The bit about me
Hello there,
I’m Cristina and I’ve always loved writing, reading, and books.
I’m originally from Spain but have lived in London for nearly 15 years, where I landed after having lived in Italy and the US.
Here are 10 things I love about London in no particular order:
Bookshops of any kind and I’m a big fan of my local second-hand ones
The Royal Opera House
Being able to go to a wide range of live music events
My neighbourhood
Cardamon buns from the local bakery, my local Italian deli, my local coffee shop
Long walks along Camden canal
Granary Square in the summer at weekends
Looking at London from the top of Primrose Hill and Parliament Hill
Sunsets - I’ve seen some spectacular ones
My amazing yoga and pilates local studio, which is my little haven to reconnect mind and body.
What to expect from Abroad?
I elaborate on my intentions and topics I write about in this space in the Welcome post, which I invite you to explore as it’s the best place to start the Abroad journey.
In the main menu you can explore the different standalone topics I write about in this newsletter. Under the section A Week in the Life you can see how they come together as I share glimpses of my every day life in London. You can find most of the cultural highlights I reference there, plus many more I don’t, under The Culture Fix.
Why Abroad?
Like many before me I dreamed of being a writer one day. And like many before me I thought it was a ridiculous idea and I talked myself out of it so one day I just stopped. I chose pragmatism over passion as my sister has said to me on many occasions. But passions, like volcanos, can remain dormant and apparently inactive for many years only to explode abruptly.
The urge to put my thoughts into paper -or on the screen in this digital age we live in- has never disappeared and this year I have finally given myself permission to have a go at it. It’s been the best decision I’ve taken in a long time. In fact, a piece that I wrote was shortlisted for the Evening Standard Short Stories competition earlier in the year.
The piece was called Abroad and I thought that was my sign to get back to writing about my own experiences as a foreigner in a global city and the things I observe and care about, without any expectations.
When I submitted that piece I realised it was the first time I put into words the journey that has taken me to who and where I am today, touching on my love for books and stories, far away lands, foreign languages, displacement, feeling a complete stranger in my own family, who didn’t understand why I couldn’t feel at home in the place I was born, and finally understanding that sometimes you belong in places you’ve never been.
I believe that it’s never too late to start doing what you really are passionate about. I guess being aware of our own death does wonders to put things into perspective and focus on what matters to us before it’s too late to pursue what truly makes us happy.
This year, at last, I’ve given myself permission to say out loud to others but mostly to myself that I am a writer, at least in the sense Joan Didion defined it:
“It took me some years to discover what I was. Which was a writer. By which I mean not a “good” writer or a “bad” writer but simply a writer, a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on paper.”
Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy reading Abroad.
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Living abroad is not compulsory.
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Abroad is an independent publication about identity and belonging, living in between cultures and languages, the love of books, music, films, creativity, life in London, and being human in the age of artificial intelligence.
