very tasty, and we will definitely be back there again. Afterwards, we sat down for tea at a cafe across the street from the most beautiful building in Cambridge, King’s College. The day was wonderful, we had a nice time together and we didn’t want to go home too soon. We spent the rest of the day shopping, looking at jeans, scarves, perfumes… And here Matea and I concluded that her mom and I have the same favourite perfume, for life: Narciso Rodrigues “For her” in the pink bottle.
At the end of the day, we formed a WhatsApp group called Croatian Girls in Cambridge.
With love,
Kristina
Sunday, October 17th, 2021
Hrvatske djevojke u Cambridgeu
Jučer sam provela divan dan sa dvije hrvatske djevojke koje sam upoznala u Cambridgeu. Mara (33) je susjeda moje prijateljice Katarine. One obije stanuju u zgradi od samo četiri stana i sasvim slučajno je ispalo da su dva stana iznajmile Hrvatice. Mara je pred godinu i nešto završila svoj doktorat koji je radila pola u Liverpoolu, a pola u Singaporeu. Nakon doktorata vratila se u Hrvatsku i to ovaj put u Zagreb gdje je provela godinu dana. Tokom te godine samo je potvrdila svoju nostalgiju za Engleskom, koja je njezina zemlja iz snova, i sad sa smjeskom konstatira: “Život u Zagrebu mi nije bio drag. Vratila sam se ja u svoju zelenu Englesku.”
Mateu (24) sam upoznala nedavno, sasvim slučajno u jednom šoping centru. Dok sam čekala da se otvori trgovina, pored mene je prošla žena u lijepom kaputu koji sam odmah zapazila. Iza nje su hodale dvije žene, za koje sam po govoru brzo shvatila da su iz Hrvatske. Obratila sam im se i tako sam upoznala Mateu i njezinu mamu. Uskoro nam se pridružila i žena kojiu sam zapazila po lijepom kaputu, i ispalo je da je to bila Mateina teta. Matea me dan kasnije, u ime svoje mame i tete pozvala na večeru, baš pred njihov povratak nazad u Hrvatsku. Provele smo divno večer zajedno i otkrile mnogo toga zajedničkog. Matea me podsjeća, sa svojom mladošću na moju Saru, ali i na mene u prvim godinama mog boravka u Engleskoj.
I tako smo se nas tri, Mara, Matea i ja našle jucer u gradu. Bio je divan, sunčani, topljikavi jesenji dan i nas tri generacije hrvatskih djevojaka smo uživale u druženju po lijepim kafićima i parkovima Cambridgea. Najprije smo popile kapućino u kafiću na rubu jednog parka i tu smo se sve tri pobliže upoznale. Poslije smo šetale uz rijeku Cam, na stazi kojom sam često šetala sa svojom Sarom kad je bila mala. Poslije šetnje smo otišle na burek i pogače, koje na placu prodaje jedna Poljakinja koja je svoj štand nazvala ”Istočno evropska kuhinja.” Sve je bilo vrlo ukusno i sigurno ćemo se opet tamo vratiti.
Nakon toga smo sjele na čaj u kafiću preko puta najljepše zgrade u Cambridgeu, King’s Colledga. Dan je bio divan, nama je bilo lijepo skupa i nije nam se jos išlo kući. Ostatak dana smo provele po trgovinama, gledajuci traperice, šalove, parfeme… I tu smo Matea i ja zaključile da njezina mama i ja imamo isti omiljeni parfem, za čitav zivot: Narciso Rodrigues “For her” u ružičastoj boci.
Na kraju dana formirale smo WhatsApp grupu pod nazivom Hrvatske djevojke u Cambridgeu.
S ljubavlju,
Kristina
Nedelja, 17. listopada 2021.
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